Colorado men’s basketball will spend a lot of its nonconference season in Boulder, and that setup gives Tad Boyle’s team a real chance to build some early rhythm before Big 12 play arrives.
The Buffaloes’ 2026-27 nonconference slate features 14 games, and nine of them will be at the CU Events Center. Colorado opens the season Nov. 2 against Abilene Christian, then hits the road for a Nov. 7 game at San Diego State in the Bill Walton Classic before returning home to face San Diego on Nov. 10.
From there, the schedule stretches the Buffs in different directions. Colorado will travel to Providence and then head to California for the Acrisure Series in November, but after that the team gets six of its final seven nonconference games back in Boulder before the calendar flips.
The headliner on the road comes Dec. 19, when Colorado gets a shot at Purdue at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. That’s one of the biggest tests on the slate, and it comes during a schedule that also includes a strong opening matchup in Palm Desert against Stanford. The Cardinal finished 20-13 last season, and Colorado’s second game there will be against either Saint Louis, which went 29-6 and won the Atlantic 10 regular season title, or Grand Canyon, which finished 20-12.
Back home, the Buffs’ stretch includes regional games against Colorado State on Dec. 5 and Denver on Dec. 29.
Other home opponents are UTEP, Central Arkansas, Cal Poly and North Dakota. Central Arkansas finished 22-12 last season and won the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season title.
The only game time already locked in is the 10 p.m. MT tip against Stanford. The rest of the nonconference start times, along with Colorado’s Big 12 schedule dates and times, will be announced later.
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