Colorado University Athletics
Boyle's Buffs Get Votes In Polls, Move To 15 In RPI
December 14, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Tad Boyle's Colorado Buffaloes are finally getting a little national attention.
The Buffs made their first appearance of the season Monday in the Associated Press poll, collecting 21 points, fourth-most in the “others receiving votes” category. The 8-1 Buffs, currently riding an eight-game winning streak after Saturday's win over BYU, also moved up in the USA Today/Coaches' poll, receiving 25 points, fifth-most after the top 25.
Arizona, 9-1 thus far, was the highest-ranked Pac-12 team, checking in at 13th in the AP poll and 12th in the coaches' poll while 7-3 UCLA was No. 22 in the AP poll. Other Pac-12 teams receiving votes in at least one of the polls were Oregon, Utah and Cal.
But perhaps the most important move for the Buffs was in the official NCAA RPI, where Colorado was sitting in the 15th spot Monday morning, the highest perch of any Pac-12 team.
Other Pac-12 teams in the top-50 RPI were UCLA (29), Southern California (30), Utah (31), Oregon (36), Oregon State (38), Arizona (43) and Arizona State (44).
The Buffs have been in the top 30 of the RPI since the opening week of the season, when they lost a neutral-court game to Iowa State (third in this week's RPI), then won a road game at Auburn. They've kept their numbers up with a road win at Colorado State and home wins over Air Force and BYU.
The Buffs have two more home games this week — Friday vs. Nicholls State and Saturday vs. Hampton, both set to tip off at 7 p.m. — before traveling to Las Vegas next week for two more games in the Las Vegas Classic.
Those will be two more big opportunities for the Buffs to get a little more national attention. CU plays Penn State on Dec. 22 in Orleans Arena (8:30 p.m. start), then plays either Kent State or SMU the following night. If the Buffs beat Penn State and SMU defeats Kent State, it will set up a Colorado matchup with the 7-0 Mustangs, currently ranked 18th in the AP poll.
It would also set up a matchup between CU coach Boyle and his old college coach, Larry Brown. Boyle played for Brown at Kansas.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
