MANHATTAN, Kan. — Greetings from Bramlage Colisum.

The Buffs return to action today after living with the 84-66 loss to Missouri for an entire week. Colorado is 2-7 in the Big 12, but the game against the Tigers was the only time Jeff Bzdelik’s team has not been competitive in conference play.

As you know, the Buffs are looking to snap a number of negative streaks today:

1. A 33-game Big 12 road losing streak.

2. A 25-game road losing streak vs. Division I opponents.

3. A three-game losing streak since the 72-60 win over Nebraska on Jan. 27.

With all of the Pac-10 expansion talk last week, many Buffs fans — and the one member of the media who still travels with the CU men’s hoops team — have been dreaming about road trips to Los Angeles and Seattle and Tempe.

For now, I’m afraid reality still bites for CU in Big 12 country.

The Buffs will compete hard today and could perhaps even give the No. 9 Wildcats a scare if they shoot a high percentage.

But a capacity crowd and a huge rebounding edge will prevent CU from pulling the upset.

Prediction: K-State 80, CU 68

Greeting from the Coors Events Center.

Alec Burks will return to the starting lineup for Colorado today against Missouri. The Big 12’s leading freshman scorer (16.3 ppg) missed the overtime loss to Kansas and 38 minutes of the loss at Iowa State after spraining his left knee in Ames.

That will certainly give the Buffs a much-needed boost against a deep and athletic Missouri team.

CU head coach Jeff Bzdelik will be leaving immediately after the game to be with family. His mother passed away on Thursday.

Associate head coach Steve McClain will conduct post-game interviews for Bzdelik.

As for the game, I see the Buffs bouncing back and snapping a six-game losing streak to the Tigers.

Prediction: CU 80, Mizzou 75

Greetings Buffs fans!

Colorado hosts No. 1 Kansas tonight at Allen Fieldhouse West (aka a sold-out Coors Events Center).

It’s a shame that Alec Burks will miss tonight’s game with a sprained knee. Jeff Bzdelik, to his credit, doesn’t want to put his prize freshman back on the court until he’s 100 percent healthy.

That makes the odds of an upset here tonight even greater, although I do expect a competitive game and an electric atmosphere.

Can CU take down No. 1? Stranger things have happened, but not this time:

Kansas 80, Colorado 69

AMES, Iowa — Greetings from Hilton Coliseum!

I can see why it’s so tough to play here. After flying to Des Moines, driving up I-35 and killing time in frigid Ames … well, I’m just ready to go home.

And that’s the attitude the Buffs usually seem to have on the court here.

Like last season when they scored nine points in the first half (all by Dwight Thorne).

So I don’t have a great feeling about Colorado’s chances of winning tonight and snapping a 32-game road losing streak in the Big 12.

But I’m not playing. Cory Higgins and Alec Burks are.

And Iowa State (12-8, 1-4) is reeling right now.

If the streak doesn’t end here it probably doesn’t end until 2011.

Time to go out on a limb again. I’ve picked every game correctly, including the upset of Baylor, so you’ll like this one.

Prediction: CU 77, Iowa State 76

Greetings from the Coors Events Center.

Colorado hosts Nebraska in about 25 minutes for what Dwight Thorne described as a “must-win” game for the Buffs.

I agree with the wise old senior. If CU doesn’t win this game against the 0-4 Huskers the Big 12 season could ugly in a hurry.

I think the Buffs win tonight and possibly at Iowa State on Saturday.

And I’m never wrong, at least not so far, as you can see if you scroll down through all of the 2010 predictions.

Prediction: Colorado 68, Nebraska 60

Marcus Relphorde (bruised hip) will be in the starting lineup tonight when Colorado hosts Nebraska about an hour from now at the Coors Events Center.

Freshman forward Keegan Hornbuckle will miss his second consecutive game with an injured right shoulder.

Alec Burks isn’t Colorado’s secret anymore.

The talented 6-6 guard, who leads all Big 12 freshmen in scoring, is projected to be the fourth pick in the 2011 NBA draft at nbadraft.net.

The web site’s latest mock draft has Burks being picked by the Washington Wizards.

Interestingly, Baylor’s Ekpe Odoh — another player turning heads in the Big 12 this season — isn’t projected to be taken off the board until the 27th pick by the Denver Nuggets.

At this point, a 2011 mock draft is nothing more than a wild guess.

The odds of nailing these picks would be like filling out a March Madness bracket perfectly.

Right now.

But it does show that basketball observers realize Jeff Bzdelik did a great job identifying Burks’ potential, recruiting him to CU and developing him into a big-time player in his first season.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Greetings Buffs fans!

I’m already nestled into my work space at Reed Arena ahead of today’s Colorado-Texas A&M game.

Last week I read a very interesting blog by Jesse Newell, who covers Kansas hoops for the Lawrence Journal-World.

Newell did an anonymous poll at the Big 12 media days in October with players from all of the teams.

Reed Arena was ranked as the third-best venue to play in behind only Allen Fieldhouse and the brilliant new Mizzou Arena.

Students were lined up outside this place when I arrived two hours before tip.

The Coors Events Center was considered the worst venue in the Big 12 to visit by the players. Not the most intimidating, the worst.

Some of their comments included:

• “There’s nobody there. It’s terrible.”

• “Every time we go there, there’s never anyone there.”

Remember, this poll was conducted before the Buffs got off to such a strong start at home. The CEC was rocking a week ago when Kansas State visited.

The players in the survey also said CU has the worst fans. One player commented:

• “They really didn’t have any student crowd. They didn’t have anybody backing them up when they were playing.”

Again, the student body has been showing up for Big 12 play since this poll was taken.

For a complete look at the poll go to: http://www2.kusports.com/weblogs/newell_post/2010/jan/19/big-12-straw-poll-what-are-players-favoritesleast-/

Now, on to today’s game.

Entering the week, I felt like the Buffs had a much better chance to get a road breakthrough in College Station than in Stillwater.

I think CU will have a chance to win this game if they take care of the ball.

Texas A&M is 13-0 when holding opponents under 70 points.

Prediction: A&M 70, CU 67

STILLWATER, Okla. — Greetings from Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Will the Buffs end a 30-game road losing streak in the Big 12 that started after an 80-78 overtime win here four years ago?

Possibly.

Colorado can score on anyone. Cory Higgins (18.9 ppg) is fourth in the Big 12 in scoring, Alec Burks (16.4 ppg) is eighth and Marcus Relphorde is averaging 19.7 points in conference play.

The Buffs will also try to get Austin Dufault engaged again by putting him back in the starting lineup. Defensively, the sophomore will have to help slow down the Big 12’s leading scorer in James Anderson (21.6 ppg).

CU is actually tied with OSU at 1-2 in the standings.

The Buffs are much more likely to win here tonight than they were at Tulsa on Jan. 2.

I’d love to pick the upset, but I’ll have to see this team compete on the boards to believe the streak will end this season.

Prediction: Cowboys 80, Buffs 73

Today’s Colorado-Kansas State game at the Coors Events is completely sold out.

CU athletic director Mike Bohn said some fans were turned away at the gate because there were no more tickets available to be sold.

No. 13 K-State leads 45-44 with 14 minutes left.