Colorado Basketball – 2023-24

**Video: Men’s Basketball 2023-24 Full Season Recap** … KJ Simpson officially declares for the NBA Draft … CU men finish ranked 28th … CU women finish ranked No. 15 … Chauncey Billups becomes the second Buff inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame …

There are 351 programs playing Division 1 basketball, but only 22 of those programs – including CU – had both the men’s and women’s teams invited to participate in March Madness … Just how unique (and special) is this March for Buff fans? Let’s find out …

The CU men’s team got off to a slow start in February, going 1-3, including a 20-point home loss to No. 8 Arizona … The Buffs then righted the ship with three wins to close out the month, including a double-overtime road win over USC … For his 28 point effort in an 89-65 home rout of Utah, KJ Simpson was named the Pac-12 Player-of-the-Week … On the women’s side, the month of February went in the opposite direction … The Buffs won the first three games in February, climbing to a 20-3 record and a No. 1 projected seeding in the NCAA tournament in the first Top 16 early reveal by the NCAA selection committee … The remainder of the month, however, was a disappointment, as the Buffs lost four straight – all to ranked teams – to fall out of the Top Ten in the national rankings …

The CU men entered 2024 with an 11-2 (2-0) record, then promptly lost 97-50 to No. 10 Arizona to kick off a three-game road losing streak … The Buffs rebounded to win four straight before finishing the month with a split road trip to the state of Washington … The CU women, meanwhile, entered January with an 11-1 record and a No. 5 national ranking … A big win over No. 8 Stanford pushed the Buffs to No. 3 in the rankings before CU fell to No. 5 UCLA, 76-68, before the largest crowd (11,338) to ever watch a women’s game at the CU Events Center … A home win over No. 12 Utah kept the Buffs in the Top Ten nationally throughout the month …

December, 2023, was a perfect month for the both the CU men’s and CU women’s basketball teams … Tad Boyle’s Buffs went 6-0, including a 90-63 rout of No. 15 Miami, and a Pac-12 opening home sweep of the Washington schools. With the wins, the Buffs edged close to the Top 25, finishing the month at No. 28 … JR Payne’s Buffs, meanwhile, went 4-0 in December, finishing off the month with a convincing 76-65 home win over No. 12 Utah … The Buffs stayed in the Top Ten nationally throughout the month, heading into the New Year with a No. 5 ranking …

Expectations for both the men’s and women’s teams were high as the 2023-24 season opened … When the CU women upset No. 1 LSU to open the season, the Buffs rocketed into the Top Ten, getting as high as No. 3 before a loss to No. 10 North Carolina State dropped the Buffs out of the Top Five … CU men also found themselves ranked nationally, rising as high as No. 18, but fell out after an overtime loss to Florida State and a road loss to No. 20 Colorado State …

CU men ranked No. 27 in preseason Associated Press poll; only Arizona and USC ranked ahead of CU in final season of the Pac-12 … CU women ranked in preseason polls for the first time since 2013 … CU men picked 5th in preseason media poll – Boyle: “If we’re the fifth-best team in the Pac-12, the Pac-12’s pretty good this year” …

CU Press Release: Non-conference schedule set (home opener Nov. 6th) … CU to face Richmond in Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach … Tad Boyle on move to Big 12: “The basketball job at Colorado got harder, but it got better” …