WACO, Texas — The Buffs are on the bubble.
The NIT bubble.
After four consecutive losses, Colorado has gone from receiving votes in the top-25 polls to fighting for a spot in a lesser postseason tournament.
There is still time for Tad Boyle`s team to play its way back into the NCAA Tournament picture. But CU will have to turn things around beginning with Tuesday`s home game against Iowa State and then upset some ranked conference rivals down the stretch to be a part of the madness in March.
“We know we still have a shot,” senior guard Levi Knutson insisted after the Buffs` blew a 17-point lead and lost 70-66 to Baylor on Saturday at the Ferrell Center. “This loss doesn`t take us away from our goals. We still have nine games to battle and get some wins. We`ll be fine.”
Playing in a power conference means there really aren`t any automatic wins on the schedule. Texas Tech, after an 8-11 start to the season, has won three consecutive Big 12 games.
The Big 12 also creates opportunities for the Buffs — at No. 11 Missouri next Saturday, home games against No. 13 Texas A&M and No. 7 Texas, the final visit to Lawrence for a rematch with No. 6 Kansas — to rack up some quality wins that will grab the selection committee`s attention.
“I`m not worried about losing confidence,” Boyle said when asked about the psyche of his team moving forward. “I haven`t lost confidence in these guys. We just have to execute better, and you have to make plays down the stretch.”
The Buffs (14-8, 3-4) were outscored 49-31 by Baylor in the second half. The Bears(14-6, 4-3), an Elite Eight team last season, needed the win just as much as the struggling visitors.
“It’s frustrating. I liked our guys’ intensity, I like their effort, I liked their focus. I can’t fault them for anything, other than not making shots,” Boyle said after CU shot 35.4 percent from the field. “We’re going to keep battling. This is a long season. We’re not counting ourselves out of it.
“It’s time to regroup, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, and go get ’em.”
CU is currently tied with Texas Tech (3-4) for seventh in the Big 12 standings. Remember, last season the Red Raiders beat the Buffs in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament in what was essentially an NIT play-in game.
The seven teams that finished ahead of CU in the conference standings last March were in the NCAA Tournament field. Traditionally, the top five or six Big 12 finishers are invited.
Texas, Kansas, Texas A&M and Missouri are locks this season. In addition to the Buffs and Bears, Nebraska (15-5), Kansas State (14-8), Oklahoma State (14-7) and Iowa State (14-8) have NIT résumées entering February.
It’s actually more difficult for teams from power conferences to get into the NIT because all teams that win regular-season conference titles in small conferences and don’t make the NCAA field are automatically included.
And the field has been trimmed back down to its traditional 32-team format. However, the NCAA field has been expanded to 68 teams.
As of Sunday, CU’s RPI was 95, which ranked ninth in the Big 12. Baylor moved up to 86th after seizing victory from the jaws of defeat on Saturday.
“You can’t play not to lose, you have to play to win,” Boyle said. “I just felt like we got on our heels in the second half (against Baylor).”
