Buffaloes basketball to open Diamond Head Classic against Indiana State, Dec. 22

The Colorado Buffaloes basketball team will participate in the 2018 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. Per a CU press release, the Buffs’ first game will be on December 22nd against the Indiana State Sycamores.

The game against Indiana State — the first matchup ever between the teams — will tip-off at 1 p.m. and will air on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.

Should the Buffaloes advance in this pre-conference tournament, they would face the winner of UNLV and Hawai’i. If they won that game as well, they would move on to the tournament final, which would be against TCU, Rhode Island, Bucknell or Charlotte. Even if Colorado didn’t win any of those games, they would still play consolation games.

Colorado last played in the Diamond Head Classic back in 2014. They lost 53-50 in the semifinals to eventual winners George Washington. CU also lost the consolation game 66-63 to Hawaii. Fear not, however, because Colorado was enduring would be the worst season in the Tad Boyle era.

The Buffaloes stand to fare better in this year’s competition because they have a young, inspired team that has already proved themselves capable of competing (and defeating) some of the best teams in the nation.

Much of the Buffaloes’ basketball schedule is to be announced, but this may be the toughest competition they will face before Pac-12 play. It will also be interesting to see if this young team is able to better at neutral sites than in years past.

The other confirmed pre-conference games for CU are against Colorado State, Air Force, New Mexico, Denver and Portland.