Colorado to continue season in inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament

Colorado forwards Trevor Baskin, Bangot Dak and Andrej Jakimovski prepare to sub in against Houston. The trio helped the Buffs win two games in the Big 12 Championship. (Photo by Remi Krupinski/Sko Buffs Sports)

The Colorado Buffaloes (14-20, 3-17 Big 12) men’s basketball season appeared to come to a close last Thursday, as they fell at the hands of the Houston Cougars (30-4, 19-1) in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship.

That was until this past Monday when the Buffs accepted an invitation to the inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament.

CU is scheduled to face the Villanova Wildcats (19-14, 11-9 Big East) on April 1 at 6:30 p.m. MT. Given their record, the Buffaloes weren’t expected to play postseason basketball. However, their historic run in the Big 12 Championship where they became the only No. 16 seed to ever win a game in a conference tournament may have earned them the opportunity.

“It started when we were in Kansas City,” head coach Tad Boyle said on Tuesday. “We’ve been playing better at the end of the year, won a couple games and made it to the quarterfinals there …I was a little shocked they wanted us, quite frankly, but if we have a chance to compete, let’s go compete.”

The Buffaloes’ matchup with the Wildcats is one of the more interesting in the tournament. Both teams have prominent storylines to consider as they enter the contest. Colorado has recently caught fire, winning five of its last 10 games after not winning a game since December. Villanova recently fired head coach Kyle Neptune, who’d led the program for the last three years. 

One other development that will impact all teams in the tournament is its timing relative to the transfer portal. The portal opens on Monday, leaving a number of players to choose between entering it or playing in the tournament and putting coaches in a difficult spot when creating their lineups. 

“The timing with the portal opening for us on the 24th makes it challenging,” Boyle said. “But we’ve got a big staff…We can handle game planning, practicing and recruiting at the same time, so it was an easy sell for me and our players now are on board.”

Seeing how each of those recent developments translate to the court in the first round will create a riveting game between two underrated programs. 

“I’m very excited,” Boyle said. “Yesterday when I met with the team, the guys that are coming back and the guys that are going to play, my excitement level is good, I’d like to practice today.”

The tournament runs from Mar. 31 to April 6 and functions similarly to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) or College Basketball Invitational (CBI), giving teams who missed the NCAA Tournament field something to compete for in the postseason. It is hosted by the Anschutz Entertainment Group and Fox Sports, with the latter of the two also broadcasting each of the games. 

The entire tournament will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the first two rounds being played in the MGM Grand Garden Arena and the final two rounds being played just down the road at T-Mobile Arena. 

An underlying benefit of participating in the tournament is the N.I.L. payout available to teams who perform well. Teams who make the final four will receive an N.I.L. payout of $50k, with the runners-up and champions receiving $100k and $300k, respectively. 

The winner between Colorado and Villanova will advance to play either the USC Trojans (16-17, 7-13 Big 10) or Tulane Green Wave (19-14, 12-6 American) in the quarterfinals on Thursday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m. MT.