Don’t read the comments. Don’t ever read the comments below a story on the internet because, inevitably, you’ll read the voices of people inhabiting the darkest, most hateful corners of the world. Don’t read the comments, because you’ll then remember how much some people suck.
The same rule should apply for searching your own name, or anyone’s name for that matter, on Twitter—a lesson I learned on Tuesday night when hoping to get an idea of what peoples’ reactions were to Tad Boyle’s NCAA compliance comments from earlier in the day.
It turns out that the anti-Boyle crowd I thought only consisted of two ringleaders, a lone idiot or two, and anyone else not versed well enough in the art of balls going through baskets, actually consisted of a few more outsiders. These fringe fans, fringe enough to have handles that I’ve never even seen pass by through the years of #BuffsTwitter conversations I’ve had, offered up their own hot takes on the leader of Colorado Men’s Basketball.
Again driving to the basket and getting blocked. I'm officially saying it: I'm done with Tad Boyle. https://t.co/YFhXIza481
— Brittni Keefe (@brittmkeefe7) March 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/BrandonBoles/status/710560526535798786
Colorado lays an egg after leading by 9 at halftime over UConn. Disappointing. Buffaloes lose Josh Scott. Tad Boyle hit ceiling at Boulder?
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) March 17, 2016
These comments were made when the Buffs let a second half lead slip away against UConn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, signaling their third departure in the first round under Boyle. These comments also come on the heels of questions being posed on message boards about whether Boyle can take Colorado to the next level and whether or not he’s hit his ceiling with the program, as the third tweet above mentions. This is just a small sample.
Now, I’ve taken my shots at fans over the years and, to be honest, I don’t like doing it. Fans are the ones reading my articles, interacting with me on social media, and keeping me employed. I appreciate so many of them and, of the most part, they make this job worth it.
But if you’re one of the people that are done with Tad Boyle or hoping that Colorado moves on from him in a timely fashion, I have one message for you: You don’t deserve Tad Boyle. You don’t deserve the kind of success that he’s brought this program.
Going back through the accomplishments that Colorado basketball has tallied under Boyle is fruitless to these people, who hardly even deserve the moniker of being a fan at all, rather just someone who happens to watch a lot of games while feeling like the young men on the floor and the man roaming the bench personally owe them something. Citing the recruiting successes, the wins over top-ten opponents, the conference tournament championship…none of it means anything to them, as they keep up their tone-deaf line of demarcation.
If there’s any credit that I am willing to give this group, it’s that the root of their cause is based around the desire for Colorado Men’s Basketball to be better than they currently are. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. What hurts their cause, however, is their ignorance of or unwillingness to accept the context within which the Buffaloes’ basketball program exists. This group wants CU to be a school that is no longer content with making the tournament and hoping for a favorable draw that makes a run to the second weekend, and beyond, more of a possibility.
No! They want a Sweet 16! An Elite Eight! And they want it now!
Never mind the fact that, under Boyle, Colorado has outperformed their talent level over the course of a season every year but one since they joined the Pac-12. These people don’t care about conference standing because if they did, they’d realize that finishing fifth in the Pac-12 this season despite having the most inconsistent guard play in the conference is, perhaps, the most impressive coaching job done in the conference since its expansion. They certainly don’t care that finishing fifth in a conference that earned seven NCAA Tournament bids is comparable to seasons had by Iowa, Butler, Baylor, and Duke in terms of conference standing. That conference standing is as much, or even more, of a measure as to where a program is on the scale of its peers in the sport, as NCAA Tournament results would be.
Since those are measurements they are once again either too ignorant or unwilling to use, I’ll simply inform them of another measurement, the opinion of those in the industry.
Colorado, despite the success enjoyed by Boyle in his time leading the program, is not a very desirable job in the world of college basketball. Why?
