Boulder – For years, the one location on the Colorado campus quieter than the library was the basketball arena. So the only thing more stunning than the Buffaloes’ 14-3 record was the loud guy next to me in the stands. He was forced to shout to carry on a conversation between exchanging high-fives with CU students.
“Isn’t this awesome? From here, you can’t even hear the ref’s whistle,” Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn hollered in my ear.
No student in Section 23 of the Coors Events Center got any studying done Wednesday night during Colorado’s 81-59 thumping of Nebraska. With bleacher space scarce in this corner of the gym, late arrivals squeezed into the aisles. Did the fire marshal know?
“I think it’s a cop-out that basketball can’t be exciting at CU. Did it used to be exciting at Florida? Basketball didn’t used to be exciting at Texas. But what happened? They won,” said Bohn, applauding every score by the home team from his spot smack in the middle of the aisle.
When it’s your building, I guess the fire marshal doesn’t care where you stand.
If Colorado is not careful, the Buffaloes are going to find themselves ranked in the top 25. And soon. A bid to the NCAA Tournament is more than a dream. It’s an expectation.
How could that be? Sophomore guard Richard Roby, who scored 30 against the Huskers, is quickly growing into the most dangerous player in the Big 12 Conference.
And you ain’t seen nothing yet, suggested coach Ricardo Patton, after watching his team take sole possession of second place in the league.
When pressed on how good these Buffaloes could be, Patton responded with bold words that even his players had not heard him utter in private.
“We’re past trying to just get in the tournament,” Patton said. “I think we’d like to get in the tournament and go deep in the tournament.”
While that feisty declaration is certain to raise eyebrows from Kansas to Oklahoma, here in Colorado, folks have been slow to notice the Buffs exist.
While the student section rocked on, the rest of the crowd needed to be checked for a pulse. A call of the roll noted 6,988 spectators, good only by CU’s painfully low recent standards. The Buffs rank last in the Big 12 in home attendance, by a frightfully wide margin for a cash-strapped athletic department.
“The student section has great energy. But the rest of the arena doesn’t know how to act,” said Bohn, sympathetically nodding toward the wallflowers sitting on their hands behind CU’s bench. “It’s like they’re at a movie. A silent movie.”
But has there ever been a better year for the Buffs to make some serious noise?
This is the 10th season of Big 12 basketball. Call it the year of the brick. The league is full of clunkers. Bob Knight and Eddie Sutton are legendary coaches, but both are stuck with stinky teams that will add no shine to their legacies.
The conference has never failed to produce fewer than four teams worthy of NCAA bids. But it’s nearly impossible to figure how more than four teams from the Big 12 will earn invitations to the madness this March.
If he keeps firing, Roby could shoot himself right into the first round of the NBA draft. So the Buffs better score a ticket to the Big Dance without delay. They probably need to win at least 10 of 16 conference games to guarantee admission to the NCAA tourney.
For decades, too many folks in Colorado have taken the defeatist approach that hoops can only be fun at CU by the grace of Chauncey Billups or the rare star who falls on Boulder. With huge bills to pay, Bohn cannot afford to depend on luck, fate or a weak competition from Oklahoma State.
As Patton exited the locker room before the second half, Bohn stopped him in the tunnel for a brief conversation.
Then, the CU coach made a beeline for Section 23. Patton whistled twice to grab the attention of students, and gave a big thumbs-up. They loved it.
Needing love and money, these Buffaloes can leave no cheers to chance.
Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-820-5438 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.
