Buffs embrace role as underdog

No. 5 seed sets CU on road course, starting in Kansas against Drake

Asked to provide her initial thoughts about Colorado women’s basketball snagging a No. 5 seed for the NCAA Tournament, point guard Jaylyn Sherrod laughed.

“Ask me when it’s all over what my initial reaction is,” the senior said, hinting that she believed the Buffaloes should have been a No. 4 seed, which would have given them the opportunity to play first and second-round games in Boulder.

Projected for much of the year to be a host on opening weekend, the 17th-ranked Buffs (22-9) will instead pack their bags and head to Manhattan, Kan. The fifthseeded Buffs will face 12th-seeded Drake on Friday (5 p.m. MT, ESPNEWS).

Expect the Buffs to also bring a chip on their shoulder to Manhattan.

“I think at the end of the day, leaving a bad taste in our mouth is probably the worst thing you could do,” Sherrod said. “But it is what it is and we’ve just got to be ready for it.”

Don’t expect the Buffs to overlook Drake, the Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament champions. The Bulldogs were a No. 12 seed last year and nearly upset fifth-seeded Louisville before falling 83-81.

“They’re a great team,” Sherrod said. “They won their conference. We cannot underestimate a team like Drake.”

The Buffs, however, are likely to cling to their underdog role. It’s a role in which they’ve thrived in recent years.

Just a year ago, a popular firstround upset pick by pundits was 11th-seeded Middle Tennessee over the sixth-seeded Buffs. CU routed the Blue Raiders 82-60 and then upset Duke two days later.

“Oh, absolutely,” CU head coach JR Payne said of embracing the underdog role. “I think every player on this team and every coach on the staff has kind of cut their teeth on that role.”

Underdog or not, what made the Buffs successful in last year’s NCAA Tournament was their focus. CU didn’t play well down the stretch, but came into March Madness rested and focused and played exceptional basketball.

Senior guard Frida Formann said she feels the same vibe out of the Buffs this year after going through practice this past week.

“When we know we’re good and when we have that core of our identity, we’re really hard to beat,” Formann said. “So it was good find that again.

“I think we all just feel like we have so much more to prove and so much more to give because our (Pac12) tournament run did get cut short and the way it did (in double overtime).