A Plea For Basketball

Well, Colorado has a new Athletic Director.  Fernando Lovo, most recently at the helm of New Mexico, will be stepping in to officially replace Rick George at the end of the academic year, putting a stamp on the latter's 13 years of up-and-down leadership in Boulder. 

I'm not going to get too deep in my analysis of the hire, beyond to note the obvious I-25 myopia jokes, and that he's younger than me and I'm just going to have to get over that.  I would've preferred a candidate with more direct experience leading a Power 4 athletic department, or more direct ties to B1G or SEC leadership with an eye towards the next round of realignment, but no candidate will check every box.  He seems energetic, engaging, and happy to be here, so I'll offer some leeway on entry until proven otherwise.

Understandably, the top of Lovo's to-do list will be football-centric. Revenue is a critical conversation point with CU Athletics right now, what with over $25 million in reported budgetary shortfalls, and football is the largest part of that pie.  What's more, on the field, the Coach Sanders era is on perilously wobbly legs, probably not much longer for this world, and the football program as a whole is peering over the ledge at permanent obsolescence.  How Fernando addresses this challenge will define his tenure, and it's reasonable for him to focus much of his attention there to start.  But, there's more than just football on the calendar, and plenty of hours in a workday.  Might I make a plea for basketball?

I'm obviously biased.  While I attend football games out of rote acknowledgement of the ritual, it's not my favorite activity on the planet.  Hoops, on the other hand, has a grip on my soul that I cannot shake -- I'd rather be in the gym watching a college game than pretty much anywhere else.  More to the point, the men's and women's programs are the other two potential profit centers for the athletic department, and, in my perspective, one of those, the men's basketball program, has been entirely mismanaged for the vast majority of the last 13 years under Rick George.  There's more meat on that bone, and, since Fernando will be looking to increase revenues, hoops marks a direct line to find some loose millions in the couch cushions.

That's not to say there hasn't been success. Colorado Men's Basketball is at its highest point of sustained on-court performance since the '60s, and has been there since roughly the moment Tad Boyle put pen-to-paper in April of 2010.  Financial success has followed, with the program running consistent surpluses after spending much of the prior decades hovering around break-even, if not outright in the red.  George has had some say in that, inasmuch as he kept Tad on the payroll, and gave him necessary autonomy in his sphere, if not full-fledged financial support. In-arena, however, the program is moribund. Athletic Directors can only do so much to impact the on-court/field products they're in charge of, but, to my mind, they own the presentation part and parcel. The stale and lifeless marketing and presentation of what could be a jewel in the crown of CU Athletics is an embarrassment, and the fans are starting to vote as such with their butts and wallets.  Money is being left on the table.

In considering this, I took a deep dive into attendance trends since 1990, see below:

Years with post-season play are highlighted in green (Dance) and orange NIT).

Of note, the pre-Boyle attendance average from 1990-2010 was 4,908 per game.  During the Tad era, that number jumps up to 7,890 per game (a 60.7% increase), which is phenomenal.  Not entirely a surprise, given Boyle's winning percentage (60%) and postseason hit rate (80%), though the more recent attendance trends have been downwards, even as the wins and postseason berths have continued apace.

What was more interesting was comparing attendance trends by athletic director, across coaching regimes.  I didn't want to go back to the 80s, 'cause, well, I can only stomach the Dark Ages so much.  But, I think it's fair to look at the tenures of Dick Tharp, Mike Bohn, and Rick George in isolation.  

Tharp's trend was relatively stable, with a slight tick up around the '03 Tournament run, before sliding back below the tenure average of 5,095.  This all makes sense, given his coach's (Ricardo Patton) general inability to capitalize on the star-laden runs of '97 and '03, *and* that I'm pretty sure Tharp wouldn't have been able to locate the CEC on a labeled map of Boulder.  The less said about his time at the helm of the program, the better.

Mike Bohn's time in Boulder? Well, that's where things start to get interesting.  Even before Boyle's arrival, Bohn's attendance trendline had started upwards, culminating in a modern program high of 10,932 patrons per game in 2013.  His total tenure average of 6,202 fans per game is a solid 21.7% increase over Tharp's, but attendance had steadily increased over his final four seasons in Boulder, and his 8 full seasons at the helm of the program saw an average YoY increase of 15.26% each season.  This run is not without fault, with the lame duck '07 season afforded Patton a notable error (and leaving out any comment on his post-CU career, which ended in disgrace at USC), but it's clear that the program took off thanks, in no small part, to Bohn's focus on it.

Finally, let's consider the tenure of Rick George. The simple fact is that attendance has declined in all but two seasons under RG.  He does get a caveat for missing out on the fan-less '21 campaign, one of the most anticipated and most successful seasons in program history, which, most likely, would've seen a spike in raw attendance, but the numbers are what they are.  Indeed, his final running average of 7,750 per game is an increase of 24.9% over Bohn's.  But, that top-line belies the overall losing trend; he has averaged dropping about 3% of the fanbase each season, and his last four seasons (6,969) averaged 20% fewer fans than his first four (8,770). '26 is yet to spit out its final result, but, based on what we've seen so far (5,169 per game through 1/3), my guess is that the numbers will continue to tumble a bit.

What can be made of this?  Attendance is, obviously, a correlation of wins and losses -- when the program is winning, numbers go up, money machine go brrrrrrrr.  But it's also a reflection of fan engagement and interest. The Bzdelik years are a perfect encapsulation; they're three of the most lethargic seasons since 1990, and a decided step down from the W/L standards of the Patton era, yet attendance trended upwards throughout, averaging 26.8% YOY improvement.  Bohn had made a decided effort to engage, grow, and nurture the fanbase, from students to cheer to butts-in-seats, and it showed, even when the results remained pedestrian.  When Bohn made the right hire in replacing Bzdelik, the on-court product shot up, and the fanbase was ready to come along for the ride.

That has not been the case under George.  While the results on the Court have remained rather strong throughout his tenure, the fanbase is less and less interested in trekking to Boulder to watch it.  Some of that can be chalked up to the perception of a stale, "good but not great" program under Boyle, which has brought winning consistency and exciting talent to Boulder, but lacks recent highlight moments in March to pull in the casuals.  That said, a program that routinely posts 20+ win seasons and makes postseason play 80% of the time, compared to a prior history of anything but that, should be a gift to any athletic department and marketing team worth their salt.

My argument is simple: Rick George failed the basketball program.  He was set up for success, handed a tuned-up roadster ready for track day, and instead left it in the garage as a showpiece to rot under a tarp. What I often refer to as benign neglect. When he went to turn the marketing engine over for exciting runs in '20 and '24, all that emitted was a cough.  Learning lessons from this error, Lovo has an opportunity to come in, take corrective action, and lead the program into new frontiers.

Think about your recent gameday experience, and compare it to, say, 2014 or 2015.  There's less juice.  The students are not engaged.  Band and cheer are all but removed from the in-game presentation.  Every aspect of the stage being set feels chintzy, dusty, and, above all else, boring.  All has been allowed to decline without appropriate corrective action. I would argue that there is less care and effort put into the presentation than at any time since Dick Tharp was in charge.  Meanwhile, Tad keeps winning, has addressed pace of play and offense concerns, and keeps pumping out pro prospects -- what am I missing here?

I was made aware that, after the 2019 season (then a culmination of seven consecutive seasons of attendance decline), there was an Athletics meeting across a number of levels to discuss in-game tweaks to presentation.  While attendance decline did stabilize in the aftermath, the results of that meeting have almost all been duds.  The in-arena presentation is worse than ever, and little if anything has been done to course-correct.  The attendance figures, even in years of blue-chip prospects, marketable stars, and high anticipation, have stayed largely flaccid.

