Talk of a Colorado-Colorado State rivalry in men’s basketball is generally on a hand-me-down basis. With two second-season coaches and extensive roster turnover, there’s not a whole lot of recent history in the 119-game series.
Colorado senior forward Jermyl Jackson-Wilson and junior guard Dwight Thorne II are the only scholarship holdovers on either club from CSU’s last trip to Boulder — Dec. 9, 2006.
“It’s a game that you have to win,” Jackson-Wilson said. “I’m not saying it makes your season when you win, but it makes it a whole lot better.”
As one of five first-year starters between the Rams and Buffs lineups, CSU freshman point guard Jesse Carr can’t wait to play tonight at the Coors Events Center.
Growing up in the small north-central Nebraska town of Ainsworth, Carr heard of the Buffaloes before he became familiar with CSU. He couldn’t help but notice the Huskers’ rancor directed at CU every Thanksgiving week for the CU-Nebraska football game.
“I don’t think the young guys realize that, no matter what type of season either team is having, fans will come out for it; the schools will get pumped up,” Jackson-Wilson said.
CSU sophomore transfer Andy Ogide, who scored in double digits every game until he started playing with a bad foot against Nevada, at least saw the game in Fort Collins a year ago as a redshirt coming from Ole Miss.
“It definitely has the potential to be a real big rivalry,” Ogide said. “Both schools have new coaches, and in the next couple of years it will be a big-time rivalry.”
CU freshman point guard counterpart Nate Tomlinson grew up in Australia and knew nothing of the rivalry until the Rocky Mountain Showdown football game this year, in which “the atmosphere was unbelievable.”
Something gets lost in translation from the football game at Invesco Field at Mile High to campus arenas in early December. The CU-CSU game usually highlights each school’s nonconference hoops schedule, but the football swarms of intoxicated students and alleged grown-ups melting down the Internet boards with trash talk are largely absent.
With CSU entering the bragging-rights game at 3-5 and CU at 3-3, neither side has much to brag about. CSU has to live down a home loss to Division II Saint Martin’s. CU is coming off a dismal home loss to Texas Christian, picked to finish below CSU in the Mountain West.
“I’m more worried about us than CU,” Rams coach Tim Miles said of some nagging injuries and the inconsistency of youth. “We’re excited about it and look forward to going to Boulder. We also look forward to the day when it is a big game that captures fans’ interest.”
CU coach Jeff Bzdelik is 5-0 against the Rams dating to his two-season Air Force stint. Both coaches know a healthy rivalry of two successful teams will be good for the long-suffering state of college basketball in Colorado.
Miles is particularly interested in staying on friendly terms with Bzdelik. Miles wants to pick the Buffs coach’s brain about Stanford, which beat CU 76-62 last month and plays Sunday at CSU.
“If Jeff is willing to share, God love him,” Miles said.
Staff writer Tom Kensler contributed to this report.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
