Boyle's Buffs Building Strong Resume

BOULDER — It's that time of year. The time of year when such phrases as "tournament resume´" and "strength of schedule" begin to have special meaning, the time when RPI begins to be a closely watched number of concern for college hoops fans everywhere — and the time when the importance of every game seems to be exponentially magnified.

Welcome to the Colorado Buffaloes' world. Currently 16-5 overall and 5-3 in the Pac-12, the Buffs are in the process of building a resume´ they hope will prompt the NCAA Selection Committee to call their name in New York City on March 13.

Of course, they can bypass much of the drama by winning the Pac-12 Tournament and guaranteeing themselves a bid. Tad Boyle's Buffs have done it before.

But in the meantime, Colorado has a chance to improve that resume´ Sunday, when CU plays host to Cal in a 3 p.m. game at the Coors Events Center (Fox Sports 1). With an NCAA RPI of 19 as of Thursday morning, it's an opportunity they don't want to squander. The Buffs have just five home games remaining, and are well-aware that protecting their home floor is of the utmost importance.

Of course, most coaches aren't too fond of talking resumes, particularly at this time of year. You can count Boyle squarely in that camp. He's an immediate-horizon type of guy, and the only game that matters to CU's head coach is the next one on the schedule.

As Boyle will note, there's still plenty of basketball left to be played. Sunday's game against the Bears will mark only the halfway point of the Pac-12 schedule, meaning there's all kinds of opportunities to make — or break — a team's case for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Still, as the Buffs approach the Pac-12 halfway mark, it's worth taking a look at where they stand.

Two of the most popular "bracketology" experts in the nation, ESPN's Joe Lunardi and CBS Sports' Jerry Palm, have the Buffs included in their current bracket. Of the two, Palm has a higher opinion of the Buffs, putting them at a No. 7 seed as of Monday (before CU's win over Stanford). Lunardi, meanwhile, had the Buffs at a No. 10 seed at the beginning of the week.

Overall, the Pac-12 — currently the No. 2-ranked conference in the nation — also continues to fare well in the tournament projections. Palm has seven Pac-12 teams in his current prognostication, second only to the ACC's eight and tied with the Big 12: Oregon (No. 4 seed), Arizona (5), USC (6), Utah (6) Colorado (7), Cal (8) and Oregon State (9).

Lunardi, meanwhile, has eight Pac-12 schools in his bracket, tied with the ACC for the most of any conference: Oregon (4), Arizona (5), USC (5), Utah (8), Cal (9), Colorado (10), UCLA (11) and Washington (12).

The good news is Colorado still has one game remaining with each of those schools. Every one is a chance to improve CU's resume. The bad news is … well, the Buffs have 10 games left and eight are against teams projected to earn tournament berths. There are no nights off.

The Pac-12's high number of bids is bolstered by the RPI, numbers that also are good for the Buffs. Thursday morning's NCAA RPI had eight Pac-12 teams in the top 50 and 11 in the top 75: Oregon (5), Utah (15), Colorado (19), USC (22), Arizona (36), Cal (39), UCLA (48), Oregon State (50), Stanford (51), Washington (72) and ASU (75). Only Washington State (165) appears out of the running at this point.

Other numbers currently in the Buffs' favor are their overall strength of schedule — ranked 29th in the nation by CBS Sports — and their record against top 100 RPI teams. Colorado currently sports a 7-5 record against those squads, with the Buffs' most impressive wins to date including home wins over Oregon, Oregon State and Stanford, and road wins at Stanford and Auburn.

Again — it's early. But with five home games and five on the road remaining, the Buffs have a chance to put together a quality resume´ down the home stretch.

But, as Boyle is quick to remind anyone and everyone — the next game is the only one that matters. That comes Sunday at 3 p.m.

COLLIER SETTLING IN: While his numbers are by no means eye-popping, sophomore point guard Dominique Collier is becoming more and more comfortable with his role as the team's quarterback.

In Pac-12 play, Collier has 20 assists and nine turnovers and is averaging 7.7 points and one rebound per game. He's also coming up with big plays at big moments, and is becoming more and more confident in directing traffic on the floor.

One of his biggest stretches of the season came in Wednesday night's win over Stanford. After the Cardinal had shaved a 23-point CU lead down to 10 with a 13-0 run, Collier came up with a huge assist to Josh Scott, who then converted a three-point play with a free throw to end the run. That was followed by four straight Collier free throws and a George King 3-pointer that put the Buffs squarely back in control of the game.

"He made the plays that needed to be made," Boyle said. "That's when you need your floor general to take control, make sure you're getting a great shot, make sure your best player is touching the ball. I thought Dom was terrific."

Collier has shown more and more of that ability, particularly in Pac-12 games. "Without a doubt, he's making strides each and every game," Boyle said. "It's not always about stats. He can have an effect without scoring or even getting assists, but by getting the ball where it needs to be."

Collier's play even caught the eye of Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins, himself a pretty good point guard back in the day for Duke.

"We had some momentum, we had a little rhythm going," Dawkis said. "That young man, Collier, made a nice play, had a lot of poise."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu