1980–81 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team

The 1980–81 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team represented the University of Wyoming as a member of the Western Athletic Conference during the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cowboys, led by second-year head coach Jim Brandenburg, played their home games at War Memorial Fieldhouse in Laramie, Wyoming.

1980–81 Wyoming Cowboys basketball
WAC co-champions
NCAA tournament, Second round
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
AP	No. 17
Record	24–6 (13–3 WAC)
Head coach	Jim Brandenburg (2nd season)
Home arena	War Memorial Fieldhouse
Seasons ← 1979–80 1981–82 →

1980–81 WAC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 14 Utah	13	–	3		.813			25	–	5		.833
No. 17 Wyoming	13	–	3		.813			24	–	6		.800
No. 16 BYU	12	–	4		.750			25	–	7		.781
UTEP	9	–	7		.563			18	–	12		.600
San Diego State	8	–	8		.500			15	–	12		.556
Hawaii	7	–	9		.438			14	–	13		.519
New Mexico	6	–	10		.375			11	–	15		.423
Air Force	3	–	13		.188			9	–	18		.333
Colorado State	1	–	15		.063			3	–	24		.111
Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

Roster

1980–81 Wyoming Cowboys men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G Charles Bradley 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Edgewood Edgewood, Maryland F Bill Garnett 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Regis Jesuit Denver, Colorado C Chris Engler 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Minnesota Oak Park Heights, Minnesota	Head coach Jim Brandenburg (Colorado State) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Nov 28, 1980*		at Nebraska	W 62–59 ^OT	1–0	Bob Devaney Sports Center (7,800) Lincoln, Nebraska
Dec 2, 1980*		Midwestern State	W 87–61	2–0	War Memorial Fieldhouse (4,389) Laramie, Wyoming
Dec 4, 1980*		Stanford	W 73–51	3–0	War Memorial Fieldhouse (5,079) Laramie, Wyoming
Dec 6, 1980*		Adams State	W 101–67	4–0	War Memorial Fieldhouse (7,042) Laramie, Wyoming
Dec 11, 1980*		at Boise State	W 76–51	5–0	Bronco Gym (2,076) Boise, Idaho
Dec 13, 1980*		at USC	L 57–59	5–1	L.A. Sports Arena (3,270) Los Angeles, California
Dec 16, 1980*		Western Montana	W 79–45	6–1	War Memorial Fieldhouse (4,713) Laramie, Wyoming
Dec 19, 1980*		vs. Oklahoma	W 98–77	7–1	Astrodome (3,800) Houston, Texas
Dec 20, 1980*		at Houston	L 61–70	7–2	Astrodome (5,300) Houston, Texas
Dec 29, 1980*		Illinois–Chicago	W 99–47	8–2	War Memorial Fieldhouse (4,419) Laramie, Wyoming
Jan 2, 1981		at San Diego State	W 69–51	9–2 (1–0)	San Diego Sports Arena (3,247) San Diego, California
Jan 5, 1981		at Hawaii	W 71–66 ^OT	10–2 (2–0)	Neal S. Blaisdell Center (5,479) Honolulu, Hawaii
Jan 9, 1981*		UTEP	W 44–42	11–2 (3–0)	War Memorial Fieldhouse (8,107) Laramie, Wyoming
Jan 10, 1981		New Mexico	W 91–54	12–2 (4–0)	War Memorial Fieldhouse (7,814) Laramie, Wyoming
Jan 17, 1981		at Colorado State	W 85–54	13–2 (5–0)	Moby Arena (8,976) Fort Collins, Colorado
Jan 23, 1981		at No. 14 Utah	L 53–55	13–3 (5–1)	Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,122) Salt Lake City, Utah
Jan 24, 1981		at No. 18 BYU	L 70–84	13–4 (5–2)	Marriott Center (22,983) Provo, Utah
Jan 27, 1981*		UNLV	W 71–66	14–4	War Memorial Fieldhouse (7,124) Laramie, Wyoming
Jan 31, 1981		Air Force	W 69–45	15–4 (6–2)	War Memorial Fieldhouse (7,234) Laramie, Wyoming
Feb 5, 1981		Hawaii	W 77–58	16–4 (7–2)	War Memorial Fieldhouse (7,998) Laramie, Wyoming
Feb 7, 1981		San Diego State	W 102–57	17–4 (8–2)	War Memorial Fieldhouse (7,991) Laramie, Wyoming
Feb 12, 1981		at New Mexico	L 56–57	17–5 (8–3)	University Arena (15,803) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Feb 14, 1981		at UTEP	W 63–58	18–5 (9–3)	Special Events Center (8,121) El Paso, Texas
Feb 21, 1981		Colorado State	W 68–40	19–5 (10–3)	War Memorial Fieldhouse (8,665) Laramie, Wyoming
Feb 26, 1981		No. 15 BYU	W 86–84	20–5 (11–3)	War Memorial Fieldhouse (9,300) Laramie, Wyoming
Feb 28, 1981		No. 7 Utah	W 53–50	21–5 (12–3)	War Memorial Fieldhouse (8,974) Laramie, Wyoming
Mar 6, 1981	No. 19	at Air Force	W 46–38	22–5 (13–3)	Clune Arena (6,300) Colorado Springs, Colorado
Mar 7, 1981*	No. 19	at UNLV	W 97–70	23–5	Las Vegas Convention Center (6,393) Las Vegas, Nevada
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1981*	(5 W) No. 17	vs. (12 W) Howard First round	W 78–43^[2]	24–5	Pauley Pavilion (12,045) Los Angeles, California
Mar 14, 1981*	(5 W) No. 17	vs. (4 W) No. 19 Illinois Second round	L 65–67^[3]	24–6	Pauley Pavilion (12,340) Los Angeles, California
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

^[4][5]

Rankings

Main article: 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[6]

References

1. sports-reference.com 1980-81 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
2. "Stone-Cold Howard Gets Baptism by Fire". The Washington Post. March 14, 1981. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
3. "Illinois 67, Wyoming 65". The New York Times. March 15, 1981. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
4. "1980-81 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Wyoming Athletics. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
5. "1980-1981 Wyoming Cowboys Men's Basketball Stats" (PDF). NCAA Career Statistics.
6. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 877–878. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.