Colorado men’s basketball 2026-27 season preview
The Colorado Buffaloes take the floor for the first time in 2026 on Nov. 2 to face the Abilene Christian Wildcats. With a long season ahead, a reshaped Buffs roster will look to continue building on an improved 2025 campaign in the Big 12.
Roster Turnover
Colorado is returning only five of 15 players from last season’s roster. Key contributors in guard Isaiah Johnson and forwards Bangot Dak and Sebastian Rancik helped lead the Buffs to their first winning season since returning to the Big 12, but all of them departed for other programs.
The Buffaloes brought in seven freshmen on the recruiting trail. A strong international presence in the new group may bring a renewed culture to Boulder.
Guard Alex Dickeson comes from Adelaide, Australia, and forward Goc Malual arrives from Sydney, a year after the program’s summer trip Down Under. They both spent time in the NBL Australia, playing for the Centre of Excellence and Sydney Kings, respectively. The rest of the group includes Los Angeles, California native guard Amir Jones, Newport Beach, California native guard Luke Mirhashemi, Phoenix, Arizona native wing Rider Portela, San Antonio, Texas native forward Chase Hill and Colorado Springs, Colorado native center Eric Jacobsen.
Transfer Portal
This offseason was one fueled by the transfer portal for the Buffaloes. Four of the Buffs’ top five scorers from last season left, including Johnson (16.9 points per game, now with the Texas Longhorns), Rancik (12.3, Florida State Seminoles), Dak (11.5, Vanderbilt Commodores) and forward Alon Michaeli (7.1, Saint Louis Billikens).
Center Fawaz ‘Tacko’ Ifaola, guard Felix Kossaras, guard Andrew Crawford, guard Jon Mani and center Leonardo Van Elswyk also moved on.
Colorado’s answer was to rebuild the frontcourt. Noah Feddersen, a 6-foot-10 center, was the Summit League Sixth Man of the Year with the North Dakota State Bison and averaged 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. He is also the only Buff with NCAA Tournament experience.
Forward Justin Neely is a 6-foot-6 forward who put up 17.9 points and 11.5 rebounds at UNC Greensboro and earned first-team All-Southern Conference honors. David Gomez, a 6-foot-9 forward from the Charlotte 49ers, played just two games there because of a foot injury. The coaching staff expressed that those three bigs will be central to Colorado competing in the Big 12.
Key Returners
Of Colorado’s returners, Barrington Hargress is the headliner. The senior guard averaged 14.7 points and 4.5 assists in his first season in Boulder after averaging 20.2 points with the UC Riverside Highlanders. With the scoring leaders gone, Colorado needs him to carry more of the offense, and he has said that reaching the NCAA Tournament is a goal he has chased his whole career. This is his last chance.
Three sophomores should also see bigger roles. Jalin Holland (4.9 points, 2.7 rebounds per game), Josiah Sanders (4.4 points, 2.6 rebounds) and Ian Inman (4.1 points, 1.0 rebounds) all got real minutes as freshmen and now have to take a step forward on a team that is short on proven backcourt options beyond Hargress.
What needs to happen to continue building?
Head Coach Tad Boyle enters his 17th season in one of the most questionable eras of basketball in Boulder. The 2026 campaign will mark CU’s third season in the Big 12.
Season one was one of the worst in modern Colorado history, as the Buffs won just 3 of their 20 games in the conference. Last season, the Buffs got the wheels rolling, jumping out to an 8-0 start and winning three more games than the 2024 team. To continue this upward trajectory, the new roster will need to build quick chemistry, and the coaching staff will need to find offensive sparks with four of the top five scorers departing.
Schedule outlook
Colorado’s non-conference schedule has some real tests. The Buffs face the San Diego State Aztecs on Nov. 7 at the Bill Walton Classic in San Diego. Then, they’ll travel to face the Providence Friars on Nov. 14 for their first true road game. In late November, they play in the Acrisure Series in Thousand Palms, California, opening against the Stanford Cardinal and then facing either the Grand Canyon Lopes or Saint Louis. If it is Saint Louis, that would mean a reunion with Michaeli.
The game most fans will circle is Dec. 5 against the Colorado State Rams in the Rocky Mountain Showdown, the team that ended Colorado’s perfect start last season. The Rams went 21-13 last year and now open their first season in the rebuilt Pac-12.
Colorado also meets the Purdue Boilermakers on Dec. 19 in Indianapolis, Indiana, before wrapping up non-conference play against the Denver Pioneers on Dec. 29.
Big 12 play opens Jan. 2 against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the team that knocked Colorado out of the Big 12 tournament in March. After that comes a brutal stretch against the league’s best. The Arizona Wildcats, the preseason favorite and a Final Four team last year, host the Buffs on March 3. Colorado also visits the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 13 and plays the Houston Cougars, Baylor Bears and Utah Utes twice. The regular season ends March 6 against Utah, the one team picked below the Buffs in the preseason poll.
Expectations are a mixed bag, as Colorado was picked 14th in the 16-team preseason coaches’ poll. The new-look roster will look to continue last year’s momentum in Boulder and give Buffs fans a reason to pack out the CU Events Center this year.
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