Columbia Lions men's basketball

Columbia Lions
Columbia Lions
	2025–26 Columbia Lions men's basketball team
University	Columbia University
Head coach	Kevin Hovde (1st season)
Conference	Ivy League
Arena	Levien Gymnasium ; (capacity: 2,500)
Nickname	Lions
Colors	Columbia blue and white;
Uniforms
Home	Away
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	1968
NCAA tournament appearances
	1948, 1951, 1968
Pre-tournament Helms champions
	1904, 1905, 1910
Conference regular-season champions
	1904, 1905, 1911, 1912, 1914, 1926, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1968

Last updated December 06, 2025

The Columbia Lions basketball team is the basketball team that represents Columbia University in New York City. The school's team currently competes in the Ivy League. The team's last appearance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was in 1968. The Lions are led by head coach Kevin Hovde. Their home games are held in the Levien Gymnasium.

Columbia began varsity intercollegiate competition in men's basketball in 1901. The Lions have been retroactively designated as national champions for five seasons during the pre-NCAA tournament era (pre-1939), though these claims are not recognized as official titles by the NCAA in the contemporary sense. The Premo-Porretta Power Poll rated Columbia the highest in 1904 and 1905, and the Helms Athletic Foundation listed Columbia as champions for 1904, 1905, and 1910.^[2] While the selections from both the Premo-Porretta Power Poll and the Helms Athletic Foundation are unofficial, the Helms champions are listed in the Official NCAA Men's Basketball Records Book for historical reference.

Postseason results

NCAA tournament results

The Lions have appeared in the NCAA tournament three times. Their combined record is 2–4.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1948	Regional semifinal Third-place game	Kentucky Michigan	L 53–76 L 49–66
1951	First round	Illinois	L 71–79
1968	First round Regional semifinal Third-place game	La Salle Davidson St. Bonaventure	W 83–69 L 59–61 W 95–75

CIT results

The Lions have appeared in two CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). Their combined record is 6–1. They were CIT champions in 2016.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2014	First round Second round Quarterfinals	Valparaiso Eastern Michigan Yale	W 58–56 W 69–56 L 69–72
2016	First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Game	Norfolk State Ball State NJIT UC Irvine	W 86–54 W 69–67 W 80–65 W 73–67

References

↑ "Brand Guide". VisualIdentity.Columbia.edu. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
↑ ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 530–31. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

External links

Official website

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[1] "Brand Guide". VisualIdentity.Columbia.edu. Retrieved April 30, 2024.

[2] ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 530–31. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1]

[2]

v t e Columbia Lions men's basketball
Venues	University Heights Gymnasium Levien Gymnasium (1974–present)
Culture & lore	Gambling scandal Roar, Lion, Roar
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold

v t e Ivy League men's basketball
Teams	Brown Bears Columbia Lions Cornell Big Red Dartmouth Big Green Harvard Crimson Penn Quakers Princeton Tigers Yale Bulldogs
Championships & awards	Conference tournament Player of the Year
Seasons	1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25