Please use this thread for all of your commentary during today's big game. (And make sure to get your predictions in before tip-off)
THE OPENING ROUNDS: The University of Colorado is the No. 8 seed in the South Region of the 2016 NCAA Tournament and will face No. 9 seed University of Connecticut in a first round game on Thursday, March 17, at 11:30 a.m. MDT, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
The winner of Thursday’s Colorado-UConn game will take on the winner of top seeded Kansas and No. 16 Austin Peay in the second round on Saturday, March 19. Time is TBA.
WATCH/LISTEN:
TV: TNT (Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson)
Radio: 760 AM KDSP (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)
Satellite: Sirius 93, XM 203
Watch Online: NCAA.com
Live Statistics: CUBuffs.com
COLORADO IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Colorado is making its 14th appearance in program history and fourth in the past five seasons, but also just the sixth since 1970. The Buffaloes are 10-15 all-time in the championship which includes two Final Fours (1942, 1955) and four Elite Eight’s (1942, 1955, 1962, 1963).
Colorado’s No. 8 seed matches its best since national seeding began in 1979. Prior to 1979, teams were seeded on a regional basis. The South Region is also the most common in that era for the Buffaloes marking the fourth time in six appearances.
WHAT ROUND?: The NCAA announced earlier this winter it would return to calling its first four play-in games the “First Four” rather than the first round. With that, the traditional Thursday-Friday games of the 64-team bracket, return to being called the first round while the Saturday-Sunday games are the second round.
For the past few years, which include Colorado’s last three appearances, the First Four had been called the first round, while the first weekend games were known as second and third round contests.
ABOUT THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 22-11 overall and claimed sole possession of fifth place in the Pac-12 regular season standings at 10-8. It’s the fourth time in head coach Tad Boyle’s tenure that Colorado has finished with at least 10 conference wins and fifth time in six seasons the Buffaloes have finished league play with a record of .500 or better. Colorado reached 20 wins for the ninth time in program history and fifth in six years. The Buffaloes reached their overall win total from 2014-15 (16-18) in 13 fewer games (16-5).
Colorado advances to postseason play, past the conference tournament, for the sixth straight season, the best stretch in program history. The Buffaloes are 16-10 in postseason games under Boyle (11-5 conference, 3-1 NIT, 1-3 NCAA, 1-1 CBI). His .615 postseason winning percentage ranks first in school history.
Boyle owns half of Colorado’s all-time conference tournament wins. He is 11-5 in conference tournament action, including a 2-1 mark in Colorado’s final year of the Big 12. He has led the Buffaloes to a conference semifinal or better in three of his six seasons. Boyle is also 6-0 as Colorado’s head coach in first round conference tournament games.
Colorado’s NCAA RPI on Selection Sunday was 35. The Pac-12, having a phenomenal season as a whole, had six teams ranked in the top 50 and 10 in the top 100. Colorado is 9-10 against NCAA RPI top 100 teams and 4-8 against the top 50.
ABOUT THE HUSKIES: UConn is 24-10 overall and finished sixth in the American Athletic Conference with a record of 11-7. The Huskies won the American Athletic Conference Tournament by defeating Memphis 72-58 in the finals. UConn averages 73.4 points per game on 46 percent shooting. The Huskies allow 63.1 points per game and led the American Athletic Conference in field goal percentage defense (.382).
UConn features a balanced scoring effort with four players averaging between 12-13 points per game. All-Conference senior forward Shonn Miller tops the Huskies at 12.8 points while shooting 58 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Daniel Hamilton also earned All-American Athletic Conference honors, averaging 12.4 points and team bests with 8.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Junior guard Rodney Purvis averages 12.5 points and has 66 3-point field goals. Senior guard Sterling Gibbs tops the Huskies with 73 3-pointers while averaging 12.0 points an outing.
Kevin Ollie is in his fourth season as the head coach at UConn with an overall record of 96-43.
