With Colorado’s 80-56 defeat of San Francisco on Monday, the Buffaloes achieved an admirable feat: a perfect 11-0 non-conference record. Down went Oklahoma State. Down went Wisconsin, Air Force, Marquette and several other opponents left in the dust.
The road gets significantly more difficult, however, with conference play beginning on New Year’s Eve for JR Payne’s squad. Two Pac-12 programs, No. 2 Stanford and No. 4 Arizona, are ranked in the AP Top 25 and all 12 currently sit above .500.
Colorado hasn’t finished higher than 6th in the Pac-12 during Payne’s five previous seasons, but the expectations are certainly higher than middle-of-the-pack following the Buffs’ masterful non-conference effort.
Here’s what you should know.