1981–82 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team

American college basketball season

1981–82 Wyoming Cowboys basketball
WAC champions
NCAA tournament, Second round
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
Record	23–7 (14–2 WAC)
Head coach	Jim Brandenburg (3rd season)
Home arena	War Memorial Fieldhouse
Seasons ← 1980–81 1982–83 →

1981–82 WAC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Wyoming	14	–	2	.875	23	–	7	.767
UTEP	11	–	5	.688	20	–	8	.714
San Diego State	11	–	5	.688	20	–	9	.690
Hawaii	9	–	7	.563	17	–	10	.630
BYU	9	–	7	.563	17	–	13	.567
New Mexico	7	–	9	.438	14	–	14	.500
Utah	6	–	10	.375	11	–	17	.393
Air Force	3	–	13	.188	8	–	19	.296
Colorado State	2	–	14	.125	8	–	19	.296

Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1981–82 Wyoming Cowboys basketball team represented the University of Wyoming as a member of the Western Athletic Conference during the 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cowboys, led by third-year head coach Jim Brandenburg, played their home games at War Memorial Fieldhouse in Laramie, Wyoming.

Roster

1981–82 Wyoming Cowboys men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F		Bill Garnett	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Sr	Regis Jesuit	Denver, Colorado
C		Chris Engler	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Sr	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 27, 1981*		Nebraska	W 62–48	1–0	War Memorial Fieldhouse Laramie, Wyoming
Nov 28, 1981*		Portland	W 63–47	2–0	War Memorial Fieldhouse Laramie, Wyoming
Dec 4, 1981*		vs. Canisius Show-Me Classic	W 73–40	3–0	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Dec 5, 1981*		at No. 16 Missouri Show-Me Classic	L 54–64	3–1	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
Dec 10, 1981*		at Colorado	L 73–75	3–2	CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado
Dec 18, 1981*		vs. California	L 75–77	3–3
Dec 19, 1981*		vs. American	W 71–63	4–3
Dec 29, 1981*		Illinois-Chicago	W 73–53	5–3	War Memorial Fieldhouse Laramie, Wyoming
Jan 2, 1982		Colorado State	W 51–31	6–3 (1–0)	War Memorial Fieldhouse Laramie, Wyoming
Jan 7, 1982		Utah	W 75–49	7–3 (2–0)	War Memorial Fieldhouse Laramie, Wyoming
Jan 9, 1982		BYU	W 61–42	8–3 (3–0)	War Memorial Fieldhouse Laramie, Wyoming
Jan 13, 1982		at Air Force	W 54–40	9–3 (4–0)	Clune Arena Colorado Springs, Colorado
Jan 15, 1982*		at UNLV	L 58–69	9–4	Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, Nevada
Jan 22, 1982		San Diego State	W 77–64	10–4 (5–0)	War Memorial Fieldhouse Laramie, Wyoming
Jan 23, 1982		at BYU	W 27–25	11–4 (6–0)	Marriott Center Provo, Utah
Jan 25, 1982		Hawaii	W 87–61	12–4 (7–0)	War Memorial Fieldhouse Laramie, Wyoming
Jan 29, 1982		at UTEP	L 45–51	12–5 (7–1)	Special Events Center El Paso, Texas
Jan 30, 1982		at New Mexico	W 75–65	13–5 (8–1)	University Arena Albuquerque, New Mexico
Feb 6, 1982		at Utah	W 66–51	14–5 (9–1)	Special Events Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Feb 11, 1982		New Mexico	W 56–45	15–5 (10–1)	War Memorial Fieldhouse Laramie, Wyoming
Feb 13, 1982		UTEP	L 37–43	15–6 (10–2)	War Memorial Fieldhouse Laramie, Wyoming
Feb 20, 1982		Air Force	W 59–29	16–6 (11–2)	War Memorial Fieldhouse Laramie, Wyoming
Feb 27, 1982		at Colorado State	W 63–57	17–6 (12–2)	Moby Arena Fort Collins, Colorado
Mar 4, 1982		at Hawaii	W 39–37	18–6 (13–2)	Neal S. Blaisdell Center Honolulu, Hawaii
Mar 6, 1982		at San Diego State	W 66–64 ^OT	22–6 (14–2)	San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, California
NCAA tournament
Mar 11, 1982*	(8 W)	vs. (9 W) USC First round	W 61–58	23–6	Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Logan, Utah
Mar 13, 1982* 4:24 pm	(8 W)	vs. (1 W) No. 6 Georgetown Second round	L 43–51^[2]	23–7	Dee Glen Smith Spectrum (9,546) Logan, Utah
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Mountain Time.

^[3]

Rankings

^[4]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1981-82 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
^ "Georgetown, N. Carolina Gain; Hoyas Overcome Foul Trouble". The New York Times. March 14, 1982. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
^ "1981-82 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Wyoming Athletics. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 886–887. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

v t e Wyoming Cowboys basketball
Venues	Little Red Gym (1904–1924) Half Acre Gym (1924–1951) War Memorial Fieldhouse (1951–1982) Arena-Auditorium (1982–present)
Rivalries	Colorado State
Culture & lore	"Ragtime Cowboy Joe"
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and NCAA national championships in bold