Each and every gameday is full of irritation. The DJ?  Gotta go. The small-time sparklers for introductions? Gotta go. The tinny sound system tuned for those without the blessing of hearing? Gotta go. The damn reductive and milquetoast "Buff Clap"?  Gotta go. 

"Well, then, what recommendations do you have?"  I'm glad you asked.  Here's a (brief) list of some suggestions to jumpstart conversation:

• Incentivize fans not just purchasing season tickets, but *using* their season tickets.
• Build in perks for those that show up -- attendance-based tier incentives that lead to discounts at the team store, meet and greets with players, and Buff Club priority boosts (for those that care).  Award bonus points for weeknight games in December, or for less-attractive opponents.
• Make attendance an expectation of ticket purchase; create a culture that makes "getting to the gym" a part of being a Buff Fan.
• Value the students; encourage their engagement, not just their attendance.
• Let the students help lead their own presentation.  Empower student leaders, give them a (small) budget, engage with them, encourage attendance through reward incentives (priority/reserved space for key games, on-court marketing events for attendance leaders, gifts, etc).
• Take advantage of the in-house entertainment you have: band and cheer -- they cost you nothing.
• Tie in songs to marketing promos; give cheer/Chip an on-court entertainment segment beyond the Fight Song spell-out in the 2nd half; let the band play tags after the promos to conclude timeouts.
• I'd also argue for the return of the Tuba Cheer, or at least an in-game band feature -- something that separates Colorado's presentation of basketball from every other school's.
• Value the Events Center.   
• Solicit a naming rights deal for the first time in the arena's history (before you ask, it was the Coors family, not the Coors brand, that the arena was originally named for).
• Put some money into the old girl. Not into the team-focused facilities, which seem to be "OK", and would be prohibitively expensive to replace, anyway, but into the fan-facing environment. Focus on creating an intimate basketball-focused environment by leveraging inexpensive design elements to draw the eye to the court (dim the lights on the concourse during play, or add curtains, for example).
• Celebrate the program's history with pride, not just as an afterthought.
• There should be areas around the concourse that celebrate the building's three programs, their legends, and their important wins.  These areas should be modernized and made interactive for the fans.
• Make the banners more prominent, central to the viewing environment, rather than off to the side and forgotten.
• Bring back the GA section behind the North Tunnel.
• I always liked GA in the bleachers; maybe even set it up as a young/recent alum section as a reflection to the energy from the students in the South end.
• I've understood this to be a regulatory thing, but a push should be made to update the regs and bring GA back.
• Keep the vendor-driven up-charge packages for premium swag (ex. the champagne flute, the whiskey tasting and glass from recent years), but make it more prominent.
• The key change would be to promote them *earlier*, and make them a part of season ticket marketing.  "Sign up for season tickets, and the following items are included," etc.
• In the arena, basketball must come first.  
• Don't undercut the pride and tradition of the program at the CEC for the benefit of football.
• This state is and will be gridiron mad 24/7/365, but when I walk in the gym, it should be about Colorado Basketball.  
• The program is not a gimmick, and should not be treated as such, even if a Heisman Trophy winner wants to stop by.
• Leverage the CEC as a regional alternative for non-CU events, especially given the death of the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield.  
• Create a package of design options to drape off and tarp off areas to make a play for concerts, other sports events, etc.
• Above all else, invest, not just financially, but emotionally.

It's an important moment to address this, too.  Coach Boyle will be transitioning out of this program at some point in the next few years.  There's an opportunity to build on the foundation he forged, both with the looming replacement hire, but also in how the program is presented.

My overall thesis is this: if you act as if this matters, as if it's important to the Department, others will follow. The money will follow. If you act as if it's a 2nd rate excuse for some extra financial offsets in the winter, then people will take that cue, too.  Much like people, programs will tell you who they are, if you only listen.  Let us say with a loud voice that this is a program worth following, worth caring about.  That we are, in part at least, a Basketball School.  That Colorado, both professionally and collegiately, is a destination for hoops, and one worth celebrating.  Treasure, value, and grow, and the hardwood will pay you back in kind.

So, please, Fernando, think of basketball.  Find room, funding, and care for a program with meat left on the bone.  Help make this a program for the whole of Colorado, and get the fans back in the gym.  The revenue will follow.

On the 2022 non-conference schedule

OK, so I went and did something today that I typically try to avoid -- I posed a speculative statistical opinion about Colorado Basketball without actually doing the research.

My tweet:

"[...] Tennessee aside (#9 in KP last year), this may be the softest non-con schedule Tad has put together while at CU. No judgment, it's hard to build a schedule, and a 20-game P12 slate leads you in this direction, but yo. Utah-esque."

Normally, I'd have actually looked at some records and some stats before positing something like that.  Today? No, not so much. That's my bad.

So, to make up for my error, I've cracked open the KenPom files and done some digging to try and actually understand this year's non-conference schedule, insofar as it compares to the rest of the Tad Boyle era.

The Context

CU released its 2022-23 non-conference basketball schedule at the start of the month; you can find it here. Just today, the Pac-12 released their conference weekly pairings, giving us fans a near-complete picture of the schedule. 

There are, to be completely straight, a dearth of "headline" programs in the non-conference portion.  This season, Colorado will be playing UC Riverside, @ Grambling, @ Tennessee (Neutral), Yale, CSU, North Alabama, Northern Colorado, and Southern Utah in their non-con.  This is in addition to three teams in their MTE, one of which will be UMass. 

To be fair, three of those teams (Tennessee, Yale, and CSU) made the NCAA Tournament last March, with two others (Northern Colorado and Southern Utah) making lesser non-conference postseason appearances (CBI and CIT, respectively).  Additionally, in the MTE, Colorado could see teams like Texas A&M and Boise St if the bracket falls the right way, who each were postseason entrants in March of 2022.

Still, at first blush, it's a soft schedule. Uninspiring, certainly.  A group of directional detritus that I would otherwise needle a conference opponent for drawing up.

But, is it really the softest that Tad and his staff have drawn up while at Colorado?

Wait, what is an MTE?

MTEs, or Multi-Team-Events, allow coaches to add in a non-conference tournament or similar to supplement their schedules. Often taking place in far-flung exotic locales (like Hawai'i, Puerto Rico, or the Bahamas), they're exceedingly common place, and rare is the major program's schedule that doesn't include one (Colorado's last season without an MTE was 2013-14).

Normally, NCAA rules limit a college schedule to 29 regular season games (plus exhibitions, either public or private).  However, by including a three-game MTE in your schedule, you can cram in a maximum of 31 games.  It comes at a cost, though: you're at the mercy of the MTE for your opponents, the bracket, etc.  

This year's example for Colorado is the Myrtle Beach Invitational (tickets on sale now!), which I will be attending in mid-November.

The Methodology

I thought the quickest and fairest way to quantify the difficulty of a given year's schedule was to average the *previous* year's final KenPom ranking of each team on the slate.  i.e., if I was looking at the 2013-14 season's schedule, I would compare it against the final KP rankings from 2012-13. 

Why did I do it that way?  Why not look at pre-season rankings or final rankings from the year in question? Why not something more complicated with weighting and such?

Well, first, KP doesn't keep his old pre-season rankings in a handy format that I can find. I imagine that's because his pre-season rankings are the result of as much statistical guesswork and calculus as hard data, but I digress.

As to eschewing final rankings from the actual year of the schedule? Well, I'll concede it's a flawed method, particularly in a sport where many programs can turn over dramatically year-to-year. However, I feel it's the most reliable way to understand the context behind the schedule heading into each season, rather than trying to justify against the results.  My purpose, after all, is to understand how this year's schedule can be viewed, not how it will. The *actual* difficulty of the current schedule is unknown, and won't be known until the end of December. I can't then compare that unknown against a known quantity, so I am trying and contextualize the 2022 numbers against something similar.

See, in any given season, there are breakout teams and disappointments that can have a dramatic effect on the final value of a schedule. Take last year's meeting with Milwaukee, for example. The Panthers, coming into the season, were viewed a dark horse candidate for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. They were highly thought of, boasting some veteran components and an anticipated NBA lottery pick in Patrick Baldwin, Jr.  Baldwin, however, never showed that presumed promise under his father's (Head Coach Pat Baldwin) tutelage, struggling with injuries (only played 11 games for Milwaukee) and poor performances throughout the year. Without expected returns from their star, the Panthers, 120th in the preseason KenPom ratings, finished a dreadful 335th nationally.  In retrospect, that's a black hole on the schedule, a game that is a NET anchor.  However, headed into last season, it was a game that was rightfully looked at as a potential NET booster.

This kind of goes back to why I disregard the notion that you can use March results to justify the regular season narrative -- you can't let the ends justify the means.  Just because a schedule *turned out* to be difficult, doesn't mean that difficulty would've been appreciated in October.  So, to filter out that noise, I looked back at the final results of the previous seasons -- that's the context under which the coaching staff would've built the calendar, so that's how I will judge it.  

In the end, I decided to ignore home vs road or other weighting options.  I could've added in a modifier, similar to how the RPI and the NET have accounted for home/road splits in the past, but... *sigh* I've got a day job, OK?

Next, I needed to consider the impact of the MTE.  Going into the year, some of the games are fixed (CU knows they'll face UMass this season, for example), whereas others are the result of games played outside of CU's control.  So, how to account for that?  Well, I averaged out the entirety of the MTE, cognisant of any fixed games, but otherwise accounting for all teams that CU *could've* played.  That gave me a KP "value" for the MTE.  I then factored that into the rest of the schedule, slotting in that "value" by the maximum # of games that were to be played.

Finally: exclusions. I excluded the 2020-21 season, which was scheduled amidst the chaos of COVID, for obvious reasons.  I also excluded any exhibitions or other non-D1 games played (New Orleans in 2011 is an example here). And, I also excluded Tad's first year, 2010, from the list because I didn't think it fair, given that he signed on in April, and, I would assume, many of the games had already been scheduled.

If, after all of that, you have problems with the methodology... OK?  Hey, it's a free country, prove me wrong and do it yourself.

The Results

Well, long story short, I should've looked at the data, first, before saying something stupid -- let that be a lesson to all of you! While the 2022 non-conference schedule doesn't shape up to be the strongest of the Tad Boyle era, it certainly isn't the worst.  See below:

Woof, 2018 was awful.  That was a year bereft of any high-major teams in the non-conference slate.  Other than CSU, the home headliner that year was... I guess Drake?  Even the MTE that year was a bust, with CU going 1-2 against a middling group of Indiana State, Hawai'i, and Charlotte.  The less said of that the better.

2013, on the other hand, was interestingly the only year that CU didn't schedule a full MTE. Tad made up for that with a pair of high-profile neutral site one-off games -- Against Baylor in Dallas and Oklahoma State in Las Vegas -- which combined nicely with the home tilt against Kansas (Ski for 3) to beef up the numbers.

Ultimately, 2022 is pretty much middle-of-the-road.  Lacking a home marquee event, sure, but otherwise on par with what we've seen, historically.  It's also solidly *stronger* than last season's, thanks to a potentially hefty MTE which boasts a field deeper than any CU has played in since 2011.

So, to Tad and staff, I apologize and take back my complaint from earlier today.

A screencap of my full sheet can be found below, for those interested:

OK, but why?

Why did I do this?  Well, to answer that itch in my brain that was telling me I hadn't shown my work.  
Also, I wanted to better understand this year's schedule in context.


No, why is scheduling like this?

It's important to understand that, as opposed to football where the AD negotiates the schedule (often a decade-plus in advance of kickoff), the basketball schedule is largely set by the coaching staff within a calendar year of the game to be played. That makes it not only complicated and personal to the staff that's running the program -- it can make or break a season before it even gets started -- but a competitive rush against other like-minded programs to get games on the schedule.

In the end, a *lot* of behind-the-scenes work goes into putting together the games we get to watch each fall, work that is ultimately a thankless task.  Too easy a schedule: the fans complain (*waves*) and ticket sales suffer.  Too hard a schedule: the team takes its knocks and you end up with a worse record than you "should."  You have to schedule for your roster, after all.

Then, there's other context to consider.  First, there's a finals week in the middle of December; probably shouldn't be playing a high-leverage NET game that week, let alone traveling.  Oh, and don't forget that the Pac-12 moved to a 20-game conference schedule a few years back.  That means two conference games taking up space in your early-season calendar; games that you *really* should be winning.  That means less incentive to schedule marquee dates that could coincide with a difficult road trip to, say, Washington (December 4th, btw).

What's more, there's an undeclared factor here: no teams worth a damn want to come to the CEC for a game. Unless Colorado gives up more than just a return trip (i.e., a 2-for-1, or a home-and-home plus a semi-road neutral, like with Tennessee), Top-40 programs won't answer the phone call.  Hell, even smart programs in the 41-100 range wouldn't willingly come to the Foot of the Flatirons if they can avoid it.  Why play at the 5th-toughest venue in the country if you don't have to?  There are other places you can go to boost your NET where you might actually win.

That leaves the UC Riversides and North Alabamas of the world; those just looking for a "buy game", aka a paycheck (queue Rothstein and the epitome of brutality...).  And so that's who ends up on the schedule.  Throw in a few games dictated by existing contracts (CSU, @ Grambling, Tennessee), a few regional foes (Northern Colorado, Southern Utah), juggle the Pac-12 games and finals week and *poof*, there you go.

On the 20th Anniversary of 60-59

This coming basketball season marks an important milestone in Colorado Basketball history -- the 20th anniversary of the 2002-03 team. As such, it's time to open old wounds and dig into some Big 8/XII scar tissue. 

Kansas, once, was the measuring stick by which CU men's hoops were routinely found to be inadequate. KU was, and still is, a national power, one of the true blue-bloods of the sport; comparatively, the Buffs have never been either. Their meetings reinforced that dichotomic status quo of haves and the have-nots: Kansas had, Colorado had not.

Yet, in spite of the disparity in pedigree and prestige, from Colorado's joining of the Big 8 in 1947 until their exit from the Big XII in 2011, the two played regularly. Each year, the Buffs would get two or three shots against the Jayhawks, and, most years, they'd get that measuring stick upside the back of their heads for their efforts. It became a sticking point; a hump that CU could never seem to get over. In a recent conversation, Neill Woelk (formerly of the Daily Camera, now with CUBuffs.com) even referred to them as Colorado's "white whale." ^[1]

You see, the history of Colorado v Kansas on the hardwood is not really a rivalry, in the traditional sense. More a Sisyphean reflection of the BasketBuffs' decades-long struggle with relevance, one that has only gotten more extreme with time. Let me put it this way: in his four years as a player at Kansas in the early 80s, Tad Boyle suffered more losses to Colorado (3) than the Jayhawks have experienced, all-told, from 1992 to the present (2). KU's slips against their former Big 8/XII "rivals" were already rare by the time the 90s rolled into town (they lead the overall series 124-40), but since February of 1991, the 'Squawks have gone 47-2 against the Buffs with an average margin of victory of over 18 points.

Hammer, meet nail.^[2]

The annual tilt in Boulder was, typically, the most painful, as Colorado would put up a wilful fight before succumbing in the end. What's more, a full 30-50% of the arena would be clad in red and blue, and all Buffalo faithful would have to suffer that damn chant. In the late-aughts, I myself witnessed more than a few of the season ticket holders around me swapping colors -- one week loosely cheering for CU, the next noisily rooting for the neighbor to the east. It was not uncommon for Kansas fans, including, as I found out in our conversation, Woelk's father, to hold CU season tickets simply for that one night a year when KU would come to Boulder: 

"My dad was from Kansas, moved to Colorado. He grew up a Kansas basketball fan.  Every year, I would get him tickets to the Colorado/Kansas game.  And I finally ended up buying him season tickets to CU basketball just so my dad could come to one game a year. I just remember telling him how much I hated that KU chant… he would get a huge kick out of that.”

An unfortunate reality: the Buffs weren't even the headliner in their own building.

By that measure, there are some parallels to Colorado's great rivalry on the gridiron -- their annual fracas with former national power Nebraska. As was reinforced in 2019, a lot of red suddenly appears in Folsom anytime the Huskers come to town. It's what made those games so tense -- as a Buff fan, you desperately wanted to win just to see those invaders sitting next to you look so glum. Hell, that yearning for schadenfreude is why this remains such an indelible image in the CU/NU rivalry to this day. 

With the Nubs and football, at least, Colorado has enjoyed some recent success. A breakthrough win against the Corn in 1986 helped propel the Buffs to a national title a few years later, and, since 2001, the Buffs have beaten back the red tide as many times as they've been flummoxed, going 6-6. In basketball, against frickin' Kansas, however, CU has not been nearly as successful.

So, for a school that has 62-36 metaphorically etched into the keystone of Norlin Library, it stands to reason that those two out of 49 against Kansas are worth mentioning if you care in the slightest about Colorado Basketball. 

Now, any modern CU fan worth their salt is keenly aware of the latter of the two, the Ski-for-Three madness of December 7th, 2013.^[3] What, then, of the former? What, then, of January 22nd, 2003?

If you're already familiar, it's probably because you were there. Comparatively, Askia's Miracle is easily accessible for those new to Black and Gold religion. Pac-12 Network has it on their decaying platform about a dozen times per season if you're interested in re-living that one. But, the win in '03? I dare you to try and find all but the barest of hints online. Believe me, I had looked. Unless you were willing to pay for access to the Daily Camera and Denver Post print archives (like I was), the best you could do was a few AP articles linked on the CU website and the mirrored articles on ESPN. Certainly, there were no highlights to be found online; YouTube has nothing that I could find. Even pictures from the game are difficult to come across.

How? How could one of the biggest victories in modern Colorado Basketball history get so lost in the internet shuffle?

Well, not anymore. Approaching the 20th anniversary of its birth, I lay 60-59 to rest with a full In Memoriam.  I'll cover Colorado's program history in the preceding years and the 2002-03 season's outlook; I'll review both teams' performance that year and how they stood coming into the night of January 22nd, 2003; I'll even touch on the series beef each team brought with them into the game that night; of course, I'll break down the game itself (with the help of some archival footage); and, finally, I'll wrap-up with a discussion of the aftermath. There are even endnotes and a full sources list!

So, strap in. It's a long and winding ride. Best consumed with a beer in hand...

Let's go!

Some idle thoughts after Saturday.

I think it was about the time that KJ Simpson pulled up for a “fuck-it-why-not” three-pointer, a little over halfway into the 2nd frame of CU’s stunning 79-63 win over #2 Arizona, that I realized what was happening.  

Simpson’s thunderbolt 24-footer was the result of a broken play.  With the Buffs up 58-50 at the time, Nique Clifford lost the handle in the backcourt, leading to a four-man scramble onto the hardwood.  Somehow, Nique and KJ combined to regain possession, with Nique flipping the ball back to KJ at the top of the arc.  The freshman spark plug, who had spurned a commitment to the UofA for life in Boulder, spun and twisted, looking for an opening before putting up a hand to let his teammates know to reset.  It was at that point he realized that the Arizona defense had screwed up – in their haste to get back into position, confusion on the wing had left Simpson all alone.  All but shrugging, KJ rose and fired, splashing the effort and setting the CU Events Center to boil.  Buffs now up eleven, never to look back.

Up until that point, I had been humming along, enjoying the ride, and simply appreciative that we fans were not held witness to a repeat of last Thursday’s debacle against Arizona State.  I was taking solace in the fact that the Buffs were showing good fight; that the program icon of program icons, Evan Battey, wasn’t going to see his Senior Day ruined by a schlubby performance. I could come to terms with this end to a season of ups, downs, and all-arounds, even if the mighty Cats from the desert eventually pulled it out in the end.

But, when that shot went in – turning a failed possession into three points – it dawned on me: holy shit, this is actually happening.  The Buffs are going to win.

You see, it’s not every day that the #2 team in the country rolls into town only to roll back out with a loss.  Sure, I’ve seen ‘Zona take a whupping or two in Boulder before – they’re now 2-7 at the Foot of the Flatirons since 2012, of course – but this was not a ‘typical’ version of Arizona.  This was #2 in the polls, #2 in Kenpom Arizona.  We haven’t seen an Arizona team this good since the Giant Death Robot days of 2014 and ‘15, and it was those teams that won their two trips to Boulder by a combined 55 points.  And yet, all that efficiency and aura meant nothing.

Neither did the previous matchup between these two teams seem to mean a thing.  That entrant in the diary, a 21-point CU loss in Tucson from back in mid-January, shared little in common with what was displayed on the hardwood Saturday night, save a feisty performance from KJ Simpson.  Throw that baby out with the bathwater, as well.

No, the Buffs who took the floor on 2/26/22 were a completely different beast.  They were feisty, they were aggressive, they were mean.  They would not be punked in the backcourt, or over-run in the front.  Whether it was attacking the rim (CU had 54 points in the paint against the nation’s second-best 2ptFG% defense), fighting on the boards (holding the Cats to rebounding parity, 30-30), or eating souls on defense (held one of the country’s most efficient offenses to under 40% from the floor), Colorado would not back down on Saturday.  They dictated, they hounded. They made Arizona look soft, not the other way around.

Even if this was an aberrance, even if these two meet again in Las Vegas next week and the tables are turned, this was an important moment.  This was the Colorado Buffaloes, young and lean, learning to hold their own against a monster of the conference.  This is a win that will reverberate in the coming years, paying dividends when the likes of Simpson and Clifford are veterans leading the way.

It’s a win to savor. 

–

My view was perfect.  Buffs win, crowd storms, Senior Day festivities commenced through the din of excited undergrads.  Then, the storybook finish we had all hoped for took form.

Evan Battey, the ebullient heart-and-soul of the Black and Gold, hoisted himself up on top of the sideline signage to take in the adoring masses.  He stood above and apart, yet at the same time existing as one with his audience. A king and his subjects, a mayor and his city. 

The image, as they say, was worth a thousand words.

Evan thanked everyone.  God, his family, his teammates.  Committed to returning, to one day becoming the head coach of the program he had helped define for the last five years.  Tears were shed.

It was a perfect moment.  A program-defining moment from a program-defining individual.  The bear of a power forward, on (and all apologies to Elijah, Will, and Benan) *his* Senior Day, had willed his teammates to a spectacular, singular moment in Colorado Basketball history.  His 11/4/1/2 line, as was typical, belying his over-sized impact on the program and its proceedings.  Then, in one last gift, plastering our memories with an indelible image of joy and success against all odds.  Life, once again, contriving to one-up any pretense of fiction.

Much like Evan, Saturday was unique, never to be duplicated.  I hope you were there.  I hope you got to take it all in.

–

This season is not over.  There’s still the regular-season finale in Utah, the trip to Vegas, and a probable postseason berth of some kind (most likely the NIT) to look towards.  But it’s worth our time, even with games remaining, to take stock of what this year has brought us.

This was not meant to be a thriving campaign.  Sure, Tad and the guys all said the right things in October, about competing for championships, etc.  But, given the roster turnover (McKinley Wright to the NBA, Jeriah Horne back to Tulsa, and D’Shawn Schwartz and Dallas Walton to greener pastures out east), and the fact that Colorado is, as ever, a recruit and develop program, the expectation was that of a re-set clock, rather than a continuation of last season's highs.  2020-21 was meant to be the peak, now back to The Rise.  See you in two or three years.

Instead, what we’ve gotten is a season of defied expectations.  “Young teams can’t win on the road.”  Boom, five true road wins in conference, with a potential sixth still on the table. “Maybe a bottom-half finish in conference with a sub-.500 record.” Boom, a minimum 11 wins in the league, and almost all but assured no worse than 5th-place finish in the Pac-12.  You cannot argue with these results.  

Certainly not, given that the crown jewel of the league's best incoming recruiting class, Lawson Lovering, endured significant growing pains before seeing his season end in late January; his class-mate, and fellow four-star prospect, Quincy Allen, was lost for the year before the season even tipped off; and the expected Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, and one of only two initial scholarship seniors, Elijah Parquet, missed the final month and a half of the season.  This was a season played with one hand tied behind CU’s collective backs, and yet they produced a surging effort, now culminating in an impressive final stretch.  

There’s only one result on the calendar that really falls wrong – that loss at home to Arizona State.  Every other result either met with expectations or exceeded them, more or less.  That, in and of itself, is to the credit of Tad Boyle and staff.  They led the young Buffs well, avoiding too many pitfalls.  Could I have asked for a better home record?  Sure.  Would I have liked to see more complete performances @ Washington or @ Washington State?  Yeah.  But the whole picture is one of a young team over-performing the expectations.  If this was meant to be the rebuilding year, the transition year to the next surge of Colorado Basketball, then I can’t wait to see the finished product.

If you can’t appreciate that, given the circumstances, I really don’t know what to say – maybe you should try watching, or commenting, on something else. 

Tuesday Grab Bag: RIP, Rowdy

Yesterday, the Athletic Department confirmed the passing of CU's beloved Ralphie IV.  Mascot, revered icon, noble beast; "Rowdy" (her given name) was the embodiment of the Colorado spirit over her 10-year career, having led the football team onto the field in more than 75 contests. She was there when the 2001 team won the Big XII title, there when the 2006 team went to Georgia, and there when the 2007 team stunned #3 Oklahoma.  Overall, she appeared in six bowl games and four Big XII championships.

We'll miss you, Rowdy.  From: 9 News

Big, powerful, rumbling, her running style was distinctly different from the sprinting act of her successor, Ralphie V ("Blackout").  Indeed, it befit the older era of plodding three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football that she starred in.  She was the buffalo I played for at CU, and, despite the near-decade that has passed since her retirement in 2008, the one I still think of when I imagine 'Ralphie.'

Having lived a long life for a bison, nearly 20 years, Rowdy's death does not come as a surprise, but it is nonetheless a sad moment.  RIP, Rowdy.  Enjoy running with the great herd in the sky.

--

Today in an abbreviated bag, I'm talking the season-ender in Orlando, and the Colorado Women with their own NIT push.

Click below for the bag...

2017 NIT: CU vs UCF Basketball Teaser -- Password is Tacko

It's been a while since Colorado was last in the NIT.  Some six years and (for yours truly) 950-ish posts ago, the Buffs of Alec Burks and Cory Higgins played Alabama in Madison Square Garden as part of the 2011 NIT semifinals. That day was bitterly painful for the small cabal of CU fans who, even back then, cared deeply about this program.  In a flash of a baseline drive from 'Bama's Trevor Releford and a missed jumper from the aforementioned Burks, about 19 seconds in total, an improbable season was over, and the Buffs were resigned to a 62-61 defeat.

The last vision of Colorado in the NIT was a painful one.  From: the AP

You have to remember that I didn't know the run of success that lay ahead, and that it would all get much better over the next five years, but I was broken-hearted that afternoon.  That team was, to that point, the closest I had ever seen Colorado Basketball get to being a 'winner,' and to have it all peter out, first with a NCAA snub, then with a last-second defeat in the NIT, seemed like an affirmation that Colorado hoops would always be an also-ran.  How wrong I was.

If some of you, especially those who may have been too young to remember 'the before times,' are missing an answer to why this tournament is still important, just look back to that season.  Even though Colorado missed out on the Dance, even though they didn't win in New York City, just getting there was a momentous step in the modern history of this program.  It was the launching pad for the 2012 rocket blasting into a league championship and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  It was the true birth of the swagger and the pride of Colorado Basketball.  That NIT run meant something to those of us who got to latch on and experience it first hand -- to look past the opportunity the NIT can be is to look past all the joy of the last five years.

The 2011 NIT means a lot for this program. From: the BDC

With that said, I'd be hard pressed not to acknowledge the differences between 2011 and 2017.  First, that 2011 group was loaded with hungry talent, not to mention three players who would go on to see the NBA.  They got to play three games in that tournament at home, and deserved each and every one of them.  While I cannot say yet with certainty how many currently in uniform will wind up at the next level, the '11 team was a more capable squad from top-to-bottom; they were a special, special offensive club.  Additionally, everyone that year, from fans on to the team, saw making the NIT as an accomplishment and a chance to shine, even with the disappointment of the Committee leaving them off the board.  That is, decidedly, not the case this spring.  You have to care about being in the NIT to succeed.  That 2011 team certainly did.  This year's squad?  I have my doubts.

But, enough jabber, on to the crux of the matter: UCF.  The fourth place finishers in the AAC this year, the Knights were winners of 21 games and are unquestionably a solid, tough basketball team. Looking at their resume, I don't see a whole lot of hiccups (though the home loss to Penn isn't anything to brag about).  Their problem this season was an overall soft schedule (even with a date against Villanova, the Knights were 329th in non-conference scheduling) and missed opportunities in league play.  Really, outside of home wins over Cincinnati and Houston, they swung and missed against every big team they played.  Indeed, should they beat CU this afternoon, it'd make for their third-best win of the season.

Coach Dawkins swapped coasts over the summer.  From: UCFKnights.com

The Knights are led by an old friend -- Johnny Dawkins.  You will probably remember Coach Dawkins from his days on the Stanford sideline, solemnly guiding the Cardinal to disappointing result after disappointing result.  Really, he's at home in the environment of the NIT, as accustomed to the secondary bracket as a chicken in a coop.  His Trees made the NIT four times in eight seasons, as compared to just one Tournament appearance, winning the damn thing twice.  Coach Boyle, however, knows a trick or two about how to go about beating Dawkins' teams.  After losing to the Cardinal twice in 2012, he never fell under Johnny's heel again, winning the last five meetings before Dawkins was fired a year ago. Though the personnel at his disposal is decidedly different from when he was on the Left Coast, I'm sure Coach Dawkins was far from pleased to see the name 'Colorado' turn over next to his on Selection Sunday.

Johnny has an interesting roster to work with in Orlando, though.  The obvious standout, mostly because he literally stands out above the crowd, is sophomore center Tacko Fall.  The 7-6 (that's not a miss-print), 290 lbs Senegalese baller is as unique a challenge as you'll find in the game today.  In the mold of Sim Bhullar and Mamadou N'Diaye of recent fame, he towers over the paint, almost blocking out the rim from the sight of would-be attackers.  It's no wonder, then, that the Knights are #1 in the country in two-point shot percentage defense, allowing under 40% inside the arc.  What was once a good shot, anything near the rim, becomes a dicey proposition with Fall, the AAC's Defensive Player of the Year, lurking to block or otherwise affect even the closest of looks.  Opponents are even under 50% at the rim itself.  Colorado will need to find an answer to this conundrum -- moving the ball, getting out in transition, and hitting outside jumpers.

Dude's tall, what else can I say?  From: the AP

Past just deterring shots, however, Fall also excels offensively.  He's in the top-three nationally in eFG%, and top-five in offensive rebound rate.  Overall, he shoots 72% from the field, and I honestly have no idea how you go about guarding him.  You can't really front him, he's just too tall.  You can try to keep him from grabbing position down low, but he has arms for days and can close space to the rim in an instant just by reaching out.  Wes Gordon will have his hands full.  To that end, the Buffs have been getting creative, handing redshirting freshman Dallas Walson padded sticks in practice to simulate the reach of Fall.  Other teams have tried similar things in the past, with, most notably, the Silver Swords of Chaminade sticking a manager on a folding chair in practices leading up to their famous tussle with Virginia and 7-4 Ralph Sampson in 1982.  When playing someone as abnormal as a 7-6 center, your thinking has to be just as abnormal. Luckily, Tacko isn't on the court all the time, averaging just 26 minutes per, but when he is, CU will have to look outside the box; literally and figuratively.

Fall, however, isn't the only dangerous piece on the Knights. Guards BJ Taylor and Matt Williams combine for 32 points per game, and can be deadly.  The senior Williams, especially, rarely leaves the court, and is an outstanding shooter.  He took 292 three-point attempts this season, canning 38% of them. Colorado needs to run him off the line and keep him from getting hot.  Elsewhere, Tank Efianayi is an interesting veteran wing capable of playing inside-outside.  He combines well with AJ Davis and Nick Banyard up front.

Williams is an electric outside threat.  From: the Orlando Sentinel 

Overall, a solid team.  They can be elite defensively, especially as teams wrestle with their helping of Tacko in the paint.  I wouldn't be surprised if Colorado struggles offensively, unless they start nailing outside shots.  Defensively, however, I think the Buffs can find some room for success.  UCF is far from a strong offensive club, and can really get shut down by anyone that is willing to put in the work.  That's where the buy-in from CU comes in.  If they have bought into the purpose of this tournament, they should be alright and eventually find themselves in a position to steal the win in Orlando.  If not, however, the proceedings could get very ugly.  My guess is that, with four seniors and none of the post-season distractions of two years ago, a focused bunch of Buffaloes will show up. With that in mind, and with a healthy dose of heart behind my pick, I'll take Colorado to advance in an ugly one.

--

Tip-off from CFE Arena in Orlando, FL is set for 5pm MT Wednesday.  Coverage can be found via internet stream on ESPN3 (aka: WatchESPN), with the radio call... unknown at this time.  Is Mark Johnson still available, or did he bail on this season?  Anyway, stick with the stream, it may be your only shot at following this one.


GO BUFFS!  PROVE ME RIGHT, AND BEAT THE KNIGHTS!

Tuesday Grab Bag: Season ain't over, yet!

Back from Vegas, and somehow I lost two hours in my day. Wait, what time is it again? ... Without further adieu, straight to the action.

Today in the bag, I'm talking the Pac-12 final in Las Vegas (along with my All-Tournament team), the Buffs in the NIT, and women's lacrosse.

Click below for the bag...

2017 Pac-12 Tournament Teaser: Day 4

VEGAS, The Pac-12 Tournament, March 11th --

The final is set here in Las Vegas, and it's the rematch we've been waiting for -- Oregon/Arizona. These two have proven a clear separation between themselves and the rest of the conference over three months of play, now it's time to finally decide who will get to claim supremacy in the Conference of Champions.

Oregon earned their spot in the final thanks to a grueling, industrial effort over Cal.  The Golden Bears weren't really supposed to be in this spot, and, with star guard Jabari Bird out early in the action with a possible concussion, looked to be at long odds to survive 40 minutes with the vaunted Ducks.  But they battled ferociously all night, even cutting the lead to two points with 45 seconds to play.  UO would not be denied, however, with Dylan Ennis throwing the team on his back to secure the winning points.  In the end, the 73-65 scoreline belies how close Oregon really was to coughing this one up.

The second half here was a weird one.  The Ducks were robbed of the services of star point forward Dillon Brooks as he was called for his fourth foul as part of a bizarre stretch of five called on one Cal possession early in the frame.  That staccato burst of whistles knee-capped the game, sending it into a listless spiral of empty possessions as both teams looked to make sense of the new landscape on the court.  Play would eventually recover, as Ennis and Tyler Dorsey began to pick up the slack in Brooks' absence.  Ennis, especially, seemed to fill the Brooksian role, barrelling into the lane to force the defense to react and open up shooters.  Dorsey was all too happy to oblige, and he started nail repeated attempts from the field.  In all, the young shooting guard would finish with 23 points on 13 attempts, with Ennis finding five assists.

Oregon needed everything those two could provide, as Grant Mullins couldn't miss.  The senior specialist for Cal was 5-5 from deep, and kept the Golden Bears in the game, despite their at times archaic offense.  It wasn't enough, though, to overcome sputtering play from Ivan Rabb and Charlie Moore, the inside-outside duo that had generally fueled whatever California got in the regular season. With those two struggling to inconsistent 9-23 shooting, there were simply too many empty possessions for the Bears against a quality opponent.

Those Ducks will face the Wildcats this evening after they spent 40 minutes suffocating the life out of UCLA.  The second half itself was a treatise on frustrative offense for the Bruins, with then repeatedly failing to find any traction against the Arizona 'D.'  I didn't think it could happen, at least not so easily, but they were completely shut down.  All credit to the 'Cats, then -- they earned their 86-75 victory.

The Bruins, considered by some to be the best offensive club in a generation, were abysmal from the field, shooting just 16% from behind the arc.  Arizona wasn't completely to blame, with the Bruins forcing some heedless takes and missing some open looks, but it's hard not to note that UCLA's best weapon - the three-point shot - was almost completely taken away by a team that prides itself on defense.  You could see the exasperation on the faces of the Bruins' shooters, especially Lonzo Ball and Bryce Alford.  That pair, usually so effusive, combined for just 13 points and 2-16 shooting from deep.  Ball was, himself, visibly shaken in the first half, focusing on a jammed finger and struggling with turnovers.  If Arizona can do that to Lonzo, in contention for the top pick in this summer's NBA Draft, then they should have high hopes in the coming Tournament.

For the 'Cats, probably their best takeaway from the evening was the play of Lauri Markkanen.  The big Finnish shooting star has finally seemed to break a weeks-long shooting slump here in Las Vegas, first against Colorado, then against the Bruins.  He got 29 Friday night on 22 shots, and seemed to be much more comfortable and aggressive with his shot than in previous weeks.  Parker Jackson-Cartwright, though, also deserves a lot of credit.  Every time the Bruins tried to drop into zone, his speed and ability to knife past the top-line kept UCLA's 3-2 from having any shot of taking effect.

All things considered, the pair of games could've been better (they certainly didn't live up to the legacy of last year's Pac-12 Final Four).  UCLA, for sure, could've played much better than they did to help the evening game reach expectations.  But the final is the one that makes the most sense for the league, and the one that should give us out truest champion.  Can't wait for tip!

--

Best pep band of the day: Oregon

I'm going to give it to the Ducks over Arizona, though it was close.  Both of these bands made their competition across the stadium pale in comparison, playing good music loudly and with good energy. The Ducks, though, had I thought the far superior bass player, and I'm a sucker for someone who lays down the funk.

--

Today's action:

- #2 Arizona vs #1 Oregon - 9pm MT - ESPN - 

The previous meeting between these two was, of course, a massive blowout in Eugene.  There was no return trip to McKale, however, meaning this pseudo-home game in a red-packed T-Mobile Arena will have to suffice for the Wildcats.

I really like the way Arizona has played this week.  They've been hitting their shots, playing great defense, and Sean Miller seems to have an excellent grasp of his rotation when to pull the trigger on situational changes.  Oregon, conversely, has seemed, at times, to be going through the motions against teams they should be blitzing.  Arizona, then, seems to have the rhythm advantage, but I have never liked the way they matchup against the Ducks.  Boucher and Bell have the length and athleticism to negate Markkanen, and I'll take Dillon Brooks over Alonzo Trier every day at this level. To that end, if Brooks can stay in the game, avoiding foul trouble, I expect Oregon to win.  If not, the wave of depth in the paint that Arizona can leverage should hold sway.  Keep an eye on that foul count.


GO DUCKS!  PROVE ME RIGHT, AND REPEAT!

2017 Pac-12 Tournament Teaser: Day 3

VEGAS, The Pac-12 Tournament, March 10th --

There will be no dream run to the Dance, there will be no cinderella story for our Black and Gold heroes.  Despite the best efforts of Derrick White and Xavier Johnson, the Buffaloes just didn't have enough talent at their disposal in their quarterfinal matchup against Arizona, coming up 14 points short, 92-78.

That's not to say that CU was well out of this one from the tip.  After trading some early blows, then starting to slip behind, the Buffs fought back right before halftime, fueled by the devil-may-care attacking tenacity of White.  They would even, briefly, take a lead before Arizona stole back the one-point advantage at the break.  The problem here was two-fold: reserve forward Tory Miller was in deep foul trouble, already saddled with three personals in seven minutes of play, and Arizona was creating havoc off the dribble-drive.  Colorado was in the game, but another half of play was a daunting proposition.

Indeed, into the final frame, the UofA's execution on the offensive side began to show.  With precious few resources in the paint to slow them, forwards Lauri Markkanen and Dusan Ristic started to go off, while their guards were busy knifing into the heart of Colorado's defense to create open looks. CU would allow 64% shooting from the field and 54 total points in the second half -- the relative equivalent of a bloodbath.

Still, staring back into the face of this hellish math, White and Johnson would not go quietly into the night.  Derrick, especially, was on fire, slipping past would-be defenders and letting it fly.  He would tally an awe-inspiring total of 31 points against a good defensive team determined to stop him, humbling just as many combined recruiting stars in the process.  If there were any lingering doubts that he belonged at this level, they were erased here in Las Vegas.  Xavier Johnson was similarly into the action, flying around on both ends.  He would chip in 20/7 against a series of tall trees in the paint.

The problem was, those two seniors got relatively little support from the rest of the roster.  Past them, only one other Buff finished with multiple made baskets, George King, and it was a constant struggle to find the right defensive combination with players like Miller and Wes Gordon fighting foul trouble. Frontcourt depth was always going to be an issue for Colorado this season, and it reared its ugly head with semifinal dreams on the line.

So, with that, CU exits stage left into the post-season.  There is still some solid hope that a NIT bid might be forthcoming, but I doubt at this point that it will involve a home game.  Regardless, I feel that the Buffs, after their rocky start to the season, did themselves proud both down the stretch of conference play and here in the conference tournament.  They deserve another chance to run out of a tunnel, wherever it may be.  Hopefully, come Sunday evening, they will be afforded just such a chance.

In the day;s other action:

• Oregon blew past Arizona State with little difficulty, 80-57.
• Cal clipped the Utes to become the first lower seed in 24 tries to win in this tournament, 78-75.
• UCLA survived a late push from the Trojans to advance, 76-74.

--

Best pep band of the day: Utah

The Utes brought five tubas and no woodwinds with them to Las Vegas.  That is serious business, folks.  Overall, they're not a spectacular band, but they play clean and loud with a very basic style. They won't wow you, but, when compared to some of the other bands in town, Utah gets a lot of things right.

--

Today's action:

- #5 Cal vs #1 Oregon - 7pm MT - Pac-12 Network - 

Of this final grouping, Cal sticks out like a sore thumb.  They've done good work here, solidifying their Tournament status with yesterday's win over Utah, but they simply do not belong with teams like Oregon, Arizona, and UCLA.  As such, I would expect the Ducks to carve them up in prep for a grueling final battle with the survivor of the nightcap.  Might be a low-scoring affair, though.


- #3 UCLA vs #2 Arizona - 9:30pm MT - ESPN - 

Before the tournament started, I put my money on UCLA to win it all, figuring they had the best guards in town, and that such things matter this time of year.  This is where that bet comes to a head. They were able to stun the UofA in Tucson, ripping away their shot at a league title, but revenge is often a bitch.  With the crowd at their back, the Wildcats could very well overcome the best backcourt in the West. We'll just have to wait and see -- should be a good one with a boatload of points scored.


GO BRUINS!  PROVE ME RIGHT, AND KEEP WINNING!

2017 Pac-12 Tournament Teaser: Day 2

VEGAS, The Pac-12 Tournament, March 9th --

I will not be seeing the Hoover Dam, at least for one more year.  Thanks to a furious 2nd half comeback, the Colorado Buffaloes were able to forestall the ignominy of a 1st round exit, storming back to upend the Washington State Cougars 73-63.

The first half performance from our Black and Gold heroes was simply awful.  The Cougars were able to get whatever shot they wanted on offense, tickling the twine to the tune of 57% shooting from the field and 65% from downtown.  In all, they would make 17 baskets in that opening frame, assisting on 12 of them.  Colorado was getting carved up, to the point that it almost didn't matter that they themselves were struggling with the ball, knocking down under a third of all shots and just 2-11 from deep.  The Buffs were in a bad way headed into the break, relatively lucky to only be down 14 after WSU had raced out to a 19-point lead after only 13 minutes of action.

Then, CU found the safe harbor of halftime, and everything settled down. Seniors, like Derrick White, Xavier Johnson, and Josh Fortune seemed to say, 'to hell with this, we're going down swinging,' and started to take over.  White, especially, was on fire.  In just over five minutes, he dropped 13 points (along with a block and a steal), all but erasing the halftime deficit in dragging the Buffs to within two.  The Cougars were suddenly on the ropes, and, with two-thirds of the half still to play, were looking lost.  Derrick would finish with 26/5/5 against zero turnovers.

WSU would adjust, doubling White off the screen, and trying to deny him the attacking lanes he had abused early in the frame. That just meant it was time for XJ to step up.  He would add 12 second half points of his own, most of which came down the stretch, highlighted by this thunderous dunk off the break. What you'll also notice on that play: Josh Fortune making a beautiful pass in transition. He had a nice, solid performance on the afternoon, chipping in seven points, five turnovers, and two assists against just one turnover.  His last points, on a three-pointer with two minutes to go, put Colorado up by five, and finally seemed to put the Cougs away for good.  XJ's final line was 19/6.

I can't say enough about how decisive the turnaround was in the second half.  The seniors, as a group (Wes' performance was more off-the-board, but still provided 8/4/3/2/1), were outstanding, helping to pick the team up off the mat to rebound with postseason hopes on the line.  I'm still not 100% confident that Colorado will make the NIT, but they're certainly in a better position now with 19 wins then they would've been with another bad loss on their resume.

In the day's other action:

• Arizona State needed overtime to slip past Stanford, 98-88.
• Oregon State put up a valiant effort but ultimately fell to Cal, 67-62.
• USC coasted against a Washington team without Markelle Fultz, 78-73.

--

Best pep band of the day: Cal

I'm giving it to the Golden Bears because their tubas were HOT FIRE.  They grabbed my attention from the first note, and laid down the phat beatz on songs like 'Come on Eileen.'

The Cal band has long been an interesting phenomena for me to take in.  With a big bass drum and a glockenspiel, they have a very unique core to their sound.  Not one that I generally prefer, mind you, but one that clearly stands out against their peers... especially when rival Stanford is outsourcing their work to some high school band.  Where have you gone, Stanford Band?

--

Today's action:

- #8 Arizona State vs #1 Oregon - 1pm MT - Pac-12 Network - 

The league champion Ducks hit the court this afternoon, and I cannot be more excited.  Such a fun team to watch play, they feature an exciting style both on and off the ball.  I expect them to quickly dispatch the Sun Devils, completely shutting down the ASU guards who cut up Stanford yesterday.

