BOULDER — The start of the Big 12 Conference men’s basketball schedule didn’t do Colorado any favors, with trips to 11th-ranked Texas A&M and No. 12 Texas the next two Saturdays.
In between, the play Tuesday at home against much-improved Nebraska (11-2).
But whatever the computer spit out would not have mattered much, CU coach Jeff Bzdelik said.
“Everybody is going to be a tough matchup for us,” Bzdelik said Thursday on the Big 12 coaches teleconference. “We’re undersized and not very deep. We have some experience, but those guys are really like freshmen because of the different system we’re implementing.”
At least the veterans, including seniors Richard Roby and Marcus Hall, can tell freshmen Cory Higgins, Levi Knutson and Caleb Patterson what to expect.
And the team ought to have more confidence than it did a year ago. Colorado (8-6) already has surpassed its victory total of last spring, when the Buffaloes went 7-20 in Ricardo Patton’s final season.
Texas A&M (14-1), with a beefy frontcourt that includes 7-foot freshman DeAndre Jordan and 6-9 senior Joseph Jones, appears to be a mismatch for a CU team that often has nobody taller than 6-6 in the lineup.
But as Hall has said, “They have to guard us, too.”
Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon agreed.
“When you get ready to play against this Princeton (offense) stuff, it just makes you so nervous,” Turgeon said.
Footnotes
Colorado sophomore guard Dwight Thorne (bruised knee) is expected to play Saturday after missing two games. . . . Unlike this season, CU will play eight of its first 10 games at home in 2008-09, Bzdelik said. Road foes include Alabama and Stanford (Big 12 vs. Pac-10 challenge), plus a trip to the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii. . . . Construction delays likely will push back the completion of the locker room renovation to March.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
