Buff Fans Should Look to Arizona and Lute Olson for Inspiration

Not all that long ago, the Colorado Buffaloes Men's Basketball program was the mostly forgotten little brother to the mighty CU Football program. Over the years, heck, over the decades, the CU hoopsters were a model of mediocrity. Not that they were lacking in excitement, mind you. On occasion they played top 20 teams very tough when they cam to Boulder. On the road, though, especially in conference play, the Buffs were frequently a guaranteed a big fat L in the loss column.

Those who are new to rooting for the Buffs have been spoiled by the excellence of head coach Tad Boyle. In his four years at the helm in Boulder, the Buffs have won 92 games. For you non-math people, that's an average of 23 wins per year. To put that number in the proper perspective, remember that in the more than 100 years that Colorado played basketball before Boyle arrived, they had exactly FOUR twenty win seasons. Boyle has had the same number in only 4 years.

The most dominant team in the Pac-12 for the last 30 years has been the University of Arizona. Indeed, most younger people seem to think that Arizona's basketball excellence goes back a LONG, LONG time like Kansas, Kentucky, or North Carolina. But it is not true. It was the arrival of Lute Olson in 1983 who turned Arizona into a basketball powerhouse.

Like Colorado, the University of Arizona had a long history of mediocrity in college basketball. Before the arrival of Lute Olson, the Wildcats were one of the worst teams in the entire country. Arizona did not make it to the Big Dance in Olson's first season in Tucson. The same can be said for Tad Boyle's first team at Colorado.

The next three years, Arizona and Colorado have in common three trips to March Madness and three early losses in the tournament (only the 2012 CU team got past the first game). For Arizona, they were the first three of 23 CONSECUTIVE trips to the Big Dance. Included in that 23 year run were a national championship, a runner-up, 4 trips to the Final Four, 7 spots in the Elite Eight, and 11 appearances in the Sweet 16.

The last team that won fewer than 20 games for Lute Olson was the 1986-7 team which finished only 18-12, but still made it to the NCAA tournament. The next year the Wildcats went 35-3 and made it to the Final Four.

Why the history lesson? Many fans of Colorado took the 3rd straight defeat in the opening round (Round of 64, maybe? I refuse to call it the 2nd round) as a sign that bad things are ahead for the Buff basketball program.

The truth is that this is the early stages of the the Golden Era for Colorado basketball. Earlier this year we were ranked in the top 15 in the country! A couple of injuries changed everything, and the Buffs limped into postseason play with one of the youngest teams in the country.

Next year the Buffs  youngsters will be a year older and a year stronger. New blood is coming in as well. Count on 20 wins again, and maybe considerably more. Also count on the Buffs to be in the NCAA tournament once again. And if the University of Colorado knows what is in the best interest of the school and fans, they will do what is necessary to keep Tad Boyle the head coach at Colorado for a long, long time.