First, there is no natural recruiting territory that the program can consistently rely on, unlike every single one of their conference peers besides Washington State and Oregon State. Even Dana Altman’s Ducks benefit from their chief sponsor’s network within the JUCO and transfer community to plant the idea of attending Eugene inside the mind of top targets. Second, there’s no rich tradition of successful basketball, laden with both past and present NBA successes, to draw upon. Walking through the halls of UCLA, Arizona, Washington, Cal, Stanford…the walls are lined with the program’s greatest figures and the jerseys of former players still in The League. Third, and this is the hardest one to write, the program doesn’t have the level of fanaticism surrounding it as some of its peers.
You want to be Arizona? You want to be Creighton? You want to be San Diego State? Then pack Coors Event Center every single night, regardless of opponent, regardless of tip-off time, and regardless of how good the powder is at Vail. In a season where the Buffs reached their highest win total during the regular season under Boyle, attendance was a joke for much of the season. In five seasons as a member of the Pac-12, the Coors Events Center has been filled with 11,000 or more fans just nine times during conference play. For those good with math—admittedly, not me—that should come out to say that just ten-percent of conference games played in Boulder as a member of the Pac-12 have been played in front of sellout, or near-sellout, crowds.
The truth is, those around the industry look at Colorado as a very, very difficult place to win. Coaches who I speak to during the season and across the country at recruiting events constantly echo this statement. They marvel at the job accomplished by Boyle and his staff: “If he can win there, imagine what he would do at…”
None of this is to say that Colorado can’t improve on the grounds they now stand. If Boyle has found a way to get the program this far, it’s reasonable to think that he can bring it even further. I’m also not saying that fans should avoid any criticisms of the coach, of the program. That’s a ridiculous notion, one I would never try to assert.
But if you want to be done with Tad Boyle, be ready for the sad reality that comes with trying to find a coach both willing to replace him and capable of doing so in a way that exceeds his successes over an extended period of time. Pitt replaced Jamie Dixon with Kevin Stallings. UCLA replaced Ben Howland with Steve Alford. Kansas State replaced Frank Martin with Bruce Weber. Illinois replaced Bill Self with Bruce Weber. The list goes on and on and on and….
Colorado Men’s Basketball, as well as its head coach, have room to improve after another season of bowing out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. For those parlaying that idea into one of moving on from the most successful head coach in program history: You don’t deserve him.

0 Comments (4 conversations)
CU basketball NCAA appearances, 1939 (first tournament) to 2010 (Boyle’s first year)- 10 in 71 years, or 1 NCAA appearance every 7.1 years.
CU basketball NCAA Appearances w/ Boyle- 4 NCAA appearances in 6 years, or 1 every 1.5 years.
Most CU fans were only alive for NCAA trips in 1997 and 2003. If you think CU can do better than Boyle is doing now, you need to re-evaluate. CU missed every NCAA tournament from 1969 to 1997. Boulder is not an easy place to win basketball games, certainly not as easy as Tad has made it look.
Boyle fan here. Love the guy and want him to stay. That being said, this article makes several ridiculous points. First and foremost, personally insulting fans who have a different (and somewhat valid) opinion than you is not a great look. Also, simply because you don’t see someone active on Twitter doesn’t mean they are fair weather buffs fans (or idiots, or not well “versed” in “the art of balls going through baskets”).
Secondly, comparing finishing 5th in the Pac this year to 5th in the ACC is ridiculous. Out of the 7 Pac teams in the Tourney, only 2 got a win in the first round, with the 3 seed Utah getting smacked by an 11seed in the 2nd round game. By comparison the ACC had 4 of the Elite 8 and 2 of the final 4. Big 12 had 4 in the sweet 16, Big 10 had 3 in sweet 16.
With that being said, I am a Tad fan and think he should stick around as long as we can have him, however, there does need to be improvement. Same story all season long, can’t hold a lead. Same story season after season, we have 10 minute droughts of no baskets. Same story season after season, we can’t seem to perform against a zone d. Same story, we get shell shocked in tourney games.
Love the Buffs, Love Tad, don’t love the insults hurled at Buff fans with opinions other than yours.
Go Buffs
– CU Grad, class of 2014 – lifelong Buff fan
All hail King Whelan! Sultan on #BuffsTwitter and the Julius Caesar of web based opinions!
Double checking the resume: Some writers don’t deserve a good basketball program!
