Colorado has put forward two familiar names for Big 12 Athlete of the Year consideration: lacrosse standout Maddie Shoup and men’s golfer Hunter Swanson.
The conference office announced Thursday that Shoup and Swanson are the Buffaloes’ nominees. Each school selected one male and one female athlete from any classification who competed during the 2025-26 school year, with the added requirements that the student-athletes be in good academic standing and have taken part in a league-sponsored sport. The 16 full-member schools that competed in the 2025-26 academic year are eligible.
Shoup’s case is built on a season that pushed Colorado to the brink of something bigger. The senior from Lafayette Hill, Pa., was a Third Team All-American and helped guide the Buffaloes to a No. 5 final national ranking, leaving them one win short of the program’s first Final Four appearance.
She was the engine of the offense, leading Colorado with 47 goals, 24 assists and 71 points. That total ranked seventh in a season in program history, and she finished her career in the Buffaloes’ top 10 all-time scorers with 142 points. Shoup also picked up Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors and first-team All-Big 12 recognition for the second straight year.
Her impact extended beyond the stat sheet. Shoup maintained a 3.6 GPA, helped Colorado win the Big 12 postseason title and served on the leadership team for Team IMPACT.
Swanson’s résumé is just as packed. The senior from Denver set the Colorado career record for pars with 1,706 and played in the second-most tournaments in CU history with 50. He also finished among the program’s top three all-time in scoring average at 71.67, birdies with 502 and rounds in the 60s with 44.
This past season, Swanson posted a 70.54 stroke average and finished 32-under-par overall. His fall scoring average was 69.73. He added one top-five finish, three top-10 finishes and seven top-20 finishes, and his score counted toward team totals in 33 of 39 rounds.
Off the course, Swanson graduated with a spring GPA of 3.6, served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and helped Colorado finish with the best team GPA in program history during the spring 2026 semester.
In Other News...
DeAndre Moore Jr. Is Giving Colorado Fans Real Reason To Believe
Preseason lists do not win games, but they do tell you where the buzz is starting to build, and DeAndre Moore Jr. is firmly in that conversation for Colorado. ESPN analyst Dane Brugler slotted the Buffaloes wideout No. 7 among senior receivers nationally, while also placing him No. 26 overall in the transfer portal rankings, a tidy reminder that Moore arrives with both pedigree and expectation attached.
For Colorado, the intrigue is less about the ranking itself and more about what it could mean once the season starts. Moore is expected to be part of a deep receiver group and a key target for quarterback Julian Lewis, giving the Buffaloes another proven piece to lean on as they try to turn optimism into production. The bigger question now is how quickly that recognition translates into a real role on Saturdays. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Fans Just Got Another Reason To Worry About Ezra Christensen
Colorados defensive line picture already had enough moving parts heading into the season, and Ezra Christensens situation only adds to the uncertainty. The Buffaloes brought him in as a defensive tackle with real production behind him from New Mexico State, where he finished with 11 tackles for loss and six sacks, but his long-term availability is now tangled up in a waiver fight that has left his 2026 status unresolved.
Attorney Darren Heitner says the NCAA canceled Christensens waiver without weighing important parts of his background, including his adoption, his childhood in Sierra Leone and the way COVID-19 disrupted his senior season. For Colorado, the practical problem is immediate: the staff has to keep building out contingency plans at tackle with Santana Hopper, Quincy Wiggins, Samu Taumanupepe and Sedrick Smith all looming as possible answers if Christensens path back onto the field stays cloudy. [Read more 🡒]
Why Colorado Fans Are Suddenly Focused On One Buffs Jersey Number
Colorado womens basketball has put its 2026-27 jersey numbers on the board, and the release comes with the usual offseason blend of continuity and turnover. Seven players are back, seven newcomers are in the mix, and JR Paynes program is trying to build on a 22-12 season that ended with a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Illinois. Among the familiar faces, Kennedy Sanders will stay in No. 2 for a third straight year, while Zyanna Walker returns as one of the key holdovers after giving Colorado a steady scoring presence last season.
The number itself is what will catch the eye around Boulder, especially with Sanders carrying it again into a year when the Buffs want to get back to the tournament for a second straight season and fifth time in six years. Colorado fans have seen plenty of attention follow that jersey before, and now it is back in the spotlight for a team that is trying to blend returning production, new pieces and another push under Payne as she enters her 11th season. [Read more 🡒]