June 18:Sebastian Rancik. During CU men’s basketball practice on June 18, 2025 in preparation for their trip to Australia(Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)
The final pieces of the 2025-26 schedule are in place for the Colorado men’s basketball team.
On Monday, organizers of the Acrisure Series announced the matchups for its nonconference tournament over Thanksgiving weekend, with the Buffaloes set to take on a program that was a national rival generations ago.
CU will play San Francisco in the Acrisure Holiday Classic on Nov. 27 (Thanksgiving Day) in Palm Desert, Calif. The Buffs will face either Washington or Nevada the following day. The tournament also includes a previously announced standalone home date against UC Davis on Nov. 21.
CU and the Dons have met just five times previously, most famously in the 1955 Final Four semifinals when San Francisco, led by future Hall of Famer Bill Russell, defeated the Buffs on the way to the national championship. The teams last met on Dec. 3, 2014, in a home win for CU.
Both games in Palm Desert will be televised on CBS Sports Network. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 11 a.M. MT via Ticketmaster.
The two games at Palm Desert’s Acrisure Arena fill the final spots of the away-from-home portion of CU’s nonconference schedule, with the Buffs playing their only true road game of the nonconference slate at Colorado State on Dec. 6. CU has another neutral-floor date scheduled against Stanford on Dec. 20 in Phoenix.
The dates for CU’s Big 12 Conference schedule will be announced later, although the 2025-26 matchups were announced last month. The Buffs will play three home-and-home series against Arizona State, Texas Tech and Utah, and also will host home dates against Arizona, Central Florida, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and TCU. The Buffs will face road games against Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State and West Virginia.
Summer reign
Former CU guard KJ Simpson played in just 36 games this past season as a rookie with the Charlotte Hornets, but he made the most of his opportunity in the NBA Summer League.
With Simpson playing a leading role, the Hornets won the Summer League championship on Sunday, with Simpson overcoming a 1-for-6 mark on 3-pointers to finish with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
The Hornets finished 6-0 as Simpson averaged 16.0 points and 5.5 rebounds with a 2.13 assist-to-turnover rate (34 assists, 16 turnovers).
It was a solid summer session for all three of CU’s 2024 NBA Draft selections. Cody Williams posted four 20-point games in eight outings with Utah, averaging 17.1 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting .455 overall and .333 (17-for-51) on 3-pointers. Tristan da Silva played just two summer league games for Orlando, but he averaged 18.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in a pair or efficient performances.
Notable
The Buffs have added former Metro State player Ryan Maslow as a graduate assistant. … Da Silva will play for his native Germany in the upcoming 2025 FIBA Euro Basket championship. … CU is scheduled to practice on Tuesday and again on Wednesday before departing for its four-game exhibition tour of Australia. … The Buffs’ potential matchup against Nevada at the Acrisure Holiday Classic would be just the third between the programs since 1938. CU and the Wolfpack last met for a home-and-home series in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.
Originally Published: July 21, 2025 at 10:36 AM MDT