Colorado plays its way out of NCAA Tournament conversation with horrific loss to Cal
The Colorado Buffaloes haven’t been officially eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, but they’re certainly off the radar right now and won’t deserve any discussion as a serious contender unless or until something changes.
If there was any lingering uncertainty about Colorado resuming the NCAA tournament, that uncertainty was shattered by an 80-76 loss to the California Golden Bears on Saturday. The setback at Berkeley — for a team that entered the game with a 1-13 record — is a crusher for any bubble team. Yes, we’re still two and a half months away from the draft on Sunday, but for a Colorado team that already has a few not-so-great losses (UMass, Grambling, Washington) on the ledger sheet, a loss to Cal is worth at least two seed lines for breeding purposes. If Colorado was, hypothetically, the 18th or 19th team off the at-large field before this game, the Buffs are now close to being the 30th team off the field.
They likely entered this game needing at least one win over UCLA or Arizona, along with other good wins over third through fifth teams in the Pac-12, to make their way to the NCAA Tournament. Losing to Cal virtually guarantees that CU must beat both the Bruins and Wildcats (or beat either of them twice) and win more games against the top half of the Pac-12 to make the NCAA Tournament.
Good luck with that.
This is good news for USC. The Trojans are unlikely to make it to the NCAA Tournament, but they aren’t unlikely either. They are a 50-50 case at this point. However, their odds increase with other Pac-12 teams losing ground. Colorado is currently not a threat to withdraw a general offer to USC. The Pac-12 has UCLA and Arizona as tournament locks. Next is a trio of teams with legitimate chances.
USC is one such team. Colorado is not.
Arizona State and Utah are the other two teams. Utah had a great weekend, sweeping Cal and Stanford on the road. Arizona State lost at home to Arizona.
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The story originally appeared on Trojans Wire