This article reminded me of the guy that marries the first good looking girl they date because they figure it’s the best they can do.
The majority of CU fans recognize the job Tad Boyle has done and the improvement in the program over the past 6 years. However, there are fans that see room for improvement and are voicing their opinion. A few of them might be far to the right on this issue and want Boyle fired, but there are also a few fans (and writers) far to the left where Boyle can do no wrong. Most people are in the middle. Yes, the article addresses the ‘fringe’ fans, but by writing about, the article is also casting a much wider net, and it’s making a bigger issue of the ‘Tad in the hot seat angle’.
I would have enjoyed this article more if it would have been written from a point of view that summarizes all the circumstances that led to the rise of the basketball program. An article that is fair would address all the circumstances that made the improvement to the program possible (and not just blindly credit Boyle with everything).
For example, the article could explain how the success of the program was also due to the following reasons:
-The recruiting of Alec Burks by Bzdelik. Without Burks, does Boyle have any early success at CU? Does he even accept the job?
-Bzdelik demanding the new basketball facilities is built as part of his contract. How many of the recruits that Boyle has been able to get come here are successfully recruited without those facilities?
-The move to the PAC-12 headed by Mike Bohn. Without the move, say goodbye to Dinwiddie, Booker and XJ.
-The rise of the C-Unit and increased fan support.
-The football program being on decline for 10 years.
The point is that it is early to treat Boyle as if he is Coach K. He is not the single reason the bb program became good.
Fans and some writers have noticed deficiencies in Boyle’s CU teams from the beginning. Like playing against zone, inconsistency and not developing players offensively. What fans want is improvement, and it is frustrating when the same problems plague the team year after year.
Ideally, Boyle will continue to improve and this program will be able to compete for the PAC 12 year-in and year-out and maybe get to 2nd round or sweet 16 once in a while.
But the main question is this, if it’s year ten in Boyle era and CU never gets past the 1st round of the NCAA, would people still write articles defending Boyle because ‘remember how bad the program was’?…..Well, it’s year 6.
While I’ve been frustrated with Boyle before, and I think there are ways that he both could improve as a coach and has improved as a coach, I don’t think you can give credit to the C-Unit or the lack of success of the football team in turning the basketball team around. The football team struggling has little to nothing to do with the basketball team. Period. Are you implying that last year when both the football and men’s basketball teams were down that CU fans were flocking to cross country meets or women’s lacrosse games? I didn’t go to any, so I don’t know if that’s true, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they’re completely unrelated.
Second, the C-Unit can 100% attribute its success to the success of the basketball team, and not the other way around. As one of the original members of the C-Unit, I can say this. I graduated in 2009 and went to all of the basketball games during my time at CU, unless I had a test. (I specifically remember that because I actually had a test during a CU/Texas game and decided to skip checking my answers to my test to try and sprint across campus in the snow to catch the end of the CU game because it had gone to OT and I knew I might catch a few minutes of action.) So trust me when I tell you that the C-Unit used to suck. There were games in 2006-07 (the 7-win Ricardo team) or 2008-09 (the 9-win Bzdelik team) when there were literally 5 students in attendance. And that’s when the C-Unit started to form. It wasn’t like CU always had 2,000 students at games with perfectly timed cheers and enthusiasm to help give them a good home court advantage. It was definitely the opposite. When KU came to town, the student section was filled with KU fans spilling over from the GA seats.
Just my $0.02 because, as much as I’d like to claim some credit for CU reemergence back to relevancy, there isn’t a connection.
Yes, I think the fact football has been bad for so long is part of the reason people were willing to support even the mild success of the basketball team. I do credit the C-Unit and the fans for helping with some of the wins during this era. The strong home court advantage CU has built has helped masked some of the flaws in Boyle’s teams that become apparent during the tourney. But putting the C-Unit and the football aside, it is hard to argue that the bb facilities and the move to the Pac were not major factors for the improvement in the program. Even before Tad, the move to fire Ricardo Patton and hire Bzdelik already signaled a renewed focus on the bb program by the administration. But everyone forgets about those years.