Colorado opens its season against Montana State on Monday night

Colorado head coach Tad Boyle at the team's annual Black and Gold scrimmage. (Photo by Remi Krupinski/Sko Buffs Sports)

The Colorado Buffaloes’ men’s basketball team hosts the Montana State Bobcats in its season-opener on Monday night. 

The Buffs have competed against other teams all offseason, including four scrimmages Down Under and two other exhibitions against the Grace College Lancers and Marquette Golden Eagles (the Marquette scrimmage was closed to fans and media), giving them plenty of opportunities to iron out the kinks before the season. 

After going 14-21 last year, head coach Tad Boyle’s worst record in his 15-year tenure with the team, Colorado lost eleven players. The six hoopers that returned to the squad are highlighted by forwards Sebastian Rancik and Bangot Dak, and center Elijah Malone. 

Aside from these established veterans, the Buffaloes brought in nine newcomers (seven freshmen), featuring UC Riverside transfer guard Barrington Hargress and three-star guard from Los Angeles, Isaiah Johson. 

On the same token, Montana State lost four starters from last year and seven of its eight highest point scorers. This left the team with a great deal of production to make up for. 

The longest-tenured Bobcat, senior guard Patrick McMahon, is the lone starter who remains on the team. Last year, he averaged 9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists on 51.1 percent from the field (third on the team). This year, the Bobcats are looking for McMahon to become their primary scoring option.  

The roster construction of the Buffaloes is similar to the Bobcats, as both teams are dealing with the same issues of creating new rotations, finding leaders and getting new players to buy into the team culture. 

Luckily for the Bobcats, they are led by head coach Matt Logie, who has won everywhere he’s been. Logie began his head coaching career at Whitworth University (DIII), where he won the Northwest Conference and led the team to the Sweet Sixteen in his first year with a 26-4 record. After leading Whitworth to six conference championships in eight years, he moved up to Division II to coach at Point Loma Nazarene University from 2019-23. In his four years there, the Sea Lions won the Pacific West Conference twice (runner-up twice) and made March Madness all three times (2020 canceled). 

Logie is now entering his third season for the Bobcats (32-36) with one March Madness appearance in 2024 (lost in the First Four). This makes him one of the only head coaches to qualify for the NCAA tournament in all three divisions. 

The Bobcats lead the all-time matchup against the Buffs, winning six of eight games. The last time Montana State came to Boulder, Colorado won an overtime thriller 94-90 (2021). 

Buffs fans are hoping for a similar outcome to the last meeting between these squads, while Bobcats fans are looking to extend the team’s winning record against the Buffs. 

Tip-off is at 7 p.m. MT on Monday (ESPN+).