LAS VEGAS – The Colorado Buffaloes' eight-game win streak was snapped Saturday night in the Pac-12 tournament championship game as the No. 4 Oregon Ducks took home the title in the last year of the “Conference of Champions.”
While it is a bitter end to the conference tournament, the Buffs turn their attention to the next task at hand: the Big Dance.
Although the Buffaloes are not officially locked into a spot to play in the national tournament, their late-season run should push them over the bubble and keep their season alive.
“There's no doubt in my mind this is an NCAA tournament team, I’ve known that from day one,” head coach Tad Boyle said.
There were definitely a few road bumps along the way this season for the black and gold, one coming tonight after a heartbreaking loss in the championship game. But even with another setback, the team knows that the job isn’t finished yet.
“Obviously everyone’s disappointed, but we can’t dwell and we can’t sit here and mope around about this one loss,” KJ Simpson said. “There's more basketball left to be played and we got to give it our all.”
Simpson’s teammate Tristian da Silva had similar feelings about what’s next as well.
“We have a lot of basketball ahead of us. I’ve got to deal with this [loss]. But I’ve got to make sure to look ahead. Don’t let this one linger around,” da Silva said.
The Buffaloes won’t have to wait around too long to find out their fate for the 2023-2024 campaign as Selection Sunday is only a sunrise away.
“I can’t think of 37 [teams] better than us. I believe in that team in that locker room, they deserve to move on,” Boyle said about the committee’s decision. “We’ll see if it happens tomorrow. If it does, it does. If it doesn’t, we’ll move on as well. But this team, to me, is worthy."
Cover photo by Roberto Patrick Gerra/Sko Buffs Sports
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