A year ago at this time, Moby Arena in Fort Collins was rocking. Night-in and night-out, the crowds and the competition was spirited, and “Moby Madness” was a very real thing.

The Colorado State Rams men’s basketball team was playing in front of packed houses, and head coach Niko Medved’s team was battling for a Mountain West title – and a spot in the NCAA tournament. They would eventually win the MW conference tournament title, and after knocking off Memphis, advanced to the round of 32 against Maryland, where a last-second prayer shot from future NBA first-round pick Derik Queen was answered, sending the Rams home.

The next day, Medved took the job at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota, and a brand new chapter of CSU basketball, led by longtime assistant coach Ali Farokhmanesh, began.

Fast forward to this season. There was virtually no chance the Rams could duplicate what they did in 2025, especially after losing several key players to graduation and the transfer portal (and ‘Nique Clifford to the NBA) Still, they got off to a sizzling start, including beating rival Colorado in Moby in early December. At 9-2, a return trip to March Madness looked like a decent bet.

But things tend to even out, especially when you live and die by the three-point shot. And on a Saturday night in early February, with Moby half-full and last year’s buzz audibly absent – and on the very same night when Clifford was putting up his first 30-point game in the NBA for the Sacramento Kings – these Rams slogged past former CSU head coach Tim Miles and his depleted San Jose State Spartans to get to 13-10, but remained only 4-8 in MW play.

What a difference a year makes.

Still, it sort of had to be this way.

Farokhmanesh, a first-time, first-year head coach, has watched his shooters struggle badly from behind the arc in recent games. To his credit, he’s adjusted somewhat from the kind of “three-pointer free-for-all” approach that was successful in taking down the Buffs early in the year, to a team that has had to put more focus on getting into the paint, even if his undersized team isn’t really built to play that way.

The first thing even a longtime first-chair assistant coach learns – in any sport – is how much you don’t yet know. So even with his seven seasons as an assistant and his years of stability in Fort Collins – plus his basketball pedigree from his days as a March Madness sharpshooting hero at Northern Iowa – this year remains uncharted waters for the native of Pullman, Washington. It’s all about what he learns this season and how he can adapt his program for the move into the revamped Pac 12 next season that matters most now.

San Jose State won’t be on the schedule anymore. Neither will Air Force, a team the Rams took care of Tuesday night in Colorado Springs. They got back to hitting threes, and captured their 14th conference win.

When they eventually reach the offseason, Farokhmanesh and his staff will need to start their Pac 12 tenure by building a better roster. They can’t have a great supporting cast if they don’t have a star (like Clifford or Isaiah Stevens) to support. For the first time in eight seasons, the Rams won’t have an All-Conference selection. Moving into a league that will include perennial national title contender Gonzaga as well as San Diego State, Boise State and others, CSU needs a few better “Jimmys and Joes” to go along with the head coach’s improving grasp of the X’s and O’s.

A redux of Moby Madness is not guaranteed for next year, but it is most certainly possible.