Before the basketball season started, head coach Tad Boyle was feeling a little trepidation. Based on the difficulty of their non-conference schedule, Boyle had to be wondering if Colorado had bitten off a little more than they could chew. The concern was compounded by the fact that Colorado lost one of the best rebounders in the nation when Andre Roberson left school early and became a first round NBA draft pick. On top of that, Colorado entered the season with one of the youngest teams in the country.
After the unranked Buffs lost on the road to then ranked #20 Baylor to start the season, the ghosts of scheduling choices started rattling their chains and moaning out warnings. Eleven games into the season now, those warnings are apparently for Buffaloes opponents. Baylor is even better than everyone thought to begin the season. They have moved up to #12 in the latest polls, and have a victory over preseason #1 Kentucky on their resume.
As for the Buffaloes, they have now reeled off 10 straight wins, including a win over #6 Kansas. The 10 game winning streak is the longest for Colorado since 1961. That's NINE presidents ago. It was even before Tad Boyle was born. So what does one do when on an epic winning streak? Head to Las Vegas baby and put your cards the table.
At 9:30 pm Mountain Time tomorrow, the Buffs will take to the court against #7 Oklahoma State in Sin City. The Buffs and Cowboys have identical 10-1 records. CU and Oklahoma State are former Big 12 foes who have not played since Colorado jumped to the Pac-12 several years ago. The last time the teams played was in January of 2011, and the Buffs prevailed in Boulder by a score of 75-71.
The Cowboys are led by guard Marcus Smart, who is averaging 21.1 points per game. He has scored 30 or more points twice this season, including a season high 39 against Memphis.
Spencer Dinwiddie is the main man for the Buffaloes. He leads the team in scoring (15.3 ppg), assists (3.7 apg), three point percentage (37.8%), and free throw percentage (86.3%). Sophomore Josh Scott leads the Buffs in rebounding with 8.7 per game.
Showing posts with label CU Basketball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CU Basketball. Show all posts
Friday, December 20, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Colorado Wins 8th Straight Against CSU, Braces for Kansas
Following a season opening loss in Texas to #20 Baylor, Tad Boyle's Colorado Buffaloes have reeled off eight straight wins. Six of those wins came within the cozy confines of CU's Coors Events Center, but the last two have come on the road. As road warriors, first they took down Air Force in Colorado Springs, and last night they came back in Fort Collins behind 28 points from Spencer Dinwiddie to defeat Colorado State at Moby Arena 67-62.
The Buffs hope to invoke memories of the Wizard of Oz this weekend by chanting to themselves "there's no place like home." And when the Jayhawks of #6 Kansas come calling in their next game, the Buffs hope they have KU fans muttering "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
Of course, the next line is "We must be over the rainbow!" Indeed, to the fanatics from Kansas, where evil lies in evolution and science, the bright world of tolerance and education that epitomizes Boulder must seem as foreign and odd as Oz.
Last year, the Jayhawks smoked the Buffs by the nasty score of 90-54 at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. Kansas is a perennial top 10 team, and has been a long-time foe of the Buffaloes. They were in the same conference until Colorado moved to the Pac-12 several years ago. That means the Buffs had to face them twice a year, every year.
The last time that Colorado defeated Kansas was January 22, 2003, when the #6 ranked Jayhawks visited Oz/Boulder and left with a 60-59 defeat. Boyle's Buffs hope to put 10 years of frustration behind them with a win in front of the loud and crazy C-Unit at the "Foam Dome" this weekend.
The Buffs have sold out all season tickets this year for the first time ever, and that should provide a great environment for the Buffaloes. Until Tad Boyle arrived on the scene, the Buffs were not consistently good in basketball for a LONG time. And when KU came to town, the Events Center was usually filled with Jayhawk fans who flocked to Boulder to experience life in Kodachrome.
Win or lose, however, Buff fans have a long history of sending Kansas and their fans packing with the derisive chant "We don't live in Kansas!" Thank God! Or just to upset them even more, Thank Goddess!
The Buffs hope to invoke memories of the Wizard of Oz this weekend by chanting to themselves "there's no place like home." And when the Jayhawks of #6 Kansas come calling in their next game, the Buffs hope they have KU fans muttering "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
Of course, the next line is "We must be over the rainbow!" Indeed, to the fanatics from Kansas, where evil lies in evolution and science, the bright world of tolerance and education that epitomizes Boulder must seem as foreign and odd as Oz.
