Strike 3: Their respective football seasons each ended with a bowl game thud, so now fans of the University of Colorado and Colorado State can turn their attention to basketball, where each program ended last season strong, setting a high bar with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
This season, while both football programs unexpectedly reached bowl games, it’s going to be an uphill climb for either hoops team to match that.
Tad Boyle’s Buffs set a school record for wins in 2023-24 with 26 in their final season in the Pac-12. Then they lost their top five scorers (three to the NBA draft) and most of their bench. Boyle has had to do an almost total rebuild. And unlike their football counterparts, the move to the Big 12 for this season didn’t make their schedule less daunting. The Big 12 can actually make a case for being the best men’s basketball conference in the country.
The Buffs were picked 15th out of 16 in the preseason polls.
As we saw in football, preseason polls don’t mean much. What happens on the court however, does. So far, Colorado’s non-conferences slate includes an outstanding neutral court win over No. 11 UConn, but otherwise was very nondescript.
After falling to No. 3 Iowa State (for the second time this season) at home on Monday night, the Buffs sit at 9-3 overall, and 0-1 in the conference. Still on the slate are preseason No. 1 Kansas and nationally ranked foes like Houston, Cincinnati and Baylor. There’s still another game at Iowa State. They also face West Virginia and Arizona State, who are currently receiving votes.
For Colorado to return to the field of 68, they’re very likely going to need to reach 20 wins (which will be very very difficult against that schedule) and/or collect several big upset wins against nationally ranked Big 12 teams.
With a brand new team playing in a new and very difficult conference, that’s a very big ask.
As for the CSU Rams, they earned their way to March Madness last spring on the strength of an outstanding non-conference performance, boosting their profile and resume to tournament caliber well before having a mediocre league season in a very strong Mountain West Conference. They also lost most of their roster after last season, including all-time standout Isaiah Stevens, now with the Miami Heat. Head coach Niko Medved has also had to do an almost total rebuild.
Thus far it’s been a mixed bag for the Rams, who sit at 2-1 in MW play, and just 8-6 overall. There are zero marquee wins on this year’s non-conference ledger to boost their national profile. Unless they suddenly get red hot, reaching the 20-win plateau for this season seems well out of reach.
The good news is that the Mountain West isn’t as strong as it was a season ago, and picking up meaningful wins on the road – like they already did against Nevada – is doable.
What this all comes down to for both squads is this: The Buffs will need another great postseason run in the Big 12 Tournament to build enough of a resume to earn their way back into the tournament field. That would certainly include defeating someone like Iowa State or Kansas on a neutral floor. Possible? Sure. Remember, Boyle’s second CU team, playing in their first season in the Pac-12 a decade ago, won that conference tournament unexpectedly and made the NCAA field.
For CSU, it will likely come down to winning the Mountain West postseason tournament outright. It would be an improbable run, like they had in 2003 under head coach Dale Layer when they won the MW Tournament as the sixth seed before falling to seventh-ranked Duke in the first round of the NCAA’s.
Unlike their football counterparts, both the basketball Buffs and Rams will need to finish the season with a bang.
