Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Get Help, Win Over Utah Would Give Them Top-Four Finish
March 05, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — The Colorado Buffaloes entered the week needing some help to pick up a top-four finish in the Pac-12 standings and the first-round conference tournament bye that goes with it.
They got that help Thursday night.
Now, the Buffs (21-9 overall, 10-7 Pac-12) are once again in control of their fortunes. While Colorado did not play Thursday, Arizona State was losing at home to Washington and Stanford was losing at Oregon State.
That dropped ASU into a tie with CU in the standings at 10-7 and dropped Stanford to 9-8. If the Buffs can get a win at Utah on Saturday (12:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks), they will finish with no worse than the fourth seed in next week's tournament in Las Vegas and earn the first-round bye.
CU actually still has a chance at the No. 3 seed if they end up in a tie with Arizona State, Arizona and USC. But if USC falls out of the equation, CU would drop to No. 4 in a three-way tie with UA and ASU. CU would win a head-to-head tiebreaker with ASU, but lose a head-to-head with Arizona.
USC plays host to UCLA on Saturday while Arizona hosts Washington and Arizona State hosts Washington State.
The Pac-12 tournament begins Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena. If the Buffs do earn a bye, they won't play until Thursday.
Colorado has never had a first-round Pac-12 tourney bye — but the Buffs are also the only team in the league to win at least one game in every Pac-12 tournament.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu