Colorado women’s basketball head coach JR Payne has often said itap “not in our DNA” to look past whatap next for her team. And, the Buffaloes have never been a group that gets caught up in rankings.
Still, the Buffs are enjoying their climb to elite status nationally.
On Monday, CU jumped two spots to No. 3 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll. This is CU’s second time at No. 3 this season (also on Nov. 20).
Prior to this year, the Buffs (15-1, 5-0 Pac-12) hadn’t been ranked higher than No. 10 since the 1995-96 season, but they’ve now spent the last 10 weeks among the top eight.
South Carolina (15-0) remained No. 1 and collected all 36 first-place votes Monday, while Iowa (17-1) moved up to No. 2.
From the Pac-12, UCLA slipped three spots to No. 5 after losing to rival USC on Sunday, while USC jumped three spots to No. 6. Stanford remained at No. 8, while Utah dropped one spot to No. 20. Oregon State has the most votes among the unranked teams, essentially coming in at No. 26.
CU’s bump in the rankings came a day after it knocked off Stanford, 71-59, in Boulder. And it comes just ahead of a massive weekend set against UCLA on Friday and USC on Sunday.
“Huge,” Payne said when asked what it means to beat Stanford going into the UCLA game. “Every game is going to feel like life or death – ‘We have to win it’ – and this one wasn’t any different. And Friday will feel the same, but we’re just really excited.
“Someone told me it was only the third top 10 matchup in the history of Colorado basketball and now we’ll have another one, which is going to be great. So just have to keep that energy going from our community.”
Sunday’s win against Stanford was indeed just the third battle of top 10 teams in Boulder in CU basketball history, including men and women. The other two came in 1994. But, now the Buffs will have three top-10 games in eight days. In fact, it will be the first time in program history that the Buffs will play three consecutive games against top 10 teams.
Friday’s matchup with UCLA is even bigger. It will be the first battle of top-five teams, regardless of location, in CU basketball history. It will also be the first matchup of top-five teams in the country this season.
The Buffs have certainly come a long way from just a few short years ago. When current senior point guard Jaylyn Sherrod was a true freshman in 2019-20, the Buffs were 10th in the Pac-12 and didn’t even reach the Women’s NIT.
“Itap awesome,” junior Kindyll Wetta said of the program evolution. “I remember watching Ms. Sherrod when she was a freshman, and just being excited to get here and build this program. JR has done such a great job. Great coach. Itap truly amazing.”
Wetta then turned to Sherrod and said, “Itap just different, wouldn’t you say?
“Itap just different. Having people come out and support us, itap just awesome.”
CU had 9,111 fans at Sunday’s game, the ninth-largest crowd in program history and the largest in 29 years.
The Buffs are also in sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 and Sunday’s win could loom large in the conference title race, especially if tie-breakers come into play.
Sherrod, however, kept things in perspective. There are plenty of hurdles to clear with 13 conference games remaining. Four of those will be against either UCLA or USC. Another is against No. 20 Utah. And there’s an upcoming four-game swing to the Pacific Northwest thatap never been easy for CU.
“I honestly haven’t thought about (the conference title race),” Sherrod said. “No game is easy in the Pac. This was just a big win, but we got UCLA coming up, USC and then we’ll turn around and play Oregon State, who are three great teams in the Pac right now.
“I don’t think we’re really worried about that at the end of the day. We’re just trying to win on Friday and then Sunday and keep it going from there. And when it comes down to (winning the conference), we’ll celebrate if thatap the case when the time comes.”
