Season in review: Colorado's 2025-26 men's basketball campaign

The 2025-26 Colorado Buffaloes squad celebrates a 3-pointer. (Photo by Nick Rauscher/Sko Buffs Sports)

By Liam Howard & Matt Spivack

The Colorado Buffaloes wrapped up their 2025 season with a 17-16 (7-11 Big 12) record, bouncing back from a lowly 2024 campaign.

With an uncertain offseason ahead, here’s a reflection on the roller coaster ride that was the 2025 campaign.

Preseason expectation

CU guards Barrington Hargress and Isaiah Johnson square off in practice (Photo by Jacob Hock/Sko Buffs Sports).

Expectations were low for the Buffaloes heading into the 2025-26 season, as the team was coming off its worst record in head coach Tad Boyle’s tenure, going 14-21 and 3-17 in the Big 12 in 2024. 

The 2025 team consisted of six returners, with forwards Sebastian Rancik, Bangot Dak and center Elijah Malone being the only ones who played significant minutes. Guards Felix Kossaras, Andrew Crawford and forward Nick Randall were also on the team, but played smaller roles. Kossaras averaged two points and one rebound in 10 minutes per game, while Crawford and Randall saw little playing time as redshirt freshmen and sophomores, respectively. 

Boyle and his staff brought in nine new faces, including seven freshmen and two transfers. Guard Barrington Hargress joined the Buffaloes after two years at UC Riverside. He was the most anticipated newcomer, considering he averaged 20 points and four assists in his sophomore campaign. Denver University’s Jon Mani was the Buffs’ other transfer portal snag, averaging three points and two rebounds in 14 minutes per game in his freshman year. 

Out of the seven incoming freshmen, two of them stood out before ever stepping onto the court in the black and gold. 6-foot-1 guard Isaiah Johnson and 6-foot-9 forward Alon Michaeli both brought experience to Colorado that most freshmen don’t possess. 

Johnson had been around great basketball his whole life. His dad, Chris Johnson, is a famous NBA trainer, which allowed Johnson to grow up training around elite basketball players. Michaeli’s experience comes from playing professional basketball in Israel and competing on Israel's national team. 

Despite Colorado’s excitement for Johnson and Michaeli, neither was highly recruited out of high school, gaining a 3-star and 0-star ranking, respectively. 

With so many new faces and uncertainties around the lineup, the Buffs had a chance to bond and learn how to play together in the team’s trip Down Under. Colorado played four exhibition matches in Australia, competing against professional and international teams. 

“This year, we had the fortunate case of being able to play four games in Australia,” Boyle said. “We got to peek into our freshmen class earlier than we normally would.”

Non-conference

Felix Kossaras drives to the rim as Colorado takes on UC Davis (Photo by Remi Krupinski/Sko Buffs Sports).

The Buffs began the season on a high note, starting 8-0 for the first time in over 75 years. The winning streak brought a sense of false hope to Colorado supporters, considering Providence College was the only Power Five team the Buffs faced during their undefeated start. 

Colorado struggled to finish out non-conference play, losing three of its final five games, including a devastating loss to its in-state rival Colorado State Rams. 

Watching the Buffs in non-conference play, it was clear that the defense was not one of their strengths. Giving up over 77 points per game to mid-majors showcased that the Buffs’ offense had to be on point for Colorado to have a chance in any game. 

Throughout the first 13 games of the season, Colorado’s offense averaged 86 points per game with the help of two star newcomers. Guards Johnson and Hargress were workhorses for the Buffs, combining for 28 points and seven assists per night. 

Conference Play

Jalin Holland drives through the arc against TCU's David Punch (Photo by Paxton Haines/Sko Buffs Sports).

As the Buffaloes entered conference play, the weaknesses they displayed against their last few non-conference opponents quickly caught up to them. 

Colorado started on a good note, winning its first two conference games, including a road win over Arizona State. This sent the Buffaloes into their home matchup against the then-No. 14 Texas Tech Red Raiders, riding the wave of momentum. 

The Buffs gave the Red Raiders a tough fight, with Johnson’s 21 points and Dak’s 13 rebounds pulling the score back to one score after trailing by as many as 24 points. However, Hargress’s buzzer-beating shot rimmed out, and Colorado fell 73-71. 

The fact that they’d just competed with a top-15 team in the country was expected to spark a fire in the Buffaloes as conference play ramped up, but it did nothing of the sort. Colorado lost six of its next seven games, and although it picked up wins against Big 12 bottom-feeders like Utah and Kansas State down the stretch, CU finished with a 7-11 record in conference play.

Postseason

Tad Boyle looks on amid Big 12 Tournament loss to Oklahoma State (Photo by Aspen Doust/Sko Buffs Sports).

That result notched Colorado as the No. 11-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, where it was slated to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

OSU was one of the few teams Colorado pulled off a win against near the end of the season, defeating the Cowboys 83-69 with its home crowd behind it on Feb. 21.

Whether it was the neutral site or Oklahoma State’s adjustments, the result was far different in Kansas City, Missouri. The Cowboys defeated the Buffaloes 92-83 and out-rebounded them 44-34 despite missing their leading rebounder, center Parsa Fallah. 

Colorado was missing Rancik, and without him, they were forced to play small for over half the game. 

“It just hurts us when we’ve got to go small,” Dak said postgame. “...Because we’ve got a 6’5” dude on a bigger dude, I feel like that’s the only problem.”

But Boyle looked at the loss differently.

“Sebastian is 6’10”/6’11”, he does help us on the glass, there’s no question about that,” Boyle said. “But…we didn’t play [small] a lot tonight…a lot of times they were small when we were small, especially down the stretch.”

The disconnect between the two raised some eyebrows, a situation that was only made more interesting when Dak announced that he’d be entering the transfer portal on March 29. 

The Buffaloes were named to the College Basketball Crown tournament, though, and needed to shift their focus to that.

However, Rancik and Johnson also entered the transfer portal prior to the Buffaloes’ first-round matchup against the Oklahoma Sooners, leaving the Buffaloes without three of their stars for the postseason matchup.

Hagress had announced his return, though, and he pieced together a great first game as the face of the Buffaloes. His 31 points helped the Buffaloes take the Sooners to overtime, but they ultimately fell 90-86.

Colorado now turns its attention to an offseason in which it will need to replenish its roster. Four more Buffaloes have entered the transfer portal since the season ended, and Malone has no remaining eligibility. However, with a newly-doubled NIL budget, there’s no telling what’s beyond the horizon for Colorado basketball.