Pretty good Buff Bites today. CU starts it's conference slate, Nick Kasa does an interview that sheds some light on his switch, some insight on Edward Nuckols, and Buff commit Jack Harris' status has been upgraded! Enjoy

The men's basketball team will begin its conference play tonight against Missouri away from the friendly confines of the Coors Event Center in Boulder(game time 7pm on ESPNU), something the Buffs have had to do this year only a handful of times. Missouri is coming off a loss against Nebraska but still hold a 13 - 3 record even though the competition has not been that stiff. The Buffs have not played anyone that special either but still only boast an 8 - 6 record thus far. Missouri is 16.5 point favorites.

Their are two players who will need to be instrumental if the Buffs are to pull a few upsets in conference play this year: G Cory Higgins and G Nate Tomlinson. Higgins averages 17.9 ppg and 6.5 rpg, which leads the team from the guard spot. Tomlinson will be in charge of distributing and has taken over the role of floor general as a freshman. Tomlinson is the programs first Aussie player. The Denver Post has a nice feature on Tomlinson in today's paper.

The worst news has to be that CU has a horrible in conference streak to its name:

CU has not won a conference road game in almost three years -- an 80-78 overtime victory at Oklahoma State on Jan. 21, 2006. The program's losing streak on the road stands at 21 consecutive games entering tonight's Big 12 opener at Missouri (7 p.m., ESPNU).

The Buffs may get some help tonight in that starter Leo Lyons, who averages just under 15.0 ppg, was suspended for a traffic incident.

Buff commit offensive tackle Jack Harris was upgraded to a four star status in Rivals.com's database. Harris was also put in Rivals' Top250 list, which ranks the top 250 players in the 2009 recruiting cycle regardless of position. Harris checks in at 223. That makes five 4* commits for the Buffs so far. Yesterday, Nick Kasa was upgraded to the 42nd best player in the 2009 recruiting class.

Nick Kasa has done a couple of interviews with the media. Here is one from the Denver Post but the better one is from 9news. Here are a few notable quotes:

"I'd rather be part of CU coming up than just be another Florida Gator," Kasa said to 9NEWS in his first interview on the decision Tuesday. "I've lived in Colorado for 17 years now and Colorado has never done anything bad to me. I love Colorado, so why should I leave?"

"When I looked at it, I thought that they were equal. I could go to Florida, maybe redshirt a year, not get a lot of playing time the second year, play two solid years and maybe go to the NFL.

"But, then I looked at CU. I thought that if I maybe start all four years and I'm doing really well, then teams can think I'm a big fish in a small pond. Plus, if CU starts to play better, then I'll get looked at a little more."

The North County Times of California put out this prep report of Edward Nuckols after he committed to Colorado. This quote will make Buff fans happy:

"Eddie will be a gem in college," said Mission Hills football coach Chris Hauser. "When he was 100 percent healthy at the end of the season, he was a run-stopping force. Colorado likes athletes, and Eddie is athletic enough to play either defensive tackle or the nose. And he can play either tackle ---- left or right. Because he has the ability to play on different fronts, he should be in the mix for playing time early there."

Nuckols ran into academic problems at the end of his junior year and was ineligible for part of the season.

"But that's behind him," Hauser said. "I so proud of him and happy for him because he posted a great score on the SAT exam and had a great semester in the classroom.  "Honestly, I think the guy will have a great career."

Academics has concerned Buff fans in regards to Nuckols but if he has gotten it squared away, it looks like we have a real player.

Tim Griffin of ESPN puts out his final Big 12 rankings:

8. Colorado -- Dan Hawkins' bold 10-2 pronouncement for next season is interesting. Maybe he knows something about his son the quarterback that the rest of us don't.

Here is to hoping we prove his statement wrong next year!