How CSU’s March Madness Run Took Over Social Media

Colorado State’s NCAA tournament run sparked massive social media buzz, driving millions of impressions and super high engagement.

in Campaigns

The CSU Men’s Basketball team was on a hot streak, winning 11 straight games, including a Mountain West Conference title for the first time in 22 years. The Rams were ready to dance…and the nation took notice.

When CSU got the call to join the NCAA tournament, excitement was already building. But it was their Round 1 matchup against No. 5 Memphis that truly lit the spark. Despite trailing by five at halftime, the Rams stormed back to upset the Tigers 78-70.

Rams fans were engaged, that was expected. But, the national attention on the team was surreal. Immediately following the win, the social media activity around the CSU brand skyrocketed. Social conversation volume surged to more than 200% above average. There was a notable spike in Google searches for terms like “Colorado State” and “Colorado State Rams.”

A Google Trends screenshot showing spikes for CSU-related terms during the March Madness games.

In a tournament largely devoid of early upsets, CSU quickly became the Cinderella story the nation was looking for.

The Rams advanced to the second round, where they were set to face No. 4 seed Maryland. The buzz grew. NBA legend Charles Barkley and sports personality Pat McAfee both picked CSU to continue their run. Even the official March Madness MBB account noted that 40% of tournament brackets were picking the Rams to beat Maryland.

The CSU community did their part.

Fans packed the Climate Pledge Arena and rallied online to win a fan contest to light up Seattle’s iconic Space Needle in CSU colors.

C S U mascot CAM the Ram points toward the Space Needle which is lit in green color.
Space Needle lit in green.

This post generated more than 180,000 organic impressions on Instagram.

The game against Maryland was a nail-biter. There wasn’t much to separate the two teams until a contentious buzzer-beater by Maryland ended the Rams’ Cinderella story. The nature of the loss, especially the ending, sparked another massive spike in social conversation—this time over 217% above our average.

In total, CSU’s NCAA tournament run generated more than 3,500 social media mentions, with content receiving upwards of 23 million impressions.

Our team had an absolute blast creating content and collaborating closely with CSU Athletics’ social channels. Across 25 posts on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, we earned over 2.6 million organic impressions and more than 140,000 engagements. In an era of social media where hundreds of brands are scrambling for a few seconds of their audience’s attention, this was an impressive achievement.

The Rams may not have made it to the Sweet 16, but they exited the tournament with their heads held high, giving the fans a season to remember.