Colorado State Rams men's basketball

The Colorado State Rams men's basketball team represents Colorado State University, located in Fort Collins, in the U.S. state of Colorado, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They play their home games at the Moby Arena and are members of the Mountain West Conference. The Rams have appeared 13 times in the NCAA tournament, most recently in 2025.

Colorado State Rams men's basketball
2024–25 Colorado State Rams men's basketball team
University	Colorado State University
Head coach	Ali Farokhmanesh (1st season)
Conference	Mountain West (Pac-12 in 2026–27)
Location	Fort Collins, Colorado
Arena	Moby Arena (capacity: 8,083)
Nickname	Rams
Colors	Green and gold[1]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1969
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1954, 1969
NCAA tournament appearances
1954, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1989, 1990, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2022, 2024, 2025
Conference tournament champions
Mountain West 2003, 2025
Conference regular-season champions
WAC 1989, 1990 Skyline 1954, 1961

History

The men's basketball team at Colorado State University—then called Colorado Agricultural College—began competing in the 1901–02 season.^[2] The school became a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in the 1910–11 season, and followed most of the larger schools in that conference into the Mountain States Conference in the 1938–39 season and stayed in the conference until 1961–62. Colorado State then joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in 1969–70. After 20 seasons in the WAC, Colorado State moved to its current MWC in 1999–00.^[2] Colorado State was an inaugural member of the MWC.^[3]

Postseason

NCAA tournament results

The Rams have appeared in 12 NCAA Tournaments, with a combined record of 5–13.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result/Score
1954		Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place	Santa Clara Idaho State	L 50–73 L 57–62
1963		Round of 25	Oklahoma City	L 67–70
1965		Round of 23	Oklahoma City	L 68–70
1966		Round of 22	Houston	L 76–82
1969		Round of 25 Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	Dayton #18 Colorado #11 Drake	W 52–50 W 64–56 L 77–84
1989	10 MW	Round of 64 Round of 32	(7) Florida (2) #7 Syracuse	W 68–46 L 50–65
1990	10 W	Round of 64	(7) Alabama	L 54–71
2003	14 W	Round of 64	(3) #7 Duke	L 57–67
2012	11 W	Round of 64	(6) Murray State	L 41–58
2013	8 MW	Round of 64 Round of 32	(9) Missouri (1) #2 Louisville	W 84–72 L 56–82
2022	6 S	Round of 64	(11) Michigan	L 63–75
2024	10 MW	First Four Round of 64	(10) Virginia (7) Texas	W 67–42 L 44–56
2025	12 W	Round of 64 Round of 32	(5) #16 Memphis (4) #11 Maryland	W 78–70 L 71–72

NIT results

The Rams have appeared in 10 National Invitation Tournaments (NIT), with a combined record of 9–11.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result/Score
1961	Quarterfinals	Saint Louis	L 53–59
1962	First Round	Holy Cross	L 71–72
1988	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	New Orleans Houston Arkansas State Ohio State Boston College	W 63–54 W 71–61 W 69–49 L 62–64 W 58–57
1996	First Round	Nebraska	L 83–91
1998	First Round	Minnesota	L 65–77
1999	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals	Mississippi State Colorado California	W 69–56 W 86–76 L 62–71
2011	First Round	Fairfield	L 60–62
2015	First Round	South Dakota State	L 76–86
2017	First Round Second Round	Charleston California State, Bakersfield	W 81–74 L 63–81
2021	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Buffalo NC State Memphis Louisiana Tech	W 75–73 W 65–61 L 67–90 L 74–76

CBI results

The Rams have appeared in one College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and lost the opener.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result/Score
2010	First Round	Morehead State	L 60–74

