In the 2009-10 season, the Colorado Buffaloes pulled off an impressive feat, doubling their conference win total from one to six under Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik. Key players like Cory Higgins and Alec Burks were instrumental in that success.
Fast forward to the Tad Boyle era, where the team saw another significant boost, increasing their conference wins from eight to thirteen between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. That's a solid five-win improvement. Boyle's faced his share of challenges, particularly last season when he had to rebuild the team after losing three players to the NBA draft.
Now, Colorado stands just one win away from doubling last season's conference victories. Competing in the Big 12 has been a different ball game compared to the Pac-12, offering no easy nights and providing a steep learning curve for the Buffaloes.
The Buffs kicked off the nonconference season with strong performances, notching neutral-site wins against San Francisco and Washington. However, a home loss to Northern Colorado raised some eyebrows.
Entering conference play, Colorado started strong with back-to-back wins over ASU and Utah, only to hit a rough patch with six consecutive losses against ranked teams like Texas Tech, Kansas, and Iowa State. Since then, they've steadied the ship with a 3-3 record, including a nail-biting overtime loss to BYU in Provo.
Tonight, Colorado is favored by 7.5 points at home against a Kansas State team with just two conference wins. They'll be looking to freshman guard Isaiah Johnson and his backcourt partner Barrington Hargress to set the pace and tone of the game.
Boyle's front court rotations will be a key factor, as rebounding and physicality have been areas needing improvement this season. All eyes will be on how the Buffaloes handle these challenges and whether they can capitalize on this opportunity to secure another conference victory.