When Colorado travels to Knoxville to face the No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers, it will begin a three-game series between the two programs.
Tennessee will play in Boulder for the 2021-2022 season while in 2022-2023, Colorado will play Tennessee closer to the Volunteers' home, but at a neutral site in Nashville.
"There's some considerations involved — I won't get into all the details — but to get a quality program like Tennessee on the schedule for this year and in the future gives our players something to look forward to," said head coach Tad Boyle.
The Tuesday 4 p.m. MST tipoff forced the Buffaloes to do away with a planned game at the CU Events Center that night with Colorado School of Mines.
That game itself was an improvised scheduling following the Buffs' original opponent for Dec. 8, Colorado State, being unable to play the game due to COVID concerns within its men's basketball program.
As had been speculated when the CU at Tennessee news broke yesterday, former Buffs assistant Kim English, who joined Tennessee's staff in 2019, helped grease the wheels and get the game between the Buffs and the Volunteers scheduled.
Point man on this operation for Colorado was director of player personnel Nate Tomlinson.
"Those two guys really put it together once Tennessee had a lot of cancellations," Boyle said. "They had a game on Wednesday night that was cancelled and they were looking for a game. We obviously lost our Colorado State game and we had Mines kind of as a backup. I would have liked to play Mines — they're a quality team and right up the road — but when the Tennessee opportunity came, it was too good of an opportunity for our guys to pass up."
In scheduling this series, Boyle had his eye on what two games in the state of Tennessee could potentially do for Colorado as a program, just in being to advertise itself in a neck of the woods that the Buffs rarely venture.
"When we had (this) opportunity, we just felt like we had to jump on it," Boyle said. "(To) go back to Nashville (in 2022-2023) —a great city — it gives us a chance to get into the different part of the country, a different time zone and show what we're al about."
While Tennessee has yet to play a game this season due to a litany of COVID-caused cancellations, the 0-0 Volunteers' No. 13 ranking in the AP Top 25 is indicative of a team with high expectations.
Adding into that hype without doubt is the stud Class of 2020 Tennessee was able to assemble, with five-star guards Jaden Springer and Keon Johnson topping the bill of incoming talent.
Despite not having game film on Tennessee heading into tomorrow's matchup, Boyle noted that at a very minimum, a scouting report can be pieced together by watching high school tapes or footage from last year.
"The great thing about the internet is — it used to be with a freshman or transfer, you didn't have film on him. Now we can go to the film and we've got film on everybody that they have on their team. They may not be in a Tennessee uniform, but we can at least see what they've done and get some information on them."
"It's going to be a lot like South Dakota and a lot like K-State in that we don't have a real full picture on what Tennessee's all about, but they've only got two games' (worth of film) on us, as well."
The Buffs and Volunteers tipoff from Thompson-Boling Arena tomorrow, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on the SEC Network+.
...
FIN
Kansas and Tennessee both coming to Boulder next year for non-conference? Hell yeah. That's solid. An excuse to plan a little trip to Nashville, as well. Will be big to play a top tier SEC team for a few years in a row. Even a couple games have the potential to be huge for exposure and perhaps even opening the eyes of some recruits there that Colorado exists and is a competitive and desirable program to land at.
Great news no matter how you spin it.
Tennessee will play in Boulder for the 2021-2022 season while in 2022-2023, Colorado will play Tennessee closer to the Volunteers' home, but at a neutral site in Nashville.
"There's some considerations involved — I won't get into all the details — but to get a quality program like Tennessee on the schedule for this year and in the future gives our players something to look forward to," said head coach Tad Boyle.
The Tuesday 4 p.m. MST tipoff forced the Buffaloes to do away with a planned game at the CU Events Center that night with Colorado School of Mines.
That game itself was an improvised scheduling following the Buffs' original opponent for Dec. 8, Colorado State, being unable to play the game due to COVID concerns within its men's basketball program.
As had been speculated when the CU at Tennessee news broke yesterday, former Buffs assistant Kim English, who joined Tennessee's staff in 2019, helped grease the wheels and get the game between the Buffs and the Volunteers scheduled.
Point man on this operation for Colorado was director of player personnel Nate Tomlinson.
"Those two guys really put it together once Tennessee had a lot of cancellations," Boyle said. "They had a game on Wednesday night that was cancelled and they were looking for a game. We obviously lost our Colorado State game and we had Mines kind of as a backup. I would have liked to play Mines — they're a quality team and right up the road — but when the Tennessee opportunity came, it was too good of an opportunity for our guys to pass up."
In scheduling this series, Boyle had his eye on what two games in the state of Tennessee could potentially do for Colorado as a program, just in being to advertise itself in a neck of the woods that the Buffs rarely venture.
"When we had (this) opportunity, we just felt like we had to jump on it," Boyle said. "(To) go back to Nashville (in 2022-2023) —a great city — it gives us a chance to get into the different part of the country, a different time zone and show what we're al about."
While Tennessee has yet to play a game this season due to a litany of COVID-caused cancellations, the 0-0 Volunteers' No. 13 ranking in the AP Top 25 is indicative of a team with high expectations.
Adding into that hype without doubt is the stud Class of 2020 Tennessee was able to assemble, with five-star guards Jaden Springer and Keon Johnson topping the bill of incoming talent.
Despite not having game film on Tennessee heading into tomorrow's matchup, Boyle noted that at a very minimum, a scouting report can be pieced together by watching high school tapes or footage from last year.
"The great thing about the internet is — it used to be with a freshman or transfer, you didn't have film on him. Now we can go to the film and we've got film on everybody that they have on their team. They may not be in a Tennessee uniform, but we can at least see what they've done and get some information on them."
"It's going to be a lot like South Dakota and a lot like K-State in that we don't have a real full picture on what Tennessee's all about, but they've only got two games' (worth of film) on us, as well."
The Buffs and Volunteers tipoff from Thompson-Boling Arena tomorrow, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. MST. The game will be televised on the SEC Network+.
...
FIN
Kansas and Tennessee both coming to Boulder next year for non-conference? Hell yeah. That's solid. An excuse to plan a little trip to Nashville, as well. Will be big to play a top tier SEC team for a few years in a row. Even a couple games have the potential to be huge for exposure and perhaps even opening the eyes of some recruits there that Colorado exists and is a competitive and desirable program to land at.
Great news no matter how you spin it.
