Stephens: Top 5 highs and lows for the CSU Rams in 2015

Mountain West championships, All-Americans, a bowl game and crossing the point of no return for an on-campus stadium.

CSU athletics should accomplished plenty in 2015 as a department and by student-athletes individually. Sure, there were some low points, but when compared to the highs, overall it was a good year for CSU.

So as we wrap up 2015, let’s take a look back at the five high and lows for Colorado State University over the past 365 days.

Lows

5. Conference bowl opponent

A bowl game is reason to celebrate, and we’ll make note of that in the year’s high points, but jubilation was put on hold when it was announced CSU’s postseason opponent would be -- Nevada?

For the first time since the Big Eight’s Nebraska and Oklahoma met in the 1979 Orange Bowl, two teams from the same conference squared off in a bowl game that wasn't for the national championship. The pairing of the Rams and Wolf Pack in the Arizona Bowl is a product of too many bowls (41, including the national championship game) and has been a black eye for the Mountain West for a month.

If there’s a positive to take away from the pairing, it’s that the Arizona Bowl received exponentially more national attention than it otherwise would have earned.

4. Trent Matthews tears ACL

CSU senior safety Trent Matthews was one start shy of setting the school’s record for most starts in a career by a football player. Following a win at Fresno State in the regular-season finale, he learned he’d have to settle for a tie with former center Weston Richburg, who made 51 starts before he was drafted by the New York Giants. Matthews’ anterior cruciate ligament was torn.

Had Matthews been able to play in the Arizona Bowl, there’s no telling if it would have changed the outcome of the game; however, it would have been nice to see such a class act have the record all to himself.

3. CSU women in the Mountain West tournament

The Rams were a win shy of heading to the NCAA tournament in 2013-14, claiming the Mountain West’s regular-season title before eventually falling to Fresno State in the conference championship game. After winning a second straight regular-season title in 2014-15, CSU seemed like a lock to run through the league tournament.

Not so fast.

The first round of the Mountain West tournament pitted CSU against bottom-feeder San Jose State. The Rams played one of their worst games of the season, shooting 29 percent from the field in a 64-55 defeat. The WNIT returned to Moby Arena, where CSU made its second consecutive first-round exit.

2. Men can’t beat the Buffs

CSU had a chance to do something it’s seldom done in its history: win back-to-back Rocky Mountain Showdowns. Had it not been for three missed field goals, the Rams would have done it. But with an offense that stalled in overtime for the second consecutive week (Minnesota), it was CU kicker Diego Gonzalez who became the hero.

Football wasn’t the only team that had a chance to win two straight against the Buffaloes. The men’s basketball team was in position to do it earlier this month at Moby Arena. The Rams held a 13-point lead at halftime before collapsing in the second half and losing 88-77.

1. Men’s basketball misses the NCAA tournament

CSU basketball coach Larry Eustachy sat at the postgame press conference following the Rams’ semifinal exit of the Mountain West tournament and made a statement no one at the time would have disagreed with. He said CSU isn’t on the bubble, it’s squarely in the NCAA tournament.

Two days later, we found out how wrong our assumptions were.

When UCLA, a team few projected to be in the NCAA tournament field, was announced as a No. 10 seed, everyone knew what was about to happen; the Rams were about to get snubbed. And they did, becoming the first team with an RPI of 30 or better to miss the NCAA tournament since it expanded to 68 teams.

A team that went 27-7 was deemed not to have played a strong enough schedule to reach the Big Dance. The team then went out and lost in the first round of the NIT.

Highs

5. Bowl bound

Playing a conference opponent in the Arizona Bowl was a disappointment, but making the game wasn’t. Reaching the postseason in the first year of a coach’s tenure is something only two men in CSU history have done: Steve Fairchild and Mike Bobo. It should be celebrated.

Bobo led a team with a first-year starter at quarterback, a young offensive line and three unknowns at running back to a 7-6 season. The season ended with a 28-23 loss to Nevada in the Arizona Bowl. Sad for Rams, indeed. Still, the season was a success.

4. Joe Parker becomes AD

Jack Graham did a lot of great things for the CSU athletic department. He ponied up the cash to sign big-name coaches and spearheaded the on-campus stadium. Let’s not take anything away from his accomplishments in Fort Collins.

That being said, he also rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, including his boss, and it did him in.

Joe Parker isn’t the big talker Graham was, but he’s thoughtful and diligent. It’s clear he has a vision for CSU athletics and is doing what he can to make that come to fruition. He’s not a guy who will make a lot of headlines, and he prefers it that way.

He’s working behind the scenes to make CSU better, and when those success do come, he’ll make sure you pause and celebrate, like when groundbreaking for stadium finally happened in the fall.

3. Rams in the NFL

Weston Richburg cut his teeth in the NFL as a rookie in 2014 at guard for the New York Giants. A year later, he’s emerged as possibly the best center in the league. No, he didn’t get selected to the Pro Bowl, but watch any Giants game this year — announcers can’t say anything bad about him and rave about his future.

He’s not the only second-year NFL player out of CSU to ignite this year. Denver Broncos linebacker Shaquil Barrett has 48 tackles, 5 ½ sacks and three forced fumbles. Baltimore Ravens tight end Crockett Gillmore caught 33 balls for 412 yards and four touchdowns before being placed on injured reserve.

And let’s not forget Ty Sambrailo, who was drafted in the second round in May and became the starting left tackle for the Broncos before getting injured. In addition, quarterback Garrett Grayson was selected in the third round by the New Orleans Saints to succeed Drew Brees when he retires.

2. Fast Rams

In November, Jeff Abbey and Jarrell Mock became the first cross country runners at CSU to be named All-Americans in more than a decade (Mike Nicks, 2004).

Abbey, a junior out of Fort Collins High School, had the best finish for a male athlete at the NCAA championships since 1979, when he finished 13th in the 10-kilomerter race with a time of 30 minutes, 5.3 seconds. Mock, a sophomore, finished the same race with a time of 30:10.3.

1. Mountain West champions

The CSU track and field teams swept the Mountain West’s outdoor championships this year. For the men, it was their first title, and the first since 2008 for the women.

Mock won an individual conference championship in cross country.

Women’s basketball won back-to-back titles and volleyball, well, it did what Tom Hilbert teams do, claiming its seventh consecutive Mountain West championship and 21st straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. Oh, and opposite hitter Dri Culbert was named Mountain West Player of the Year and an AVCA All-American.

Not a bad year to be a CSU Ram.

For insight and analysis on athletics around Northern Colorado and the Mountain West, follow sports columnist Matt L. Stephens at twitter.com/mattstephens and facebook.com/stephensreporting.