Evans: Buffaloes giving Colorado college hoops junkies hope

I love college basketball.

As someone lucky enough to attend Syracuse University, I enjoyed big-time college hoops in a big-time environment. March Madness was an event for me.

Sadly, since coming to Colorado 20 years ago, March just hasn’t been the same. Too often when the Big Dance rolls around, Colorado State or Colorado isn’t a part of it. For a time, Air Force represented well, but that was a long time ago.

College basketball in Colorado just hasn’t been that good. The NCAA tournament would come around, and we’d be like kids outside a candy store, looking through the window wishing we were inside but the doors were locked.

CU looked like they were onto something a couple of years ago. Tad Boyle’s Buffaloes went dancing three straight years from 2012 to 2014. The program was in such good shape there was worry big time/big money programs would come sniffing around Boyle’s door.

But that mojo faded. The Buffs have missed out on Selection Sunday two of the past three years. Prospects for this season weren’t looking much better after the CU lurched out to an 8-6 record, including 0-2 to begin conference play.

But, then … hope. Two straight home wins over ranked teams — the Arizona State Sun Devils and Arizona Wildcats.

The victory over the Wildcats was most satisfying, as Sean Miller’s program is under a federal investigation for illegal recruiting. Boyle said, “Hell yes, there’s extra satisfaction” in beating Arizona.

I’ve always been a Boyle fan. I like that kind of fire. I like that these two wins could provide a huge boost for the Buffs heading into the meat of conference play.

Yeah, the Buffs are young. But I don’t want to hear that as an excuse. College basketball is getting younger and younger these days. There’s no reason CU can’t compete after showing what they’re capable of in these last two games.

Believe it or not, what they did against the Arizona schools was the easy part. Now comes the difficult challenge: Winning on the road in conference play.

The Buffaloes need to avoid the wild swings of momentum, like getting blown out in two games against Oregon and Oregon State just before New Years then coming home to beat two ranked squads.

Starting this weekend at USC and UCLA, CU needs to find a way to gain a split — a split on the road then a sweep at home against Washington and Washington State.

That’s the formula for getting the Buffs back into The Dance … and college hoops fans, like me, excited again.

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