Tad Boyle gave a wry smile when reminded of where the media
picked the Buffs to finish in the Pac-12 after his Buffs defeated Washington
State 71-60 at the Coors Events Center.
Colorado presently sits alone atop the Pac-12 standings at
3-0 in the conference, but Boyle and his Buffs haven’t forgotten the media
picked them to finish 11th, second to last in the league.
“That is kind of a slap in the face,” said guard Nate
Tomlinson of the preseason prediction. “[Guard] Carlon [Brown] and the seniors,
the real core group of this team, took that pretty personally. We feel like we
belong in this league and that we are here to stay.”
However, nobody is ready to anoint the Buffs the king of the
Pac-12. All three of CU’s conference games have been held within the friendly
confines of the Coors Events Center. But CU has played the type of defense to
allow them to compete for the top spot in the Pac-12.
The Buffs lead the conference in points allowed per game and
field goal percentage defense, areas where Colorado has struggled in the past
few years.
Next up for the Buffaloes is a trip to the Bay Area, playing
California on Thursday and Stanford on Saturday.
