The calendar is still in February, but March Madness is quickly approaching.
With Selection Sunday only a few weeks away, the Colorado women’s basketball team is well-positioned to not only compete on the sport’s biggest stage, but to do some damage once it is there.
At 21-6, the Buffs are No. 21 in the most recent Associated Press poll and have clinched a top-four finish in the Pac-12 standings, which would come with a first-round bye in the conference tournament in Las Vegas next month.
Beyond that, though, where does Colorado sit? Let’s take a look at the Buffs’ NCAA Tournament credentials and where they may end up once the bracket is revealed on March 12.
We’ll look to update this once a week over the next few weeks, up until the teams are actually selected for the 68-team event.
The resume
Record: 21-6 (12-4 Pac-12)
NET ranking: 21
Record vs. NET top 50: 7-5
Record vs. 51-100: 5-1
Record vs. 101-200: 7-0
Record vs. 201+: 3-0
Record in past 10 games: 7-3
Remaining games
Feb. 23 vs. No. 3 Stanford (26-3, 14-2)
Feb. 25 vs. Cal (13-14, 4-12)
Mock brackets
ESPN (updated Feb. 21): No. 5 seed playing South Dakota State in Norman, Okla.
CBS Sports (updated Feb. 20): No. 4 seed, no opponent specified
College Sports Madness (updated Feb. 13): No. 4 seed playing Long Beach State in Boulder
What it means
For one, it means that the Buffs are safely in the field. That, in and of itself, is a tremendous accomplishment. Not only would it be just their third NCAA Tournament appearance since 2004, but it would mark the first time that the program has made it to the Big Dance in back-to-back years since it did so in 2003 and 2004.
Colorado’s resume is strong, with few, if any, glaring holes. The Buffs don’t have a loss to a team outside the NET top 100, with their worst defeat coming against No. 74 Texas Tech, which is 16-11 this season. Additionally, they have three wins against teams currently ranked in the AP top 25 – No. 8 Utah, No. 14 Arizona and No. 17 UCLA. Their six losses have come against teams that are a combined 125-40, three of which are ranked in the top 25.
With a spot in the tournament virtually guaranteed, Colorado can now focus on improving its seed. It’s not a trivial matter. Right now, the Buffs are widely projected as a No. 4 seed, which is an important distinction. Unlike the men’s tournament, which holds all of its games at neutral-site venues, the first two rounds of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament take place at on-campus sites for the top seed in each four-team pod, which means teams with one, two, three or four seeds can advance to the Sweet 16 without ever leaving their own gym. As things stand now in the mock brackets, Colorado’s first two games (should it win its first matchup) would take place in Boulder.
In recent years, that has been a decided advantage. In the past five NCAA Tournaments – so not including 2020, which was canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 2021, which was held entirely in San Antonio – 59 of the 80 spots on the Sweet 16 have been occupied by top-four seeds that played home games in the tournament’s opening week.