The madness begins when the No .5 seeded men's basketball team takes the court tonight at 7 p.m. in front of a packed Alumni Arena to host No. 12 seeded Northern Illinois.
Thousands of students, faculty, alumni, and supporters will come from all over Western New York to be part of a phenomenon UB has never experienced before.
Finally, March Madness has come to Buffalo.
The dream that the Bulls (16-11, 11-7 MAC) can extend their current seven-game win streak and claim the MAC title, ensuring them an NCAA tournament bid, is alive and promising.
A smothering defense and remarkable shooting has UB entering the tournament as the MAC's hottest team, after completing its regular season schedule with a 68-60 win over Akron on Sat.
Northern Illinois comes into the game playing a different tune. The Huskies (10-19, 5-13 MAC) have been losers in 13 out of their last 17 games, but have been playing better of late, winning three for four.
Buffalo and Northern Illinois squared off once already this year and the Bulls used a balanced scoring attack to come out victorious in DeKalb, Illinois. That game can be pointed to as the one game that kicked off UB's current run. Buffalo saw six players score in double digits and Turner Battle setting the pace with 17 points.
Offensively, NIU is lead by its seniors, power forward Marcus Smallwood and guard Perry Smith. Both players average just over 14 points a game and Smallwood is the conference's leading rebounder with nine and a half boards per contest.
The duo is the heartbeat of the Huskies and if they are contained, Northern Illinois has limited options at the offensive end after them.
Buffalo did just that in the teams' lone match up earlier this season. UB smothered Smallwood, holding him to just twelve points and five rebounds.
Smith, however, became the benefactor of Buffalo concentrating on NIU's monster in the middle as Smith shot 50 percent (5-10) from the field to lead the Huskies in scoring with 16 points.
NIU's head coach Rob Judson relies on point guard Anthony Maestranzi to get the ball into the hands of his two leading scorers. Maestranzi dished out 107 assists this season, good enough for seventh best in the conference.
The Bulls home advantage should play a huge part in the way the game is played out. More than 8,000 fans are expected to be in attendance for the Bulls' first home playoff game ever.
Buffalo and their fans have pulled up the doormat that used to welcome opposing teams into Alumni Arena and made it one of the more difficult places to play in the conference. With the record-pushing attendance expected, Alumni Arena will once again be a "Sea of Blue," waiting to overflow onto the court for post game celebrations.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight in Alumni Arena.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
