Unfavorable NCAA Tournament Projection for Colorado Buffaloes

The Colorado Buffaloes men’s basketball team is looking to snap their two-year NCAA Tournament drought in the 2026-27 season.

Colorado Buffaloes Projected to Miss NCAA Tournament

colorado buffaloes tad boyle bracketology projections ncaa tournament big 12 conference expanded field pac 12 boulder — Feb 25, 2026; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle during the first half against the Kansas State Wildcats the CU Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

CBS Sports David Cobb and Jacob Fetner revealed their 76-team NCAA Tournament projection for the 2027 field, and Colorado did not make it in.

Furthermore, the Buffs were not on the bubble in this projection. Colorado's conference, the Big 12 has 11 teams in the projected field. That would make Colorado one of just five teams in the entire league to not make it in.

If this plays out, it would make it three seasons in a row without a tournament appearance for Colorado. The Buffaloes last made the NCAA Tournament in 2024 as a No. 10 seed. They won their first round matchup against the No. 7 seed Florida Gators before being eliminated by the No. 2 seed Marquette Golden Eagles in the second round.

Colorado will have better chance on paper to make the field this season compared to the last two. The NCAA has expanded the tournament field from 68 teams to 76 which will be in effect for the upcoming season. That means there are eight more at-large bids up for grabs.

The Buffaloes are coming off a 2025-26 season where they finished with an overall record of 17-16.

Tad Boyle Entering 17th Season in Boulder

Colorado Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle is heading into his 17th season as coach. Boyle took over at the helm in 2010. He has led the Buffs to the NCAA Tournament six times. His overall record at Colorado is 329-220, a win percentage of .599.

Boyle has not yet led the Buffs to a tournament while they’ve been members of the Big 12 conference. His first year in 2010-11 resulted in a trip to the NIT. Colorado moved to the Pac-12 that offseason. They would be in that conference until the 2024-25 season. The Buffaloes returned to the Big 12 and have missed the tournament in each of their first two seasons back.

The Big 12 is widely considered to be in the conversation for the best conference in college basketball. Colorado has gone 10-28 in Big 12 conference play the last two seasons. They hope to starting flipping that trend around in 2026-27.

The Buffaloes team will look much different this season. They were busy in the transfer portal, landing three three-star forwards: David Gomez, Noah Feddersen, and Justin Neely. All three of these incoming transfers are coming in from mid-major programs. It will be interesting to see how their games' translate to the level of Big 12 play.

On the flip side of the tranportal, Colorado lost nine players from their 2025-26 team. Three of their four leading scorers entered the transfer portal and are now elsewhere. Guard Isaiah Johnson transferred to the Texas Longhorns, forward Sebastian Rancik transferred to the Florida State Seminoles, and forward Bangot Dak transferred to the Vanderbilt Commodores.

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