How losing to Utah impacts Colorado’s March Outlook

Colorado guard Zyanna Walker rises up for the mid-range shot against Utah. (Photo by Jacob Hock/Sko Buffs Sports)

Losing’s never easy, but especially not when your season is on the line. 

The Colorado Buffaloes (20-9, 11-6 Big 12) picked up their first loss in their past six games to the Utah Utes (18-11, 9-8 Big 12), 67-64 last night. While taking a hit with a loss to another team on the bubble, their March hopes are still alive.

Bracketology sites like ESPN, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated and NCAA Writers have Colorado as one of the last teams to get an at-large bid, while Utah sits on the outside looking in. 

The Buffs are sure to take a hit after a quadrant two loss, only their second of the season, they can still get an at-large bid.

If not, the Buffs can still earn themselves an automatic qualifying bid by winning the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

Colorado will go on the road to take on the Brigham Young Cougars (18-10, 7-9 Big 12), a team they beat by 30 in Boulder. 

BYU also remains on the bubble, with some bracketology sites putting them as a next four out team. 

Still, a 30-point loss stings and the Cougars will be looking for revenge.

“BYU will be supremely motivated,” head coach JR Payne said. “They've probably been chomping at the bit to get back to this game in Provo, where they play really well, and they will have a tremendous crowd.”

This is a must-win game for the Buffaloes if they want to keep their eyes on March. Should they lose, depending on how the rest of the conference games shake up, Colorado could drop as far as sixth in the Big 12 ahead of the conference tournament. 

However, if they win, Colorado could see itself earn a double-bye as a top-four seed. 

Regardless of seeding, the Buffs will still need to win games in the conference tournament, especially against top-end teams, to boost their resume ahead of the NCAA Tournament. 

CU should fare well in the tournament, having beaten two of the four teams ahead of it in the conference standings and three of the five teams below it.

The Buffs have struggled with layups in their past four games, hitting on just 50% of them. The Buffs went 5-17 on layups and only turned 19 offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points against Utah.

Still, over the past four games, they were able to make up for it with good offensive rebounding and putting in 64 second-chance points. 

If Colorado wants to make the Round of 64, they’ll have to make their layups. 

“There's really no excuse for it,” junior guard Desiree Wooten said. “We missed easies.”

Colorado’s path becomes a little less easy after the loss to Utah, but they’re built well. Should they win on the road against BYU on Saturday (ESPN+), they’ll have a chance in the conference tournament to make it hard for the committee to leave them out of the bracket come March.