1996–97 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Colorado Buffaloes Men's basketball team represented the University of Colorado in the 1996–97 season. Led by first-year head coach Ricardo Patton, and sophomore Guard Chauncey Billups, the Buffaloes made the NCAA tournament despite only having won nine games the previous year. Billups, was particularly impressive this particular season. Billups earned Big 12 Player of the year honors as well as all-American honors. Following this season, Billups would declare his eligibility for the NBA draft, being selected third overall in 1997. Following his career end, Billups' number would be retired by the Buffaloes. As Head Coach of the Buffaloes, Patton had been appointed after having been named interim head coach the prior season. Patton would stay head coach of the Buffaloes until 2007.^[2][3]

1996–97 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Round of 32
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 25
AP	No. 24
Record	22–10 (11–5 Big 12)
Head coach	Ricardo Patton (1st season)
Home arena	Coors Events Center
Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 Big 12 men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 Kansas †	15	–	1		.938			34	–	2		.944
No. 24 Colorado	11	–	5		.688			22	–	10		.688
Texas	10	–	6		.625			18	–	12		.600
No. 18 Iowa State	10	–	6		.625			22	–	9		.710
Texas Tech	10	–	6		.625			19	–	9		.679
Oklahoma	9	–	7		.563			19	–	11		.633
Nebraska	7	–	9		.438			18	–	15		.545
Oklahoma State	7	–	9		.438			17	–	15		.531
Baylor	6	–	10		.375			18	–	12		.600
Missouri	5	–	11		.313			16	–	17		.485
Texas A&M	3	–	13		.188			9	–	18		.333
Kansas State	3	–	13		.188			10	–	17		.370
† 1997 Big 12 Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll ^[1]

Roster

1996–97 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 4 Chauncey Billups 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 191 lb (87 kg) So George Washington Denver, CO	Head coach Ricardo Patton 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
Nov 24, 1996*		Drake	W 82–80 ^OT	1–0	CU Events/Conference Center  Boulder, Colorado
Nov 29, 1996*		vs. Auburn Big Island Invitational	W 78–72 ^OT	2–0	Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium  Hilo, Hawaii
Nov 30, 1996*		vs. Virginia Tech Big Island Invitational	W 63–56	3–0	Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium  Hilo, Hawaii
Dec 1, 1996*		vs. Louisville Big Island Invitational	L 82–92	3–1	Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium  Hilo, Hawaii
Dec 23, 1996*		at Georgia	L 52–62	7–3	Stegeman Coliseum  Athens, Georgia
Dec 30, 1996*		Northwestern State	W 82–70	9–3	CU Events/Conference Center  Boulder, Colorado
Big 12 Regular Season
Jan 4, 1997		Nebraska	W 79–73	10–3 (1–0)	CU Events/Conference Center  Boulder, Colorado
Jan 7, 1997		Missouri	W 87–78	11–3 (2–0)	CU Events/Conference Center  Boulder, Colorado
Jan 11, 1997		at No. 20 Texas Tech	W 80–78	12–3 (3–0)	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum  Lubbock, Texas
Jan 15, 1997*		Oklahoma State	W 78–74 ^OT	13–3 (4–0)	CU Events/Conference Center  Boulder, Colorado
Jan 18, 1997		No. 8 Iowa State	W 70–45	14–3 (5–0)	CU Events/Conference Center  Boulder, Colorado
Jan 21, 1997	No. 18	at Baylor	W 74–70	15–3 (6–0)	Ferrell Center  Waco, Texas
Jan 26, 1997	No. 18	No. 1 Kansas	L 68–77	15–4 (6–1)	CU Events/Conference Center  Boulder, Colorado
Jan 29, 1997	No. 18	at Kansas State	W 69–60	16–4 (7–1)	Bramlage Coliseum  Manhattan, Kansas
Feb 26, 1997	No. 19	at No. 13 Iowa State	L 54–65	20–8 (10–5)	Hilton Coliseum  Ames, Iowa
Mar 1, 1997	No. 19	Texas	W 83–60	21–8 (11–5)	CU Events/Conference Center  Boulder, Colorado
Big 12 Tournament
Mar 7, 1997*	No. 18	vs. Oklahoma	L 41–55	21–9	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1997*	(9 E) No. 24	vs. (8 E) Indiana East Region – first round	W 80–62	22–9	Lawrence Joel Coliseum  Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Mar 15, 1997*	(9 E) No. 24	vs. (1 E) No. 4 North Carolina East Region – second round	L 56–73	22–10	Lawrence Joel Coliseum  Winston-Salem, North Carolina
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Mountain Time.

Postseason Schedule

Big 12 Tournament
Quarterfinal Vs. Oklahoma, Kemper Arena, Kansas City, MO - L, 41-55
NCAA Tournament
First Round Vs. Indiana, Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, NC - W, 80-62
Round of 32 Vs. North Carolina, Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, NC - L, 56-73

Rankings

See also: 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[4]

Awards and honors

• Chauncey Billups – First-team All-Big 12, Consensus Second-team All-American

Team players in the 1997 NBA draft

See also: 1997 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	3	Chauncey Billups	Boston Celtics

^[5]

References

1. 2019-20 Big 12 Men's Basketball Record Book (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 26–30. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
2. "Colorado Buffaloes | 1996-97 Final Statistics and Scoreboard" (PDF). April 18, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
3. "1996-97 Colorado Buffaloes Schedule and Results - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
4. *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1053–1054. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.
5. "1997 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved January 30, 2021.