The NCAA tournament fate for the Colorado women’s basketball team was levied on Sunday evening, and it wasn’t what the Buffs had hoped for or expected.

The Buffs landed a No. 5 seed, falling just outside of the overall top 16 and missing out on a host spot. Instead, they’ll be heading to Manhattan, Kansas, to take on 12th-seeded Drake, which won the Missouri Valley Conference title and finished with a record of 29-5. If Colorado gets past the Bulldogs, it will take on the winner of No. 4-seed Kansas State and No. 13 Portland.

The Buffs' first round game against Drake is scheduled to tip off at 5 p.m. MST on Friday after the conclusion of Kansas State and Portland.

“Not a lot, but they must be really good,” coach JR Payne said of what she knows about Drake. “Twenty nine wins is a lot of wins. There’s actually a player on their team that we recruited, one of their best players. I know they have a tremendous point guard, and any team that’s won 29 games is pretty darn good.”

The Buffs dropped six of their final eight games this season, causing them to fall four seed lines down from the Feb. 15 reveal from the selection committee, when they were the final No. 1 seed. The last of those losses, a double-overtime defeat at the hands of Oregon State in the Pac-12 quarterfinals, will certainly sting a little more now knowing that it may have cost them a game or two in Boulder this weekend.

The Buffs have had success away from home this season. They went 4-2 at neutral sites, which their first game against Drake will be, including their season-opening win against LSU in Las Vegas. They also went 7-4 in true road games, which bodes well if they have to play the host Wildcats in the second round.

Kansas State is no easy customer at home, though. The Wildcats finished the season 15-1 at Bramlage Coliseum, with their only loss coming against Iowa State on Feb. 28. They open with Portland, which upset Gonzaga in the WCC title game to earn its spot.

“I said earlier in the week, we’ll get what we’ve earned,” Payne said. “We didn’t finish as strong as we needed to down the stretch, and I think the committee – that played a role in their decision. But we feel great about what we have on our roster, we feel great about our experience, we believe that we can go win games.”

The Buffs are no stranger to playing on the road in the NCAA tournament. Two seasons ago, they went to Iowa and lost to Creighton as a No. 7 seed. Then, last year, they won two games at Cameron Indoor Stadium, including a second round game against Duke, as a No. 6 seed to advance to the Sweet 16.

“I think being able to lean on that experience and recognize that [the seed] is just a number,” Payne said. “We played a lot of tough road games this year, and this will be no different. But we’re just excited about being able to prepare now, knowing who our opponent is, and we’re just excited to play.”