As a sports broadcaster, we are obligated to introduce ranked teams during a broadcast as such if they are one of the top 25 teams in the country. So far this year, in all the games I have worked, Colorado Mesa University has been looking in from the outside of the rankings…in every single sport.
At this time of year, midway through October, CMU tends to have multiple sports within the Top 25 of the NCAA Division II rankings. Normally teams like men’s soccer, volleyball and football are considered one of the top tier teams in the nation, however, almost eight weeks into the semester, CMU is yet to make a mark.
Football has not been associated as a consistently ranked team since 2017. After three crushing defeats this year, Russ Martin and his team are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the third straight season. The loss against Western Colorado University back on Sept. 21 may have sealed the Mavericks’ fate before the season even reached its halfway point.
Some would argue that volleyball has been the biggest surprise this season after winning the RMAC Tournament in 2018. CMU started the year 4-4 after being swept three times in the Drury Invite back in early September. All but one of the six losses has been over in three sets with the exception of the crucial five-set loss against CSU-Pueblo on Sept. 21.
Since the loss in Pueblo, the Mavericks have gone 4-1 and have revitalized their season which started out with a tremendous stumbling block. The RMAC isn’t the easiest of conferences either. MSU-Denver, Colorado Mines and Regis all are ahead of the Mavericks and both MSU-D and Mines have dipped their toes in the Top 25.
Men’s soccer should be ranked out of all the current sports in competition, but for some apparent reason, they aren’t. CMU’s only loss came against Eastern New Mexico in the first game of the season, however, the Greyhounds are the only ranked opponent the Mavericks have played this year. They’re only notable despite their 6-1-2 record, their only notable wins have come against Northwest Nazarene and CSU-Pueblo.
They did get a respectable tie against Westminster back on Oct. 6 and that should help them receive some votes. The Mavericks are starting to get some sizable rhythm going so don’t be surprised if they are the first team to break the top 25 here in near time.
Out of their current wins, only two opponents currently has a winning record. CMU did compete against Fort Lewis back on Sept. 20 and the Skyhawks were undefeated but that game ended in a 1-1 tie.
Other sports such as women’s soccer and cross country also remain unranked. Women’s soccer is working on building their way up the RMAC rankings while both women’s and men’s cross country constantly face teams from the conference that currently has three schools ranked in the top 25 (UCCS, Western and Colorado Mines).
It wouldn’t be harsh to say 2019 has been off to a slow start and the majority of varsity sports aren’t performing to their truest potential. We can only hope things will start to change when the second half of the semester kicks off, or else 2019 really could be one the biggest disappointing seasons the CMU athletic department has seen in recent memory.
