Based on the previous 89 minutes and 55 seconds, you couldn’t blame him. The men’s soccer team had played tough with the No. 8 team in the nation with stellar defensive play and an early goal in the first half, but it was still on its way to a defeat and 0-1 to start to Mid-American Conference play.
Alkins, from Brooklyn, New York, tweeted minutes later that he had not committed to Buffalo and that “people at his school [were] playing with [his] phone.” The tweet caused shock across social media during that small time span though, as Alkins has offers from schools like Kentucky and North Carolina, according to ESPN.
The Bulls will start MAC play hosting the No. 8 team in the country, Akron (8-2-1), on Friday at UB Stadium. Buffalo was in position to make the MAC Tournament last season after 1-0-2 start to conference play, but finished the season with two losses in which it was outscored 7-0. In Year Three of the Riddle era, Buffalo may finally be ready to take a step forward as a program.
The 2014-15 men’s basketball team entered the season without its top three players from the year before. The team wasn’t big. They didn’t have elusive scorers. They were bounced in the first round of the 2014 Mid-American Conference Tournament after some projected them to win it all. But alas, all the naysayers were silenced when the Bulls went on the shock the conference and win the MAC. Why can’t that happen again?
Of the eight freshmen Bulls, five have played in at least 11 games so far this season and two of the team’s top-3 scorers are first-year players. After losing integral parts of last year’s team like Katie Roberts, Courtney Mann and Sophie Therien to graduation, the Bulls are hoping are slowly fill the void with some help from underclassmen.
With most of Buffalo’s Division-I sports in the thick of Mid-American Conference play, each team is still in contention for their respective conference titles. Of course, it’s a whole team effort, including the coaching staff, to get a team in position to compete for a championship. But each squad has standout performers that have helped take it to the next level.
We’ll always remember the stars. In terms of Buffalo sports lore, you can’t have a conversation and not bring up former Bills like Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith. Same goes for the Sabres’ Dominik Hasek, Phil Housley and Ryan Miller. But there’s one player that is often overlooked in the history of Buffalo: Former Buffalo Braves forward Bob McAdoo.
Cohen, a life-long New York Giants fan, attended his first-ever game at “The Ralph” this past Sunday when the Giants faced the Buffalo Bills. He attended games at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but this experience was very different.
They were some of the most prolific players to ever wear the blue and white. They broke records, won championship and brought some prominence to Mid-Major program over the course of their careers. But what happens to these players after they walk for graduation? The Spectrum caught up with a few recent Bulls graduates from the past few years.
The Bulls completed their first official practice of the 2015-16 season Friday in Alumni Arena. Buffalo is the reigning MAC champion and is coming off its first NCAA Tournament appearance, but have a host of new faces after the departure of former head coach Bobby Hurley and several key players. The Bulls have eight new faces with a mix of freshmen and transfers.
The everyday rigors of a Division-I college football player – even for a backup like Daniel – had come to an end in December of 2014. There were no more worries, no more stresses. Life was finally carefree again. Or so Daniel thought. On Nov. 30, 2014, Daniel received a frantic phone call from his sister Carley telling him their father Jack had suffered a heart attack earlier in the day and was rushed to the hospital.
Coming off two straight losses and a 0-1 start in Mid-American Conference play, the Buffalo football team’s bye week couldn’t have came at a better time. With a week off, the Bulls (2-3, 0-1 MAC) have a chance to rest and look at the film from the past two weeks to correct several areas, including penalties, turnovers and its defense.
It’s a new era under new head coach Lance Leipold and different circumstances but the Bulls (2-3, 0-1 MAC) came up short against Bowling Green again on Saturday, this time with a 28-22 loss at UB Stadium for homecoming. And again Buffalo showed it’s not quite ready to beat the best of the MAC.
The football team (2-3, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) fell 28-22 to Bowling Green (3-2, 1-0 MAC) Saturday at UB Stadium. Here’s how The Spectrum graded Buffalo’s performance:
The Bulls (2-3, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) opened MAC play with a loss to the Falcons, (3-2, 1-0 MAC) at UB Stadium in a homecoming game attended by 20,843 people Saturday.
The Falcons seem to always have the edge over the Bulls, whether it was last season’s heartbreaking 36-35 Buffalo loss or two years ago when they defeated the Bulls in what was an essentially a MAC East Championship game. Here’s who The Spectrum thinks has the edge at every position.
The Bulls face Bowling Green Falcons (2-2) at UB Stadium Saturday in what will be their first of eight conference games.
Saturday’s matchup against Bowling Green (2-2) will be the team’s biggest test to date and it may be its biggest all season. The Falcons have appeared in the MAC Championship game the past two years, including a victory in 2013. They defeated perhaps the most talented team in Buffalo program history in what was essentially a MAC East Championship game to get it by the way.
UB Athletics estimates just about 2,000 students attended the Bulls’ game against Nevada Saturday afternoon – far off from the roughly 5,000 students it estimates came to the season opener against Albany on Sept. 5.
It’s not easy waiting for your moment. For years, senior tight end Matt Weiser waited for just that.
Solutions by The State News
