Etrain Team Power Rankings: #19 Colorado State Rams

By: Garrett Zatlin

Reminder of the list so far...

#25 Eastern Michigan Eagles

#24 Penn State Nittany Lions

#23 Minnesota Gophers

#22 Cornell Bears

#21 Furman Paladins

#20 Florida State Seminoles

#19 Colorado State Rams

#18 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes

#17 NC State Wolfpack

#16 Penn Quakers

#15 Virginia Tech Hokies

#14 UCLA Bruins

#13 BYU Cougars

#12 Louisville Cardinals

#11 Michigan Wolverines

#10 Virginia Cavaliers

#09 Oregon Ducks

#08 Oklahoma State Cowboys

#07 Iona Gaels

#06 Mississippi Rebels

#05 Villanova Wildcats

#04 Wisconsin Badgers

#03 Syracuse Orange 

#02 Stanford Cardinals

#01 Colorado Buffalos

19. Colorado State Rams

Flotrack’s #19: Georgetown Hoyas

Coach: Art Siemers

Notable Departures: Alex Dillenbeck, Byron Jones, Andrew Goodman
Notable Additions: Eric Hamer

Projected Scoring Five: Jerrell Mock (SO) [ET#34], Jefferson Abbey (JR) [ET#31], Grant Fischer (SO), Eric Hamer (FR), Adam Hartman (JR)

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Colorado State is probably the biggest up-and-coming program in the nation. Coach Siemers has done an outstanding job improving the program over his brief three years at CSU. He has developed young guys into top tier talent and is making an impact in a region that is one of the best in the nation. Their potential, experience, and firepower upfront puts them at #19 in the rankings.

Colorado State started off last season with an easy home opener against Colorado and Northern Colorado. It was clear that no team was at full strength, but nonetheless, CSU got a win under their belt to start off the season. The real first test would be at Roy Griak. No one was quite sure what to expect from the Rams. Most dismissed them as just another mid-pack team that would have one decent runner. That assumption would end up being completely false. The Rams burst out of the gate and destroyed the competition taking everyone by surprise. But the most amazing part was that the freshman Jerrell Mock placed 7^th in a strong field. His sophomore teammate, Jefferson Abbey, complimented Mock’s performance with a 15^th place finish. Their fifth man ended up in 56^th and gave the Rams a 2^nd place team finish, only 4 points off from Southern Utah. Colorado State had just shocked the nation. Could they do it again at Notre Dame with a much deeper field? Unfortunately, they could not. Abbey and Mock went 19^th and 21^st respectively, but the 81^st place from their fifth man didn’t help and put the Rams in 7^th place overall. It was still a very solid finish, and better than any had expected. Still, CSU had more to prove and they could do just that at a stacked Pre-Nats field where Colorado St. looked to silence the doubters. Mock had what was arguably the best freshman race of the year by placing 18^th overall. Abbey finished a respectable 39^th. But once again, their fifth man hurt them by falling to 112^th and put CSU tied for 5^th place overall (but lost to Tulsa on tiebreaker and ended up in 6th). Even with the loss on the tiebreaker, CSU showed that they were still a threat on the national scene. The conference title was very much within their grasp. The Rams entered the Mountain West conference expected to compete for the title. But when they left, they weren’t even the runner-up. New Mexico cruised for the win while Air Force upset CSU by three points. It was a surprisingly poor performance from the team that had shocked the nation week-in and week-out. The Rams would need to avenge themselves at regionals (Mountain), which was arguably the best region in the nation. This would be the true test to see just how good Colorado State was. The race was fast and the top individuals spread out the field. Mock and Abbey did their jobs by finishing 10^th and 11^th, but the tight pack running from other squads pushed the Rams out of contention. CSU finished 5^th with Southern Utah once again beating them out by one spot. The 5th place finish was not at all what the Rams wanted. However, this 5th place finish was unique. Typically, the 5^th place team would never dream of getting a bid to NCAA’s. However, 2014 year was different. Due to how deep the field was, the Rams would get one of FIVE ‘at-large’ bids out of the Mountain region. It was almost unheard of for seven teams to make it out of any region. Nonetheless, Colorado State would take their last chance to impress to Terre Haute. With such a strong regular season, but a sub-par postseason, the expectations for Colorado State were quite scattered. In the end, CSU would finish an unexciting 19^th place which seemed to be a happy medium considering their up and down performances throughout the season. But the best part about it all? The Rams finally beat Southern Utah.

Now, Colorado State will come into this season with high hopes. While they do lose some seniors, there are still plenty of guys that can step up and continue to improve. One thing I like is that Mock and Abbey are in the perfect position as lead-men. They can still continue to improve and cut off points in the scoring while other lead-men like Cheserek, Zienasellassie, and Tiernan can barely improve in the scoring. Grant Fischer (no, not the one you’re thinking of) struggled early on in the season, but rallied and worked his way into the scoring squad. I expect him to progress this season. The next name I’m looking at is the freshman Eric Hamer. He is still young, but Coach Siemers has done an outstanding job developing young talent into national-caliber athletes in his short time at CSU (think Mock and Abbey). The only issue is the 5^th man situation this squad is currently working with. Hartman didn’t have much of an impact last season and finished far off from the other scorers. They will need to find a reliable 5^th man if this team is going to prosper in a region that will not get any easier. I’m also looking to see if they can show up in the post-season. Their regular season was solid and they were in a tough region, but I still want to see better results come November.

Colorado State was Flotrack’s #23 team. While I do have the Rams at #19, I can’t argue too much with Flotrack’s ranking. There are still a lot of questions and inconsistencies that could keep CSU from improving in the rankings so #23 seems reasonable. That said, they are also a much more established squad than the other teams I have ranked so far. They have been improving each year and it’s tough not to like the top two they have up front. Only time will tell if CSU can live up to the expectations, or falter in the hype.