By the end of the month, the new-look Colorado men’s basketball team will make its unofficial debut.

Will it be an improved product following the Buffaloes’ worst season in nearly two full decades? It’s far too soon to tell, and the personnel that will be available on the four-game exhibition trip through Australia won’t paint the full picture of the squad expected to suit up on opening night Nov. 3 against Eastern Washington.

This summer’s sneak preview will be a boon for a cast of new faces still getting acquainted. But it’s unlikely to smooth the monumental hurdles facing the Buffs as the program tries to regain its competitive edge.

The Buffaloes are coming off what by far was their worst season under head coach Tad Boyle, who enters his 15th season at the helm as the program’s all-time leader in wins (312) and games coached (516). A maddening mix of factors — the loss of every major contributor from the 2024 NCAA Tournament team, the move to the ultra-rugged Big 12, good ol’ under-performance from the rotation and coaching staff alike — led to a last-place finish in the conference.

There have been sub-par years before under Boyle. There have been rebuilds, too. Yet never before has Boyle faced a challenge quite like this.

The dramatic roster turnover — eight of last year’s 13 scholarship players have moved on — isn’t necessarily alarming. Player movement is part of the modern game. And, in a similar fashion to the roster rebuild that turned CU football from a perennial doormat into a Big 12 contender last year, moving on from players that helped lead a team into the basement is difficult to quibble against. Plus, of all the underclassmen on last season’s roster, the Buffs retained the two most critical talents in Bangot Dak and Sebastian Rancik.

Boyle has hitched the program wagon to talented freshman classes before. The program’s ability to develop talent under Boyle and his staff, particularly longtime assistant Mike Rohn, is a proven formula.

In 2025, however, the belief enough of the six incoming freshmen will remain in Boulder long enough to eventually form a tested, cohesive core is a much bigger test of faith than even just a few years ago. Revenue sharing is long overdue for the athletes whose talents have filled the coffers of universities and their coaches, but it’s an asset in which CU will be behind the curve. Boyle’s Buffs simply will never be able to put up the most lucrative offers for the top free agents in the transfer portal, or most prep recruits ranked in the top 100.

That’s not to say the Buffs still can’t woo talent to Boulder. Former UC Riverside guard Barrington Hargress was a shrewd pickup, and the freshman class indeed is talented enough to spur optimism. But most of the Buffs’ transfer additions will continue to more likely resemble Elijah Malone last year and Jon Mani this year, players heavier with potential than Division I pedigree.

Boyle and Rohn both recently espoused the hope another frontcourt player, one who might be able to step into a rotation spot immediately, would be added to the mix soon. As of Saturday morning, with the next set of summer practices set to begin Monday and the Australian tour less than three weeks away, that still had not yet happened.

Dak won’t make the trip as he recovers from an injury. Freshman forward Tacko Ifaola won’t make the trip due to student visa issues. A frontcourt in dire need of adding more consistent production will be missing three pieces Down Under — Dak, Ifaola and the recruit still TBD.

Still, the four-game trip will be a welcome opportunity for eight newcomers (nine, if you count local product Andrew Crawford, who is coming off a redshirt season) to get acquainted on and off the floor. A matchup against the Australian Boomers, the country’s national team, will provide the new Buffs with a taste of marquee competition.

But a relevant analysis of just how improved the 2025-26 Buffs might be? That still will be TBD.