Gary A. Vasquez- US Presswire
It’s been an exciting offseason for Tad Boyle and the rest of the Colorado basketball program. They spent two weeks in Europe playing professional teams, they signed two 4-star recruits (Jaron Hopkins and Dustin Thomas) and they will hold their first ever midnight madness celebration on October 12 entitled “Buffs Madness” to kick off the 2012 season.
On the other side of the spectrum is the Colorado football program. They are off to their second straight 0-2 start after losing to Colorado State and FCS Sacramento State. They’re young but they are struggling to get it going on either side of the ball.
It seems that the two programs are headed in opposite directions at the moment and it begs the question, is Colorado quickly becoming a basketball school?
Yes they are.
The football program has a much more storied history including one national championship, 26 conference championships and four division championships. They have a Heisman trophy winner and 30 consensus All-Americans (five unanimous) in their storied 123 years of football.
With that said, in today’s world it’s all about what you have done for me lately and the Buffs have not done much. Since 2006 they have not had a winning season and they have not been to a bowl game since 2007. The Dan Hawkins experiment was a failure and the Jon Embree hire is a work in progress as the football program is struggling to gain its footing.
As for the Colorado basketball program they have started to overshadow the football program with their recent success. They scored big time with the hire of Boyle at the start of the 2010-2011 season and he immediately took the program to new heights. Boyle was a little known coach coming from Northern Colorado but he immediately paid dividends for CU has he led them to a school record 24 wins and an NIT final four berth in his first season. That season included wins over #5 Texas, #8 Missouri, #20 Kansas State (3 times) and a Big 12 Tournament semifinals appearance. They were snubbed from the NCAA Tournament but Colorado basketball experienced a revival in success and a renewed fan base.
The next year Boyle continued his success starting in the offseason by bringing in an under-the-radar recruiting class with talented players Spencer Dinwiddie and Askia Booker. Colorado wasn’t predicted to have a good season after the departure of their top five scorers including Alec Burks (NBA lottery pick) and Cory Higgins (All-time leading scorer) but they still went out and proved everyone wrong anyways.
Led by star Andre Roberson and leading scorer Carlon Brown, Colorado went on to match their win total from the previous year but one-upped themselves in a big way. They went on an improbable run during the Pac 12 tournament in Los Angeles winning four games in four days to secure the first conference championship in school history. The Buffs carried that success into the NCAA tournament upsetting the sixth seed UNLV in the first round as the 11th seed.
A hot shooting Baylor team ended Colorado’s season but it didn’t feel like a loss for the program. The support that Colorado saw in Los Angeles and Albuquerque was exponentially greater than any other fan base in either tournament. Students, alumni and fans alike made the trip to both locations and they earned national recognition for their efforts.
All of the national exposure Colorado received in March paid off on the recruiting trail this offseason as Boyle was able to bring in the highest rated, highest regarded recruiting class in program history. The six man class was ranked as one of the top 25 classes in the country and Colorado fans will see them take the basketball program to even greater heights within the next few years.
The football program is the main revenue earner and until the basketball program can claim that title Colorado will still be considered a “football school”. However, fans have already started clamoring for November and the start of the basketball season so it’s easy to see where the support currently resides. Due to that support Boyle gave “Buffs Madness” the green light and it will mark the first time Colorado will join the big boys’ celebration to the start of the college basketball season.
It’s dark days for the football program but the basketball program is basking in the bright Colorado sunshine and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
