Winners Wanted
There’s no doubt that the Denver Broncos dominate the local sports landscape without much rivalry. The NFL has the same level of preeminence on the national scene as well. But with the end of an era possibly right at our doorstep (Peyton Manning wasn’t going to play forever), there’s a good chance the Broncos could be looking at some lean years ahead. Paging Mr. Orton, Mr. Kyle Orton.
Al Davis made the phrase, “Just win, baby,” a household one during his tenure as owner of the Raiders. Doug Ottewill channeled his inner Davis and reminded us in his Daily column on Tuesday that winning tends to be the only true way to keep the fans happy.
And so, with the idea that the Broncos winning ways might be shifting more towards “hoping they can compete for the division” ways, Big Dee White and Renaud Notaro wondered what team in Colorado is poised to step in and fill their shoes as the region’s preeminent “winner.”
As they surveyed the Colorado sports landscape, they believe the answer to their question might lie in an unlikely place. With two Division I programs that have been on the rise of late and appear to have an upward trajectory this year, White and Notaro see Colorado’s next big team coming from the college basketball ranks.
Notaro made the case for both Colorado and Colorado State on Mile High Sports AM 1340.
University of Colorado
In his first four years in Boulder, Tad Boyle didn’t have a losing season. He led the Buffs to the NCAA Tournament (and picked up a win) in his second season and returned the team to the big dance in the two years that followed.
Injuries, and perhaps some overconfidence, resulted in Colorado’s first losing season under Boyle during the 2014-15 campaign, but the Buffs appear to be back in form early in 2015-16.
Colorado dropped its opener to No. 7 Iowa State by only six points on a “neutral” court in Sioux Falls, S.D. Renaud Notaro of Mile High Sports says it’s a very good sign that this year’s Bufs played a very tough Cyclones team so close. Last year, Colorado first faced a ranked opponent in January in No. 9 Utah, a game they lost by 25 points.
Not only did Colorado play Iowa State much closer, they followed that loss with a road win against an SEC opponent, Auburn. Notaro called the win over the Tigers “impressive and decisive.”
He has been particularly impressed in the early going of the play of George King who led all scorers in the Auburn game with 27. King also had 14 points coming off the bench against Iowa State hitting 4-of-8 three-point shots.
Josh Scott, who missed eight games last year due to injury, appears to be back in form to start this season. He posted point totals of 11 and 24 in the Buffs’ first two games and averaged 10 rebounds in those games.
Colorado lost guard and team leader Askia Booker to graduation, but Dom Collier now has a year of experience under his belt and appears ready to step into those shoes.
The early returns on the Buffs have met or exceeded expectations through two games, says Notaro, but they’re not the only Front Rage college hoops program that could step up and garner our attention. Colorado State has plenty of positives as the 2015-16 campaign gets rolling.
Listen to the full conversation about the Rams and Buffs in the podcast below…
Colorado State University
The Rams have played just one game so far in the young 2015-16 college basketball season, but boy did it generate some buzz around Larry Eustachy’s club.
Northern Iowa ended the 2014-15 season ranked No. 11 in the AP Poll and soundly defeated Wyoming in the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Elite Eight team Louisville.
Colorado State, whose NCAA tournament spot was usurped by Wyoming last year via the MW Tournament, and picked up a big non-conference road victory that earned them a vote in this week’s AP Poll.
“It was a huge win for the Rams,” says Notaro, “against a team who had won “19 or 20 in a row last year.”
(For the sake of accuracy, it was actually a 16-game win streak for the Panthers, but impressive nonetheless.)
And even though the Rams lost some key players from last year’s team that won 27 games, including J.J. Avila, Daniel Bejarano and Stanton Kidd, Notaro expects another big season for the boys in Fort Collins.
“Larry Eustachy’s teams always play hard, always play defense, and always rebounds,” he notes.
The only knock on CSU (and Eustachy), according to Notaro, is their usually “soft” schedule to begin the year – something he believes kept them out of the tournament last year. But Northern Iowa were no patsies and they face (usually) competitive teams in Loyola Marymount and Oakland (Mich.) in their next two contests. Notaro sees a positive in scheduling “beatable” teams early in the year.
“Kids around campus don’t care who you’re beating,” he says. “But they see an undefeated team or a team with a bunch of wins and they get excited.”
There seems to be plenty to be of excitement bubbling around the Rams again, who hope to return to the big dance after a two-year hiatus. The win against UNI has them on the right path, it seems.
Listen to the full conversation about the Rams and Buffs in the podcast below…