The College World Series (CWS) is an exciting event for baseball fans. Every June, eight teams embark to Omaha to determine the NCAA’s Division I national baseball champion. These eight teams reach the College World Series by first being selected for the NCAA Division I tournament and then advancing through regional and super regional brackets.
Unfortunately, Colorado baseball fans have little to no chance of seeing one of their state’s college teams make it to Omaha. In fact, Colorado is one of the worst college baseball states in the nation. The University of Colorado, Colorado State University, and the University of Denver all dropped their baseball programs decades ago. Air Force has a D-I program but that’s more of a national institution than a state one. The University of Northern Colorado has a D-I baseball team but it’s poorly funded and plays in the Summit League, a low-level D-I conference.
It wasn’t always this way. In the 1960s, 70s, and early 80s, CSU, DU and CU had major college baseball programs. UNC was a baseball power from the 50s through the 70s. CU, CSU and DU (along with Wyoming) dropped baseball long before the turn of the century. Meanwhile, while UNC still fields a team, the program was downgraded when the school deemphasized the sport in the mid 80s. This despite UNC having a nice baseball tradition.
From 1952 to 1974, UNC played in the CWS 10 times. On June 1, 1974, in the NCAA baseball District 7 playoffs in Greeley, UNC beat No. 1-ranked Arizona, defeating the Wildcats 6-2 to earn a trip to the College World Series. The Bears, who swept Gonzaga to reach the finals, improved to 31-11 on the season and ended Arizona’s season with a 58-6 record in one of the all-time upsets in NCAA baseball history.
The only other Colorado university to make the College World Series is Colorado State, way back in 1950. Neither CU nor Air Force has played in the CWS. (Wyoming made it once, in 1956.)
The sad thing is, the state of Colorado has a lot of top-level high school baseball players. But the vast majority are forced to leave the state if they want to play at the highest level in college.
When CU was in the PAC-12 conference, they were the only school that didn’t field a baseball team. Even Utah, another school in the Rocky Mountains, fields a baseball team. In CU’s new conference, the Big 12, only CU and Iowa State don’t field baseball teams. CSU will be joining the new PAC-12 in July 2026. Only CSU, Utah State and Boise State won’t have baseball teams. DU will be joining the West Coast Conference in July 2026. They will be the only school in that conference without a baseball team.
The fact CU, CSU and DU don’t field baseball teams is just sad. And the fact UNC won’t fully fund its baseball program is disappointing. If any one of those schools made a full commitment to competing in NCAA Division I baseball, they would quickly be able to land the majority of Colorado’s top high school talent. That would provide a nice foundation for a competitive program.
In the meantime, Colorado college baseball fans are left to cheer for schools from other states when it’s College World Series time.
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