Colorado Basketball Schedule Features Intriguing Matchups

Okay, the schedule was released on July 24, but this is still a good time to talk about the many intriguing matchups that the Colorado Men’s Basketball team will have this season.

Head coach Jeff Bzdelik finished his first season at the helm of the men’s team with a record of 12-20.  It was not the record he was hoping for, but it does show a huge improvement from the 2006-2007 season, when the team only won seven games.

The Buffs did keep many of their losses close, losing eight by 10 points or less and five by five points or less.

The team will play 17 home games at the Coors Events Center, with nine of them being non-conference games.  The Buffaloes will play nine of their first 15 games at home before starting the conference schedule.

The season will begin on Friday, Nov.14, as the Buffs host the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions.  In fact, they’ll open the season playing four games in a matter of 12 days, all at home.  Aside from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, CU will host Montana State, Harvard, and Lafayette.

On Nov. 29, Colorado will head to Palo Alto, California to take part in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series against Stanford, where they hope to revenge their 67-43 loss from last season.  After the Hardwood Series, the Buffaloes will head home to play four straight.

Last year, CU had to travel to Fort Collins to play their in-state rival, but this season they’ll play host to Colorado State on Wednesday, Dec. 10.

The other in-state team that the Buffs will play will be Western State on Jan. 7.

From Dec. 27 to 30, Coach Bzdelik will take his squad to the beautiful island of Oahu to take part in the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu.  The opponents the Buffs will face in Hawaii are unknown at the moment, but the other seven teams in the tournament include Clemson, Colorado State, Coppin State, George Washington, Hawaii, Pepperdine, and Vermont.

The Big 12 conference games begin Jan. 14 at Missouri and will finish up on Mar. 7 at Kansas State.  The Big 12 Championships will be held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from Mar. 11-14.

At this moment, 11 of the conference games will be televised, with five on the Big 12 network, four on ESPNU, one on ESPN, and one on ABC.

Some big conference games include the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks coming into Boulder on Jan. 17, Nebraska coming Feb. 4, and Texas on Valentine’s Day.

2008-09 Men’s Basketball Schedule

Nov. 14 Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Nov. 18 Montana State

Nov. 22 Harvard

Nov. 25 Lafayette

Nov. 29 @ Stanford (Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series)

Dec. 3 TCU

Dec. 10 Colorado State

Dec. 19 Prairie View A&M

Dec. 23 Louisiana-Monroe

Dec. 27-30 @Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii

Jan. 5 @SMU

Jan. 7 Western State

Jan. 14 *@Missouri, ESPNU

Jan. 17 *Kansas, 1:30 pm, ABC

Jan. 20 *@Texas Tech

Jan. 24 *Kansas State, 4 pm, Big 12

Jan. 27 *Iowa State

Jan.31 *@Kansas, ESPNU

Feb. 4 *Nebraska

Feb. 7 *@Oklahoma, 11:30 am, Big 12

Feb. 11*@Iowa State

Feb. 14 *Texas, 12 pm, ESPN

Feb. 18 *@Nebraska, ESPNU

Feb. 21 *Missouri, 11:30 am, Big 12

Feb. 25 *Oklahoma State

Feb. 28 *@Baylor, 2 pm, Big 12

Mar. 4 *Texas A&M, ESPNU

Mar. 7 *@Kansas State, 2 pm, Big 12

Mar. 11-14 Big 12 Championships in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

*Conference Games