Frida Formann and Kindyll Wetta have always known this year would be different for the Colorado women’s basketball team.

They have also embraced change along the way.

“It’s different and it’s fun, it’s refreshing and it’s new,” said Wetta, the Buffs’ senior point guard.

On Monday, the Buffaloes will officially kick off a new era when they visit Wyoming in the season opener.

Formann and Wetta were both key players in a CU resurgence over the past three years. In 2022, they helped the Buffs end a nine-year NCAA Tournament drought, and then topped that with Sweet 16 appearances in 2023 and 2024.

The core of those teams is now gone, though, with Formann being the only returning starter. Wetta played starter-type minutes but technically was a backup to star point guard Jaylyn Sherrod. Senior Sara-Rose Smith was also an integral role player last year.

Now a member of the Big 12 Conference after 13 years in the Pac-12, the Buffs have 10 new players and an eagerness to continue their run of success.

“I think it’s just a season of new,” said head coach JR Payne, heading into her ninth season with the Buffs. “The team is new, our leadership is new, our conference is new. So I think we’re just very much embracing all the newness that we’re experiencing.

“We could not have a better group of young women in our program. They’re intelligent, they’re funny, they work hard, they’re awesome to each other. Our locker room culture is wonderful; like, they really are special. I think that makes it easier to have 10 new players on a team.”

To continue their run of success, the Buffs will have to do it differently than in the past.

The Buffs had a strong trio in the paint the past two years, with Aaronette Vonleh, Quay Miller and Charlotte Whittaker, but all three are gone.

They also very much took on the identity of Sherrod, a tenacious and speedy point guard now in the WNBA.

CU added some size in the offseason, but it’s certainly a more perimeter-heavy team than it has been, even without Sherrod leading the charge.

“I think we’re gonna be a very different style team this year, because we don’t have, like, a big-body post player,” Wetta said. “I think we can be much faster than our opponents, and we can be much more aggressive and just, like, a tenacious basketball team, which I know has always been our identity, but this year I feel like we can really, really lean into that. We do have good athletes, we do have disciplined players, and some people that can really get up and down the floor.”

Here’s a look each position going into this season:

Guards

The players: Frida Formann, Sr., 5-foot-11; Lova Lagerlid, Fr, 6-0; Kennedy Sanders, R-Fr., 5-8; Johanna Teder, Sr., 5-8; Kindyll Wetta, Sr., 5-9.

Outlook >> Formann and Wetta are the two leaders and the most experienced as Buffs. They are all-conference caliber players. Formann is CU’s all-time leader in 3-pointers, and Wetta was one of the top perimeter defenders in the Pac-12. Teder is a transfer from Washington State who missed last year with an injury but has a great deal of experience and shooting touch. Sanders redshirted last year and is expected to play a key role as the backup point guard, while Lagerlid brings good athleticism.

Forward/wing

The players: Nyamer Diew, Sr., 6-2; Lior Garzon, Sr., 6-1; Grace Oliver, Fr., 6-1; Erin Powell, Fr., 6-0; Sara-Rose Smith, Sr., 6-1

Outlook >> CU has a lot of experience and length here. Smith is the lone returner, and she’s a versatile player who can rebound, defend and score. Garzon is a fifth-year player who has been a starter at Villanova and Oklahoma State, and she has the ability to be one of the Buffs’ best 3-point threats. Diew was a key player at Iowa State the past few years, and she has untapped potential to be a valuable and versatile player night in and night out. Oliver and Powell are both talented freshmen who can shoot.

Post

The players: Tabitha Betson, Fr., 6-2; Ayianna Johnson, So., 6-3; Jade Masogayo, Jr. 6-3; JoJo Nworie, So., 6-5

Outlook >> There is a lot of potential here but a lot to prove. Betson was the preseason choice of Big 12 coaches as the conference freshman of the year, and she has star potential but has yet to play a collegiate game. Masogayo is a lean post but found a great deal of success at Missouri State, and she can rebound and score. Johnson, a transfer from Minnesota, is loaded with strength and athleticism and is looking to bust loose. Nworie has remarkable ability but did not play in her two seasons at Texas Tech because of injuries and has yet to be medically cleared at CU.

Looking ahead

Overall, CU has a roster filled with potential but a lot of unknowns.

What is known, however, is that the standard of the past few years hasn’t changed as CU embarks on a new campaign while seeking a fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

“We have the same expectations we always have, which starts with being excellent each and every day in anything that we do,” Payne said. “We are very fortunate to have strong veteran leaders, even though there’s not a lot of them. Our upperclassmen — Kindyll, Frida and Sara — have done a great job of not only welcoming and embracing all of our new players, but setting a really high standard of how things are done here.

“Our new players have all bought in very quickly, as far as what’s helped us be successful, and we have those same expectations this year.”