1954–55 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball team

The 1954–55 Colorado Buffaloes Men's basketball team represented the University of Colorado in the 1954–55 NCAA men's basketball season. Led by fifth-year head coach Bebe Lee, the Buffaloes were Big Seven Conference champions and made a run to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. In the National semifinals, Colorado lost to Bill Russell and San Francisco by a respectable 62–50 margin. The Buffaloes bounced back in the consolation game to defeat Iowa to finish the season with a 19–6 record (11–1 Big Seven).

1954–55 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball
Big 7 Conference champion
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Big 7 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 15
Record	19–6 (11–1 Big 7)
Head coach	Bebe Lee (5th season)
Home arena	Balch Fieldhouse
Seasons ← 1953–54 1955–56 →

1954–55 Big Seven Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 15 Colorado	11	–	1		.917			19	–	6		.760
Missouri	9	–	3		.750			16	–	5		.762
Kansas State	6	–	6		.500			11	–	10		.524
Nebraska	6	–	6		.500			9	–	12		.429
Kansas	5	–	7		.417			11	–	10		.524
Iowa State	4	–	8		.333			11	–	10		.524
Oklahoma	1	–	11		.083			3	–	18		.143
Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

Roster

1954–55 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown C 22 Burdette Haldorson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Austin HS Austin, Minnesota F Robert Jeangerard 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr New Trier HS Winnetka, Illinois	Head coach Bebe Lee Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Dec 4, 1954*		Brigham Young	W 88–66	1–0	Balch Fieldhouse  Boulder, Colorado
Dec 5, 1954*		Brigham Young	W 65–46	2–0	Balch Fieldhouse  Boulder, Colorado
Dec 11, 1954*		Colorado State	W 66–47	3–0	Balch Fieldhouse  Boulder, Colorado
Dec 17, 1954*		at California	L 44–57	3–1	Men's Gym  Berkeley, California
Dec 18, 1954*		at California	L 46–59	3–2	Men's Gym  Berkeley, California
Dec 21, 1954*		at No. 17 UCLA	L 62–65	3–3	Men's Gym  Los Angeles, California
Dec 27, 1954*		vs. Oklahoma Big Seven Holiday Tournament	L 71–73 ^OT	3–4	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 29, 1954*		vs. Nebraska Big Seven Holiday Tournament	W 89–47	4–4	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 30, 1954*		vs. California Big Seven Holiday Tournament	W 69–60	5–4	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
Big 7 Regular season
Jan 8, 1955		at Oklahoma	W 61–55	6–4 (1–0)	McCasland Field House  Norman, Oklahoma
Jan 10, 1955		at Kansas	W 65–54	7–4 (2–0)	Hoch Auditorium  Lawrence, Kansas
Jan 17, 1955		Oklahoma	W 91–82	8–4 (3–0)	Balch Fieldhouse  Boulder, Colorado
Jan 24, 1955		Iowa State	W 78–71	9–4 (4–0)	Balch Fieldhouse  Boulder, Colorado
Feb 5, 1955		at Iowa State	W 86–70	10–4 (5–0)	Iowa State Armory  Ames, Iowa
Feb 7, 1955		at Nebraska	L 77–84	10–5 (5–1)	Nebraska Coliseum  Lincoln, Nebraska
Feb 12, 1955		No. 14 Missouri	W 80–71	11–5 (6–1)	Balch Fieldhouse  Boulder, Colorado
Feb 19, 1955		Kansas State	W 61–53	12–5 (7–1)	Balch Fieldhouse  Boulder, Colorado
Feb 22, 1955		Kansas	W 80–69	13–5 (8–1)	Balch Fieldhouse  Boulder, Colorado
Feb 26, 1955		at Kansas State	W 63–60	14–5 (9–1)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Feb 28, 1955		at No. 20 Missouri	W 66–57	15–5 (10–1)	Brewer Fieldhouse  Columbia, Missouri
Mar 5, 1955		Nebraska	W 77–66	16–5 (11–1)	Balch Fieldhouse  Boulder, Colorado
NCAA Tournament
Mar 11, 1955*	No. 15	vs. No. 16 Tulsa Midwest Regional semifinal	W 69–59	17–5	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Mar 12, 1955*	No. 15	vs. Bradley Midwest Regional final	W 93–81	18–5	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Mar 18, 1955*	No. 15	vs. No. 1 San Francisco National semifinal – Final Four	L 50–62	18–6	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 19, 1955*	No. 15	vs. No. 5 Iowa Consolation	W 75–54	19–6	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, Missouri
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Mountain Time.

^[2]

Rankings

See also: 1954–55 NCAA men's basketball rankings

^[3][4]

NBA draft

Main article: 1955 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
4	23	Burdette Haldorson	St. Louis Hawks

^[5]

References

1. sports-reference.com 1954-55 Big Seven Conference Season Summary
2. "1954-55 Colorado Buffaloes Schedule and Results - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
3. *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 634–635. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
4. "1954-55 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
5. "1955 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 30, 2021.