Just how bad is this CU season? 1. 2016-17 (19-15, 8-10 Pac-12; No. 7 seed Pac-12 tournament)

A look at the underachievers in Boyle’s tenure

The Colorado men’s basketball team is limping to the finish line.

That isn’t breaking news to anyone who has followed the Buffaloes this season. Yet for a program that has improved between November and February more often than not in 13 seasons under head coach Tad Boyle, the idea that Buffs fans are playing out the string in order to turn their attention to spring football seemed inconceivable when the season tipped off on Nov. 7.

Certainly, there is time — and opportunity — to rewrite the script on 2022-23. CU faces two Quad 1 road games this week, first at Arizona State on Thursday (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network) and again on Saturday at No. 11 Arizona. CU generally has played much better at home, and a team that usually rises up to knock off at least one ranked foe in Boulder nearly every year still gets a shot at No. 4 UCLA on Feb. 26 at the Events Center.

Still, the writing on the wall is starting to set. A Buffs team that is just 1-8 in true road games and that has won more than two games in a row just once all season will have to completely break the trends formed through the first 27 games in order to make a run.

Falling short of the NCAA Tournament is one thing. Being so far beyond NIT consideration at this point is quite another. This year’s bunch isn’t the most disappointing team in the Boyle era. But, being on track to be just the third Boyle team to fall short of both the NCAA Tournament and the NIT, it’s in the conversation.

A look at the five most disappointing teams of the Boyle era:

The Derrick White team had all the ingredients in the starting five. A dynamic point guard in White. A sturdy small forward who could rebound and shoot in George King, winner of the Pac12’s Most Improved Player award a season earlier. A defensive presence in the middle in Wesley Gordon. An experienced wing who could do a little of everything in Xavier Johnson. A 3-point shooter in Josh Fortune.

Overall, CU started four fifthyear seniors and a fourth-year junior. White and King eventually were NBA draft picks. Yet the group never got on the same page, and was unable to win close games during a disastrous 0-7 start in Pac-12 play. Two of those losses occurred in overtime. Three others were by a combined eight points.

The Buffs rallied enough to land an NIT berth but exited quickly in the first round at Central Florida.