Literally surrounded by -- but shut out of -- the Madness

Watching Wichita State and Kansas battle Sunday in the NCAA Tournament with a Sweet 16 berth on the line drudged up the familiar pangs of March Madness withdrawal here in the Centennial State.
No less than seven schools (Wyoming, Utah, BYU, Arizona, New Mexico State and Kansas and Wichita State) from five bordering states were among the 68 Big Dance qualifiers while Colorado's five DI programs were left out -- again.
We were literally surrounded by -- yet shut out -- of the Madness.
Overall, 34 states and the District of Columbia were represented in the field of 68 while Colorado joined fellow have-nots Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Dakota and Vermont on the sideline.
But, as aforementioned, it's an all-too familiar feeling here in the Rockies.
Of the last 50 men's NCAA Tournaments, including the current one, the Centennial State has fielded a representative in only 12 years. That's 16 total appearances in all during that half-century span with a 6-16 combined tourney record.
Ugh.
Here's the 50-year rundown by school (and it won't take long):

• Colorado State University: 1966 (0-1), 1969 (2-1), 1989 (1-1), 1990 (0-1), 2003 (0-1), 2012 (0-1), 2013 (1-1). Total 7 appearances, 4-7 record
• University of Colorado: 1969 (0-1), 1997 (1-1), 2003 (0-1), 2012 (1-1), 2013 (0-1), 2014 (0-1) Total: 6 appearances, 2-6 record
• Air Force: 2004 (0-1), 2006 (0-1). Total: 2 appearances, 0-2 record
• Northern Colorado: 2011 (0-1). Total: 1 appearance, 0-1 record
• University of Denver: 0 appearances.

Colorado State's Rocky Mountain Showdown Win Guarantees Little

So the Colorado State football squad is in for a banner season following its season--opening 31-17 win in the Rocky Mountain Showdown?
Not so fast, Ram Nation.
As impressive as the comeback win was, it guarantees CSU very little going forward.
In fact, the last three seasons in which Rams beat the Buffs, they finished with losing records:

• In 2012, CSU followed a 22-17 season-opening victory over CU with six straight losses and wound up 4-8.
• In 2009, the Rams' 23-17 win over the Buffs was followed by two more victories, but a nine-loss tailspin ensued for a 3-9 finish.
• In 2006, CSU's 14-10 Rocky Mountain Showdown triumph gave the Rams a 2-0 record, but they proceeded to drop eight of their final 10 games to wind up 4-8.

As for the Buffs, a loss to the Rams most definitely doesn't bode well for the season to come.
Since the rivalry more or less resumed on a annual basis in 1983, CU has lost to CSU seven times. In those seven seasons, the Buffs have only gone on to post a winning season twice (7-5 in 1999 & 9-5 in 2002).
In the aforementioned 2006, '09 and '12 seasons -- which featured CU's three most recent losses to CSU prior to this year -- the Buffs finished an aggregate 6-30.

CU's slide reflected in NFL Draft decline

Putting a bow on the NFL Draft, here's a quick University of Colorado note.
CU's recent downturn in fortune -- no bowl appearances or winning seasons over the last six seasons (2008-13) -- is mirrored in its draft fortunes of late. During the corresponding span -- the 2009-14 drafts -- the Buffs only have had 10 total players selected, with only two first-round picks (OT Nate Solder and CB Jimmy Smith in 2011) and three overall in the top three rounds over that span.
WR Paul Richardson was the latest -- and the lone CU pick in last week's draft -- going in the second round to the defending-champion Seattle Seahawks.
Compare that with the Buffs' 23-season run of success from 1985-2007, which featured 18 bowl berths and only five losing seasons.
In the corresponding 23 drafts (1986-08), 90 total CU players were selected -- roughly four per draft -- with 11 first-round picks and 29 total selections in the top three rounds.
Times have most definitely changed -- and not for the better -- in Boulder.

Pro Bowls few, far between for Colorado college draft picks

Weston Richburg, Paul Richardson . . . welcome to the club.

According to Pro Football Reference, the Colorado State center (2nd round, 43rd overall, N.Y. Giants) and the University of Colorado wide receiver (2nd, 45th, Seattle Seahawks) on Friday night became the 306th and 307th players, respectively, from a Colorado college or university to be selected in the regular NFL Draft since the institution of the common draft in 1967.

CU, of course, easily boasts the most selections with 199, and is followed by CSU (75), Northern Colorado (9), Air Force (7), Adams State (5), CSU-Pueblo/Southern Colorado (4), Colorado Mesa/Mesa State (4), Colorado College (2), Fort Lewis (1) and Colorado Mines (1).

They also upped the number to 57 of Colorado products to be selected in the first two rounds since '67. Forty-eight of of those 57 high-round picks have hailed from CU, while CSU now has eight. UNC has the other in 2005 second-round pick Vincent Jackson.

But what would really separate Richburg and Richardson from the Centennial State pack is making the Pro Bowl.

Of the aforementioned 305 previous Colorado school draftees, only 19 (6.2 percent) have made it to the Pro Bowl. Former CSU running back Lawrence McCutcheon (3rd round, 1972, L.A. Rams) and CU center/guard Andre Gurode (2nd, 2002, Dallas Cowboys) top that pack with five Pro Bowl selections apiece.

Of the 74 CSU players previously drafted, only three -- McCutcheon, DE Al Baker (2nd, '78, Detroit Lions) and LB Joey Porter (3rd, '99, Pittsburgh Steelers) -- have earned Pro Bowl nods at the next level.

Left out (again)

Another NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 tips off tonight, and once again the Centennial State will be a no show.

Since the tourney expanded to 40 teams in 1979, no Colorado school has made it to the regional semifinals. That's no Buffs, no Rams, no Falcons, no Bears, no Pioneers -- again.

And, as near as can be determined after scouring the 36 Sweet 16 fields in that span, Colorado is one of 11 U.S. States without a regional semi rep since '79. The others are (in alphabetical order of course):

Buffs on wrong side of history

The Colorado men's basketball team made NCAA Tournament history last week, but for all the wrong reasons.
The Buffs' 77-48 loss to Pittsburgh goes down as the worst loss by an eighth seed in the round of 64, eclipsing the dubious distinction held by the 2003 LSU Tigers in an 80-56 loss to ninth-seeded Purdue. And to put that in full perspective, there have been 144 8-vs.9 matchups since the tourney expanded to 40 teams in 1979.