Buffs bullied; Dunlap, McClain breakdown

Who is getting less sleep at Colorado these days -- coach Ricardo Patton, his players or athletic director Mike Bohn?

The Buffs, outside a rare uprising, are unacceptably poor as a team, the latest being the bi-annual mandated whipping at the hands of Kansas, 75-46, as the ninth-ranked Jayhawks came to Boulder to play their usual home game with more cheers than jeers. KU is now 36-1 against CU in the team's last 37 meetings. How many other schools can claim such superiority over another? You'd think fans and the administration should expect better than lottery odds for victory.

The Buffs are not lacking talent. Patton has juiced the roster with sufficient ability but that collection is disorganized, confused, unsure of their roles, lacking in execution and effectiveness and it ain't all youth, no matter the displacement being sold at the coaching staff's lemonade stand.

To be on that team has to be difficult -- getting embarrassed on the court and then having to face friends, fellow students and the community has to be excrutiating. Only the strong would survive that burden.

Kansas coach Bill Self left town happy with the win but likely shook his head all the way back to Lawrence, thinking he could have helped his Jayhawks prepare for March better with a practice than going west to have a game that more resembled a preseason exhibition.

Xavier Silas (pictured) scored 11 points in defeat, the only Buff in double figures. He added six rebounds. Dominique Coleman scored but seven but had seven boards, three assists and two steals.

Black and Gold Truth: Patton has achievements that can't be taken away and his efforts did benefit the program but how this final season has been handled, from resignation notice to deflecting all blame, showing little accountability for allowing this program to crash on the rocks earns him the criticism he's receiving. What he fails to realize is that his deportment is being looked at by potential future employers as much as his recruiting, victories and postseason appearances.

Other conference play

Missouri beat Baylor in Columbia, 78-71, as guards Stefhon Hannah and Keon Lawrence combined for 49 points. Kevin Rogers, who gets little recognition for Baylor, was strong again with 27 points and 12 rebounds from his forward position in the loss.

Dunlap talks serious

Denver Nuggets' assistant coach Mike Dunlap, a former star as a head coach at Metropolitan State College, has spoken to CU athletic director Mike Bohn about what will be the vacant head coaching job in Boulder at the end of the season, according to a Tom Kensler and Marc J. Spears' story in the Denver Post.

BGT: If you read the article and have the ability to hear the unspoken and read between the lines, here is what Dunlap's quotes say: he's interested, very interested on a surface level, from what he knows now. It's just that he can't express his passion for it publically, out of respect for the Nuggets and because he knows Bohn has other people he wishes to call. Make no mistake, Dunlap is highly intrigued about the potential of the job. He wants to be a head coach again. He likes CU.

McClain says pick me

Wyoming coach Steve McClain also has his eyes on Boulder, as reported by Kyle Ringo of the Daily Camera.

McClain is in his ninth season at Wyoming and is 153-112 at the school. He also has connections, per se, as one of his assistants is former CU standout Shaun Vandiver, the Buffs' third all-time leading scorer and rebounder and a former NBA first-round draft choice (Golden State).

BGT: McClain is accomplished but it says here Colorado will aim higher. The Cowboys' coach is a longshot and will likely be a fallback proposition, at best.

Cougar becomes a Buff

Colorado has a new offensive line coach, according to a B.G. Brooks story in the Rocky Mountain News.

Brigham Young assistant Jeff Grimes will replace Chris Strausser, who turned his horse around last week to return to Boise State.

Buffs' coach Dan Hawkins and Grimes know each other, having been on staff at Boise State under then-coach Dirk Koetter. Grimes then moved with Koetter to Arizona State.

Where this move could pay off, according to Brooks, is recruiting. Grimes is a Texas native and played and coached in the state, a place CU got blanked in this cycle.

BGT: No word yet on how highly thought of Grimes is in the profession but BYU is no scrub program and to come to Boulder, where the Buffs just flopped at 2-10 is a leap of faith. Grimes and Hawkins might be associated with one another, might even be friendly, but no assistant is going to hitch up to a sinking ship. He has to believe in Hawkins' ability to make CU a winner. So Grimes acceptance of Hawkins' offer says a whole lot more than some short mention on a transaction wire.

Recruiting science

Gary Barnett has proved more to fans than Dan Hawkins after the former Boise State coach's one season on campus but when it comes to recruiting Hawkins might prove to be better.

As Stewart Mandel of CNNSI.com explains, it's all about personality and diligence. No one can argue against Barnett's north-division crowns in the Big 12 or a Big-12 title but it is doubtful he could have recruited the class Hawkins and his staff just did off a 2-10 season.

Hawkins will have to start winning soon to be able to continue to sell his mojo but if he does and his track record would indicate that is possible as well as expected then he could become a real player on the scene. He just has to generate some on-field momentum.

Off-the-rack

Have to say, saw that the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is out again. From when I first saw that publication as a teenager, the week or so after the Super Bowl was always interesting, knowing that annual diversion was coming, full of women and later, the angry letters to the editor.

Will say this after a quick look at CNNSI.com, Beyonce is one of the most photogenic women that magazine has ever had, and that's saying something.

Funny how my mother always paid for my subscription growing up and how I was always wondering if she would cancel it upon seeing the swimsuit edition arriving in the mailbox.

Lucky me, never happened.

So got to grow up with Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, Kathy Ireland and more.

Will say that there are a lot of highly-recruitable women in the magazine -- some real five-stars.

Even Rivals or Scout would have to agree.

BGT note: Check tomorrow's post for a conversation with Adam Munsterteiger of BuffStampede.com about recruiting.

Court news: Check out NuggetsNoise for a little run on the Nuggets' loss to a duck in Minnesota, a Dennis Rodman Hall-of-Fame rebuttal and finally, some love for unwanted Andre Miller.