KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s only human nature for the Colorado men’s basketball team to gain an extra level of satisfaction, if not retribution, for reaching the semifinals in its final Big 12 Tournament.
In its last visit here before heading off to the Pac-12 Conference, Colorado (21-13, 8-8 Big 12) earned a No. 5 seed after being picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 by the league’s coaches in their annual preseason poll.
Many national college basketball analysts and “bracketologists” expect the Buffaloes to hear their name called today when the 68-team bracket for the NCAA Tournament is announced (KCNC-4, 4 p.m.)
It would be quite a feat. Colorado has made just 10 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, only two (1997 and 2003) in the past 42 years.
“Our players came up to me after our final home game and said, ‘Coach, remember they picked us ninth,’ ” first-year Colorado coach Tad Boyle said Friday night after the Buffs lost 90-83 to top-seeded Kansas. “So, yeah, there is some pleasure in (proving them wrong).”
Picked to finish ninth? Really? Colorado returned all five starters from a team that placed eighth the previous year.
“We looked upon that as a slap in the face,” CU senior guard Cory Higgins recalled Friday.
Any thoughts of vindication go back further than that. With thanks to Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook for compiling the list, let’s review some comments made last summer when Colorado and Nebraska announced that they were leaving the Big 12, with CU heading west and Nebraska signing on with the Big Ten (the Huskers were picked to finish 10th in the preseason poll and ended up tied for seventh).
• Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self: “Our league just got better. No disrespect to those other schools (CU and Nebraska), but we got better.”
• Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon: “Not to take away from Colorado or Nebraska, but our basketball league just got even better.”
• Oklahoma assistant coach Bryan Goodman: “Not that we lost two cupcakes or anything. . . . But those two, if they’re coming into your home, you probably would think you should beat them.”
• Even Missouri governor Jay Nixon got in the act, dissing Colorado and Nebraska as “the two weakest basketball programs in the Big 12.”
Historically, Colorado and Nebraska may indeed rival Baylor for a history of futility in men’s basketball. But this season’s successes have been especially gratifying for CU, including two victories in the Big 12 Tournament and reaching the semifinals for the first time in the 15th and final try.
“We’ve heard what other people said about us before the season and that kind of drove us all year,” CU junior forward Austin Dufault said Friday night after the Buffaloes’ 64-year association with the Big Seven/Big Eight/Big 12 came to an end with the semifinal loss to Kansas.
“We can go to the Pac-10 with our heads held high. I thought we had a pretty good run at (the Big 12 Tournament),” Dufault added. “We did some things our program had never done before. We can be proud of that. And hopefully there is a lot of basketball still to be played.”
On Thursday, after Colorado defeated 19th-ranked Kansas State in a quarterfinal, Higgins reflected on the progress made by the program during his four years in Boulder.
During his first three seasons under then-CU coach Jeff Bzdelik, Higgins played on Buffs teams that went 12-20, 9-22 and 15-16. The combined Big 12 record of those three seasons was 10-38, including 3-13 and 1-15 stinkers for the first two.
“I can’t even put into words what this season means to me,” Higgins said. “Just to experience that, with these guys around me and especially with the guys that have been through the lows of Colorado basketball, it means the world to me.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
CU’s chances
Former NCAA Tournament selection committee chairman C.M. Newton liked to say that the 10 committee members have the duty to evaluate “the beauty marks and warts” of every possible candidate for the at-large bids. Here is how Colorado looks:
BEAUTY MARKS
Six marquee victories over teams among the top 50 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), including one over Texas (No. 14 RPI) and three against Kansas State (No. 24).
Reaching the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Near-misses at home against Kansas (82-78) and Texas A&M (73-70 in overtime), and on the road against Baylor (70-66).
Eight wins over RPI top-100 teams.
Played four true road games (not including neutral-site games) during nonconference schedule (losses at Georgia, Harvard, San Francisco and win at Cal State-Bakersfield).
Finishing strong with six wins in its last nine games. Two of the losses were to No. 2-ranked Kansas.
WARTS
No. 64 RPI entering the weekend is among the weakest of the perceived bubble teams.
CU’s strength of schedule is ranked a ho-hum 75th nationally, even including Big 12 games.
Very little help from nonconference schedule. Biggest victory outside Big 12 would be against Colorado State (No. 48 RPI).
Midseason slump of six Big 12 losses in seven games.
BOTTOM LINE
It says here that Colorado gets into the field. The difference between the Buffs and most other bubbles is CU’s number of wins over top-50 teams. That’s huge. The selection committee also could take into account that a reason for the team’s slow start (CU began 2-3) and relatively high number of losses was due to players adjusting to an entirely new coaching staff. And the committee won’t overlook those near-misses and top-shelf opponents. The committee does look closely at scores, not just wins and losses.
Some questions of note
Who is coming to the Pepsi Center?
The Pepsi Center will host second-round (Thursday) and third-round (Saturday) games, and it is anyone’s guess as to which NCAA Tournament teams will be shipped here.
The only probable “lock” to be sent here is Brigham Young because the selection committee tries to reward the teams seeded in the top four lines by keeping them as close to home as possible. BYU could be seeded as high as No. 2 or No. 3.
It’s unlikely that a No. 1 seed will come to Denver because of geographical considerations afforded to high seeds. But that doesn’t eliminate the possibility that the Pepsi Center will get some good teams. Last year, for example, among the teams sent to early-round games in Spokane, Wash., were Michigan State, Purdue, Texas A&M and Maryland.
CU and UNC ticketed for Denver?
The odds may be against that happening. Both will draw a low seeding in the 68-team field, and the committee tries to avoid matchup scenarios in which a better seed is at a disadvantage because of crowd support. In other words, if, say, Big Sky champion Northern Colorado is a No. 12 seed, would it be fair for a No. 5 seed such as a West Virginia to travel across the country and face a hostile crowd that favors a much lower seed?
The committee insists that it only positively “protects” the top four seeds in each region from potentially avoiding those scenarios. But there are countless examples over the years that displayed a sensitivity to that issue regarding midlevel seeds.
Colorado might have to be a No. 8 or 9 seed to play at the Pepsi Center. A seeding that high for a team that has lost 13 games would come as a surprise.
Buffs and Bears going to Dayton?
Unfortunately, there’s a decent chance of that. The four lowest seeds (Nos. 16) among automatic qualifiers and the four lowest seeds among the at-large bids will be the only teams required to play a first-round game Tuesday or Wednesday. Then they go to one of eight sites (including Denver) for the second and third rounds. Some analysts believe CU’s third victory over Kansas State might have pushed CU ahead of enough at-large teams to avoid the first round. But at last glance, respected ESPN “bracketologist” Joe Lunardi had CU booked for Dayton, Ohio. Not UNC, which he pegged as a No. 15 seed. In any case, one thing is certain about the announcement of every NCAA Tournament bracket: There are always surprises.
