The Colorado Buffaloes spent yesterday outside of the bracket and now have moved up in the latest Bracketology report from one of the first four teams out to playing in the opening round against the Clemson Tigers. Colorado first must focus on beating Iowa State in today's opening round game of the Big 12 tournament. Iowa State is the reason that Colorado is sitting on the tournament bubble as the Cyclones beat Colorado seven days ago.
The Buffs not only need to beat Iowa State, but they must also get past fourth-seeded Kansas St. Wildcats. Colorado did sweep the Wildcats this year, but a third win is potentially necessary to receive an NCAA tournament bid. There are other teams outside of Colorado's control that can help or hurt their at-large chances. The Buffs need to hope the favorites move on in their respected conference tournaments, and fellow bubble teams lose in the early rounds.
The Colorado St. Rams are in a slightly more dire situation then Colorado as the Rams are in the next set of four teams out of the NCAA tournament. The Rams will need to also hope that minimal upsets happen, but the Rams are in a place where they must be BYU in the Mountain West semifinals.
The Northern Colorado Bears have a shot to punch their ticket to earn their first ever NCAA tournament bid as they host the second-seed Montana Grizzles tonight. Currently, the Bears are considered a 15 seed in the NCAA tournament projections.