DENVER, Colo. (May 26, 2026) – Here are the significant moments in Colorado's sports history, released weekly leading up to the state's sesquicentennial (150th) birthday on Aug. 1, the date Colorado was admitted to the Union as the 38th state in 1876.

This week's moments, ranked No. 46 through No. 50, include CSU Pueblo's 2014 NCAA Division II Football National Championship.

No. 48 – December 20, 2014 - Just six years after coach John Wristen and devout donors resurrected the program, the CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves won the school's first football championship, claiming the NCAA Division II title with a 13-0 win over No. 1 Minnesota State. The T-Wolves (14-1) held the Mavericks to just 265 yards, nearly 200 under their season average. Quarterback Chris Bonner threw for 191 yards and a touchdown, and running back Cameron McDondle ran for 113 yards to lead the offensive attack. CSU Pueblo reached the title game with three home playoff wins, defeating Angelo State (52-14), Ohio Dominican (31-28), and West Georgia (10-7).

A committee with over 800 years of involvement in Centennial State sports is selecting the moments we will count down at a rate of five per week, then daily for the top 10 by the end of July. Colorado. David Plati, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame historian, has identified more than 2,000 of these moments, all listed chronologically to reflect their importance at the time.

The Denver Gazette has partnered with the CSHOF to publicize Colorado's top 150 sports moments. Plati and Denver Broncos icon Jim Saccomano are unveiling the list weekly on the CSHOF podcast at coloradosports.org/podcast/.

In addition to CSU Pueblo's 2014 Division II football national championship, the other events ranked No. 46-50 are listed below.

No. 46 – October 22, 1973 - Declared "Orange Monday" in Denver, the Broncos finally made their first appearance on Monday Night Football (the 25th out of 26 teams in the league at the time to be selected for the primo prime time slot). Buffalo was the last. The opponent was the arch-nemesis, the Oakland Raiders. Billy Thompson returned a fumble 80 yards for the game's first score; Oakland countered with an 80-yard play of its own, a TD pass from Ken Stabler to Mike Siani. But field goals ruled the roost on this night, with Oakland's George Blanda making three as did Denver's Jim Turner, whose 35-yarder with three seconds remaining forged a 23-23 tie. At the time, it was the most-watched Bronco game locally and nationally.

No. 47 – March 30-April 1, 1990 - Denver is one of the last cities to host an NCAA Final Four in a typical arena, as all Final Fours are now held in football-sized stadiums. After preparing for the event by hosting the 1985 and 1989 regionals, the games came off without a hitch. Duke beat Arkansas in the first semifinal, 97-83, with UNLV defeating Georgia Tech in the second, 90-81. In the championship game, UNLV routed Duke, 103-73. Coach Jerry Tarkanian's Runnin' Rebels averaged 95.2 points for the six tournament games and finished with a 35-5 record.

No. 49 – April 26, 1995 - In their first game at Coors Field, the Colorado Rockies had to rally from a run down three different times with the game on the line. Trailing 7-6 in the ninth, Larry Walker doubled to right field, scoring Walt Weiss to tie the game. Then, behind 8-7 in the 13th, Jim Tatum lined a double to left field, scoring Mike Kingery, tying the game once again. The Mets went ahead 9-8 in the top of the 14th, but in the bottom of the inning, Dante Bichette hit the first home run by a Rockies at Coors, a three-run shot with one out, scoring Joe Girardi and Andres Galarraga for an 11-8 Colorado win.

No. 50 – December 14, 2024 - The second Heisman Trophy winner in the state was awarded to Colorado's two-way star, Travis Hunter. He caught 96 passes for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns, with four interceptions and 11 pass deflections on defense. The first player in history to be named first-team on both offense and defense on the Walter Camp Foundation's All-America team, he followed Deion Sanders to Colorado from Jackson State in 2023. In the closest Heisman race since 2009, he bested Boise State's Ashton Jeanty by 217 points.

In addition to the ThunderWolves' football national championship being ranked No. 48, Pueblo Junior College's 1961 NJCAA Men's Basketball National Championship was ranked No. 114 among the top moments in Colorado sports history.

No. 114 – March 18, 1961 - In Hutchinson, Kan., Pueblo Junior College won the National Junior College Athletic Association's (NJCAA) basketball title, completing a four-game tourney sweep by defeating Tyler (Texas), 79-66.  Bob Warlick, named the tournament's MVP, led the then Indians in the tournament, scoring 86 points, including scoring 26 points in the title game win over Tyler (Texas).  The team was coached by the late Harry Simmons, a 1982 inductee into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.