Colorado State continues to build an intriguing non-conference slate: the Rams to play a neutral site game against USC

FORT COLLINS — Colorado State may be losing David Roddy to the NBA, but that does not mean the Rams are looking to scale things down or play an easier schedule this season. 

On Tuesday it was reported by multiple national outlets that CSU will take on USC on December 21 in a neutral site game in Phoenix, AZ. DNVR has since confirmed the matchup. 

Colorado State and USC are finalizing a neutral site game in Phoenix on December 21, source tells @SInow.

High-level game between two NCAA tournament teams in 2022. Trojans bring back all-conference wing Drew Peterson, Rams return Bob Cousy watch list PG Isaiah Stevens.

— Kevin Sweeney (@CBB_Central) June 14, 2022

The Trojans are coming off of a 2021-22 season in which they went 26-8 overall and finished third in the Pac-12. Similarly to CSU, after earning a 7-seed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, USC was then upset by a double-digit seed (No. 10 Miami).

It won’t exactly be the same team for head coach Andy Enfield in 2022-23, 6-foot-10 forward Isaiah Mobley is pursuing an NBA career and a few others elected to transfer out. One of those transfers, 6-foot-1 guard Ethan Anderson, actually ended up at Wyoming. Obviously, Mobley is the biggest loss, though, after leading USC in scoring, rebounds and assists this past season. 

While Mobley has elected to move on with his basketball career and take his talents to the next level, the Trojans are still an extremely deep team. Starting with a veteran-laded backcourt featuring Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson, USC has a pair of experienced guards that flirted with pro careers but will instead be running it back as the leaders in the locker room. Each guy averaged roughly 12.5 points per game in 2021-22, however, they could be in for an even bigger season now that Mobley is out of the picture. 

In addition to the experience USC will be bringing back, the Trojans also signed a highly touted recruiting class, including five-star center Vince Iwuchukwu, who is listed at 7’0, 215 lbs and had offers from every major program in the country. Arkansas, Kansas, Texas Tech, etc. — you name it — they offered. 

Ultimately this is going to be a really challenging matchup for CSU right at the end of the non-conference slate, as USC is definitely going to have a big advantage in both size and general athleticism. The benefit, of course, is that it should go down as a Quad 1 game, so as long as the Rams don’t get run off the floor it should really benefit CSU’s strength of schedule regardless of outcome. Plus, this is the type of game the Rams should be playing if they want to be taken seriously as a hoops program. It would be really easy for the Green & Gold to schedule down and try to rack up early-season wins with a soft schedule, especially considering the Mountain West is expected to be a gauntlet. In the long run, though, it’s going to benefit this roster to experience challenges early in the season. That’s how you grow as a team, so that when March rolls around, you’re battle-tested and steady. 

If the expectation is still going to be to contend and push for another NCAA Tournament bid — and it seemingly is — the Rams should be preparing accordingly. It’s encouraging to see that they are. 

The non-conference slate is not even complete yet and the Rams already have games slated against Colorado, Saint Mary’s and USC. Gardner-Webb and Northern Colorado are quietly really intriguing matchups as well.

We’ll do a deep dive when the schedule is actually finalized, but it’s shaping up to be another fun season for Niko Medved’s squad.