March Madness: Boise State left in "shock and silence" after drawing Colorado in First Four

Buffs and Broncos will be part of the initial games of this year's NCAA Tournament

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Colorado will face Boise State in the First Four of the South Region in the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. While the Buffs (24-10) are thrilled to be heading into March Madness, the Broncos seem to be singing the blues about heading to Dayton. 

Boise State beat writer B.J. Rains posted a video of the team's reaction on X (Formerly Twitter) and said it was "Shock and silence in the room," as they found out. "Didn’t see that coming. Broncos will face Colorado." 

Shock and silence in the room as Boise State finds out it’s headed to the First Four in Dayton. Didn’t see that coming. Broncos will face Colorado. pic.twitter.com/uLFhwv3OA1

— B.J. Rains (@BJRains) March 17, 2024

Tad Boyle's team was on the bubble going into the Pac-12 Tournament and fought to the end with a loss to Oregon in the title game. It took them an eight-game winning streak to get there, which included a victory in Eugene over the Ducks. Colorado has the highest net ranking (25th) among the First Four teams. Five teams have advanced to the second weekend of games from the initial round since the format's inception.

As for Boise State (22-10), they ended the season with a 3-2 record against AP Top 25 opponents. They won six of the last eight game, including a 79-77 overtime thriller over No. 21 San Diego State. 

Boyle and the Buffs will have a lot to study. These two teams met on November 20, 2022, in a non-conference affair in Myrtle Beach with the Broncos notching a 68-55 win. However, this is a much different CU team built with better contributors. 

Colorado will play Boise State on Wednesday. The winner will advance to a matchup with No. 7 Florida on Friday in Indianapolis, with the winner of that game facing the winner of No. 2 Marquette and No. 15 Western Kentucky.