Given the Colorado soccer team's current situation, Buffs head coach Bill Hempen knew just who to call for advice.

A year ago, the Buffs thumped Kansas 4-0 in the regular season finale only to earn a matchup with the Jayhawks in the first round of the Big 12 Conference tournament. CU won that matchup as well, but barely, as the rematch went to penalty kicks before the Buffs prevailed.

So when Hempen learned that his seventh-seeded Buffs would open conference tourney play today against No. 2 Texas — the squad that rolled CU 4-1 just five days ago in the regular season finale — he didn't hesitate. Hempen dialed up KU coach Mark Francis.

The message?

"'You could sit here and worry about it or realize you have a chance to do something about it,'" Hempen recalled Francis saying about regrouping so quickly for the rematch. "So that's the approach we're taking."

The Buffs face the Longhorns at 4:30 p.m. today in San Antonio. Not only a rematch of Friday's contest, the match also pits last year's Big 12 tourney finalists. Texas outdid the Buffs in penalty kicks in that match to take the title.

The match could also determine whether CU gets an NCAA tournament berth.

With seven matches against top-25 opponents this season, Hempen believes the Buffs should make the NCAAs. But he doesn't think they will unless they get at least one victory in the conference tournament. CU's only win over a top-25 opponent came last week against No. 22 Oklahoma State.

"It's one thing to have those teams on your schedule," Hempen said. "It's another thing to beat them. We're playing Texas and they're a top-10 team right now, so you win that game, that maybe gets you back in the conversation."

The Buffs left Friday's match in Austin feeling they'd shown less than their best effort. After taking an early lead, missed opportunities cost the Buffs the chance to pull away and gave Texas's offense the opportunity to get hot.

"We know that we could have played with them a little better," CU leading scorer Nikki Marshall said. "It's a huge game and it is do or die, so hopefully we can pull it out."

CU certainly has the experience of being successful in the conference tourney to build on. The Buffs have been in the last two Big 12 tourney finals, with many current players having key roles on last year's squad.

Marshall, a sophomore forward, scored two goals in the semifinals last year to help knock off top-seeded Texas A&M, while junior midfielder Alex Cousins has scored in the last two Big 12 tourney finals, including her first career goal in the loss to the Aggies in 2005.

"It's a new team so it's always hard to say," Cousins said. "But I think the veteran players know it's time to step it up."

Then again, Hempen and the Buffs know Texas has the same type of experience on its side.

"It's rare that, if you truly believe that the game was closer than the score, you have the opportunity to do something about it (without waiting until next season)," Hempen said. "Sports is a lot of emotion. We have to go down there expecting to win the thing."

TTU down, Nebraska to go

Emotions ranged from relief to elation in the CU volleyball locker room after the Buffs beat Texas Tech on Saturday to end a program-worst 14-match losing streak.

CU coach Pi'i Aiu said the skid, which included all of the team's Big 12 Conference games until Saturday, wasn't a distraction to his squad because the Buffs didn't talk about it.

"I was focused match-to-match, and I think our kids were, too," Aiu said.

Still, the shot of confidence probably couldn't have come at a better time as the Buffs travel to Lincoln today to face No. 2 Nebraska.

"That's a win we needed and we had been focusing on that match as a must-win," Aiu said. "We had two keys that we had to do to win the match (passing and spreading the ball around), and we did both well."