The final details of the final Pac-12 Conference schedule finally have been settled for the Colorado men’s basketball team.
On Thursday, the league announced the dates of its conference matchups, as well as the tipoff times and television information for the entire season. The Buffs had previously announced their nonconference schedule, which begins with an opening night home date against Towson on Nov. 6 that tips off at 5:30 p.m. And about six weeks ago, the league announced its weekly pairings for the conference slate. Tuesday’s announcement settles those particular dates.
Among the new details of CU’s schedule is an Oct. 28 exhibition game against Metro State that will tip off at the CU Events Center at 7 p.m. Additionally, with the single-game conference matchups that previously had been played in late November/early December now part of the regular conference slate with an extra week on the college basketball calendar, the Buffs will make their final Pac-12 visit to California on Jan. 10 before hosting USC on Jan. 13.
In this year’s cycle of the Pac-12’s 20-game conference schedule, UCLA does not visit Boulder and the Buffs don’t visit Stanford.
Never a fan of the early-season conference dates, CU head coach Tad Boyle said he prefers this year’s format with the single games as part of the regular run of league play, even if it makes for a somewhat hectic week. The Buffs play at Arizona State on Jan. 6 and at Cal on Jan. 10. With CU still on semester break during that time, CU might stay on the road instead of a quick trip home between games.
“You talk to any coach, they’re not too excited about playing conference games in December. Especially early December,” Boyle said. “The conference season is really how you’re judged. Nonconference, obviously it’s extremely important to every team and to every league, without a doubt. But when you throw two conference games in there, some teams are maybe not quite ready for those and other teams are. You get a little bit of imbalance, I think, in terms of who the true champion is at the end of the year. Because a lot of teams aren’t hitting their stride until the end of December.”
In the 31-game regular season, the Buffs will appear 14 times on the Pac-12 Network and 10 times on one of the ESPN networks, although in several cases the exact ESPN feed will be determined later. CU will play three times on Fox Sports 1 and twice on CBS Sports Network, including the Nov. 29 rivalry showdown at Colorado State. Two television appearances remain undetermined, including the marquee nonconference date against Miami in Brooklyn on Dec. 10.
CU will have at least two late tipoffs at home and possibly a third. The Jan. 13 home game against USC will start at 8 p.m., and the home game the following Thursday (Jan. 18) against Oregon will tip off at 8:30 p.m. The Feb. 10 home game against Arizona will start at either 6 or 8 p.m.
The Buffs have two such late starts on the road, with the Jan. 10 game at California and the Jan. 24 game at Washington set for 9 p.m. MT.
The times still to be determined at Arizona State (Jan. 6) and at home against Arizona (Feb. 10) will be announced two weeks ahead of the games. Both games will start at either 6 or 8 p.m. MT. The tip time for the road game at Oregon on March 7 (either 7 or 7:30 p.m. MT) will be announced one week ahead of the game.
2023-24 CU Buffs men’s basketball schedule
Oct. 28: METRO STATE, 7 p.m. (exhibition)
Nov. 6: TOWSON, 5:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)
Nov. 10: GRAMBLING STATE, 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)
Nov. 14: MILWAUKEE (Sunshine Slam), 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)
Nov. 20: vs. Richmond, 6 p.m. (at Daytona Beach; Sunshine Slam; CBS Sports Network)
Nov. 21: vs. Florida State/UNLV, 2/4:30 p.m. (at Daytona Beach; Sunshine Slam; TV TBD)
Nov. 26: IONA, noon (Pac-12 Network)
Nov. 29: at Colorado State, 7 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
Dec. 3: PEPPERDINE, 3 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)
Dec. 10: vs. Miami (Fla.), noon (at Barclays Center; NABC Brooklyn Showcase; TV TBD)
Dec. 15: NORTHERN COLORADO, 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)
Dec. 21: UTAH TECH, 5 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)
Dec. 29: WASHINGTON, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)*
Dec. 31: WASHINGTON STATE, noon (Pac-12 Network)*
Jan. 4: at Arizona, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)*
Jan. 6: at Arizona State, 6/8 p.m. (ESPN2/U)*
Jan. 10: at California, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)*
Jan. 13: USC, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)*
Jan. 18: OREGON, 8:30 p.m. (FS1)*
Jan. 20: OREGON STATE, 5 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)*
Jan. 24: at Washington, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)*
Jan. 27: at Washington State, 3 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)*
Feb. 3: at Utah, 3 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)*
Feb. 8: ARIZONA STATE, 6 p.m. (FS1)*
Feb. 10: ARIZONA, 6/8 p.m. (ESPN/2/U)*
Feb. 15: at UCLA, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)*
Feb. 17: at USC, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)*
Feb. 24: UTAH, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)*
Feb. 28: CALIFORNIA, 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)*
March 3: STANFORD, 7 p.m. (FS1)*
March 7: at Oregon, 7/7:30 p.m. (ESPN/2)*
March 9: at Oregon State, 3 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)*
March 13-16: Pac-12 tournament, Las Vegas (T-Mobile Arena)
(All times Mountain; Home games in CAPS; *Pac-12 Conference game)
