Colorado Buffaloes were named a No. 5 seed Sunday in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships and will play No. 12 seed Georgetown in an East Region first-round game Saturday, March 20, at 10:15 a.m. (MT) at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The game will be the first-ever meeting between the Buffs and Hoyas and will be televised on CBS. The winner will face either No. 4 Florida State or No. 13 UNC-Greensboro on Monday, March 22, in the second round. 

Colorado’s seed is its highest since the NCAA began seeding the entire field in 1979. The Buffaloes’ previous best was a No. 8 seed, achieved in their last two appearances (2014 and ’16).

The 22-8 Buffs, who finished third in the Pac-12 regular season with a 14-6 conference mark, are coming off a 70-68 loss to Oregon State in Saturday’s Pac-12 tournament championship game. Colorado won six of its last seven and nine of 12 overall and Colorado’s 22 wins are tied for the fifth best in program history. Boyle-coached teams now own six of the top seven win totals in program history.

Georgetown (13-12) is coached by Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing. The Hoyas finished in eighth place in the Big East regular season with a 7-9 record, but won four straight games in the Big East tournament, including wins over Villanova and Creighton, to capture the tourney title and the league’s automatic bid.

This year’s tournament will be the fifth NCAA appearance for the Buffs in Boyle’s 11 years in Boulder and 15th overall in program history. It is also the ninth postseason appearance under Boyle in 10 years of postseason opportunities (the 2020 postseason was canceled by the Covid-19 pandemic).

Prior to 2012, Colorado had advanced to just two NCAA Tournaments in 42 years (1997 and 2003).

Colorado has an all-time 10-16 record in the NCAA Tournament, and has won just two NCAA openers in the last 58 years — 1997 vs. Indiana and 2012 vs. UNLV.

Colorado was one of five Pac-12 teams to earn an NCAA berth. USC is a No. 6 seed, Oregon is a No. 7, UCLA is a No. 11 (and will play in the First Four) and conference tourney champ Oregon State earned a No. 12 seed.

COURTESY COLORADO ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS