1996–97 Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 1996–97 Colorado Buffaloes Basketball Big 12 Conference Big 12 25 24 22–10 11–5 Ricardo Patton 1st Coors Events Center NCAA tournament Round of 32 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.https://cu_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/www.cubuffs.com/fls/600/mbb/statistics/1996-97.pdf 2014-04-18 Colorado Buffaloes | 1996-97 Final Statistics and Scoreboard 2018-04-14https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/colorado/1997-schedule.html 1996-97 Colorado Buffaloes Schedule and Results - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com Roster 1996 Colorado Buffaloes y yes Martice Moore 3 F 6 8 234 SR Atlanta, GA Oak Hill Chauncey Billups y 4 G 6 3 191 SO Denver, CO George Washington Howard Frier y 5 G 6 3 185 JR Suffolk, VA Nansemond River Will Smith 10 F 6 6 206 FR Memphis, TN Hamilton Marlon Hughes 12 G 6 0 181 JR Chicago, IL Hillcrest Charlie Melvin y 13 F/C 6 10 200 JR Los Alamos, NM Los Alamos Devon Gilchrist 21 G 6 4 185 SO Minneapolis, MN Saint Thomas Academy Fred Edmonds 31 F 6 6 200 SR Denver, CO George Washington Alan Barksdale 32 G 6 3 195 FR Livingston, LA Central Greg Jensen 42 F 6 7 210 SR Eagle Grove, IA Eagle Grove Dennis Griffin 45 C 6 9 247 SR Thatcher, AZ Ronnie DeGray 52 C 6 6 195 JR Leesville, LA Leesville Ricardo Patton https://cubuffs.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1996-97 Schedule and results |- !colspan=9 style=Colorado Buffaloes| Exhibition Nov 15, 1996 yes Marathon CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 78–72 1,812 Nov 19, 1996 yes No. Melbourne CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 82–74 1,638 |- !colspan=9 style=Colorado Buffaloes| Non-conference regular season Nov 24, 1996 yes 1996 men Drake Bulldogs Drake CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 82–80 OT 2,322 1–0 Nov 29, 1996 yes yes 1996 men Auburn Tigers Auburn Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium Hilo, Hawaii Big Island Invitational 78–72 OT 2–0 Nov 30, 1996 yes yes 1996 men Virginia Tech Hokies Virginia Tech Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium Hilo, Hawaii Big Island Invitational 63–56 3–0 Dec 1, 1996 yes yes Louisville Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium Hilo, Hawaii Big Island Invitational 82–92 3–1 Dec 5, 1996 yes 1996 men Texas–Arlington Mavericks Texas–Arlington CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 81–52 2,307 3–1 Dec 7, 1996 yes yes George Mason Patriot Center Fairfax, Virginia 81–85 2,481 3–2 Dec 10, 1996 yes yes 1996 none Wyoming Cowboys Wyoming Arena-Auditorium Laramie, Wyoming 84–68 7,395 4–2 Dec 12, 1996 yes 1996 men Colorado State Rams Colorado State CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 76–69 5,219 5–3 Dec 21, 1996 yes 1996 men UC Santa Barbara Gauchos UC Santa Barbara CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 76–55 2,716 6–3 Dec 23, 1996 yes yes Georgia Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia 52–62 6,458 7–3 Dec 28, 1996 yes yes Missouri–Kansas City Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri 82–61 4,481 8–3 Dec 30, 1996 yes 1996 men Northwestern State Demons Northwestern State CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 82–70 1,721 9–3 |- !colspan=9 style=Colorado Buffaloes| Big 12 Regular Season Jan 4, 1997 Nebraska CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 79–73 3,164 10–3 1–0 Jan 7, 1997 Missouri CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 87–78 13,300 11–3 2–0 Jan 11, 1997 yes Texas Tech 20 Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, Texas 80–78 8,174 12–3 3–0 Jan 15, 1997 1996 men Oklahoma State Cowboys Oklahoma State CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 78–74 OT 8,447 13–3 4–0 Jan 18, 1997 Iowa State 8 CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 70–45 8,278 14–3 5–0 Jan 21, 1997 yes 18 1996 men Baylor Bears Baylor Ferrell Center Waco, Texas 74–70 5,215 15–3 6–0 Jan 26, 1997 18 Kansas 1 CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 68–77 11,198 15–4 6–1 Jan 29, 1997 yes 18 1996 men Kansas State Wildcats Kansas State Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, Kansas 69–60 8,970 16–4 7–1 Feb 5, 1997 yes 15 Nebraska Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, Nebraska 69–77 12,398 16–5 7–2 Feb 8, 1997 15 1996 men Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 77–64 6,802 17–5 8–2 Feb 12, 1997 yes 15 Oklahoma Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma 66–91 10,517 17–6 8–3 Feb 15, 1997 yes 15 Kansas 1 Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas 74–114 16,300 17–7 8–4 Feb 19, 1997 21 Kansas State CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 67–57 5,072 18–7 9–4 Feb 22, 1997 21 Missouri CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 84–75 9,947 19–7 10–4 Feb 24, 1997 yes 19 1996 men Wofford Terriers Wofford CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 65–58 3,209 20–7 Feb 26, 1997 yes 19 Iowa State 13 Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa 54–65 14,020 20–8 10–5 Mar 1, 1997 19 Texas CU Events/Conference Center Boulder, Colorado 83–60 10,547 21–8 11–5 |- !colspan=9 style=Colorado Buffaloes| Big 12 Tournament Mar 7, 1997 yes yes 18 Oklahoma Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri Quarterfinals 41–55 17,300 21–9 |- !colspan=9 style=Colorado Buffaloes| NCAA Tournament Mar 13, 1997 yes yes 24 9 E Indiana 8 E Lawrence Joel Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina East Region – first round 80–62 14,368 22–9 Mar 15, 1997 yes yes 24 9 E North Carolina 4 1 E Lawrence Joel Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina East Region – second round 56–73 14,368 22–10 AP Poll Mountain Time E East https://cubuffs.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule/1996-97 1996-97 Men's Basketball Schedule cubuffs.com June 4, 2024 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 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game Random House 1053–1054 2009 0-345-51392-4 Awards and honors Chauncey Billups – First-team All-Big 12, Consensus Second-team All-American Team players in the 1997 NBA draft 1997 NBA draft Colorado Buffaloes Round Pick Player NBA Club 1 3 Chauncey Billups Boston Celtics https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1997.html 1997 NBA Draft Basketball-reference.com January 30, 2021 References Category:Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball seasons Colorado Colorado Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball