Game Day Preview – Colorado

University of Colorado (Public – Research Institution)
Mascot: Buffaloes
Location: Boulder, CO
Enrollment: 29,950

Current Record: 9-4 (1-0 in Pac-12 Conference)
RPI: 90         SOS: 48
Coach: Tad Boyle (2nd Season)

First Thought: The Colorado Buffaloes have just entered their first season in the Pac-12. But, they have not yet played anyone from the new conference they entered. They opened Pac-12 against fellow newcomers Utah, who they absolutely destroyed. I expect to see a hyped up crowd when the Huskies come into their arena.

Best Win: 78-68 over Georgia (RPI 100)
Worst Loss: 65-54 to Wyoming (RPI 105)
Last Game: 73-33 win over Utah (RPI 306)

Synopsis: This Colorado team is playing right about where I expected, which is as a middle of the league. They appear to be an NIT bound team, who could possibly get onto the NCAA tournament bubble with some big wins in Pac-12 play. No one should overlook this club, as upsets are bound to happen. This is especially true of the Huskies, who have a history of losing road games!

My analysis: Colorado is a team of balance, decent size, but a lack of depth. No one player really stands out as their star, but they have some really talented players. They are lead in scoring by wing guard 6’5″ Carlon Brown who is averaging 13 ppg in 27 mpg. The transfer from Utah is really starting to show he made the right decision, especially after they destroyed Utah by 40.

Probably their best overall player is 6’7″ sophomore power forward Andre Roberson, who is averaging 11.7 ppg and more importantly 11.6 rebounds per game. Freshman Spencer Dinwiddie has also had some nice games including 19 points against Utah last week. While Colorado is very balanced in terms of output, they are not very deep. They only have 6 players averaging more than 15 minutes per game. Australian senior guard Nate Tomlinson is leading the team in minutes played at 29.6 minutes.

They are not a team that is going to light it up. They only average 70 points per game, which is #139th in the country. In fact, they only scored 77 against Utah, despite it being a 40 point win. So, this is a team the Huskies can out run and out score, if they have an effective half court offense and really get on the boards and out into transition.

I will say that I am very glad the schedule has the Huskies playing them Thursday and then headed to Utah on Saturday. This will give the Huskies the chance to practice and review film of Colorado for 4 days and then play the extremely weak Utah team on just one days rest. Had it been the other way around, I’d be more pessimistic about this road game. But, I am certainly wary of the possibility of an upset if the Huskies come out flat and miss too many quick threes.

My Prediction: UW 77 Colorado 71