No. 13 Colorado State Achieves Highest Top-25 Ranking Ever
Colorado State is unbeaten and ready to take on anyone.
Contact/Follow @HardwoodTalk & @MWCwire
The Rams and Aztecs make this week’s AP Top-25 after strong finishes to the month of November.
The fourth week of college basketball is here and with it, a newly released Associated Press Top-25 poll. And while fans around the Mountain West have had their share of Top-25 appearances over years. Monday’s edition was special for many reasons in Fort Collins particularly.
Colorado State make the Top-25 for the second straight week, rising from 20th to a program best 13th. The Rams also made the Coaches poll at No. 12 and a very impressive first NET ranking of 7th in the nation on Monday.
San Diego State rejoined the Top-25 after making the preseason rankings at No. 17 to start the season.
𝓗𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝓜𝓪𝓭𝓮
Highest rankings in program history!
No. 12 in the Coaches Poll
No. 13 in the AP#Stalwart x #TeamTogether pic.twitter.com/sU9uhJncVB— Colorado State Men’s Basketball (@CSUMBasketball) December 4, 2023
How they got here
No. 13 Colorado State was picked to finish 5th in the Mountain West preseason poll. Now, this feels rather low one month into the college hoops season. Though folks in the industry needed to see how head coach Niko Medved would put a decent sized freshman class, three transfers & arguably the best point guard the Rams have ever had together.
In short, they fit together rather well. Well enough to begin the season undefeated at 8-0, with four high major wins and a win over in-state rival Colorado (their first since 2017).
Always good to be back in the Top 25! #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/SE1EIevjwv
— San Diego State Men's Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) December 4, 2023
The No. 25 Aztecs make their return to the AP Top-25 since opening the season at No. 17. Brian Dutcher’s squad had a bit of a setback in week one of the season when they fell to Brigham Young in Provo.
That loss saw them knocked out of the Top-25 entirely, but still receiving votes each week. Since, they’ve won six straight games (four on the road), including wins over Pac-12 foes California & Washington.
Some Perspective
For the Colorado State program this is huge. Niko Medved’s best years in Fort Collins have come with floor general Isaiah Stevens healthy and locked in. Last season was a bit of a setback within the program, but injuries can do that. Though it appears last season is far in the rear view of the Rams at the moment.
It seemed as though the last time the Rams were consecutively ranked in the Top-25 may have been the peak of Medved’s squad building potential in Fort Collins. That was the 2021-2022 season, when Colorado State graced the Top-25 for a grand total of six weeks, made the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed and had a first round NBA Draft pick in David Roddy.
Boy was I wrong, and in the world of the transfer portal, Medved has shown the ability to utilize every avenue available to build a quality roster in 2023. The Rams’ success has also given fans a great story to endorse when other programs have fallen short of expectations.
San Diego State is still nationally recognized as a dangerous team and still have challenging games ahead. Two road games against Grand Canyon & No. 7 Gonzaga and playing host to Stanford in between are all great opportunities to boost their resume.
With the Aztecs regaining their place, it gives the Mountain West two teams in the AP Top-25 simultaneously for the first time since the 2021-2022 season. Arguably more impressive is that it’s the first time two Mountain West schools have been in the AP Top-25 together in non-conference play since 2012-2013.
The non-conference momentum is trending completely upwards for the Mountain West. Which has solidified itself as the best mid-major conference in the country, at least according to KenPom ($). Schools across the conference need to attack December with the same energy they did in November to begin the 5+ bid-league conversations.
Larry Muniz covers college basketball as a writer for Mountain West Wire and WAC Hoops Digest. Also as a co-host of the college basketball podcast “Hoops Talk W/Jay & Larry”. He is also a USWBA Member.