- #5 Cal vs #4 Utah - 3:30pm MT - Pac-12 Network - 

Cal continues in this tournament, but does anyone really want to see them play?  The slow, negative Bears make for a tough watch, and playing the similarly pedestrian Utes will not help improve their style.  Utah's precision with the basketball will ultimately help them prevail in an ugly one.

- #7 Colorado vs #2 Arizona - 7pm MT - Pac-12 Network - 

The Buffs and Wildcats have met each other in four of the five previous Pac-12 Tournaments.  While the 'Cats have won the last three, rather decisively, Colorado can still claim the one meeting that really mattered -- the 2012 tournament final. The Buffs will need a lot of that '12 magic this afternoon because they will be up against it in T-Mobile.  I expect a thunderous herd of Arizona fans in attendance, largely filling up the cavernous area that lay mostly empty yesterday for the game with Washington State.

I think CU can play with Arizona, even given the antagonistic crowd.  I look for them to come out of the gate, and play well in the opening half.  Once in the final frame, however, I expect the 'Cats to take over, and the Buffs to slip behind.  Not without a game effort, though.


- #6 USC vs #3 UCLA - 9:30pm MT - ESPN - 

A rivalry game to close out the evening.  There's a lot of independent money flowing in on the Bruins in this tournament, to the point that I would call them the 'people's favorite.'  They boat-raced their rivals in the second half of their last meeting, but don't look for them to duplicate that feat today.  I look for UCLA to win, but struggle to put the Trojans away.  This one could come down to the wire. 

GO BUFFS!  PROVE ME WRONG, AND BEAT THE WILDCATS!

2017 Pac-12 Tournament Teaser: Day 1

From: Pac-12.com

After four years of a near-perfect championship product in Las Vegas, the Conference of Champions has gone and tweaked the recipe, moving the league's tournament from the classic MGM Grand Garden Arena across the street to the sparkling new T-Mobile Arena.  Whereas the Garden was intimate and close, T-Mobile appears to be like any other modern monstrosity, with multiple decks of seating, segregated palaces for the well-off, and a roomier feel overall.  I'm sure it's quite lovely and that everyone will marvel over such things as multiple exit points and seats that aren't collapsible. What I'm worried about, however, is something more intangible.

Over at the MGM, the league had the perfect setup.  Their fans, boosters, officials, bands, teams, and media could all stuff into the same facility, sleeping, partying, eating, and playing under the same roof.  If I didn't want to, I never had to leave the MGM property during tournament week, having all my needs attended to while staying within walking distance of where the action was taking place. That made it so that I felt a part of the action in a way that I hadn't in previous Pac-12 and Big XII tournaments -- as intimate and personal a feel as you can get.  While I'm sure the new arena is beautiful and well-equipped, it is, by definition, separate from any other hotel on the Strip.  As a result, no matter what the league does, the new venue won't be able to replace this beloved aspect of the old, and I fear the league will have scrapped what made the annual Pac-12 fest special for little relative gain.

That said, I still anticipate a wonderful week of hoops.  While the action won't really get going until Thursday, when the three heavies hit town, any time you attend a conference tournament, something weird is bound to happen.  Throw in some Vegas love, and a short ride to a craps table, and you'd be at a stretch to keep a frown on your face.

For Day 1, the best games are the first of each session.  With Washington and Oregon State being decidedly a step behind the rest of the league, I wouldn't expect much from either.  But, the 8/9 and 7/10 affairs could be electric.  Early season meetings between Stanford/Arizona State and Colorado /Washington State each produced high-scoring showcases, with the prospect of a repeat in the desert a tantalizing proposition. Usually, 1st days ca be a little staid, but, if either of these games gets going, it should be worth the cost of tuning in.

--

Hype Music for the Week: "Party Hard" by Andrew W.K.

Making it through a tournament week in Vegas is not for the weak of spirit.  To fuel you through those long hours spent straining to see through the cigarette smoke at the craps table, get yourself a drop-shot and some Andrew W.K.  Enjoy!

--

Today's Games:

- #9 Stanford vs #8 Arizona State - 1pm MT - Pac-12 Networks - STAN -3

This is, by far, the hardest to project of the four games today.  It's a matchup of a pair of losing teams with more success in conference play than they probably 'should've' enjoyed; both chaotic and unpredictable. Stanford, especially, escapes my ability to understand.  They have some good talent, especially on the wings and in the paint, but their guard play is scatter-shot at best.  Conversely, the Sun Devils have a strong backcourt, but relatively nothing up front (all apologies to Obinna Oleka) and a short bench.  It's a good example of two opponents with alternate strengths, the kind of thing that usually makes for a fun game.

The Cardinal actually lost both tilts this season to ASU; the first a high-scoring affair in Maples, the most-recent a more demure result in the desert.  Usually, I would be saying here that it's hard to beat a team three times, and that you should expect Stanford to claim the revenge game in LV, but that's not the case today.  This time of year, I generally defer to the better guard play, and State gets that checkmark here.  As such, give me the Sun Devils and the points.  Regardless, should be a high scoring affair.


- #12 Oregon State vs #5 Cal - 3:30pm MT - Pac-12 Networks - CAL -14

As interesting and entertaining as that first game might be, this meeting of the Beavers and Bears should be an absolute dog.  With two painfully slow teams, one of whom, Cal, loves to close the distance and go for the body, this with be an ugly, grainy battle.  Expect a number of missed baskets, slothful possessions, and the overall pace of grass growing.  Essentially: unwatchable.

Cal should win easily, but that may not mean the 14 points necessary to win you some money.  In a low-scoring affair, getting out to that big of a lead may be difficult.


- #10 Washington State vs #7 Colorado - 7pm MT - Pac-12 Networks - CU -10

OK, so here goes.  Colorado has never lost an opening-round conference tournament game under Tad Boyle, 6-0.  While it is also true that they have always had to play an opening round game under Coach, at least the program enjoys a tradition of winning them.  The joke has always been that, should CU ever drop one of these, I'd wake up early the next day and take a trip of shame to the Hoover Dam, basically just to get out of town.  I don't want to have to make that trek this year. *knocks on wood, furiously*

Problem is, Washington State is no pushover.  Coach Boyle this week was calling them 'sneaky good,' which makes a lot of sense.  They have a lot of good role players, the kind of guys who excel at one or two areas, making theirs a delicate puzzle of balance. Generally, better than the sum of their parts. When the pieces lay on the table well, as they did when the Buffs went up to Pullman this season, it looks pretty good, and they can boat-race you.  When they don't fit, however, like in the return game in Boulder, the Cougs can get blown out.  I would certainly expect something more akin to the road visit to Eastern Washington than what we saw on the Front Range, but exactly how much closer remains to be seen.

Off the top, all those cheeky back cuts the Buffs employed in the home fixture will probably be cut-off by a better-prepared WSU defense.  In the same way that Colorado was able to calm the Charles Callison worries given a game's worth of tape to prepare, the Cougars will be much more attentive off the ball.  From there, it'll all be about rebounding margins and who is making shots.  Ike Iroegbu is due for an explosion, but I expect Derrick White to counter.  Xavier Johnson vs Josh Hawkinson, then, could be the difference.  In the end, this rematch of last year's tournament opener will probably be closer than the 10 points afforded by Vegas, but CU should claim a scary one to survive and advance.


- #11 Washington vs #6 USC - 9:30pm MT - Pac-12 Networks - USC -11

The nightcap could've been a showcase for the absurd if Markelle Fultz was going to play, but I highly doubt that he'll step out of the phone booth this late in the season.  He's got the upcoming NBA Draft to think about, after all.  As a result, the Huskies will walk into the gym severely under-manned, and will probably end up getting party-wiped by the Trojans.  No wooden horse needed.


GO BUFFS!  PROVE ME RIGHT, AND BEAT THE COUGARS!