FORT COLLINS • Colorado’s a basketball state.

“I mean, look at what the Nuggets just did,” Colorado State coach Niko Medved told me after a delightfully spirited Rams practice session on Monday night.

Shoot, look at what Colorado State just did, thumping No. 8 Creighton by 21 points to move the Rams into the national rankings at No. 20. Look at the CU Buffs, spending two weeks in the AP Top 25 before dipping out. Air Force has won five straight, and University of Denver bucket Tommy Bruner leads the whole country in scoring at 25.6 points per game.

“I’ve been telling people,” CSU senior Dominique Clifford said. “We’ve got players here.”

No. 20 Colorado State (6-0) hosts Colorado (5-1) Wednesday, and the rivals have never been so strong at the same time. The game’s sold out. As if hoops heads needed extra juice in a rip-roaring state basketball scene, it’s also the first time CSU will allow beer sales throughout Moby Arena.

Better yet? No fewer than five rotation players played high school ball in Colorado and stuck around for the next level: CU’s Luke O’Brien (Columbine), Julian Hammond III (Cherry Creek) and Assane Diop (Accelerated Prep) and CSU’s Joel Scott (Lewis-Palmer), Nique Clifford (Vanguard) and Javonte Johnson (Cheyenne Mountain). Three more ride the two benches.

Who says we don’t produce ballers?

“These are two really good teams that can play with anybody. We just showed that (in routing Creighton),” Clifford said. “It’s a lot of pride. Me being a Colorado dude as well, I understand what it means for young kids to see. We really root for each other. It’s kind of a brotherhood.”

Well, to a point.

And that point is Wednesday.

At the center of the CU-CSU rivalry is Clifford, a 6-foot-6 wing who was the 2020 Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year and a CHSAA Class 3A state champ. You might know him as the Buff-turned-Ram who made the rare decision to cross rivalry lines and transfer from CU to CSU.

After three seasons and 82 games with the Buffs, Clifford desired a change of scenery. He went into CU coach Tad Boyle’s office for “the most difficult conversation I’ve ever had.”

“It really was. I have so much respect for Coach Boyle,” Clifford told me. “You never go somewhere thinking you’re going to leave. It was difficult to get the courage to tell him. But I had to make a decision for me and my family and what I felt was best for my career.”

One thing about Division I basketball talents from Colorado: There are not a ton of them, so they all grow up playing with or against each other. That was the case for Clifford, who has known CSU teammates Javonte Johnson and Joel Scott since they were in second or third grade. Johnson spent Thanksgivings with the Cliffords. Scott was an AAU rival for both.

Talk about connected: Wednesday, Clifford will team with lifelong buds while playing against his old roommates. In Boulder, Clifford lived with Buffs KJ Simpson, J’Vonne Hadley and O’Brien.

Yes, a lively group chat went quiet this week.

“I love those (CU) guys. I never miss one of their games. All of them are going to be my boys for life,” Clifford said. “But we play each other now, and that means it’s business.”

In the transfer portal era, coaches are wise to take the high road when a recruiting target opts for another program. Who knows? In a couple years, he might seek a change of scenery.

That was Clifford, whose final three out of high school were Colorado, Colorado State and Wyoming. With a slim window to make a transfer decision, Clifford leaned on his previous relationship with the CSU staff, which had hosted him for multiple campus visits and their annual team camp.

One man’s opinion: Clifford’s arrival lifted CSU from NIT hopeful to NCAA Tournament-caliber.

“He’s fit in even earlier than I expected,” said Medved, who told me starting center Patrick Cartier might not play due to a back injury.

So what about the matchup itself?

Both teams feature top-50 offenses and defenses, according to Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency rankings. Both teams feature all-star lead guards, CU’s Simpson and CSU’s Isaiah Stevens. Both employ coaches who win without bringing in NCAA investigators for a campus visit.

“I consider Tad a friend,” Medved said.

Here’s the catch, since there’s always a catch:

The CU-CSU series is not under contract to continue past Wednesday, though Boyle and Medved have a verbal agreement to re-up. Part of the hang-up is CU’s move to the Big 12 and uncertainty around the Big 12’s future schedule.

Will there be room on the Buffs’ schedule?

Make room. This game’s too good to go.

Boyle, a Greeley native and proud Coloradan, has gone out of his way to schedule in-state programs in 13 years at CU. Air Force, DU, Northern Colorado have been regulars on the CU schedule — a rarity for the big boys. You don’t see Illinois scheduling Illinois State, Gonzaga scheduling Eastern Washington anymore, UCLA scheduling San Diego State. Boyle’s done that.

Here’s a polite request on behalf of Colorado’s college hoops fanatics: Find a way to keep the CU-CSU series going.

“This (game) is what you live for,” Medved said.

And that’s life in a basketball state.