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. They are currently led by head coach Larry Eustachy.
The men's basketball team at Colorado State University—then called Colorado Agricultural College—began competing in the 1901–02 season. 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. Colorado State was an inaugural member of the MWC.
The Rams have appeared in ten NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 4–11.
The Rams have appeared in eight National Invitation Tournaments (NIT). Their combined record is 6–8.
The Rams have appeared in one College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Their record is 0–1.
March 13, 1969 in the "Sweet 16" round of the NCAA Tournament: Colorado State beat in-state rival and AP #18 Colorado 64–56.January 19, 1984 at Moby Arena: Colorado State beat AP #5 UTEP 63-51.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.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.December 30, 2003 at Moby Arena: Colorado State hosted AP #22 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. Being that the ball was tipped, the three pointer should not have counted based on 0.7 seconds. However, CSU was awarded the points and won the game by two points.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 2013–14 season, Colorado State leads the series 72–31.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 46–35 lead in the series as of the 2013–14 season. However, in between those years, the two schools continued to play each other regularly.Wyoming: In a rivalry dubbed the "Border War", the Cowboys of the University of Wyoming have a 132–92 series lead over Colorado State as of the start of the 2017 conference season.Outside the MWC, these are noted rivalries:
Colorado: The in-state basketball rivalry pits Colorado State, the only land-grant university in Colorado, against the Buffaloes of the University of Colorado Boulder, the state flagship university and member of the Pac-12 Conference. As of 2013–14, Colorado leads the series 85–37.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 92–68.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 66–35 as of 2014–15, and the two schools have played each other annually since the 2003–04 season.
