Fresh off a sweep of the AAC Tournament, the Memphis Tigers opened the NCAA Tournament against Colorado State on Friday afternoon. The Tigers looked to jumpstart their March Madness journey with a win over the Moutain West Tournament Champions.

Coming into the NCAA Tournament, the expectations for the 2025 Memphis NCAA Tournament were to advance to the bare minimum of the second weekend as this might be one of the most talented Memphis teams since the 2007-2008 team that reached the Final Four and competed for a National Championship against Kansas. With that in mind, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas listed the Tigers as a one-and-a-half-point underdog despite being the reigning AAC Champion of the Tournament and outright regular season. Given that the Tigers were without Tyrese Hunter and Dante Harris as both point guards had to face the injury bug before the matchup with the Colorado State Rams.

Colorado State opened the game against Memphis on a bit of a roll, as the Rams raced out to an early lead, but it was Memphis at the break, and the Tigers took a 36-31 lead over the pesky Rams at the break.

As halftime gave way to a drama-filled second half of play, Memphis struggled to find distance from the Rams. The Tigers held on to a 45-42 lead at the first media timeout of the second half. Following that would be a disaster sequence from the Tigers that led to a 7-0 Colorado State run that forced Coach Penny Hardaway to call a timeout with 13:20 on the clock. As the clock ticked away, the Rams of Colorado State extended the lead to 64-54, forcing the Tigers to call timeout with a little over eight minutes remaining on the game clock. With Moussa Cisse at the line for Memphis, Colorado State held on to a 68-60 at the game’s final media timeout.

The Rams of Colorado State sent the Tigers home with another early exit in the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s the deal: Coach Penny Hardaway and his staff were responsible for today’s loss. They had all the momentum, did much talking beforehand, and couldn’t finish the job. Colorado State is a respectable program, but they were out of the NCAA Tournament until the last two to three weeks. Yet, for whatever reason, the Tigers failed to do their job today; adjustments didn’t happen, in-game coaching was nonexistent, and now the Tigers are heading back to Memphis after another short stay in the NCAA Tournament. Memphis fans have every reason to be upset with the lack of effort from the Memphis Tigers on Friday.

Nobody knows the path forward. According to Coach Penny Hardaway and his staff, this was the year for the Tigers to succeed in the AAC and compete deep in the NCAA Tournament. We’ll see what the transfer portal brings in, but this loss might linger over the program for some time. We’ll see what happens, but until he succeeds in the NCAA Tournament, the cloud over the program will never go away.