The men's basketball team entered this season a year removed from one of the best seasons the program has ever produced.
The Bulls played much of this season with new players earning a significant increase in minutes, including a true freshman with the reins at point guard, and failed to reach the aspirations of last year's success. The result was the firing of the team's 14-year head coach Reggie Witherspoon.
The Bulls concluded the regular season losing four of five games, but their lone win may have been the most influential in school history. They snapped Akron's nation-leading 18-game win streak and earned the school's first-ever win against a top 25 ranked team.
They took some of that momentum into the Mid-American Conference Tournament, reeling off two consecutive wins against Central Michigan and Ball State, respectively, propelling them to the quarterfinals as the No. 8 seed.
The Bulls had a chance to earn revenge against Kent State - a team they had been defeated by twice in the regular season - but fell 70-68 in a thriller as they were ousted from the tournament.
"We weren't that far away from the upper portion of the conference," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon in the post-game press conference. "Even with the inexperience and injury, for the most part, almost all of them got a lot better. That's why this one hurts."
Buffalo finished the season at 14-20 and 7-9 in the MAC. Not much more could have been expected from a team that had four starters who have either never suited up in a Bulls uniform or only saw the floor sparingly in previous seasons.
It began to go downhill when junior guard Jarod Oldham went down with a season-ending wrist injury 11 games in. The injury resulted in the insertion of true freshman Jarryn Skeete into the starting lineup to run the offense. Skeete played admirably in the conference games, scoring in double digits in more than half of the MAC games.
The highlight of the season came where everyone expected, as junior forward Javon McCrea resurged himself as one of the best players in the conference. He finished in third place for MAC Player of the Year while averaging 18 points and 7.9 rebounds per game this season, including a career-high 33 points in a loss against Kent State on Jan. 16.
His counterpart in the paint, sophomore transfer Will Regan, was the surprising boost for the team. In his first season as a Bull, Regan finished as the team's third-leading scorer with 11.1 points per game and put an exclamation point on the season with a 36-point performance in the team's only win in the MAC Tournament.
The team's only senior to play significant minutes, guard Tony Watson, had a breakout season after suffering demoralizing injuries the past two years. Watson had a stretch late in the season in which he scored 24 points or more in three consecutive games and earned MAC Player of the Week honors. He capped off his career as a Bull scoring 23 points in the team's loss to Kent State in the MAC Tournament.
Next season's outlook for the Bulls looks promising - with Watson being the only key contributor to leave the rotation - as they will be returning nearly every starter, though they will undoubtedly have to find someone to replace Watson's outside shooting.
Whoever ends up being the coach will be lucky enough to coach McCrea through his senior season, and his and Regan's chemistry should only improve during the offseason. It's hard to predict where the minutes will go at point guard between Skeete and Oldham and the coach will certainly have some tough decisions as to where to divide the minutes.
Bulls fans likely feel confident about their chances in the MAC, as Akron and Ohio - two teams that have dominated the conference - will each be losing their best players. The question remains now: Who will replace Witherspoon?
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