NCAAB Team Profiles: Colorado State Rams

The Rams are a Division 1 NCAAB (national college athletics association basketball) team based at the Fort Collins Campus of the University of Colorado State.

They are members of the Mountain West Conference in which they came second this season. They earned themselves a 6th Seed position in March Madness this year.

The Rams are one of the oldest NCAAB teams around, they have been playing for over 120 years now. Today, we are going to take a deep dive into the team, their history, their star players, and some of their rivals. We will also be looking at their predicted performance in March Madness this year - you can find the best March Madness odds here. This year will be the first time they have played in the tournament since 2013.

History of the Club

The Rams started out as the basketball team for the Colorado Agricultural College (which is now known as the University of Colorado State) they were formed in early 1901 and started competing in the 1901-02 season.

In 1910, they joined the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. In the 1960s they joined the Western States Conference. Eventually, a new conference called the Mountain West Conference was created.

They have won their conference season 4 times - in 1954, 1961, 1989, 1990. In 2003, they won the conference tournament.

This Season's Performance

The 2021-22 season was the best season that the Rams have had since 2012-13.

They came second in their conference this year and earned themselves a place in the NCAAB Tournament (also known as March Madness). They ended the season with a 14-4 win-loss record. This season included 2 wins over rivals Utah and a decisive win over their other rivals the Air Force. Overall, they only lost to three teams - Wyoming, San Diego, and Las Vegas.

The Rams have been given a 6th Seed spot in March Madness, but many pundits have been arguing that they deserved better after their performance this season.

Star Players

David Roddy

Roddy is a Sophomore on the Rams team. Last season, he broke a few conference and team freshman records - including averaging 0.8 blocks per game. Last season, he was named on the All-Mountain West Team.

This season, Roddy was named Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. He averaged 15.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game this season. And set personal best in all but the Blocking category.

Isaiah Stevens

Stevens is a Junior. In his Freshman year, he averaged 13.3 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game. And he was named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year.

Stevens holds the franchise record for most assists in one game (12 - he has done this twice), and only having played 2 years so far, he is already 10th on the all-time assists list for the Rams. When the Rams release their updated stats, we expect him to be at 2nd place.

This season he has averaged 14.5 points per game, 3.8 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game. This season he racked up a total of 143 assists and has helped his team make it to the NCAAB Tournament for the first time in 9 years.

Coach

Niko Medved coached at Furman and Drake before moving to the Rams. He has been with the Rams for 4 years now.

His first season with the Rams ended at 12-20. However, he completely turned the team around and ended the second season on 20-12.

The 2020-21 season was cut short due to the CoronaVirus pandemic but the Rams and Medved ended on 20-8 and came third in the conference.

They improved on this again this season, by finishing in second place in the conference and 25-5 overall.

Rivals

The Falcons of the United States Air Force Academy This is one of two in-state rivalries that the Rams have. The Falcons have a bigger stadium, more funding, and a bigger student body to choose from - but the Rams beat them every time this season.

The Aggies of Utah State University

The other big rival that the Rams have inside the Mountain West Conference is the Aggies. The win record falls in the favor of the Aggies overall, however, the Rams beat them three times this year.

They are slowly catching up with the Aggies and may even tip the win-loss record in their favor in the next 5 or so years.

March Madness

Before we leave, we wanted to look at the Ram's March Madness record and how they might do in this year's tournament.

They have reached the tournament ten times (1954, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1989, 1990, 2003, 2012, 2013) not including this year. Made it to The 32 four times (1954, 1969, 1989, 2013). And to the Sweet 16 two times (1954, 1969). And made it to the Elite 8 once in 1969.

Only two teams from the Mountain West Conference have ever won the national titles - Las Vegas (1990) and Wyoming (1943).

The Rams are a 6th seed team this year. However, most predict they will not make it past their match with 11th seed Michigan.