The Men’s Colorado Basketball Team has just made it into March Madness this past selection on Sunday. At one point it looked like Colorado had no chance to make it out of the 68 teams. Although denied all doubters and made it in.
After a bad season last year and making the NIT (Not In Tournament), Colorado was looking for a resurgent season. They lost in the second round of the NIT after also losing in the second of the Pac-12 conference tournament. Heading into the 2024 season they decided to bring in some stars during the offseason. They picked up a 5 Star, Cody Williams who is the brother of NBA star Jalen Williams. Williams is elite at every skill on the floor and is projected to now be a top 10 pick in this year’s NBA Draft. Colorado also picked up 4 Stars Assane Diop and Bangot Dak. Also, they got Eddie Lampkin a 270-pound machine through the transfer portal.
The Buffs were led by a Trio of returners from previous seasons as KJ Simpson led the buffs, averaging 19 points per game and 4+ rebounds and assists per game. Then there was Triston da Silva, a senior who is NBA ready while being good at every skill on the floor. The last member of the trio was J’vonne Hadley, a 6 ‘7 forward with great post work and great defense. After not a great season last year he decided to flip a switch this year.
The Buffaloes started the year out hot at 11-2 with high hopes of making March Madness. At one point they were ranked at high as 18 in the AP poll. The Buffs would then go 5-7 in their next 12 games as they were blown out twice by Arizona University. At 16-9 the Colorado Buffaloes would need a miraculous winning streak or they would have to win the Pac-12 tournament and get an automatic bid to March Madness. They decided to go on a miraculous winning streak.
They would start it out by beating USC in double overtime in California. Simpson led the way by dropping 30 points in 48 minutes. They would then play Utah, California University and Stanford at home. They blew out Utah and beat Cal and Stanford both by ten. They had a lot of momentum going into an Oregon road trip and then the Pac-12 tournament. The win over Stanford would give them their 20th win of the season and they were on a 4 game winning streak. Against Oregon they would win by 4 points as J’Vonne Hadley led the way with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Then against Oregon State they would blow them out.
Going into the Pac-12 Tournament they were on a 6 game winning streak and had a record of 22-9. They were projected to be in the first four out and not make the tournament in March. They got a first round bye in the Pac-12 tournament because they finished top 4 in Pac-12 conference play. They would keep the winning streak going by beating Utah in the second round. They would then play Washington State, the number 18th ranked team in the country, in the third round. They would go on and win in a very low scoring game. This win moved them to the Pac-12 championship against Oregon, and the Buffs were hot with a 8 game winning streak. Sadly, they would go on and lose. They had no idea if they were going to make March Madness or not.
After a long time of waiting the Colorado Buffaloes made March Madness as a 10 seed, although they are in a play-in game against Boise State. Out of the 68 teams that made march madness, the Colorado Buffs made it in as team number 66. If they do win this play-in game they will have to play Florida in the round of 64. That is how the Colorado Buffaloes denied all odds and made March Madness.
