Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball

Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball
Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball
	2024–25 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team
University	University of Northern Colorado
Head coach	Steve Smiley (5th season)
Conference	Big Sky
Location	Greeley, Colorado
Arena	Bank of Colorado Arena ; (capacity: 2,992)
Nickname	Bears
Colors	Blue and gold;
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	Division II ; 1989
NCAA tournament round of 32
	Division II ; 1964, 1965, 1966, 1989
NCAA tournament appearances
	Division II ; 1964, 1965, 1966, 1989; Division I; 2011*
Conference tournament champions
	2011*
Conference regular season champions
	2011*, 2025
	* - vacated by NCAA

Last updated March 23, 2025

The Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents University of Northern Colorado (UNC) in Greeley, Colorado, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Big Sky Conference. Northern Colorado made its first and to date only NCAA tournament appearance in 2011.

Postseason history

NCAA Division I tournament results

The Bears have appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament once, where they lost to San Diego State in 2011 (led by coach B. J. Hill).^[2]

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
2011	15	Round of 64	(2) San Diego State	L 50–68

NCAA Division II tournament results

The Bears have appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament four times. Their combined record is 1–6.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1964	Regional semifinals Regional 3rd-place game	Southeast Missouri State Lamar	L 79–83 L 85–116
1965	Regional semifinals Regional 3rd-place game	Minnesota State–Moorhead Minnesota–Duluth	L 73–74 L 58–86
1966	Regional semifinals	North Dakota	L 71–84
1989	Regional semifinals Regional Finals	Alaska–Fairbanks Wisconsin-Milwaukee	W 92–70 L 88–89 ^OT

NIT results

The Bears have appeared in one National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Their record is 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2025	First round	UC Irvine	L 72–82

CBI results

The Bears have appeared in two College Basketball Invitational (CBI). Their combined record is 2–2.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
2022	No. 12	First round Quarterfinals Semifinals	No. 5 Florida Atlantic No. 13 UNC Asheville No. 9 UNC Wilmington	W 74–71 W 87–84 L 64–80
2024	No. 8	First round	No. 9 Cleveland State	L 49-51

CIT results

The Bears have appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) three times under three different head coaches (Tad Boyle, B. J. Hill, Jeff Linder). Their combined record is 5–2. They were CIT champions in 2018.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2010	First round Quarterfinals	Loyola Marymount Pacific	W 86–76 L 59–63
2014	First round	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	L 71–82
2018	Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Game	Drake San Diego Sam Houston State UIC	W 81–72 W 86–75 W 99–80 W 76–71

Bears in the NBA

NBA appearances

Only two former Bears have appeared in an NBA game:

NBA draft selections

Only one former Bear has been drafted into the NBA:

Dalton Knecht

References

↑ UNC Style Guide (PDF). March 1, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
↑ "NCAA basketball tournament History: Northern Colorado Bears - ESPN". Archived from the original on January 24, 2013.

External links

Official website

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[1] UNC Style Guide (PDF). March 1, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

[2] "NCAA basketball tournament History: Northern Colorado Bears - ESPN". Archived from the original on January 24, 2013.

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v t e Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball
Venues	Bank of Colorado Arena (1975–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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 1942–43 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

v t e Big Sky Conference men's basketball
Teams	Eastern Washington Eagles Idaho Vandals Idaho State Bengals Montana Grizzlies Montana State Bobcats Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Northern Colorado Bears Portland State Vikings Sacramento State Hornets Weber State Wildcats
Championships & awards	Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament Player of the Year
Seasons	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