CU Buffs men’s basketball — despite 20 losses — will play in postseason

The CU Buffs men’s basketball team just finished its worst season in 17 years. At one point, the Buffs were 0-13 in Big XII play.

And yet the Buffs will play in the postseason. What’s more, the Buffs will play long after most teams have completed their seasons — at least until April 1.

This is thanks to the College Basketball Crown, a new 16-team postseason tournament backed by Fox Sports and the Anschutz Entertainment Group. CU will begin play in the event — which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas — at 6:30 p.m. MDT on April 1 against Villanova.

The connection to Fox Sports tied it to the Big XII, Big East and Big Ten conferences, which were assured two automatic bids apiece to the tournament. The rest of the bids are at-large in nature, with preference to power conferences.

To that end, 13 of the 16 teams are from the “Power Four” conferences and the Big East, which is a power conference for basketball purposes, with the remaining five from the Mountain West, American Athletic, West Coast, and Atlantic 10, three conferences widely considered a step below the power leagues — but a rung above the mid-majors. The two WCC teams in the field, Oregon State and Washington State, are still Pac-12 members in name only.

SO, HOW ARE THE BUFFS GOING TO THE POSTSEASON?

Numerous teams had to decline postseason participation. In the Big XII, Kansas State and TCU announced in previous days that they would turn down any potential postseason bids. The absence of West Virginia — a notable NCAA Tournament snub — from the Crown indicates that the Mountaineers bypassed the tournament, as well.

Coincidentally, the Buffs beat both TCU and West Virginia in last week’s Big XII tournament.

The Big XII chews up five of the 16 spots, with CU joined by Arizona State, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Utah. One other Big XII team — Oklahoma State, which has a NET ranking nine spots below the No. 86 Buffs — opted for the NIT.

Two Big Ten teams are in the field: Nebraska and USC. Indiana, Rutgers, Northwestern and Ohio State all declined bids.

The Big East sends Villanova, Butler, Georgetown and DePaul. Providence had a higher NET ranking than DePaul (100 compared with DePaul’s 119).

By NET ranking, Boise State of the Mountain West is the top team in the field. The two lowest NET rankings belong to George Washington of the Atlantic 10 (No. 124) and Tulane of the American Athletic Conference (No. 145).

Despite a Crown-leading 20 losses, the Buffs’ NET ranking of No. 86 places them 11th of the 16 teams in the field. In other words, they’re comfortably in based on the final composition of the field. What that says about the Crown is up to you.

But for the 13th time in Tad Boyle’s 14 non-pandemic years on the job, the Buffs are headed to the postseason.