The Buffalo Bulls
are the athletic teams representing the University at Buffalo in intercollegiate athletics. The Bulls currently play in Division I (Division I FBS in football), and are a member of the Mid-American Conference for all sports except women's rowing. They have been a member of the Mid-American Conference since 1996. The Buffalo Bulls field men's and women's athletic teams in 9 sports.
The Bulls are notable for being the only Division I FBS athletic program with an African American Athletic Director (Warde Manuel), Head Football Coach (Turner Gill), and Head Men's Basketball Coach (Reggie Witherspoon).
|
BUFFALO BULLS TICKETS
|
Men's sports
Football
The Buffalo Bulls football team is a relatively new member of the
Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, having joined in 1999. Despite its brief history and disappointing recent performances in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Bulls football program has a rich tradition, which it is now returning to. In 2008 the Buffalo Bulls routed the previously unbeaten Ball State Cardinals 42-24, capturing their first Mid-American Conference Championship. The final game of the 2008-2009 campaign was against the
University of Connecticut in the
2009 International Bowl on January 3, 2009 at the
Rogers Centre in
Toronto,
Ontario. In that game, the Bulls would go on to lose to UConn by a score of 38-20.
Notable former players who played (or play) in the NFL include:
- John Stofa
- Ed Ellis
- Ramon Guzman
- Drew Haddad
- Gerry Philbin
- Jamey Richard
- Chad Upshaw
- Trevor Scott
Men's basketball
The Buffalo Bulls men's basketball team has been a member of Division I the mid 1990s after dropping to the Division III level for the
1977-
1978 season, spending time in the
Mid-Continent Conference before moving to the
Mid-American Conference in
1999.
After several years of mediocrity, the Bulls had their most memorable season in their 2004-2005 campaign. Led by senior guard
Turner Battle, the Bulls went on an improbable run to the Mid-American Conference Championship, beating
Western Michigan in the semi-finals at the
Gund Arena in Cleveland. In the MAC final, despite leading by 17 at the half, the Bulls lost in
overtime to
Ohio University on a tip-in by Leon Williams with 0.5 seconds remaining. Thus, the Bulls failed to clinch the automatic bid to the
2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, and were not selected by the selection committee on Selection Sunday. They went on to participate in the
NIT.
Notable Players for played in the NBA:
Sam Pellom with the
Atlanta Hawks and
Milwaukee Bucks. He also played for the
Washington Generals against the
Harlem Globetrotters before making it to the
NBA.
Soccer
The most successful men's athletic team in recent years has been the Buffalo Bulls
soccer team. The team briefly achieved a ranking of 20th overall in the
NCAA.
Andrae Clarke, a young standout, has trialed with the
Chicago Fire [1], while former goalkeeper
Bobby Shuttleworth signed for the
New England Revolution in 2009.
[2]
Other men's sports
The university places teams in several other men's sports, including:
baseball,
track and field,
cross country,
tennis,
wrestling, and
swimming and
diving
Women's sports
As for the women's teams, the Bulls feature teams in basketball, track and field, cross country volleyball, softball, rowing, tennis and swimming and diving.
The UB women's tennis team has made the MAC Championship in each of the last three seasons, finally clinching the MAC Title in 2008, defeating Western Michigan, 4-3. The Bulls went to their first NCAA Tournament where they played eventual NCAA Champion,
UCLA.
UB's women's basketball coach is Linda Hill-MacDonald, who used to coach in the
WNBA with the Cleveland Rockers.
True Blue
As of 2008, the primary student organization who supports UB athletics is True Blue.
[3] The prominent faces of the club is a group of at least five students who paint themselves to spell out "GO BULLS" for every home football game and selected basketball games for both men and women.
Marching band
The
Thunder of the East is the student
marching band.
References
- http://www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu/menssoccer/news/msc02-02-2007-ClarkeMLS.shtml
- http://www.revolutionsoccer.net/news/index.cfm?ac=latestnewsdetail&pid=37635&pcid=115
- http://ubtrueblue.com