Strike 1: At least we don’t have to wait very long for March Madness to begin. So, how did we get here?

Both the Colorado Buffaloes and the Colorado State Rams are 10-seeds in the 2024 NCAA Men’s basketball tournament. Both will be playing in Dayton, Ohio in the “First Four” play-in games. The Buffs will face Mountain West foe Boise State on Wednesday, while CSU gets ACC heavyweight (although maybe not quite that this year) Virginia on Tuesday night. The Cavaliers won the national championship in 2019.

Time to celebrate? Not really. For both the local teams, it could have and perhaps should have been so much more. But at least they’ll each get the chance to prove themselves.

CU fans can feel relieved – the Buffs late season push, including a run to the Pac-12 title game – secured what looked like a long-shot bid two weeks ago. But they can also feel a little frustrated. With three potential NBA draft picks on the roster, it’s fair to say Tad Boyle’s team underachieved from a pure talent standpoint. Injuries were the biggest factor in that, with the “big three” of K. J. Simpson, Tristan da Silva and freshman sensation Cody Williams only sharing the court sporadically, and never really meshing when they did. Always seemed like one of the three was either missing the game or having an off night.

With those three, CU had at worst, the second-best roster in the Pac-12. Reaching the tournament should never have been a question. It should have been – and now still is – how far can they go?

As for the Rams, the players, coaches and fans can feel slighted, disrespected and puzzled by their team being slotted in a play-in game, after having been seen as a tournament “lock” most of the year. CSU came out of the gate red hot, blistering teams like Creighton (a No. 3 seed entering the tournament) and ACC member Boston College (plus beating CU in Fort Collins) before finishing the non-conference slate. But the rugged Mountain West (which was incredibly disrespected by the selection committee) proved to be humbling for a Rams team that couldn’t steal a marquee road conference win against any of the other five tournament-bound programs. A so-so finish to the season left CSU vulnerable, and the committee did not reward them. It’s fair to say the Rams got what they deserved, seeding-wise.

The Buffs vs. Broncos tilt? CU has a lot more pure talent than Boise State. The Broncos play hard and physical. Max Rice, the son of the head coach, is a gamer if not an NBA prospect. Tyson Degenhart is the Bronco the Buffs need to stop, because he and his team will not go down without a fight. But if CU gets two of their three big guns firing, they should be able to earn a weekend date against the Florida Gators. If all three get it going, watch out. Florida would be in trouble, too.

The chip-on-their-shoulder Rams did get a favorable draw, even against an ACC team. Virginia has had an off year, struggling to score but still playing lights out defense. CSU’s biggest weakness, the lack of a dominating inside presence, shouldn’t be exploited by a Cavs team who’s only seven footers are freshman and don’t play that much. The Rams went 5-1 on neutral courts this season, saving their road woes for conference play. In order to win in Dayton, Isaiah Stevens has to not only facilitate, but also score a lot, and the Rams need to clamp down on Reece Beekman and Isaac McKneely while counting on Virginia to continue its season-long struggles at the free throw line. Do all that, and CSU could earn a date with the Texas Longhorns in the Round of 64, where Stevens would face a near mirror image of himself in the Longhorns Max Abmas.

It might not have been the start to the madness that either team was hoping for, but now that it’s here, it’s showtime.