University of Colorado football and basketball teams played unimpressively in the 2014-15 school year. CU sports fans are hoping for a come back from both teams next season. (Photos by Kai Casey, Illustration by Kelsey Brunner/CU Independent)
After two subpar seasons for the Colorado football and basketball teams the question stands: Who will have a better season for the Buffs next year? Sports writers Cannon Casey and Alissa Noe break it down.
Cannon Casey: The Colorado football team will have a better season than the basketball team next year. Why? They have nowhere to go but up after a misleading 2-10 finish last season. Two double overtime losses against California and No. 25 UCLA and three losses by five points or less suggest that the Buffs could have just as easily gone 7-5. That’s assuming that all the close ones went in Colorado’s favor, but, in any case, a two-win record is not indicative of the season that Colorado had last year.
Alissa Noe: While I do agree with you that the football team will no doubt be better next year if and when they get over that hump, I don’t think you’re giving the basketball team enough credit. Sure, they didn’t have the best season this year, but every program has its ups and downs. The past few years have been Colorado football’s down time. Of the basketball team’s 18 losses, nine were by eight points or less.
Casey: The basketball team had such high hopes for last season and what resulted was a 16-18 record. I don’t see a tremendous upside with next year’s team. Colorado football, on the other hand, had an average point spread of about minus ten last year. Those are just two possession games which can be flipped with a timely turnover.
Noe: You’re right, but I honestly think this basketball team will benefit greatly from the absence of Askia Booker next year. Sure, he averaged 17.2 points a game, and that was huge, but he was easily one of the most inefficient shooters on the team. He took roughly 14.5 shots per game, but only made 5.6. The Buffs don’t need that kind of inefficiency, which can be easily avoided if they share the scoring burden more than they–and by “they” I mean Booker–did this year.
Casey: Regardless of his inefficiency, Booker will be missed. The Buffs will be without Booker, Hopkins and Thomas next year. Yes, they have guys to replace them, but will they be able to step up? Football should realistically (if everything goes how it should) have a 3-1 or even 4-0 record going into conference play next year with non-conference games against Hawaii, Umass, Colorado State and Nicholls State. CU will get Oregon, Arizona, Stanford and USC at home, which should help them make those games a little closer, but that does not mean they will translate to wins. The away games include Oregon State, UCLA, Washington State and Utah: much easier environments than Eugene, Tucson and The Coliseum. The full schedule can be found here.
Noe: What do you mean by, “if everything goes how it should?” I do believe that this team could easily go 3-1 or even undefeated like you said in non-conference play, no doubt. But what is the desired “plan” for conference play? The Pac-12 South is easily one of the most daunting conferences in the entire country. Every single team you mentioned above participated in a bowl game at the end of the regular season, and all but three ran away with a victory.
Casey: Obviously the Buffs don’t stack up against the likes of Oregon, Arizona and USC quite yet. But, they do have good chances for wins against teams like Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State. Colorado has 16 returning starters, seven on offense and nine on defense. Those guys will look to come out with a chip on their shoulder and flip those close games in their favor. They have something to prove this season and I think they will.
Noe: Basketball, on the other hand, will get the help it needs from guys like Dom Collier and Tory Miller, not to mention the reemergence of George King and the highly-touted Josh Fortune. Near the end of the season, Collier admitted to me in an interview for a separate story I wrote that he struggled with confidence in himself, which is insane. I’ve seen him in practice. The kid can ball. Once he fixes this confidence problem, I have no doubt he can be one of the leading scorers for the Buffaloes next year. The idea of watching Miller play gives me hope too, because we already saw glimpses of what he can do during his freshman season, as evidenced by his many thunderous dunks. The added experience he’ll get from that year along with the upcoming offseason should help fill at least some of the holes in his game. King, who took the year off to improve his own game, has done just that. From what I’ve seen in practice, he’s greatly improved his shooting from the three-point range, as well as his overall basketball IQ. He’s making smarter plays now. Fortune is just a stud. He shoots the ball extremely well from the three-point range, and makes great offensive plays left and right that can help the team next year.
Casey: Head Coach Mike MacIntyre has the Buffs at the 67th ranked recruiting class with three four-star recruits and 12 three-stars. A couple of those guys will probably get the chance to make an immediate impact, including home-grown offensive lineman, Tim Lynott out of Regis Jesuit High School. First year Defensive Coordinator, Jim Leavitt will improve a Colorado defense that ranked 119th in points allowed last year. Defense wins championships. For Colorado, this means defense turns those close losses into wins. My prediction: The Buffs will improve from last years 2-10 record to 6-7 this year. New facilities, new jerseys, new Colorado football? The football team is on the rise. Success will come, fans just have to be patient.
Noe: Man, I hope you’re right. I’m tired of the football team always finishing the season with outstanding losing records. But, that being said, I’m not too worried about basketball–not yet, at least. They’ll have the returning talent of Josh Scott and Wes Gordon–and I really don’t need to convince you of their obvious value–and all of the other impact players aforementioned. Additionally, they’ll be receiving some help from the incoming foreigners, namely Kenan Guzonjic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Thomas Akyazili of Belgium. Both excel from the three-point range, which was easily CU’s biggest downfall this year. Here is the full layout of their abilities and what they’ll be able to bring to this herd of Buffaloes.
Casey: Best case scenario is that both teams come out with good seasons next year. Let’s hope basketball gets back on track and football can begin it’s rise from irrelevance in the college football world.
Contact CU Independent copy editor Cannon Casey at cannon.casey@colorado.edu and follow him on twitter at @cannon_casey.
Contact CU Independent assistant sports editor Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu and follow her on twitter at @crazysportgirl1.