Last year, the Jayhawks smoked the Buffs by the nasty score of 90-54 at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. Kansas is a perennial top 10 team, and has been a long-time foe of the Buffaloes. They were in the same conference until Colorado moved to the Pac-12 several years ago. That means the Buffs had to face them twice a year, every year.
The last time that Colorado defeated Kansas was January 22, 2003, when the #6 ranked Jayhawks visited Oz/Boulder and left with a 60-59 defeat. Boyle's Buffs hope to put 10 years of frustration behind them with a win in front of the loud and crazy C-Unit at the "Foam Dome" this weekend.
The Buffs have sold out all season tickets this year for the first time ever, and that should provide a great environment for the Buffaloes. Until Tad Boyle arrived on the scene, the Buffs were not consistently good in basketball for a LONG time. And when KU came to town, the Events Center was usually filled with Jayhawk fans who flocked to Boulder to experience life in Kodachrome.
Win or lose, however, Buff fans have a long history of sending Kansas and their fans packing with the derisive chant "We don't live in Kansas!" Thank God! Or just to upset them even more, Thank Goddess!
Friday, November 8, 2013
Colorado Buffs Open Basketball Season Against Baylor in Dallas
Tad Boyle's Colorado Buffaloes basketball team opens one of the toughest schedules in the country tonight in Dallas against Scott Drew's Baylor Bears. Although highly praised in the off-season, the Buffs enter the game unranked but just outside the Top-25. The Bears, however, scratched their way to the final spot (#25) in the preseason rankings.
The Bears enter this season with the bizarre distinction of being, perhaps, the first ranked team in NCAA basketball history that might not score as many points per game as their school's football team. That is not a putdown to the offense of the Bear hoopsters, but more an acknowledgement of the amazing amount of points being scored by the undefeated and soon to be ranked in the Top 5 Baylor football team. The gridiron Bears have churned out points at the rate of almost 65 points per game this year. If that holds up, Baylor would demolish the NCAA record for points in a season.
One reason that Boyle's Buffaloes might not be ranked as highly as some thought following last season is that they lost star forward Andre Roberson as a first round pick to the NBA over the summer. Despite that, Tad Boyle has built perhaps his best team that is well stocked with the kinds of players he likes (ones with lots of length and athleticism who can run, shoot, and defend).
The Buffaloes return All Pac-12 performer Spencer Dinwiddie, who is considered a likely first round pick in next summer's NBA draft. They also return Askia Booker and All Pac-12 Freshman big man Josh Scott, who has added 20 pounds of muscle to his frame during the off-season.
Joining center Scott and guards Dinwiddie and Booker as likely starters for the Buffs will be sophomore Xavier Johnson and redshirt freshman Wesley Gordon. Johnson and Gordon represent five freshmen and five sophomores on Boyle's young team.
Right now, Boyle and Buffs know they have a young and talented team. What they don't know is which of the youngsters will step to the fore and become featured performers for the Buffaloes. It's a long season with a difficult schedule, but it should have the Buffs battle ready for conference play when it comes around.
The 8 p.m. game will be broadcast on the radio (850 KOA) and televised by Root Sports.
The Bears enter this season with the bizarre distinction of being, perhaps, the first ranked team in NCAA basketball history that might not score as many points per game as their school's football team. That is not a putdown to the offense of the Bear hoopsters, but more an acknowledgement of the amazing amount of points being scored by the undefeated and soon to be ranked in the Top 5 Baylor football team. The gridiron Bears have churned out points at the rate of almost 65 points per game this year. If that holds up, Baylor would demolish the NCAA record for points in a season.
One reason that Boyle's Buffaloes might not be ranked as highly as some thought following last season is that they lost star forward Andre Roberson as a first round pick to the NBA over the summer. Despite that, Tad Boyle has built perhaps his best team that is well stocked with the kinds of players he likes (ones with lots of length and athleticism who can run, shoot, and defend).
The Buffaloes return All Pac-12 performer Spencer Dinwiddie, who is considered a likely first round pick in next summer's NBA draft. They also return Askia Booker and All Pac-12 Freshman big man Josh Scott, who has added 20 pounds of muscle to his frame during the off-season.
Joining center Scott and guards Dinwiddie and Booker as likely starters for the Buffs will be sophomore Xavier Johnson and redshirt freshman Wesley Gordon. Johnson and Gordon represent five freshmen and five sophomores on Boyle's young team.
Right now, Boyle and Buffs know they have a young and talented team. What they don't know is which of the youngsters will step to the fore and become featured performers for the Buffaloes. It's a long season with a difficult schedule, but it should have the Buffs battle ready for conference play when it comes around.
The 8 p.m. game will be broadcast on the radio (850 KOA) and televised by Root Sports.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Colorado Basketball 2013: Tad Boyle's Buffs Poised to Become Elite Program
There are 351 NCAA Division 1 basketball programs getting ready for the 2013-14 season, and they all have one thing in mind: Getting chosen for March Madness and a shot at an NCAA championship.
For most of the University of Colorado's history, basketball was an afterthought to football. The glory days of Buff basketball were way back in the 1950's and 1960's. Colorado made it to the NCAA tournament 5 times in the 15 years from 1953-54 to 1968-69.
Then came NOTHING for 28 years!
The next time the Buffs made it to the NCAA tournament was when Chauncey Billups led them into a top 25 ranking and a trip to March Madness in 1997. Billups left early for the NBA and was the #3 pick in the 1997 draft.
It took another 6 years for the Buffs to get back in the hunt for postseason glory. Head coach Ricardo Patton led Colorado to only their 3rd 20-win season ever and a spot in the NCAA tournament in March 2003.
Then... Nothing... Until the Arrival of Tad Boyle in 2010.
Colorado basketball was once again in a state of flux until the arrival of head coach Tad Boyle. A Colorado native, Boyle led Greeley Central to the Colorado State Championship before going on to play his college basketball at Kansas under legendary coach Larry Brown.
After college, Boyle moved into the real world and had a successful career as a commodities broker who dabbled on the side as an assistant coach for several Colorado high schools. A traumatic car accident on South Boulder Road in 1994 became a turning point in his life, and he gave up his well paying job to follow his true love of basketball.
Starting at the University of Oregon, Boyle had stints with Tennessee and Jacksonville State before ending back in the state of Kansas at Wichita State. In six years as an assistant with the Shockers, Boyle helped build a down program into one of the better programs in the country. Wichita State was 9-19 his first year and 26-9 with a trip to the Sweet 16 and a national ranking six years later in 2006.
Boyle used the success at Wichita State as a springboard to his first head coaching gig, at the University of Northern Colorado in Loveland. His first year at UNC, Boyle's team won only 4 out of 28 games. Three years later, his final UNC team went 25-8.
That success propelled him to the University of Colorado, where he hit the floor running and hasn't slowed down yet. His first CU team went 24-14 and made to the semi-finals of the postseason NIT tournament after his Buffs were snubbed by the NCAA selection committee.
At the end of the 2011-12 season, Colorado's first in the Pac-12, Boyle and his Buffaloes kicked down the door to the NCAA tournament by winning four games in four days to earn the Pac-12's automatic tourney berth. In 2012-13, the Buffs hovered near the top 25 for much of the season and played one of the more difficult schedules in the country. They were rewarded with another trip to March Madness.
Colorado Students and Fans "Get-In" on the Madness
Colorado long played in the Big 8 (then Big 12) with the likes of Kansas and Oklahoma State. Lots of top 10 teams made their way to the Coors Events Center in Boulder. For the most part, however, unless a top team was playing in Boulder, seats to the games were pretty easy to come by. It was pretty much accepted by the local media that Colorado was just "not a basketball school."
The arrival of Boyle changed that thinking. The student section became much more vocal and numerous and came to be known as the C-Unit. It has become one the best and most vocal student sections in the country. Former Colorado Athletic Director Mike Bohn decided to reward the most avid members of the C-Unit by having the university fly them out to Los Angeles for the first Pac-12 tournament in 2012 and the vocal group cheered the Buffs to the tournament title.
Earlier this month, the University of Colorado announced that for the first time in school history that season tickets to the Buffs' 2013-14 season was SOLD OUT. On top of that, the Buffs get ready to enter the season with a top 25 ranking and are picked 3rd in the Pac-12 behind fellow top 25 teams Arizona and UCLA.
Entering this season, Colorado has had two consecutive seasons in which one of their players was chosen in the first round of the NBA draft (Alec Burks, Andre Roberson). Spencer Dinwiddie looks to continue the first round trend this year. With Boyle at the helm, the Buffs are finding the doors to some of the top high school talent in the country are open to playing their college basketball in Boulder.
Boyle is considered one of the best coaches in the country, and high school players with dreams of playing in the NBA know first round draft picks now come out of Boulder. Another thing these young men want is to play in front of a large and vocal crowd to help inspire them to victory. These are the things that make a program elite in the eyes of players and fans around the country.
And these are the things that now reside in Boulder under the leadership of Tad Boyle.
Note: Historical information about Tad Boyle from Wikipedia.
For most of the University of Colorado's history, basketball was an afterthought to football. The glory days of Buff basketball were way back in the 1950's and 1960's. Colorado made it to the NCAA tournament 5 times in the 15 years from 1953-54 to 1968-69.
Then came NOTHING for 28 years!
The next time the Buffs made it to the NCAA tournament was when Chauncey Billups led them into a top 25 ranking and a trip to March Madness in 1997. Billups left early for the NBA and was the #3 pick in the 1997 draft.
It took another 6 years for the Buffs to get back in the hunt for postseason glory. Head coach Ricardo Patton led Colorado to only their 3rd 20-win season ever and a spot in the NCAA tournament in March 2003.
Then... Nothing... Until the Arrival of Tad Boyle in 2010.
Colorado basketball was once again in a state of flux until the arrival of head coach Tad Boyle. A Colorado native, Boyle led Greeley Central to the Colorado State Championship before going on to play his college basketball at Kansas under legendary coach Larry Brown.
After college, Boyle moved into the real world and had a successful career as a commodities broker who dabbled on the side as an assistant coach for several Colorado high schools. A traumatic car accident on South Boulder Road in 1994 became a turning point in his life, and he gave up his well paying job to follow his true love of basketball.
Starting at the University of Oregon, Boyle had stints with Tennessee and Jacksonville State before ending back in the state of Kansas at Wichita State. In six years as an assistant with the Shockers, Boyle helped build a down program into one of the better programs in the country. Wichita State was 9-19 his first year and 26-9 with a trip to the Sweet 16 and a national ranking six years later in 2006.
Boyle used the success at Wichita State as a springboard to his first head coaching gig, at the University of Northern Colorado in Loveland. His first year at UNC, Boyle's team won only 4 out of 28 games. Three years later, his final UNC team went 25-8.
That success propelled him to the University of Colorado, where he hit the floor running and hasn't slowed down yet. His first CU team went 24-14 and made to the semi-finals of the postseason NIT tournament after his Buffs were snubbed by the NCAA selection committee.
At the end of the 2011-12 season, Colorado's first in the Pac-12, Boyle and his Buffaloes kicked down the door to the NCAA tournament by winning four games in four days to earn the Pac-12's automatic tourney berth. In 2012-13, the Buffs hovered near the top 25 for much of the season and played one of the more difficult schedules in the country. They were rewarded with another trip to March Madness.
Colorado Students and Fans "Get-In" on the Madness
Colorado long played in the Big 8 (then Big 12) with the likes of Kansas and Oklahoma State. Lots of top 10 teams made their way to the Coors Events Center in Boulder. For the most part, however, unless a top team was playing in Boulder, seats to the games were pretty easy to come by. It was pretty much accepted by the local media that Colorado was just "not a basketball school."
The arrival of Boyle changed that thinking. The student section became much more vocal and numerous and came to be known as the C-Unit. It has become one the best and most vocal student sections in the country. Former Colorado Athletic Director Mike Bohn decided to reward the most avid members of the C-Unit by having the university fly them out to Los Angeles for the first Pac-12 tournament in 2012 and the vocal group cheered the Buffs to the tournament title.
Earlier this month, the University of Colorado announced that for the first time in school history that season tickets to the Buffs' 2013-14 season was SOLD OUT. On top of that, the Buffs get ready to enter the season with a top 25 ranking and are picked 3rd in the Pac-12 behind fellow top 25 teams Arizona and UCLA.
Entering this season, Colorado has had two consecutive seasons in which one of their players was chosen in the first round of the NBA draft (Alec Burks, Andre Roberson). Spencer Dinwiddie looks to continue the first round trend this year. With Boyle at the helm, the Buffs are finding the doors to some of the top high school talent in the country are open to playing their college basketball in Boulder.
Boyle is considered one of the best coaches in the country, and high school players with dreams of playing in the NBA know first round draft picks now come out of Boulder. Another thing these young men want is to play in front of a large and vocal crowd to help inspire them to victory. These are the things that make a program elite in the eyes of players and fans around the country.
And these are the things that now reside in Boulder under the leadership of Tad Boyle.
Note: Historical information about Tad Boyle from Wikipedia.
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