Even though the UB men's basketball team did not go as deep into the First Energy Mid-American Conference tournament as supporters had hoped, the team did leave Cleveland with a buzz that was still going come tournament's conclusion.
MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst took note of what Buffalo had brought to this year's MAC Tournament along the lines of fan support and appreciation and pointed out that UB was the story of the tournament.
Chryst notes that Buffalo, along with the help of the 'Mighty Maniacs,' took the atmosphere of the tournament to the next level.
"I think every year there is a different story line and UB was a great story for this tournament, regular season, the first round atmosphere, and all that is pretty much a part of coming to Cleveland," said Chryst. "Especially from the student side, it did set the standard now. It will be how other people manage themselves in term of their following."
Buffalo's counterpart in the quarterfinal match up was the hot-shooting Toledo Rockets, a school less than two hours from Cleveland. Compared to Buffalo's three and a half hour trek to the Gund Arena, one would have thought Toledo would have a better fan showing.
According to Chryst, the university's distance from Cleveland does not necessarily determine fan support in the tournament.
"It has a lot less to do with miles and a lot more of how you are in your own home," said Chryst. "You can't manufacture the energy and enthusiasm that obviously this team has been generating, however it happens and my sense is that the student body seems connected to the basketball team; there is a real excitement about it and they want to support it."
While the excitement for Buffalo has already tipped the scales here at UB, the excitement and talk of success of Buffalo basketball is starting to catch on throughout the MAC.
"I think across the league, there is a sense for of all the people at UB, 'great you're finally experiencing some the competitive success that everyone has felt,'" said Chryst.
With their entire team returning and most importantly the core of their program, the Bulls would seem to have a promising season next year. Chryst added that the Bulls, led by All-MAC second team point guard Turner Battle and a strong supporting cast should make the upcoming season for UB something to look forward to.
"I think it's absolutely promising because you'll have what seems to be core leadership with Battle and don't even call it a great supporting cast because it's a real team effort," said Chryst. "All the components are there but you got to keep improving."
Even with all the success that this team has achieved, Chryst is quick to point out that this team still needs to take the next step to be a premiere program and achieving such a goal is easier said then done.
"It is a whole other step to be a premiere program for any stretch of time and when you think about what Kent State has done, I think that's fair that they have been in the last five years how other programs in our league measure themselves," said Chryst.
With Buffalo aside, Chryst notices a perfect opportunity for growth in the MAC for the upcoming seasons, where the MAC will hopefully see more than just one team in the NCCA tournament, unlike this year when Western Michigan was the only team to make it into the field of 65.
"It is certainly one of the ways to get measured and you can not talk around that, so it is important," said Chryst. "It is also important of how you compete in the tournament and that's what this league has done; a winning record in the last five years, six of the last seven times our regular season champion has advanced always a worse seed."
With the MAC's Marshall moving to Conference USA and Virginia Tech among a slew of schools moving from the Big East Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference, Chryst feels that is an important time in Division I athletics.
"This is a historic time in Division I-A athletics, over 20 percent of schools are announcing conference changes; that's the environment that we are in right now," said Chryst. "The core of our league I feel great about is intact and our challenge is how we sustain really what was a record year for football and continue to grow."
On the other side of the conference, MAC football really hit the nation by storm with Miami [Ohio] beating Louisville in the GMAC Bowl 49-28. Bowling Green also notched a bowl win in the Motor City Bowl by defeating Northwestern 28-24.
"As competitive as this league is at basketball, we're awful close to being at a pretty solid place in football," said Chryst. "I think another bowl bid is critical and we need to take a step basketball wise."
One of the MAC powerhouses in football, Marshall, will soon be playing in Conference USA, the idea of the MAC bringing in schools has crossed Chryst's mind but notes the MAC needs some discussions to see where the future of this conference is at.
"I think that's all part of that process, our schools haven't come to any specific decisions on expansion but certainly I think we need to have those types of discussions because you don't want to stay at a number because it's about how strong are you and can you get stronger," said Chryst.
Some people might think expanding on something that is already good if not great is a terrible thing but if done right; it's not out of sight.
"I love that people want to expand that experience and yet I think you want to do it in a way that has energy behind it and has a tournament feel. I think we're growing ourselves in a nice way in Cleveland," said Chryst.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
