Colorado State University Athletics
RamWire Mailbag: Rivalries, Spring and My Coworker is Still Wrong
2/27/2020 4:00:00 PM | RamWire
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Figuring out tiebreakers can be a daunting task, but the Mountain West uneven scheduling makes it worse.
As we all know, every team plays every other team twice, with the exception of two solo acts against an opponent, which could be home or road.
Head-to-head as a tiebreaker works for me, for everybody. When the next step is what your record is against the best team in the league, then working your way down, you start to logic with the uneven schedule. Teams are going to win tie breakers because their record against a team above them was 0-1 instead of 0-2. So a tiebreaker comes down to a computer-generated schedule.
There has to be a way to play everybody in the league twice and make it work. But that's just me.
Into the bag we go …
Is it still the Border War if the game is played in Nevada?
Excellent. A geography question, one with a philosophical layer, to boot.
As the Mountain West standings look now, Colorado State's men look to be opening the conference tournament against Wyoming. Generally, Wyoming means the Border War because, no matter where they play the game, the border is between them. In Las Vegas, that's not the case.
It reminds me of telling Austin Hannon he was wrong earlier this women's basketball season. He touted the game with Northern Colorado as a crosstown matchup. Really? Greeley and Fort Collins are definitely different towns. The CSU bus didn't just go across town, it went from one town to another, with a couple of other towns in between.
He still thinks he's right. He is not. Feel free to tell him he is not.
I gave this a lot of thought, at least 15-30 seconds, and I'm going to go with a hard no. Without the border, it's not the same. It's definitely still a rivalry game – those emotions travel anywhere – but I'm not going to refer to it as a Border War.
What are you looking for out of Steve Addazio's first spring camp?
The first thing I want to see is the pace of practice. Every coach has a rhythm they want to achieve, and what Mike Bobo did differed from Jim McElwain, who was vastly different from the way Steve Fairchild's practices moved. Addazio said his will be "humming." That's his desire, so they will, but how soon they reach the buzz is part of the equation.
After that, how to they incorporate the inherited talent into their systems and how will they be used. To be sure, a power running game will be the base, but contrary to popular belief, it doesn't suggest an abandonment of a passing game. Honestly, do you think any coach will look at Warren Jackson, Dante Wright, Nate Craig-Myers, Trey McBride and Cameron Butler and see blockers and decoys? Really?
The offensive line needs work, and Addazio is proven in that area. The running backs needs to produce more, too, so watching for progress there is near the top of the list.
Defensively, I want to see what Chuck Heater's touch is on a unit which finished with a run of seven games of allowing 400 yards of total offense or less. Even still, there is still improvement to be made overall. Even the players know it.
Remember, the group is still relatively young. How do seniors Manny Jones, Ellison Hubbard and Logan Stewart continue to improve, and what growth do we continue to see out of Dequan Jackson, Rashard Ajayi, Camron Carter, Brandon Crossley and Keevan Bailey?
Everything is going to get installed, but how much the Rams really retain will have an impact on player-led practices this summer, as well as fall camp.
Can Brian Bedard's indoor track teams pull off another sweep?
Most definitely. And the push for sustained indoor superiority started today with the women's pentathlon and the men's heptathlon in Albuquerque.
It would be the first time a school went back-to-back with sweeps since New Mexico in 2014-15, but the Rams have the roster to do it.
There's an ability to not only score points in every event, but in a lot of cases, bunch points in an event. The Rams have athletes out to defend titles, even more seeking their first and some looking to double up at the event. The meet, three days in length, will be a grind for the competitors and fast and furious in pace.
If the Rams pull it off, just consider how amazing the program's current run actually is right now. Not only would it be consecutive sweeps of the indoor titles, but with a sweep of the outdoor crowns sandwiched in between. The Mountain West hasn't seen such a feat since BYU swept the indoor and outdoor titles from 2009-11.
You are hosting a party, and you have enough in the pocket for one keg. Which of the beers from the football schedule unveiling are you serving?
First, let's have a hand for Kyle Neaves and Ben Brune for the coming up with idea, and the work of Joe Cooper and his graphics department and RamVision for the unveiling. Unique and spectacular.
Now, if it's my party, it will be on my deck. This means it also has to be in the summer time, say early evening start. That makes it a BBQ. Since we are grilling, I want both assistant football coaches Brian White and Sean Cronin come over to have their rib contest. Both say you can flick the meat off the bones. Both say they make the best ribs.
I want to judge.
