Renck: This was CSU experience in full — bursting bubbles with great coach, unselfish group

More bubbles, less troubles.

Colorado State lives in its own bubble in March, and it always seems to work out. The only sign of panic before Saturday’s Mountain West tournament championship game? President Amy Parsons joyfully dancing with the cheerleaders to Sleepy Hallow’s “Anxiety” by the school bus.

The Rams throttled Boise State 69-56 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, crushing dreams and bursting bubbles as a bid stealer.

It is time for March RAMadness. Again.

CSU storms back to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in seven years. The only downside is that it gives Minnesota another reason to snatch alum Niko Medved, a winning coach with integrity and a rolled-up-sleeves work ethic.

That is a conversation for another time. Saturday was about the Rams clobbering critics over the head, winning their first conference tournament since 2003 with their 10th straight victory.

Hot? Just writing about this team requires oven mitts.

“Oooh, man. It’s a blessing,” said Nique Clifford, the future first-round NBA pick who poured in 26 points, on CBS after the game. “We were No. 7 (in the conference poll) at the beginning of the season. And all of my teammates, we just kept working for this moment. I am just so proud of our guys.”

In warmups for their third game in three days, this one on roughly five hours sleep, the Rams wore green shirts emblazoned with the words: “Doubt Us.”

Let there be no doubt: No matter how the Rams play this week, they put together one of the most improbable runs in school history, if not our state’s annals of college basketball.

Who else can make a better case? This month set up as a March of Embarrassment with Ball Arena hosting a sub-regional and no local teams competing in the tournament.

The Rams owned a 5-5 record after a loss to VCU on Dec. 14. That resume does not inspire the renting of tuxes for the Big Dance. But the way Medved tells it, the Rams needed adversity to find their identity.

Instead of looking for the light at the end of the transfer portal, his players stared in the mirror, making no excuses.

“This is just surreal. This is why I coach. The amount of growth of this group from where we were at in November and December, every time I asked for more they would give it to us,” said Medved after the Rams recorded back-to-back tournament berths for the first time since 2012-2013. “It’s an incredible story of resilience, of putting the team over self.”

How did State become Colorado’s team? You start by changing the lineup. At San Jose State, Ethan Horton did not make the trip because of an illness. The Rams crushed the Spartans by 22 points. The pieces were starting to fit, including Horton carving a niche off the bench.

“After that, everything started to click,” said Mike Rowe, co-host of the RamNation podcast. “You just saw a complete change in how the team looked in the non-conference games.”

Then Clifford started to look more and more like Dominque Wilkins, the player he was named after. He always lived above the rim. But now he was driving like he was the Autobahn and sinking 3s with a cold-blooded mentality. The Rams started picking off teams. They buried Utah State. And broomed Boise.

It’s no wonder they were not losing any fingernails about facing the Broncos on Saturday. Medved operates with a slow heartbeat, more concerned with making something happen than fretting over what might not.

“They have a quiet confidence. They know their job in front of them and are laser-focused,” athletic director John Weber told The Post on Saturday before hustling off to a pep rallying in Las Vegas. “Niko and his coaches and players have worked so incredibly hard to get here.”

Weber figured he would see a heavyweight bout since Boise State was not a lock for the tournament with a loss. Instead, the Rams put the Broncos in bubble wrap with a suffocating defense. Tyson Degenhart, Boise’s all-time leading scorer, was a rumor. The Rams held a 30-22 lead at half, remarkable when you consider their starters missed 17 of 21 shots.

But this was the CSU experience in full under Medved. Win on the boards. Take care of the ball. And when your shoulder is tapped, play like you belong. Bowen Born delivered three 3s, providing the type of energy usually associated with a Red Bull.

This win demonstrated why Big Ten schools will be calling about Medved — especially Minnesota, where he began his coaching career as a student manager. This roster has one NBA player and lost a star in Isaiah Stevens, whose number belongs in the rafters — and got better.

It is a team without ego and full of grinders. They dive for loose balls. They cut off lanes to the basket. And they play for each other.

It is the secret sauce of any special group — taking ownership. The Rams don’t panic. They had every reason to grouse about Saturday’s quick turnaround, about being an underdog for a second straight game, about some suspect calls — and shots — that left them without a point for the first five minutes.

But then the reserves took the baton until Clifford took over.

Selection Sunday is Selection Funday. The Rams will play on. Bursting bubbles is what they do.

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