Records of the Athletic Department

The athletic department was founded in March 1892 as the Athletic Association at the State Agricultural College (now Colorado State University), for the purpose of organizing and encouraging the formation of a football team and other field sports. Throughout most of the 1890s athletics on campus was limited to recreational tennis, baseball, track and field, and intramural activities. In the fall of 1899, intercollegiate football was reestablished; the last intercollegiate game had been played in 1894. Baseball was played throughout the 1890s and in 1905 the team won the Colorado intercollegiate championship. Women's athletics began in the 1890s without college support when a women's basketball team was first assembled. In 1903 the women's basketball team won what could be considered the first athletic championship by winning 5 out of 6 contests with neighboring schools, including the University of Colorado. A men's basketball team was established in 1904. By the mid 1910s, the college had men's intercollegiate teams in baseball, basketball, track, and cross-country.

After World War II, pressure from students and alumni saw the Board of Agriculture increase funding for intercollegiate men's athletics. Grant-in-aid for student athletes was increased from 60 scholarships to 132, a new football coaching staff was hired, and student fees for athletics was increased from $1.00 to $3.00. Besides football, men's basketball, baseball, track, wrestling, gymnastics, golf, tennis, and skiing fielded intercollegiate teams, as well as various intramural offerings for male students. At the same time, female students played intramural sports and participated in intecollegiate athletics through the Women's Recreation Association. The university did not fund women's athletics until required to do so by Title IX in 1972.

Over the years, the department has been a member of the Rocky Mountain Faculty Athletic Conference, the Big 7 Conference, the Skyline Conference, and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). In 1999, Colorado State University along with seven other schools broke away from the WAC and created the Mountain West Conference. Currently Colorado State participates in the Mountain West Conference and fields men's intercollegiate teams in basketball, cross country, football, golf, and track and field; and women's intercollegiate teams in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.