The Colorado Buffaloes men’s basketball team are getting hot at the right time. Colorado, now winners of five-straight, host the Arizona State Sun Devils Thursday night followed by the Arizona Wildcats Saturday evening.
Two huge games that will tell us where the Buffs are at.
Let’s be realistic here — to me this team has exceeded all expectations so far especially after losing their star guard McKinley Wright to the NBA. We knew this would be an adjustment period with young guards Keeshawn Barthelemy and KJ Simpson manning the point guard position.
They’ve sped up the process if anything.
Colorado currently possesses a record of 18-9, 10-7 which places them at five in the current Pac-12 standings. The Buffs are just 0.5 games back of Oregon for the fourth seed.
The top-4 teams are guaranteed a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Oregon, losers of two-straight, don’t exactly have the easiest schedule coming up. After a heartbreaking loss to Arizona on the road Saturday night, the Ducks face #13 UCLA and #17 USC at home.
The Buffs have an excellent opportunity to capitalize.
However, the games still have to be played but Colorado shouldn’t exactly be sleeping on Arizona State when they come to town. Like Colorado, Arizona State has been on a winning streak of their own of late as they’ve won four of their last six. Not to mention, two double-digit victories over both Oregon and Oregon State.
Let’s just say hypothetically, if the Buffs do take care of business Thursday night against the Sun Devils, Saturday presents an opportunity for a resume builder if they can secure a Quad-1 win over Arizona.
I’m not going to get ahead of myself here, but this homestand could put Colorado in talks to potentially being a team on the bubble.
As of right now, ESPN’s Bracketology has the Pac-12 earning just three bids which would include Arizona, UCLA, and USC.
If the Buffs are unable to get the upset of Arizona at home, Colorado will likely have to make a run in the Pac-12 Tournament in order to reach the NCAA Tournament.
Don’t forget, the Buffs will have one game remaining after this homestand at Utah, so buckle up and get ready for a wild week of basketball.
Keep taking that one game at a time approach.