Colorado Could Send Three Teams to NCAA Basketball Tournaments
For basketball fans, Sunday, March 17, doesn’t belong to leprechauns and St. Patrick. It belongs to hooping.
This year, Selection Sunday for the legendary NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball tournaments could end with Colorado sending three teams to the big dance and the University of Colorado women’s basketball team even likely to snag a high enough seed to host tournament games in Boulder.
The men’s tournament will kick off on March 19 and 20 with the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, where CU’s men could end up fighting it out to make it into the official field of 64. The women’s First Four is on March 20 and 21.
The women’s national championship game is Sunday, April 7, in Cleveland, and the men’s champion will be crowned on April 8 in Glendale, Arizona. Currently, the odds that the CU men will win the title sit at +9000, according to DraftKings. The Colorado State Rams men aren’t even listed, despite being poised for a higher seed.
In a league with stars like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese and a program as dominant as the one at the University of South Carolina, it’s tough to make an impact — but the Buffalo women already beat LSU this season and have slightly better odds than their male counterparts to win the national championship at +6500, according to DraftKings.
Of course, whether any team can win depends heavily on first making the cut in the first place. Here’s an overview of where each team stands heading into the weekend.
CU Women on Final Four Watch
Unlike in men’s March Madness, the women’s side of the game lets the top four seeds in each region host the first two rounds of the tournament. CU is right on that line with a 16 NET ranking, which is the NCAA’s metric for determining the strength of a team while taking into account winning percentage, “game results, strength of schedule, game location, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses,” according to its website.
ESPN, CBSandthe Athletic all project Colorado getting a four-seed and hosting games at the CU Events Center next week. As the women’s conference championships have all been decided, it’s a much clearer picture than on the men’s side, where both CU and CSU are still battling it out.
When CU upset LSU in November 2023, WNBA legend Candace Parker visited the team in the locker room to congratulate them on the win and give them a goal: the Final Four.
“Hope to see you at the Final Four,” Parker told the team. As the season ends, the Buffs still have plenty of reasons to set their sights on Cleveland.
Head coach JR Payne, one ofWestword’s People to Watch for 2024, said the team doesn’t set goals like that.
“We just prioritize trying to be great today, and that's it,” Payne told Westwordlast December. “If we can do our jobs and play with a competitive spirit, really push each other to be our best, then we feel like the end of the season takes care of itself.”
After being one of the strongest teams all season, the Buffaloes struggled with inconsistency and had a patchy end, finishing with a 22-9 record. However, last year the team made it to the Sweet Sixteen on the backs of incredible performances from its stars, and that’s possible again this year.
Fifth-year guard Jaylyn Sherrod has earned some WNBA draft talk and was selected to the All-Pac-12 team for the second time this season, along with center Aaronette Vonleh, who earned her first selection.
Payne has continually called her roster "fearless," emphasizing their “blue collar” mindset and grit.
“We have a lot of people that are capable of having twenty-plus points on any given night, but no one cares who has the shine or who gets the shots or the rebounds," Payne said. "They're very tough and totally fearless, like they don't care who they play, when they play, where they play. They just love to compete, and it's just a really incredible group to coach.”
CSU Rams One of Many Mountain West Teams in the Field
The other Colorado lock for the NCAA tournament is the CSU men’s basketball team. ESPN currently has the Rams at a nine-seed, as does the Athletic. The Rams lost to New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference Tournament semifinalson March 15. The Lobos are on the bubble and need the win, but most bracketologists say CSU is in the clear — not that winning and getting a guaranteed bid is ever a bad idea.
CSU is led by guard Isaiah Stevens, who earned All-Mountain West First Team honors this season. Nique Clifford, who transferred from CU this season, was selected to the third team, all-conference. During the game against New Mexico, Stevens dealt with a left calf strain that saw his typically high stats somewhat diminished. Usually, the guard would notch over 16 points and seven assists per game, but on Friday he finished with 13 points, two assists and five turnovers after picking it up in the second half. This is something to watch for anyone building their brackets, though an extra day of rest could do Stevens some good.
The Rams only played three AP Top 25 ranked teams all season, but beat two of those teams and shouldn’t be ignored. In addition, CSU has over seven Quad 1 wins, a metric the NCAA uses to determine if a win is "good" that considers both rankings and location.
The Rams made the NCAA tournament in 2022 for the first time since 2013 but didn't make the cut last year, so this isn't a squad with a ton of experience.
CU Men Are Living the Bubble Life
Although CU is ranked better than CSU, it is living life on the tournament bubble right now. CU is ranked 24 by KenPom, an advanced college basketball rating system, while CSU is ranked 33. In NET ranking, CU is at 26 and CSU comes in at 31. CSU has a 24-9 record and CU has a 23-9 record, so the teams are similar on those fronts, too.
The Rams topped the Buffaloes, 88-83, in November when the squads matched up this season. Most bracketologists seem to agree that CU's win against Washington State on March 15 makes the Buffs a tournament lock.
“The Buffaloes took down Utah in their double bubble game on Thursday and can now get a better win against the Cougars,” Jerry Palm of CBS Sports wrote before the game. “In fact, this would be their best win of the season so far if they get it. If not, Selection Sunday figures to be pretty stressful.”
After the game, Palm told his colleagues that the Buffaloes are still part of his last four in and encouraged them to lock in their spot in what is a packed bubble this year by winning on March 16. ESPN has the Buffaloes playing in the First Four. On the flip side, the Athletic has CU as a member of its first four out.
“Colorado is 26th in the NET with no losses outside of the first two quads,” the Athletic's Brian Bennett writes. "But dig a little deeper on the Buffaloes. While clearly talented, they haven’t beaten a team in the top 40 of the NET all season. Their two Quad 1 wins came against Washington and Oregon, neither of whom is sniffing tournament consideration. Colorado has beaten just one team in the field — Washington State, at home — and has a losing record in the first two quads and on the road. Those are giant red flags.”
Now CU has topped Washington State twice.
The team has dealt with injuries throughout the season but has a talented roster. Cody Williams, brother of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jalen Williams, is a projected top-ten NBA draft pick this season and made the Pac-12 All-Freshman team. Standout point guard KJ Simpson is on the All-Pac-12 First Team, and forward Tristan da Silva snagged Second Team honors.
If the Buffaloes make the tournament, there’s a high chance they stampede over an early-round opponent — but they have to win tonight at 7 p.m. to ensure they get that chance. It seems March Madness has already begun!
