It has been nearly a full year and a half since the University of Colorado announced its intention to join the Big 12 Conference.

One of the many perks of the move, beyond the financial, was that the Buffaloes would be joining the premier men’s basketball conference in the nation. After 17 months of anticipation, that time has finally arrived.

Although the Buffs received a Big 12 primer last month at the Maui Invitational with a lopsided loss against Iowa State, they make their official return to Big 12 men’s basketball with a rematch against the third-ranked Cyclones on Monday night at the CU Events Center (7 p.m., CBS Sports Network).

Excluding last month’s loss against Iowa State, which was played as a nonconference affair, Monday’s battle will mark CU’s first Big 12 game since bolting for the Pac-12 following a loss against Kansas on March 11, 2011, in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

It will be the first Big 12 game at the Events Center since CU topped Nebraska in the 2010-11 regular season finale on March 5, 2011.

CU head coach Tad Boyle, who played in the Big Eight (which later expanded to the Big 12) during his college days at Kansas, knows there will not be any easy wins in the 20-game league slate. And it will be a far more physically challenging schedule than any of the 13 seasons in the Pac-12.

“I just know it’s a very physical league, there’s no doubt about that,” Boyle said. “The coaches and the programs are different, other than Utah, Arizona and Arizona State,” Boyle said. “The personnel is different. Playing against a TJ Otzelberger-coached team is different than playing against a Dana Altman-coached team. Both really good coaches. Both really good programs. It’s just different styles. Adjusting to those styles we’ll take on a game-by-game basis. The great thing about the Big 12 is you don’t have the quick turnaround like you do in the Pac-12. You usually have two days of prep time. Which is helpful as a staff playing against new coaches and new programs.”

As of Friday, 14 of the Big 12’s 16 teams were in the top 81 of the NET rankings. Six were in the top 20, tying the SEC for the most in the country. Fifteen Big 12 teams began Friday in the top 90 at KenPom.com, including three in the top eight and five of the top 20.

It’s a similar story in the Associated Press Top 25. Iowa State leads the Big 12 rankings, with Kansas (No. 7), Houston (No. 15), Cincinnati (No. 17) and Baylor (No. 25) also landing spots in this week’s poll. West Virginia, Arizona State and Texas Tech all received votes. Colorado has hosted just eight ranked opponents over the past six seasons combined. CU may not quite reach that total over the next two months, but it will be close.

The early results have done nothing to diminish the Big 12’s stature nationally. West Virginia and Arizona State, both of which visit the Events Center in January, have been the league’s pleasant surprises while the expected front-runners, like Kansas and Iowa State, have flashed their Final Four potential.

“It’s an exciting moment for sure,” CU graduate transfer Trevor Baskin said. “It’s a very big welcome to the Big 12, playing the third-ranked team in the country. It’s fitting and I’m excited for it. This is the start of our second season now and our goal is to go 1-0.”