Just more than one week remains in college basketball’s regular season. And although the later conference tournaments get nutty and unpredictable, the stretch run through the rivalry games is when a team proves its mettle.
In the Big 12, just two games separate the fourth seed from the eighth, with teams looking for any leverage before the league tournament starts March 9.
One of those bunched-up teams, Colorado (17-11, 6-7), will see all kinds of competition in its three remaining games, including league-leading and No. 5- ranked Texas, cellar-dwelling Iowa State in Ames and home against Nebraska, tied with CU in the Big 12.
But first up is the doozy Saturday: Texas (24-4, 12-1), led by sophomore swingman Jordan Hamilton, whose 18.8 points and 7.5 rebounds are team highs.
The 2 p.m. game at the Coors Events Center in Boulder is already sold out but will be on Altitude2.
The Buffs, with sophomore Alec Burks (19.2 points, 6.1 rebounds) among the top 35 scorers in the nation, are coming off a 71-68 road win Wednesday against Texas Tech.
“It was nice to go in there and get a win,” junior forward Austin Dufault told The Post’s Tom Kensler on Thursday. “We gave up a lead a little bit in the second half. But we fought through that, fought through some adversity. It was big to fight through all that and get a win.”
The Buffaloes, winners of two of their past three games, have been stout in Boulder this season. CU is 4-2 at home in the Big 12, with a four-point loss to Kansas and an overtime loss to Texas A&M.
Saturday’s game will be the only regular-season matchup between CU and Texas.
Keep up.
STAY ON THE COUCH
Regan Smith: No. 78 is No. 1 (for now).
NASCAR’s driver rating is a lot like the NFL’s quarterback rating: a complicated statistical formula with mysterious deviation patterns and the like melt into something no one can explain. And yet, people refer to it anyway.
We bring this up because as the Sprint Cup heads to Phoenix on Sunday for the second points race of the season, Regan Smith in the Denver No. 78 car is ranked No. 1 in driver rating. Better than Kurt Busch, better than Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne. Better than Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Smith’s 116.5 rating relates several categories, including laps led, on which he made hay.
Smith last week finished seventh at Daytona. He led with four laps to go, crashed and then rebounded for his first career top-10 finish.
Phoenix, at a short, 1-mile track, will be a different beast. The race starts at 1 p.m. and airs on Fox (KDVR-31).
GET OFF THE COUCH
Step up . . . and up, and up.
It’s “Denver’s largest fire drill in reverse,” as described by William Porter in The Denver Post this week.
The Fight for Air Climb on Sunday will run up 1,098 stairs to the 56th floor of the Republic Plaza building on 17th Street downtown.
Don’t be intimidated by it being the tallest building in the region. And shrug off that vertigo from the top. Your calves and thighs will thank you. The race starts with an elite wave at 8 a.m.
Check for more information.
AROUND TOWN
Rams must win at Air Force.
Colorado State entered last weekend primed for an NCAA Tournament berth, trailing only ranked BYU and San Diego State in the Mountain West.
But a loss to UNLV on Saturday in Fort Collins and another against BYU on Wednesday in Provo, Utah, set the Rams back.
The Rams are No. 44 in the RPI rankings. So Saturday’s Interstate 25 game against host Air Force, tipping off at 4:30 p.m., gives CSU a chance to stay in the bracket chatter.
The Rams (18-9, 8-5) will face an Air Force (13-13, 4-9) team coming off a disheartening loss to Wyoming on Wednesday. The Falcons in that game scored just 18 first-half points and compiled only nine assists, both season lows.
Also on the men’s college hoops docket Saturday:
• Denver travels to Denton to face North Texas in its Sun Belt regular-season finale.
• Northern Colorado hosts Northern Arizona in a crucial Big Sky game.
• Metro State and host Regis renew a crosstown rivalry in the RMAC.
• Johnson & Wales hosts the Association of Independent Institutions Conference Tournament in Denver. A spot in the NAIA Division II Tournament is on the line.
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Local loyalties to be tested.
A second set of MMA fights in two months will play out in Denver tonight, as the “Mortal Combat” show takes over the National Western Complex with a large card of professional and amateur fights.
And the main event, pitting Alvin Robinson (12-5) against Cameron Dollar (8-2) at 145 pounds, may split the loyalties of local fight fans.
Robinson fights for Grudge Training Center in Wheat Ridge, while Dollar trains at the Fight Factory in Colorado Springs.
Five other pro fights are on the card, including Infinite’s Ryan Martinez going against Alamosa’s Jeremiah Martinez at 265.
See for info.
