College Sports in Colorado

Top colleges in Colorado ranked based on how well they perform in college sports.
 

The University of Colorado is clearly the flagship school for Colorado athletics with membership in the Pac-12. The Buffaloes are constantly in contention for bowl games and have been decent in basketball over the past decade with five appearances in the last nine NCAA Tournaments. Colorado State is the clear second choice with strong mid-major athletics in both football and basketball. Air Force football is the best program at the academy, though it has had some struggles over the past few years. Meanwhile, both Denver and Northern Colorado have specific good programs, but most are an afterthought in the state.

Colorado schools have historically struggled in college basketball with none of the five Division I schools finding much success at this level. Denver has not played in the Division I tournament since upgrading its programs in 1999 while Northern Colorado has played in only the 2011 tournament. Meanwhile, Air Force has earned a bid to just two NCAA Tournaments since man landed on the moon. Colorado has the most success of any of the schools with five invites over the last nine tournaments, but it has not advanced out of the first weekend since 1955 when the tournament only had 16 teams. The Buffaloes have won two games in the tournament over the past decade and went on long NIT runs in 2011 and 2019. Colorado State won consecutive tournament berths in 2012 and 2013 but didn't win a game in either tournament. It did, however, have an impressive run in the 2021 NIT.

Only four of the Colorado schools field football teams and only three of them are FBS programs. Northern Colorado plays in the Big Sky, which is an FCS conference and has just two winning seasons in any year since moving up to Division I in 2004. Colorado is the biggest school in the state, but its recent football history has been scattered with just two bowl appearances since 2007. Colorado State went bowling games every year from 2013-2017 but hasn't been back since that season. Air Force has won at least 10 games three times in the last decade and is 107-75 under Troy Calhoun, who took over in 2007.

Only Air Force and Northern Colorado field baseball teams are among the Colorado schools and neither program has had much success in the past two decades. The 2021 season was only Air Force's third winning season since 1995 while the Bears have three winning seasons in the last decade.

Hockey has exploded in Colorado with three teams playing Division I hockey in the state. The most successful has by far been Denver, which won national championships in 2004, 2005, and 2017. The Pioneers qualified for the Frozen Four three times in four years (2016, 2017, and 2019) and qualified for every NCAA Tournament between 2008 and 2019 and 15 of the past 19. Air Force has had some solid success with seven tournament appearances since 2007 with three appearances in the regional final. Colorado College is in one of the most difficult conferences in college hockey, and its record shows it at times. However, the Tigers have played in the NCAA Tournament seven times since 2000, including advancing to the Frozen Four in 2005.