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Colorado State’s men’s basketball program will play 16 regular-season games at Moby Arena, as head coach Larry Eustachy announced the non-conference portion of the schedule today. The Rams will face 12 teams that competed in the postseason last year, with more than half of the games this season versus those foes.

“This is definitely a challenging schedule for our program,” Eustachy said. “To play five NCAA Tournament teams in non-conference action will test our young squad and truly shows how relevant nationally our program has become in our five years here. It will also help us really prepare for the rigors of conference play. We will learn a lot about our team in the early stages of the season and see how they develop over the year.”

After an exhibition game with Colorado Mesa on Nov. 3, Colorado State will open the regular season at home, taking on Sacramento State on Fri., Nov. 10. The Rams will then take part in the inaugural Jamaica Classic, hosting defending Big South Conference champion Winthrop on Nov. 14 as one of two hosted games in the event. CSU will then travel to Montego Bay to play Tulane and Florida State, who played in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, on Nov. 17 and 19, respectively. The squad returns to the mainland for a road game at reigning Western Athletic Conference champ New Mexico State on Nov. 22, followed by the second home game of the Jamaica Classic, a tilt with Northwestern State (La.) on Nov. 24.

The annual Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge game for CSU happens on Nov. 28, as the Rams travel to Springfield, Mo., to play Missouri State. Following that, the next three opponents are all Power 5 schools, as the Rams host in-state rival and 2017 NIT squad Colorado on Dec. 3, followed by road games at 2017 NCAA tournament team Arkansas on Dec. 5 and 2017 Final Four participant Oregon on Dec. 8. The final three non-conference contests are all at Moby Arena after final exams, as CSU hosts Texas State (Dec. 17), Arkansas Fort Smith (Dec. 19) and Long Beach State (Dec. 23) before Mountain West play opens Dec. 27 at Boise State.

The annual MW Men’s Basketball Championship will open on March 7 with three games at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev., with the title game for the league’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth played on Saturday, March 10 at 3 p.m. PT on CBS.

This schedule is subject to change based on the selection of games by the Mountain West national television partners. CBS Sports Network and ESPN will initiate a selection procedure which will include the shifting of select Wednesday games to Tuesday and Saturday games to Sunday. The national television selections are expected to be completed in the next several weeks. Regional partner AT&T SportsNet/ROOT Sports – Northwest Region and Mountain West Network on STADIUM will begin their picks after the national television lineup has been announced.

The remaining individual MW institutions will complete release of their non-conference schedules in the coming weeks. Game times will be set once all broadcast networks finalize their selections.

2017-18 Colorado State Men’s Basketball Schedule
Fri., Nov. 3 – COLORADO MESA (Exh.)
Fri., Nov. 10 – SACRAMENTO STATE
Tue., Nov. 14 – WINTHROP ^
Fri., Nov. 17 – vs. Tulane ^
Sun., Nov. 19 – vs. Florida State ^
Wed., Nov. 22 – at New Mexico State
Fri., Nov. 24 – NORTHWESTERN STATE (LA.) ^
Tue., Nov. 28 – at Missouri State #
Sat., Dec. 2 – COLORADO
Tue., Dec. 5 – at Arkansas
Fri., Dec. 8 – at Oregon
Sun., Dec. 17 – TEXAS STATE
Tue., Dec. 19 – ARKANSAS FORT SMITH
Sat., Dec. 23 – LONG BEACH STATE
Wed., Dec. 27 – at Boise State*
Sat., Dec. 30 – at San Jose State*
Wed., Jan. 3 – SAN DIEGO STATE*
Sat., Jan. 6 – FRESNO STATE*
Wed., Jan. 10 – at Utah State*
Sat., Jan. 13 – at Wyoming*
Wed., Jan. 17 – AIR FORCE*
Sat., Jan. 20 – UNLV* (Orange Out)
Wed., Jan. 24 – at San Diego State*
Sat., Jan. 27 – at New Mexico*
Wed., Jan. 31 – WYOMING*
Sat., Feb. 3 – NEVADA* (White Out)
Wed., Feb. 7 – at Air Force*
Sat., Feb. 10 – SAN JOSE STATE*
Sat., Feb. 17 – at Fresno State*
Wed., Feb. 21 – BOISE STATE*
Sun., Feb. 25 – at Nevada*
Wed., Feb. 28 – NEW MEXICO*
Wed.-Sat., March 7-10 – at Mountain West Championship (Las Vegas, Nev.)

* Mountain West Conference games
^  Jamaica Classic (2 games home, 2 games in Montego Bay, Jamaica)
# Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge