KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Conference tournaments can be brutal. One day, you make history, and the next, you are history.
Colorado’s magic carpet ride ended on Thursday, as the No. 16 seeded Buffs fell to the No. 1 seeded Houston Cougars, 77-68 at T-Mobile Center.
It was not an altogether unexpected outcome for the Buffs (14-19) as they returned to the Big 12 after a decade-plus sojourn in the Pac-12. But, for a couple of days they were one of the biggest stories of the Big 12 Tournament.
Colorado defeated No. 9 TCU and No. 8 West Virginia in the first two rounds. In doing so, the Buffs made Big 12 history as the first No. 16 seed to win a game, and the first to advance two rounds. Of course, this is the first 16-team Big 12 Tournament, so someone was bound to do it.
But dig deeper, and the Buffs did something that hadn’t been done in nearly 100 years.
Per CU Sports Nation, Colorado was the first team to advance to the quarterfinals of any conference championship after finishing 16th or lower in the regular season since Tennessee in the 1931 Southern Conference Tournament.
Look back, and yes, the SoCon was a 22-team league (gulp), and the Volunteers finished in a tie for 17th place behind Clemson and Sewanee. But Tennessee got a bid over Sewanee.
The Vols beat Alabama, 26-20, in the first round and then lost to Florida, 33-29, in the quarterfinals. That tournament had 16 teams, but there were no first- and second-round byes.
History aside, the Buffs were pesky on Thursday, staying within spitting distance of the Cougars for a good portion of the contest. Colorado was only down five at the break, but Houston slowly but surely pulled away.
“These guys really took on the new season you know challenge and obviously it showed in in the first two games they’re even I think it showed today,” CU coach Tad Boyle said.
Andrej Jakimovski had a career-high 25 points in his final game with CU.
This season was destined to be difficult for Colorado, even in the transfer portal era. Last year’s squad featured three NBA draft picks — Cody Williams, Tristan da Silva and KJ Simpson.
But, the Buffs’ return to the Big 12 was a dud by any standard. Colorado lost its first 13 league games, whether it was against Iowa State or against Arizona State, the latter of which was the No. 15 seed in the Big 12 Tournament.
“I’m really disappointed with our performance in January,” he said. “I thought that really hurt us and but we overcame it.”
The run led to retirement rumors for Boyle, who has led the program since 2010. He confirmed last weekend that he intends to return for another season.
Colorado finally broke the streak with a win over UCF. And, since then, the Buffs were over .500 going into Friday’s game at 5-4. So, the Buffaloes finally got it going. They just got it going way too late.
Holding onto talent in this era is hard. Boyle has four seniors on the roster, and all of them were among his five leading scorers — guard Julian Hammond III, Jakimovski, center Elijah Malone and forward Trevor Baskin.
What he does have coming back, at least on paper, is young and intriguing. Forward Bangot Dak could be in for a big season in 2025-26. Guard RJ Smith and forward Sebastian Rancik will have the chance to take big steps forward. Same for guard Javon Ruffin and forward Assane Diop.
This assumes Boyle can hang onto them all. The transfer portal is a brutal business and, even though it doesn’t officially open until March 25, players are already declaring.
This season wasn’t what he was hoping for. But Boyle’s toughest test may be next season — and the work starts now. He has a team to put together and keep together.
“It’s amazing how busy my job gets tomorrow,” Boyle said. “Everyone thinks the season ends and you get a few weeks off and you get to go to the beach. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’ll be busier the next few weeks than I have been the last few months.”
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
