Akron (6-5, 4-3 Mid-American Conference) defeated the Bulls (5-6, 3-4 MAC) 41-21 at InfoCision Stadium - Summa Field Saturday, which sets up an all-important season finale against Massachusetts next week for Buffalo. The Bulls will try for their sixth win of the season, which could mean a bowl invite.
The No. 7 seeded Bulls (7-22, 6-10 Mid-American Conference) lost to No. 6 seed Ball State (15-16, 8-8 MAC) 3-1 in the first round of the MAC Tournament in Athens, Ohio Thursday night. The Bulls won the second set to pull the match even, but proceeded to drop consecutive sets. The Cardinals meanwhile advance to the MAC Quarterfinals against No. 3 Kent State (19-9, 13-3 MAC).
A Mid-Major like UB needs to think long-term. Nothing is a quick fix. You have to slowly inch your way up the college athletics landscape. You don’t, as White always liked to say, build “America’s next big-time college athletics brand” in three years. White could move up a conference and get a larger budget to play with in three years. UB cannot.
In a Mid-American Conference matchup between two teams vying for bowl eligibility, the Buffalo football team (5-5, 3-3 MAC) and Akron (5-5, 3-3) face off in the second-to-last game of the regular season Saturday. The Spectrum decided who has the edge at each position.
The Bulls (5-5, 3-3 Mid-American Conference) will travel to Akron, Ohio to face a Zips (5-5, 3-3 MAC) team that will also be looking for one more victory to become bowl eligible.
White was officially introduced as vice president and director of athletics of UCF Athletics Thursday. White is expected to assume his full responsibilities with the Knights at some point in January and will still be vaguely involved with UB for the next six weeks to help Buffalo transition through its leadership change.
On Wednesday, the Bulls (1-2) fell to St. Joseph’s (3-0) 89-67 at Hagan Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Bulls are now 0-2 in the 2015 Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic, with two losses to St. Joseph’s and Old Dominion in which it allowed 166 points.
The Tailgate Concert Series, a free UB Athletics-sponsored concert held roughly two hours before home football games, often brings in a mix of oldies, country and cover bands that don’t always attract students.
The Bulls (2-0) defeated Big 4 rival Canisius (0-2) 54-40 in Alumni Arena on Tuesday night behind Reid and yet another impressive defensive performance, as Buffalo has allowed just 78 points in its first two games. After only scoring just seven points in the first quarter, Buffalo went on a 23-4 run in the second quarter that helped propel it to its second victory.
Athletic Director Danny White is leaving UB to accept the A.D. job at the University of Central Florida. After several media reports Tuesday that White had been hired, UCF officially announced White as its new athletic director Wednesday. Calls to White’s cell phone were not returned Tuesday.
The Bulls (1-1) fell to Old Dominion (2-0) 77-58 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Virginia in their first game of the Hall of Fame Classic. The Bulls shot just 30 percent from the field and committed 30 fouls.
The photo of Evans, who transferred to Arizona State to join former men’s basketball head coach Bobby Hurley, was replaced with the image of former Bulls forward Xavier Ford sometime Monday or during this past weekend. Ford graduated from UB last semester.
Athletic Director Danny White is one of three finalists for the AD opening at the University of Central Florida (UCF) and will interview for the job Monday in Chicago, according to a report from the Orlando Sentinel. The report said UCF President John Hitt will also interview DeWayne Peevy, Kentucky deputy director of athletics. White signed a five-year contract extension with UB last fall in order to show “commitment to the Buffalo community and this university,” he told The Spectrum at that time. White was the highest paid athletic director in the Mid-American Conference in the 2013-14 fiscal year with a pay of $301,625, according to USA Today.
A weekend recap of UB Athletics, as the basketball teams started its season and the volleyball team is headed to the MAC Tournament.
The Bulls (8-7-4, 2-2-1 MAC) lost to Akron (15-3-2, 4-0-1 MAC), the No. 3 team in the entire country, 1-0 at FirstEnergy Stadium – Cub Cadet Field in Akron, Ohio Sunday. It was their third MAC Tournament Championship Game appearance and first since 2007, where the Bulls also lost to Akron.
Despite a less-than-stellar offensive performance, the Bulls (1-0) picked up a season-opening 55-38 victory over LIU Brooklyn (0-1) on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena. Buffalo shot less than 40 percent from the field, but was relieved by a stellar defensive performance. The 38 points allowed are the fewest for Buffalo since Feb. 23, 2013.
The Bulls (1-0) routed Division-III Pittsburgh-Bradford (0-1) 109-49 in Alumni Arena to open the 2015-16 season Friday night. Buffalo shot more than 50 percent and had six players score double-digits in what was Oats’ first game and win as head coach.
The Bulls (8-6-4, 2-2-1 MAC) defeated Western Michigan (11-4-4, 3-1-1 MAC) 2-1 in overtime of the MAC Tournament Semifinals Friday to advance to the championship game against Akron for just the third time in program history. Buffalo got the game-tying goal from junior defender Daniel Cramarossa with about four minutes left in regulation before Cicerone, a junior forward, scored in overtime.
Overall prediction: 19-11 (11-7 MAC) It’s rather easy to be down on the Bulls this year.
But this is a new season for these two guards. They are playing without the veteran personnel they played with last year. They each have one more year of basketball knowledge to their names. Both were already named the starting guards for the Bulls. It’s now their team to lead into another postseason opportunity.
Solutions by The State News
