FORT COLLINS — For the second time this season Colorado State fell to a league opponent in a game where the Rams were never even in it. Bryce Hamilton came into Moby Arena and dropped 45 points Friday night, as UNLV scorched CSU in an 88-74 upset victory.
After falling to the Rebels on a night where the Rams were favored by 15 points at tip off, emotions are naturally running high across the fan base. Losing big to San Diego State was disappointing, but it was less surprising given their status in the Mountain West. A double digit loss to UNLV in front of a sold out arena is a little bit harder to stomach, particularly with arguably the biggest week of the season coming up.
The games against Wyoming and San Diego State were always going to be important, but now that the Rams fell to the Rebels it makes the stakes that much higher. Four conference losses wouldn’t necessarily doom the Green & Gold in the conference standings, that’s just a tough position to be in and still come out on top. And after looking like a lock for the NCAA Tournament for weeks, all of sudden CSU’s chances would be much more up in the air. Obviously, we have to see how the games play out. And there’s always the Mountain West Tournament, but nobody wants to see this talented team be in a position where their fate hangs on winning a single-elimination tournament in a year where the conference is as deep as ever.
To the members of Ram Nation that are currently hyperventilating about everything mentioned above, I get it, your concerns are valid. The unfortunate reality is that teams like CSU don’t get the benefit of the doubt. We’ve already seen how getting rolled by the Aztecs impacted their respect on a national level in the AP Poll, so a Quad 3 loss to a .500 team is undoubtedly going to hurt CSU’s at-large resume.
That said, one could also argue that league losses are a part of a college basketball season, and that with the Mountain West being so stacked with talent, people should expect the occasional upset or two. I mean, when some of the teams struggling most have players like Bryce Hamilton (UNLV), Justin Bean (Utah State) and Jamal Mashburn (New Mexico), it’s a pretty strong indication of the high-level talent currently competing in the MW. After starting 1-5 against league competition, Utah State beat SDSU by 18 this week. And Wyoming needed a buzzer-beater to beat Air Force a few hours prior to the CSU-UNLV game. The Mountain West is a gauntlet right now and it’s really going to come down to who can survive the back half of the season with the least amount of damage.
There’s no question about it, CSU is in a more challenging position to win the league than they were before 9:00 p.m. on Friday. But every single team in the MW is a tough night or two away from being in the exact same spot. Boise State is the hottest team right now with 14 consecutive wins, but they have a trip to Wyoming coming up too. The Broncos also have SDSU, Nevada and USU again, not to mention at least one, likely two games against CSU.
The road to a conference championship or even just an at-large bid was never going to be without resistance. Everything that the Rams want is still on the table though. Don’t lose faith in a CSU team that is 16-2 and has proven repeatedly that they can respond. Again, Friday night was a gut punch and the fans should be disappointed. Niko Medved said it himself, it should hurt. But it’s also important to keep perspective through the highs and the lows.
“You’ve got to do some soul searching,” Medved said. “It’s just like we celebrate winning, you know, and this stings.”
Having high expectations is a wonderful thing, because it means that the team has earned that status and the respect that comes with it. In the pursuit of a ring, though, it’s easy to get too caught up in emotion and overreact to a bad night.
I want to see this group achieve everything that they are capable of. The 2021-22 Rams are good enough to make a legitimate run through March Madness, so anything short of an at-large bid would be a massive letdown. I also was confused to see the Rams play so sluggish for most of the night against UNLV. Outside of Isaiah Stevens scoring 35 points, it was pretty much a poor performance all around. But the sky is not falling, not anywhere close to it. And until it’s time to panic, I’m going to continue to give the Rams the benefit of the doubt.
The last time CSU got punched in the teeth the Rams responded with a five-game winning streak. Give them a chance to redeem themselves when the lights are brightest on Monday and Friday.
“This team has proved they can win,” Medved said. “They’ve got a lot of trust in what we’re doing. And the key is to respond. Whether you win or lose, you’ve got to get back and you’ve got to respond.”
