Rooney: CU Buffs 3 extra points (Dec. 2, 2024)

BuffZone writer Pat Rooney discusses three topics on CU Buffs athletics as the football team awaits its bowl fate, while both basketball teams settle in at home ...

with a rivalry battle on deck for the CU men.

Opening reviews The first regular season with a 12-team College Football Playoff as the final destination was a resounding success.

In terms of having more games matter in the waning weeks of November, the plan worked wonderfully.

Look how many final-week games carried huge postseason implications.

Syracuse knocked Miami out of the ACC title game.

Michigan did the same to Ohio State in the Big Ten.

Even Notre Dame, without a conference title to play for, needed to hold off USC for a road result that couldve otherwise sent the Irish packing from the 12-team field (or at least relegated them to a road game).

The parity across the Big 12 has thinned the odds of two teams getting into the CFP.

But it made the race for the two spots in the conference championship game, with an automatic tourney berth for the winner, a dramatic chase until literally the last few minutes of the leagues very last regular season game.

One of the primary allures of the NCAA Tournament in basketball is how just about every team has a fighting chance to advance, beginning with the conference tournaments.

The new-look CFP hasnt quite duplicated that, but its much closer than it used to be.

Many more teams had something to play for or could play a legitimate spoiler role, like Syracuse and Michigan in the final week of the regular season.

Neither Miami nor Ohio State are eliminated just yet; but their national championship odds grew much longer.

Rocky Mountain Showdown The highlight of the nonconference home slate arrives this week with the hoops version of the Rocky Mountain Showdown, as Colorado State visits the CU mens basketball team on Saturday night (6 p.m., ESPN+).

The Rams won an epic battle last year in Fort Collins between teams that eventually reached the NCAA Tournament, jumping to a big lead before holding off a CU rally sparked by KJ Simpson and Cody Williams.

After losing star power on both sides of the rivalry, the teams profile similarly at this stage of the season with new-look rosters attempting to remain competitive around key holdovers.

For the Rams, one of those holdovers is former Buff Nique Clifford, who will make his competitive return to the Events Center.

Like CUs win last week against UConn, the Rams are coming off one of their best performances of the season, defeating TCU in overtime behind a big game from Clifford.

A starter for CU the bulk of two seasons (2021-22 and 2022-23), Clifford surpassed the 1,000-point mark in his career while recording 25 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots against TCU.

CSU (4-3) hosts Loyola Marymount on Wednesday before visiting Boulder.

Snubbed Its been said plenty, but deserves another round: Travis Hunter not being included among the Thorpe Award finalists as the nations top defensive back is a travesty.

Hunter certainly wont go hungry during awards season.

CUs two-way star is a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award (top receiver), the Bednarik Award (top defensive player) and the Lott Impact Award (most impactful defensive player).

How can someone be up for a top overall defensive player award and the most impactful award without being considered among the best at his position group? Good question.

Hunter is expected to land his second consecutive Hornung Award as the nations most versatile player.

And, of course, hes a leading candidate for the granddaddy of them all, the Heisman Trophy.

It was a puzzling omission from the Thorpe, but Hunters name is all but certain to be prominent among the forthcoming All-American teams..

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