DENVER (KDVR) — Only six days after winning their first Mountain West Conference title in 22 years, the Colorado State University-Fort Collins Men’s Basketball team will tee off against the Memphis Tigers in Seattle for their first game of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Memphis enters the tournament as a 5-seed and CSU heads in as a 12-seed. Both teams enter March Madness on the back of winning their respective conference championships with Memphis taking home the American Athletic Conference and CSU winning the Mountain West Conference.
How to watch CSU vs. Memphis on TV
The teams will play at the neutral site, the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
Tip-off: Friday, Noon — MT
Channel: TBS
Tip-off between CSU and Memphis takes place Friday at noon MT in Seattle.
Tickets for CSU vs. Memphis
If following the Rams to Seattle and trying to find a last-minute ticket, don’t worry about putting a dent in your pocket as tickets are listed on SeatGeek starting at $34 and Ticketmaster listings start at $39.
Things to know about the opening game
The Rams are 19-4 against MWC teams. Colorado State averages 75.2 points and has outscored opponents by 8.1 points per game.
The Tigers are 19-2 against AAC opponents and 10-3 in non-conference play. Memphis ranks sixth in the AAC with 23.7 defensive rebounds per game led by PJ Haggerty averaging 4.6.
Both teams enter the tournament on a hot streak, having won their respective conferences. Over the last 10 games, both teams have performed well, with the streaking Rams going 10-0 and the Tigers 9-1.
Rams: 10-0, averaging 78.3 points, 29.0 rebounds, 17.1 assists, 5.8 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 52.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 61.4 points.
Tigers: 9-1, averaging 81.9 points, 40.2 rebounds, 15.9 assists, 7.9 steals and 5.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.4 points per game.
Both teams are led by players with some hot hands.
Rams: Nique Clifford is scoring 19.0 points per game with 9.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists for the Rams. Kyan Evans is averaging 13 points and 3.4 assists over the past 10 games.
Clifford is attracting the eye of many NBA scouts, being projected as a first-round pick in the 2025 NBA draft, according to the Bleacher Report Draftboard, and a strong tournament performance may only increase his reputation.
Tigers: Haggerty is averaging 21.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals for the Tigers. Dain Dainja is averaging 18.9 points over the last 10 games.
Odds: Even though CSU is the lower seed entering the game, the team is favored to take home the win, according to BETMGM Sportbook Line.
Rams -1.5; over/under — 147.5
The winning team will go on to play against the winner of the Maryland and Grand Canyon University game.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
