Buffaloes will play Norfolk State on Monday at CU Events Center in NIT

There will be one final game at the CU Events Center in the 2018-19 season. On Monday, the Colorado Buffaloes will host the Norfolk State Spartans at 7:00 p.m. in their second round NIT matchup.

Norfolk State is the 8-seed in Colorado’s 8-team region, as the lower seed in this matchup, they will have to travel to Boulder. After beating Dayton on Monday, Colorado was expecting to travel to Tuscaloosa to play the top-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide, but the Spartans pulled off a surprising upset in overtime.

Colorado will be heavy favorites against the Spartans, but that doesn’t mean much against the MEAC regular season conference champions. According to Ken Pomeroy (founder of KenPom.com) Norfolk State has now pulled off the biggest upsets by point spread in NCAA Tournament and NIT history. Before beating Alabama, current Pacer and beard afficiando Kyle O’Quinn carried the 15-seed past the 2nd-seeded Missouri in 2012. (Current Buffs assistant Kim English was the senior star of that Mizzou squad.)

The Buffaloes will not have another home game after this, no matter what happens. 3-seed Xavier and 2-seed Texas are left on the other side of the regional bracket, so Colorado will have to travel to Cincinnati or Austin if they win on Monday. If they beat either of those teams, then CU would be in the NIT Final Four, where the games are played at the Madison Square Garden in New York.

If you want to enjoy this lovable team before they’re terrifying upperclassmen, this is your final (and best) chance to see them. The university announced that general admission tickets are just $15, seats with back rests are $20 and floor tickets are only $30 (!). The students will be on Spring Break, but for those of you still around Boulder, your tickets are just $5. If Colorado is going to extend their season, it would help for the CU Events Center to be packed in their final home game.