Colorado Buffaloes back in Big Dance after season on bubble

Colorado was picked as an at-large bid for March Madness on Sunday, after their semifinal run in the Big 12 tournament. (Photo by Kekoa Brown/Sko Buffs Sports)

The Colorado Buffaloes are dancing again. 

On Sunday, the Buffaloes were awarded an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, securing their fourth appearance in five years. Colorado was selected as the 10 seed in the first Fort Worth quadrant and will face seventh-seeded Illinois on Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee.  

At the Nashville destination, a first-round win would send Colorado to face the winner of the matchup between host and No. 2 seed Vanderbilt against No. 15 seed High Point. 

“At this point of the season, any team that’s lucky enough to be playing is really good, really talented,” head coach JR Payne said on Sunday. “For us, the opportunity to keep playing is really exciting.” 

After back-to-back Sweet Sixteen in runs and its height since the ‘90s, Colorado came crashing down. In 2024, an injury-plagued season and roster turnover met their fate in the Big 12 tournament, as the Buffs lost to the eventual champion, TCU. That loss made them just miss the cut for the tournament as the first team out.

“[Consistency] is what we want to build,” Payne said of making the tournament for the fourth time in five years. “We’ve talked about wanting to be a championship quality team, and I think that’s the type of teams in the tournament … But just great for this year’s ball club to get the opportunity.” 

Colorado spent much of the season walking a March Madness tightrope. Wins over ranked teams such as Iowa State would be dismissed after not executing on the road. Those road woes hit rock bottom when the Buffaloes lost to the UCF Knights, the third-worst team in the Big 12. 

“It’s not that [we felt] like we’re not going to make [March Madness], it was just we got to be better, we know we are better than this,” guard Desiree Wooten said. “After the [Big 12] tournament … the way we played in there I think that’s when we said ‘Ok, we can do this’”

At the low point of their season, the Buffaloes stampeded back. After the UCF loss, Colorado won eight of its next nine games to put itself in the tournament conversation. However, back-to-back losses to end the regular season left doubt and kept the Buffaloes in the “Last Four In” of ESPN’s bracketology. 

Heading into postseason play with doubt in the NCAA selection committee's eyes, Colorado set out to make a statement in the Big 12 Tournament. The Buffaloes' warm-up shirts read “Lock It In,” and they did just that. 

After a second-round win over Kansas, Colorado locked in its March Madness chances with a quarterfinal upset over the No. 20-ranked Baylor Bears.

“We are ready to play no matter who is in front of us,” senior forward Anaelle Dutat said. 

In the semifinals, the Buffaloes lost to the eventual champion, West Virginia, but did enough to earn their at-large bid, much different from a season ago. 

“As a collective, we all wanted it a lot more than we did last year,” senior forward Jade Masgao said. “We have a lot more heart, very gritty and just play together all the time.”

Colorado faces the Fighting Illini in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Tip-off from Memorial Stadium in Nashville is set for 7:30 p.m. MT and can be streamed on ESPN2.