It's Good That Colorado Is Not in The Top 25 to Start the Season
Every Colorado fan wanted to see Colorado in the Associated Press Top 25 when it came out on Monday. As it was, the Buffaloes wound up in the "receiving votes" category, effectively coming in at 27th.
For the most anticipated Colorado basketball season in years, this is mildly disappointing.
But it's actually a good thing. Here's why: Preseason rankings are poisonous.
Unlike in football, where the rankings have some effect on the postseason, college basketball rankings are frivolous. They're just for fun. And what they do, a lot of the time, is put bad ideas in the heads of young players.
Especially players that haven't been on a ranked team before.
Complacency is a battle we all face as humans. It would be nice -- man, would it be great -- if you reached a certain plateau and then just got to stay there. You're done. You made the Top 25, you got into college, you got a promotion, you got off parole ... whatever it is, it's so tempting to think you've got it made. It's a flaw in the human condition. And it leads to big problems.
So that's why Tad Boyle's team is probably better off ranked right where it is to start this season. Just on the outside looking in ... just outside enough to get mad about it ... just outside enough to know there's still work to do.
Outside enough that if and when Colorado does make the Top 25, it will feel earned, it will feel good, it will feel like just the beginning.
In sports, it's usually better to be hunting something than trying to protect it. Colorado begins the season in hunter mode, and that's a good thing.
