Colorado State women's basketball team leaves Fort Collins for March Madness

The Colorado State University women's basketball team is headed to the Big Dance, as the Mountain West Champions are set to play in March Madness for the first time since 2016. The CSU team packed their bags and departed Moby Arena on Wednesday morning, catching a chartered flight to Norman, Oklahoma. "I think we are all excited," said McKenna Murphy, a redshirt freshman guard. "This is definitely going to be a fun experience for everyone." After winning the university's final Mountain West tournament before switching to the Pac-12, the women locked in a 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They are scheduled to play Michigan State on Friday, a five seed. "(Fort Collins) is really special, and bringing a Mountain West conference championship back to Fort Collins is pretty cool," Murphy said. Murphy said the team is aware of their challenge ahead, noting Michigan State is a respectable opponent from a strong conference. "The Big Dance is really special. March Madness, not a lot of teams get to go. We are all excited to go play a Big 10 school. They are really good and really well respected," Murphy said. "It will be really fun to go out there and see what we can do against them." Murphy noted that she is also thrilled to have more time on the court with graduating seniors, adding she hopes they make a deep run in the tournament for them. She also said the team knows they have the support of Rams fans far and wide. "With the support we have here in Fort Collins, we know we will have a lot of people cheering for us in Oklahoma," Murphy said. CSU's men's team was the only team in the state that made postseason play, getting a bid for the NIT tournament. The men's team plays Saint Joseph's in Fort Collins Wednesday night.