The Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic announced on Thursday the tournament field for the men’s college basketball event to be held on December 22 and 23, 2015 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
This will be the Buffaloes’ third trip to Las Vegas during non-conference play. Furthermore, this holiday tournament in the ninth straight year the Buffaloes will be participating in a mid-season neutral court showcase during non-conference play.
Besides the Buffaloes, the 2015 tournament field also includes: SMU, Penn State, Kent State, Canisius, Hampton, Louisiana Monroe and Nichols State. In total, only SMU and Hampton made the NCAA Tournament last year, both getting knocked out in early round action.
Past champions include: Baylor (2011), Colorado State (2012), UNLV (2013) and Loyola, IL (2014). FOX Sports 1 will televise the third-place and championship games on Wednesday, Dec. 23, at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. (MT).
Looking ahead to the Buffaloes season, Tad Boyle enters his sixth season in charge of the Buffaloes and the team will be looking to get back to the Big Dance after a disappointing 2014-15 season.
In recent years, CU basketball has been on an upswing under Boyle. He has led the Buffaloes to 108 victories, with an average of 22 wins per season. Add five straight post-season tournaments, three of which are NCAA Tournaments from 2012-14 and it’s apparent the Boyle era in Boulder has been stellar.
Coming into the 2015-16 season, the Buffaloes will have to find ways to win now that their demonstrative point guard, Askia Booker, has left. Three-year senior starter Josh Scott and junior Wesley Gordon are the only returning players to shoot over 54 percent from the field last year. In just two seasons in Boulder, Gordon has 88 blocked shot and with Scott’s 23 career double-doubles, these two big-men will be asked to lead the Buffaloes, especially in the early stages of the season. Additionally, 6-foot-7 senior Xavier Jonson will also need to take on more responsibility.
As CU enters the 2015-16 campaign with a school-record five consecutive seasons of post-season tournament play on the line, the Buffs will be pushing for a PAC-12 title and hope to be playing deep into March in 2016.
Sammy Mugharbil, a Mile High Sports intern and student at MSU-Denver contributed to this report.