Being in the summer, I want my beer cold, which rules out the stout and other darker varieties. Ribs, so no ciders or saisons. I think I'm going with the Lone Wolf Lager.
As we all know, every team plays every other team twice, with the exception of two solo acts against an opponent, which could be home or road.
Head-to-head as a tiebreaker works for me, for everybody. When the next step is what your record is against the best team in the league, then working your way down, you start to logic with the uneven schedule. Teams are going to win tie breakers because their record against a team above them was 0-1 instead of 0-2. So a tiebreaker comes down to a computer-generated schedule.
There has to be a way to play everybody in the league twice and make it work. But that's just me.
Into the bag we go …
Is it still the Border War if the game is played in Nevada?
Excellent. A geography question, one with a philosophical layer, to boot.
As the Mountain West standings look now, Colorado State's men look to be opening the conference tournament against Wyoming. Generally, Wyoming means the Border War because, no matter where they play the game, the border is between them. In Las Vegas, that's not the case.
It reminds me of telling Austin Hannon he was wrong earlier this women's basketball season. He touted the game with Northern Colorado as a crosstown matchup. Really? Greeley and Fort Collins are definitely different towns. The CSU bus didn't just go across town, it went from one town to another, with a couple of other towns in between.
He still thinks he's right. He is not. Feel free to tell him he is not.
I gave this a lot of thought, at least 15-30 seconds, and I'm going to go with a hard no. Without the border, it's not the same. It's definitely still a rivalry game – those emotions travel anywhere – but I'm not going to refer to it as a Border War.
What are you looking for out of Steve Addazio's first spring camp?
The first thing I want to see is the pace of practice. Every coach has a rhythm they want to achieve, and what Mike Bobo did differed from Jim McElwain, who was vastly different from the way Steve Fairchild's practices moved. Addazio said his will be "humming." That's his desire, so they will, but how soon they reach the buzz is part of the equation.
After that, how to they incorporate the inherited talent into their systems and how will they be used. To be sure, a power running game will be the base, but contrary to popular belief, it doesn't suggest an abandonment of a passing game. Honestly, do you think any coach will look at Warren Jackson, Dante Wright, Nate Craig-Myers, Trey McBride and Cameron Butler and see blockers and decoys? Really?
The offensive line needs work, and Addazio is proven in that area. The running backs needs to produce more, too, so watching for progress there is near the top of the list.
Defensively, I want to see what Chuck Heater's touch is on a unit which finished with a run of seven games of allowing 400 yards of total offense or less. Even still, there is still improvement to be made overall. Even the players know it.
Remember, the group is still relatively young. How do seniors Manny Jones, Ellison Hubbard and Logan Stewart continue to improve, and what growth do we continue to see out of Dequan Jackson, Rashard Ajayi, Camron Carter, Brandon Crossley and Keevan Bailey?
Everything is going to get installed, but how much the Rams really retain will have an impact on player-led practices this summer, as well as fall camp.
Can Brian Bedard's indoor track teams pull off another sweep?
Most definitely. And the push for sustained indoor superiority started today with the women's pentathlon and the men's heptathlon in Albuquerque.
It would be the first time a school went back-to-back with sweeps since New Mexico in 2014-15, but the Rams have the roster to do it.
There's an ability to not only score points in every event, but in a lot of cases, bunch points in an event. The Rams have athletes out to defend titles, even more seeking their first and some looking to double up at the event. The meet, three days in length, will be a grind for the competitors and fast and furious in pace.
If the Rams pull it off, just consider how amazing the program's current run actually is right now. Not only would it be consecutive sweeps of the indoor titles, but with a sweep of the outdoor crowns sandwiched in between. The Mountain West hasn't seen such a feat since BYU swept the indoor and outdoor titles from 2009-11.
You are hosting a party, and you have enough in the pocket for one keg. Which of the beers from the football schedule unveiling are you serving?
First, let's have a hand for Kyle Neaves and Ben Brune for the coming up with idea, and the work of Joe Cooper and his graphics department and RamVision for the unveiling. Unique and spectacular.
Now, if it's my party, it will be on my deck. This means it also has to be in the summer time, say early evening start. That makes it a BBQ. Since we are grilling, I want both assistant football coaches Brian White and Sean Cronin come over to have their rib contest. Both say you can flick the meat off the bones. Both say they make the best ribs.
I want to judge.
Being in the summer, I want my beer cold, which rules out the stout and other darker varieties. Ribs, so no ciders or saisons. I think I'm going with the Lone Wolf Lager.
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