Can Colorado State Basketball Make the NCAA Tournament This Season?
The crisp Fort Collins air carries a familiar scent this time of year—a mix of fading winter and the electric buzz of possibility. I was walking across campus just the other day, my breath misting in the cold, when I saw a group of students huddled around a phone, their faces lit by the glow of a live stream. It wasn't a CSU game they were watching, but something that, in our globally connected world of college hoops, felt strangely relevant. They were watching highlights of a young man named Collins Akowe. You might not know the name yet, but his recent move is the kind of seismic shift that makes you think about the delicate ecosystem of college basketball. Just this week, UAAP Season 86 boys MVP and Season 87 Best Foreign Student-Athlete Collins Akowe formally announced his move to University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines. It’s a big deal over there, a program-changing acquisition. And watching those students get excited about a player halfway across the world, it hit me with a sudden, sharp clarity. It framed the single, burning question every Rams fan is quietly asking themselves: Can Colorado State Basketball Make the NCAA Tournament This Season?
My mind immediately flashed back to the heartbreak of last March. The agony of the "First Four Out" list. The feeling of being so, so close you could almost taste the madness, only to have the door slammed shut. I’ve been following this program for over a decade, through the lean years and the triumphant runs, and that particular brand of disappointment lingers. It’s the kind that fuels the entire offseason. You see it in the way Niko Medved coaches, in the extra hours the players put in at Moby Arena. The hunger is palpable. But hunger alone doesn't get you a ticket to the Big Dance. You need pieces. You need a bit of luck. And sometimes, you need to look at a story like Akowe's to appreciate the puzzle.
His transfer to UST isn't just a line in a sports blog; it's a statement of intent. A program identifying a need, going out into the global market, and securing a foundational piece. It’s what successful teams do. And it makes me look at our own Rams with a critical, yet hopeful, eye. We didn't need to go to the Philippines, but we did need to bolster our frontcourt. The return of Isaiah Stevens is, of course, the headline. The guy is a wizard, a floor general with ice in his veins. He averaged 16.9 points and 4.8 assists last season, and having that experience back is like having a seasoned captain steering the ship through a storm. But a captain needs a crew. The development of Joel Scott and the addition of some fresh faces on the wing could be the difference between a good season and a great one. I’m particularly bullish on the potential of Patrick Cartier to take another step; his efficiency around the rim is something special.
Let’s be real, though. The Mountain West is a gauntlet. It’s not for the faint of heart. Night in and night out, you're facing teams that are built for March. San Diego State, with their relentless defense, is a perennial powerhouse. New Mexico, Boise State, Utah State… there are no easy nights. To finish in the top four of this conference, you probably need to win at least 12, maybe 13 league games. That’s a brutal ask. I looked at our non-conference schedule, and it’s got some sneaky-tough games. The clash with Washington in November feels like a must-win, a chance for a quadrant one victory that the selection committee would absolutely notice come March. We can’t afford the head-scratching losses that have sometimes plagued us in the past. Every game matters. The margin for error is thinner than a razor blade.
This brings me back to that scene with the students. Their excitement for a player they’d likely never see in person was a reminder of what makes this sport so captivating. It’s about belief. It’s about investing in a narrative. The narrative for Colorado State this year is one of redemption. It’s about exorcising the demons of last season’s snub. When I close my eyes and picture this team at its best, I see a fluid, unselfish offense orchestrated by Stevens, with multiple players capable of dropping 20 on any given night. I see a defense that might not be the most physically imposing but is smart, communicative, and disruptive. Do they have the rebounding to hang with the Aztecs? Can they find consistent scoring beyond their star guard? Those are the questions that will define their fate.
So, can they do it? Can Colorado State Basketball Make the NCAA Tournament This Season? My heart says yes. My head, conditioned by years of fandom, tells me to be cautious. I’ll put it at a 65% chance. The pieces are there. The leadership is there. The motivation is absolutely there. They have the talent to be a 22 or 23-win team, and that’s usually the magic number for an at-large bid from the Mountain West. It won’t be easy. It will require staying healthy, winning a few games they aren't supposed to, and avoiding the dreaded "bad loss." But as the days get shorter and the nights get colder, that same buzz of possibility I felt on campus starts to feel a lot like belief. I believe this team has learned its lesson. I believe they’re tired of watching from the sidelines. And come Selection Sunday, I believe we’ll be hearing "Colorado State" called, finally ending the wait and launching this program back into the glorious chaos of March.