Bangot Dak remembers how quickly things can unravel in the Big 12 Conference.
As the Colorado men’s basketball team embarks on its second season after returning to the league, its small handful of returning players, like Dak, recall learning quickly a year ago that recovering lost ground in one of the nation’s most challenging conferences is a thankless proposition.
No doubt, the Buffs had a few duds during an 0-13 start to Big 12 play a year ago. Yet after losing the conference opener against nationally-ranked Iowa State, CU hit the road for very winnable games at Arizona State and Central Florida. The Buffs won neither, losing by 20 in a listless showing at ASU before committing a season-high 22 turnovers in a one-point loss at UCF.
Winning those games wouldn’t have made the Buffs an NCAA Tournament team. But letting them slip away set the tone for what became a 21-loss season, and it’s a start CU will look to avoid repeating when it opens Big 12 play on Saturday at ASU (3 p.m. MT, ESPN2).
“I feel like going into conference, we can’t look ahead to any bigger games, or any games coming up,” Dak said. “Every team is a team that can pop off on you on any given night. We’ve just got to make sure we bring it every single night.
“(A good start) is super-important. You don’t want to have to try to fight back and get back to that .500 level in conference, or above .500. I feel like when we have a good start in conference, it’s going to open our eyes to how we can compete and what it’s going to take every single night to get a win in this conference. A good start for us with these young guys is going to give us a lot of energy going forward.”
After sending four players into last summer’s NBA Draft, including three of the top 14 overall picks, the league has reloaded talent-wise with several of the top freshmen in the nation suiting up for Big 12 programs. Leading that list is BYU phenom AJ Dybantsa, likely to be one of the top picks in next summer’s NBA Draft, but the Big 12 also boasts some of the country’s other premier rookies in Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, Houston’s Kingston Flemings, Iowa State’s Killyan Toure, and the Arizona duo of Koa Peat and Brayden Burries.
Once again, there figures to be few, if any, off nights in conference play.
The Big 12 owned six spots in the most recent Associated Press Top 25, leading with Arizona at the top spot for the third consecutive week (also No. 3 Iowa State, No. 8 Houston, No. 10 BYU, No. 15 Texas Tech and No. 17 Kansas). As of Thursday afternoon, 15 of the Big 12’s 16 programs were ranked in the top 86 at KenPom.com, ranging from Arizona and Iowa State at No. 2 and 3, respectively, through the Buffs at No. 86. Fifteen Big 12 teams were in the top 93 of Thursday’s NET rankings, again starting with Arizona and Iowa State at two-three through Cincinnati at No. 93 (the Buffs were at No. 83).
The only Big 12 team outside those parameters was Utah, which visits the CU Events Center on Wednesday for the Buffs’ first Big 12 home game. Which also invites the prospect of a positive start in conference play if the Buffs can steal a win at ASU.
“Great league. Good coaches, good players,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “I know we’re one of the best leagues in college basketball. I just try to think about what’s next on our list, which is Arizona State. You don’t try to look too far ahead. If you do you’re going to lose a lot of sleep and create ulcers for yourself. It’s just about who do we play next? And how do we beat them? Just go game-by-game.”