Colorado State fans have had a rough 24 hours. On Sunday night, the Rams were bounced from the second round of the NCAA Tournament on a buzzer-beater from Maryland’s Derik Queen, a play now shrouded in travel arguments, and on Monday morning they’re getting even worse news.
NEWS: Minnesota is expected to hire Colorado State's Niko Medved as its new head coach, sources told ESPN. Medved has led the Rams to the NCAA tournament in three of the last four seasons, winning a game in each of the last two. Went 143-85 during his time in Fort Collins.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 24, 2025
Niko Medved set to become the next head coach at Minnesota
After seven successful seasons at Colorado State, Medved is heading back to his alma mater, where he was an assistant coach in 2006-07 before heading to Colorado State as an assistant to Tim Miles. Medved has led the Rams to the NCAA Tournament three times in the last four seasons, winning the Mountain West Tournament for the first time in 2025.
A dream season for Colorado State is ending on a sour note as Medved bolts for a Power Conference gig. The Rams began the season 5-5, but were one of the hottest teams in the country down the stretch, winning 11 straight games including a first-round NCAA Tournament victory over No. 5 seed Memphis. The win was the program’s first in the Tournament since 2013, and the Rams were one of March Madness’s only hopes for a Cinderella story.
For the first time since 2007, no double-digit seed advanced to the Sweet 16, and for the first time in history, the Sweet 16 is entirely comprised of teams from just four conferences: the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC.
It’s still a small sample size, but a similar trend began in last year’s NCAA Tournament as the NIL era and transfer portal consolidate the sport’s talent at the Power Conference level. Perhaps Medved is reading the tea leaves all around him as he and other mid-major success stories like Ben McCollum who led Drake to a first-round upset over Missouri and is replacing Fran McCaffery at Iowa, head for the fertile fundraising grounds of the Big Ten. Or perhaps Medved is finally ready to head home and save his alma mater’s basketball program with his first shot in a Power Conference.
Minnesota has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2019 under Richard Pitino, who led New Mexico to the Mountain West regular season title this season. Ben Johnson produced just one winning season over his four-year tenure in Minneapolis, going 15-17 before being fired after a Big Ten Tournament exit this month.
Medved always made sense as Minnesota’s next hire, and with this deal coming together so quickly after Colorado State’s exit, Minnesota had to be rooting on Maryland and celebrating Queen’s buzzer-beater on Sunday night just hours before the transfer portal officially opened.