Notable games

• March 13, 1969, in the "Sweet 16" round of the NCAA tournament: Colorado State beat in-state rival and AP #18^[4] Colorado 64–56.^[5]
• January 19, 1984, at Moby Arena: Colorado State beat AP #5 UTEP 63–51.^[6]
• December 29, 1989, at McNichols Sports Arena: Colorado State beat AP #24 North Carolina 78–67 in the Mile High Classic, a four-team tournament in Denver also featuring Colorado and Massachusetts. Colorado State beat Massachusetts the next night to win the tournament.^[7]
• December 22, 1999, at the Cannon Activities Center at Laie, Hawaii: In a Pearl Harbor Classic tournament game, Colorado State upset AP #18 UCLA 55–54. John Ford made a free throw with 23 seconds left that turned out to be the winning margin.^[8]
• December 30, 2003, at Moby Arena: Colorado State hosted AP #22^[9] Purdue. Down 4 points with 7 seconds left, Colorado State committed a foul. In the double bonus, Purdue missed both free throws. CSU scored a three pointer with 0.7 seconds left. The ensuing Purdue inbound pass was tipped; the ball fell into the hands of Michael Moris who shot the game winning three pointer at the buzzer. The game was not televised. CSU was awarded the points and won the game by two points.^[10][11]
• March 21, 2013, in the "Round of 64" of the NCAA tournament: Colorado State beat #9 seed Missouri 84–72 to advance to the Round of 32.^[12]
• January 2, 2021, at Viejas Arena: Colorado State came back from a 26-point deficit to beat San Diego State 70–67, the largest comeback in Mountain West history.^[13]
• November 22, 2021, at Sports and Fitness Center: After trailing Northeastern by 20 points early in the second half of the 2021 Paradise Jam tournament championship game, the Rams put together a comeback and outscored the Huskies 47–17 in the final 17 minutes to win the game — and the tournament — 71–61. David Roddy, who scored 27 points — and averaged 31 points a game — was named the MVP of the tournament.^[14]
• November 23, 2023, at T-Mobile Center: Colorado State upset AP #8 Creighton 69–48 in the Hall of Fame Classic championship game. It was the Rams first win over a top 10 opponent since upsetting AP #5 UTEP in 1984. Isaiah Stevens, who scored 20 points, seven rebounds, and six assists – was named MVP of the tournament.
• March 15, 2025, at the Thomas & Mack Center: Colorado State won its first Mountain West Conference title since 2003 69-56. Slated to finish No. 7 in the conference at the beginning of the season, CSU ended up sweeping three of the six teams seated above it throughout the season (Boise State, Nevada and UNLV). Nique Clifford — the MVP of the tournament — scored 24 points.^[15]

Rivalries

Within the Mountain West Conference, Colorado State has notable rivalries with these schools:

• Air Force: Colorado State has an in-state rivalry with the Falcons of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. As of the 2024–25 season, Colorado State leads the series 91–34.^[16][17]
• Utah State: Colorado State and the Aggies of Utah State University were rivals in the Mountain States Conference from the 1939–40 to 1961–62 seasons. Beginning in the 2013–14 season, the two schools again competed in the same conference, the Mountain West. Utah State has a 60–44 lead in the series as of the 2024–25 season.^[18][19]
• Wyoming: In a rivalry dubbed the "Border War",^[20] the Cowboys of the University of Wyoming have a 138–105 series lead over Colorado State as of the conclusion of the 2024–25 season.^[21][22][23]

Outside the MW, these are noted rivalries:

• Colorado: This in-state basketball rivalry pits Colorado State against Colorado, a member of the Big 12 Conference. As of 2024, Colorado leads the series 94–41.^[24]
• Denver: Also in-state, this rivalry is against the Pioneers of the University of Denver, a member of The Summit League. Colorado State leads the all-time series 96–68 as of 2024.^[25][26]
• Northern Colorado: This rivalry pits Colorado State against the Bears of the University of Northern Colorado, a member of the Big Sky Conference in Greeley, another city in the Northern Colorado region. Colorado State leads the series 70–38 as of 2023.^[27]

Players

NBA

12 former Colorado State players have appeared in the National Basketball Association or American Basketball Association:

• Gian Clavell
• Pat Durham
• Rick Fisher
• Eddie Hughes
• Stanton Kidd
• John O'Boyle
• Milt Palacio
• David Roddy
• Bob Rule
• Dale Schlueter
• Jason Smith
• Lonnie Wright