Deep breath, Rammies.
You’re in.
By the hair on its chinny-chin-chin, Colorado State on Sunday earned an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. No. 10 CSU drew No. 10 Virginia in the First Four at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday (truTV)
What was expected to be a stress-free reintroduction to the Big Dance instead ended on a buzzer beater. The selection committee said CSU was the final at-large in the 68-team field.
“I was really surprised how most of the Mountain West was seeded,” coach Niko Medved said.
Next time you hear November and December are throwaways on the college basketball calendar, remember that time Colorado State slipped past Washington (86-81), Denver (90-80) and Louisiana Tech (81-73), or that barn-burning win over rival Colorado (88-83).
Lose one, and the Rams are NIT-bound. Good thing CSU held off Nevada (85-78) in the conference tournament, too. Every last win mattered in securing the program’s second NCAA Tournament berth in three years and 12th appearance overall.
Longtime bracketologist Brad Evans, a former Denver-area resident, had CSU as a firm eight seed.
“The Mountain West was absurdly slighted,” Evans said.
CSU opened as a 1.5-point favorite over Virginia with a historically low total of 118.5 points.
What should CSU expect from Virginia?
Virginia plays the slowest tempo in the country, according to Ken Pomeroy’s ratings and folks who watch the Cavaliers play. CSU should be familiar with a grinder, however, thanks to matchups with Saint Mary’s (fourth-slowest tempo) and Air Force (fifth-slowest) this season.
No. 10 Colorado will join Colorado State at Dayton (Ohio) Arena in the First Four. The Buffaloes, who also were one of the final four teams in the field, get No. 10 Boise State on Wednesday.
Virginia has a championship coach and gentleman in Tony Bennett, who guided the Cavaliers to the 2019 NCAA title. The Colorado State-Virginia winner meets No. 7 Texas in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday.
Virginia (23-10, 13-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) is a favorable draw for CSU. The Hoos were the lowest-rated team (No. 69) in Pomeroy’s ratings to earn an at-large bid. CSU is No. 38.
It’s the first time CSU has been a participant in the First Four, an eight-team play-in format that draws boisterous crowds in the basketball-mad city of Dayton, Ohio. True story: the First Four actually exists because of the Mountain West Conference. In 2001, two years after the Mountain West became a thing, the tournament champion was awarded an automatic bid.
The NCAA Tournament chose to maintain the same number of at-large bids, so the field was expanded to 65 teams with an extra game added.
By a razor-thin margin, Medved became CSU’s third coach to guide the program to multiple NCAA Tournaments. He was preceded by Jim Williams (four berths) and Boyd Grant (two).
Medved’s historical perspective was on point, too. Referring to 2011 VCU and 2021 UCLA — both of whom escaped the First Four and advanced all the way to the Final Four — Medved pointed out the First Four has produced several Cinderellas in the NCAA Tournament.
“Every year somebody who plays in this game in Dayton ends up making a big run in the tournament. This year, why not us?” Medved told his team.
What to know for CSU's second NCAA Tournament appearance in three seasons:
What: No. 10 Colorado State (22-11, 12-6 Mountain West) vs. No. 10 Virginia (23-10, 13-7 ACC)
When: 7:10 p.m. Tuesday (truTV; Spero Dedes, Jim Spanarkel, Jon Rothstein)
Where: University of Dayton (Ohio) Arena
CSU's tournament history: 12 appearances (4-12 record)
Virginia's tournament history: 25 appearances (35-24 record)
CSU's coach: Niko Medved (115-74 overall, 0-1 in NCAA Tournament)
Virginia's coach: Tony Bennett (360-134 overall, 13-8 in NCAA Tournament)
How the Rams got here: CSU racked up three wins over high-majors in the nonconference, with wins over then-No. 8 Creighton and Colorado serving as signature moments. The Rams are a part of a six-bid Mountain West that redefined what it means to be a mid-major conference over the last few months.
How the Cavaliers got here: The 2019 NCAA champs reached the semifinals of the ACC tournament before losing in overtime to eventual champion N.C. State. Senior guard Reece Beekman leads the team in scoring at just over 14 points per game.
—Tyler King
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