Two Colorado college basketball teams have their sights set on glory as the NCAA released its March Madness brackets Sunday.
The Colorado State University men's team earned a sixth-seed bid for their first appearance in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament since 2013 — and Niko Medved's first appearance in his four years as head coach of the Rams. The bid came moments after CSU announced they'd keep Medved on through the 2028-29 season. The Rams will face the 11th seed Michigan Wolverines (17-14) in Indianapolis on Thursday.
Over in Boulder, CU's women's basketball team was awarded a seventh-seed bid. Like CSU's men's team, it's also the first time CU's women's team has been named to the NCAA Tournament since 2013. The Colorado women's team (22-8) will play the 10th-seed Creighton Bluejays (20-8) on Friday in Iowa City, Iowa.
"All week we felt like we did what we needed to do to have our name called," said CU Women's Basketball head coach Jr Payne. "There is really nothing that compares to seeing your name actually pop up. I think the black and gold kind of shook everybody for a second, but we're really honored and excited for the opportunity."
Elsewhere in the region, the University of Wyoming men's team (25-8) punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 and were given 12th seed and a First Four appearance. This is also head coach Jeff Linder's first tournament appearance in his second year at the helm in Laramie. The Cowboys will face Indiana (20-13), also a 12th seed, in a play-in match up on Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio. The winner will take on fifth-seed St. Mary's.
