First and foremost, that was a terrific win on Wednesday night. Heading into the Bay Area we knew the Buffaloes needed some validation of their bracketological placement. By stepping onto the Maples floor and beating a tournament caliber team was good proof.
But a game remains. There is still season left and resume to write. From my not-so-bracketologist position, I do think the Buffs are in. I won’t play the if-they-then-they game but based on what I think will transpire and what I’ve seen, Colorado will be invited to their third consecutive dance. But like we’ve said, there’s still a game remaining. Tomorrow the Buffs will face off against a squandering Cal squad. A group that has been as enigmatic as any in the conference and certainly is on a downward trend. Losers of three straight and unimpressively so, Cal hasn’t done much to impress the committee. But they are on the committee’s radar because they have demonstrated an invitation worthy ability.
So what am I getting at? This weekend is as good a test for the Buffaloes as we’re going to see. They’re playing a mid-week and a weekend game against tournament caliber teams. This weekend is playing out exactly like an NCAA tournament weekend: the road, the competition, the month. Colorado passed their first test. How will they treat the second round?
Historically, and certainly just in conference play, there has been a second game let down for the Buffs. We can begin with last season’s big win at home over Oregon and the subsequent let down at home to Oregon State. This season, however, has seen the Buffs sweep just twice (which is actually pretty good). Colorado’s longest conference win streak as members of the Pac? Their 53-41 win over a 6-25 Utah team and then the 2011 conference tournament. That’s March for ya!
So I’ll be paying close attention. I love to see how a team reacts and maybe we can all agree that Wednesday wasn’t the sexiest brand of basketball. But the theme of March is to win.
Just win, baby. And when I say close attention, I mean I’m going. I mean I’ll be at
Jupiter Beer on Shattuck by 1pm for the Arizona-Oregon game which is shaping up to be a doozy. Let’s sip some together!
And speaking of doozies, this battle for a chance to dance in Haas is shaping up to be one. I called this the
Game of the Week because I thought it would have significant tournament ramifications and I’m not wrong. Cal is fighting for their lives but we covered that. We also noted that observing a team’s reaction is more telling of a team’s direction than their latest result. Lose at Utah? Beat Stanford. Bravo Buffs. Lose to all of Arizona? Lose at home to Utah. And Cal is now on the outside looking in.
So Saturday is where we find ourselves. A great test for Colorado to see just how tournament ready, how tournament tough, this iteration of the Buffaloes can be.
And see you at Jupiter.
