This week, the Colorado State Rams men's basketball team is going dancing.

For the first time since 2013, the Colorado State Rams have earned themselves a spot in the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

The Rams received their bid into the tournament on Sunday, Mar. 13 during Selection Sunday, which is when the full bracket for the 68-team NCAA men's basketball tournament is revealed.

What Is The NCAA Tournament?

The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament - often referred to and more popularly known as "March Madness" - is a single-elimination college basketball tournament that takes place annually each spring.

Since 1939, 68 college basketball teams representing conferences from around the country compete in seven rounds of tournament-style games to obtain the national championship title in men's college basketball.

According to Mike Brohard with Colorado State Athletics, this will be the Rams' 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the first coming in 1954.

As far as tournament stats are concerned, the Rams are 4-11 overall, the last victory coming from their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2013 when they beat Missouri in the opening round.

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The Colorado State Rams, who are sitting with a 25-5 overall record after most recently losing to the San Diego State Aztecs during the 2022 Mountain West Tournament semifinals in Las Vegas, are entering the NCAA tournament as a No. 6 seed in the South Region.

It is the highest seed for the program since being a No. 8 in 2013.

The Rams will face No. 11 Michigan this Thursday, Mar. 17 in Indianapolis, IN; should the Rams secure a win against the Wolverines on Thursday, they would face the winner of the No. 3 Tennessee/No. 14 Longwood matchup on Saturday, Mar. 19.

Players + Ram Fans React To 2022 NCAA Tournament Bid

"For a while there, it was maybe a little bit of the same feeling, like when it first gets going, but when I saw our team pop up, oh man, I started to feel excited," Colorado State junior guard Isaish Stevens said.

"When our logo popped up on the screen, it was just an unbelievable feeling. It's a sense of shock that I hope I get to feel more and more again... I felt like we were in, based on our resume, which is a great feeling to have, but at the same time, you never really know until you see it. I'm really excited for the opportunity in front of me."

"I think it's a testament that we really tried to schedule up in non-conference," CSU men's basketball head coach Niko Medved said in response to finding out his stalwart Rams would not only be dancing, but had earned its highest seeding in program history.

"We put ourselves out there, and I think that's well documented. Then we were fortunate to have some success when we did that; I don't think we lost a game in the non-league, and I think we got rewarded for that. I think the committee wants to see people go out there and schedule."

This year, four teams from the Mountain West Conference received bids into the NCAA men's basketball tournament, including the Boise State Broncos and the San Diego State Aztecs who both earned eight seeds, while the Wyoming Cowboys just made it into the big dance as part of the first four teams out.

"It's awesome," Medved said on Sunday, as per CSU Athletics. "I think it helps the brand of the league. The league is tremendous. When I came back here to be the head coach, I felt like the Mountain West was on an upward trajectory.

I think that's what you're seeing. It's really cool. All of those teams deserve to be in it. I know from playing them and being there night in and night out. It's a testament to our league."

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