THE SERIES: This will be the first meeting between Colorado and UConn.
THE OPENING ROUNDS: The University of Colorado is the No. 8 seed in the South Region of the 2016 NCAA Tournament and will face No. 9 seed University of Connecticut in a first round game on Thursday, March 17, at 11:30 a.m. MDT, at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
The winner of Thursday’s Colorado-UConn game will take on the winner of top seeded Kansas and No. 16 Austin Peay in the second round on Saturday, March 19. Time is TBA.
WATCH/LISTEN:
TV: TNT (Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson)
Radio: 760 AM KDSP (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)
Satellite: Sirius 93, XM 203
Watch Online: NCAA.com
Live Statistics: CUBuffs.com
COLORADO IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Colorado is making its 14th appearance in program history and fourth in the past five seasons, but also just the sixth since 1970. The Buffaloes are 10-15 all-time in the championship which includes two Final Fours (1942, 1955) and four Elite Eight’s (1942, 1955, 1962, 1963).
Colorado’s No. 8 seed matches its best since national seeding began in 1979. Prior to 1979, teams were seeded on a regional basis. The South Region is also the most common in that era for the Buffaloes marking the fourth time in six appearances.
WHAT ROUND?: The NCAA announced earlier this winter it would return to calling its first four play-in games the “First Four” rather than the first round. With that, the traditional Thursday-Friday games of the 64-team bracket, return to being called the first round while the Saturday-Sunday games are the second round.
For the past few years, which include Colorado’s last three appearances, the First Four had been called the first round, while the first weekend games were known as second and third round contests.
ABOUT THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 22-11 overall and claimed sole possession of fifth place in the Pac-12 regular season standings at 10-8. It’s the fourth time in head coach Tad Boyle’s tenure that Colorado has finished with at least 10 conference wins and fifth time in six seasons the Buffaloes have finished league play with a record of .500 or better. Colorado reached 20 wins for the ninth time in program history and fifth in six years. The Buffaloes reached their overall win total from 2014-15 (16-18) in 13 fewer games (16-5).
Colorado advances to postseason play, past the conference tournament, for the sixth straight season, the best stretch in program history. The Buffaloes are 16-10 in postseason games under Boyle (11-5 conference, 3-1 NIT, 1-3 NCAA, 1-1 CBI). His .615 postseason winning percentage ranks first in school history.
Boyle owns half of Colorado’s all-time conference tournament wins. He is 11-5 in conference tournament action, including a 2-1 mark in Colorado’s final year of the Big 12. He has led the Buffaloes to a conference semifinal or better in three of his six seasons. Boyle is also 6-0 as Colorado’s head coach in first round conference tournament games.
Colorado’s NCAA RPI on Selection Sunday was 35. The Pac-12, having a phenomenal season as a whole, had six teams ranked in the top 50 and 10 in the top 100. Colorado is 9-10 against NCAA RPI top 100 teams and 4-8 against the top 50.
ABOUT THE HUSKIES: UConn is 24-10 overall and finished sixth in the American Athletic Conference with a record of 11-7. The Huskies won the American Athletic Conference Tournament by defeating Memphis 72-58 in the finals. UConn averages 73.4 points per game on 46 percent shooting. The Huskies allow 63.1 points per game and led the American Athletic Conference in field goal percentage defense (.382).
UConn features a balanced scoring effort with four players averaging between 12-13 points per game. All-Conference senior forward Shonn Miller tops the Huskies at 12.8 points while shooting 58 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Daniel Hamilton also earned All-American Athletic Conference honors, averaging 12.4 points and team bests with 8.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Junior guard Rodney Purvis averages 12.5 points and has 66 3-point field goals. Senior guard Sterling Gibbs tops the Huskies with 73 3-pointers while averaging 12.0 points an outing.
Kevin Ollie is in his fourth season as the head coach at UConn with an overall record of 96-43.
THE SERIES: This will be the first meeting between Colorado and UConn.
