Colorado State men’s basketball announced its 2026-27 nonconference schedule Monday, and the Rams could face as many as seven teams that made last year’s NCAA Tournament.
The nonconference portion of the slate includes nine home games along with trips to Boulder and Madison, Wisconsin, as well as the Maui Invitational.
Head coach Ali Farokhmanesh has set up a list of games he hopes will provide a foundation to build upon ahead of Pac-12 Conference play.
“Our goal when building this schedule was to challenge our team with quality opponents that will help us build an NCAA Tournament resume,” Farokhmanesh said in a news release. “Playing at least five, with the potential of up to seven NCAA Tournament programs from last year, definitely meets that goal.
“We have to prepare ourselves for the challenge that is going to be the Pac-12. This schedule gives us great national exposure, including playing in the Maui Invitational.”
CSU will open the season with five straight home games at Moby Arena, beginning Nov. 2 against Montana State. The Rams will then host Idaho on Nov. 6, Portland State on Nov. 11, Loyola Chicago on Nov. 14 and North Dakota State on Nov. 18.
After those first five games, the Rams’ first road trip will be to Maui for the prestigious Maui Invitational from Nov. 23-25. CSU will face Arizona in the opening round, followed by a game against either Providence or VCU. It will then finish against BYU, Clemson, Ole Miss or Washington. Arizona, VCU, BYU and Clemson all competed in the NCAA Tournament last season.
CSU will host UT Arlington on Dec. 1 before traveling to Boulder for the Rocky Mountain Showdown on Dec. 5. The Rams will then host Queens and Wyoming on Dec. 8 and 11, respectively, before taking a trip to the Lone Star State for the Texas Legends Classic. CSU will face former Mountain West Conference rival Nevada on Dec. 18 and Florida Atlantic on Dec. 20.
On Dec. 30, the Rams will play at Wisconsin before concluding nonconference play on Jan. 2 against CSU Pueblo.
Three of CSU’s nine home games are against NCAA Tournament teams from last year — Idaho, North Dakota State and Queens. The entire nonconference schedule will feature at least seven teams that won 20 games last season, and up to nine.
The program’s inaugural Pac-12 schedule will be released at a later date. The conference slate will feature a true 16-game round-robin format against Boise State, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State, Utah State and Washington State.
The Rams are coming off a 21-13 season and an appearance in the NIT. Farokhmanesh became just the third first-year coach in program history to win 20-plus games. The team returns six of its top eight scorers from last season.
