UB92

Once I read that it involved Gordon Gee, I rolled my eyes. Relegation won't work for football...too much difficulty in scheduling and other things to overcome...and not enough "history/nostalgia" to make it worthwhile. This ain't Aston Villa. I do, however, eventually see a sort of "super league" happening in the next 5 - 10 years. Whether it's called that is another story, but there will be the "haves" and "the rest". The haves won't be as many as before, so P5 schools that struggle with the finances to make ends meet (even with the TV money) will be left out in the next iteration. That's the part that will be different. We have already seen the start with the Pac12 breakup. I mean, Cal is now in the ACC...but if that breaks up (with the efforts of Clemson and Miami), Cal will be a good example of a school that, I'd wager, is not part of the "haves".

Just watching him on the sideline, standing there, after a bad turnover, he didn't explode or yell. Just kept coaching for the next play. I've seen coaches lose their mind after bad plays by players, but he didn't yesterday. And he didn't panic/change plans when UNC had some guys (not great shooters) hit open shots early. Now they get Clemson. They could easily go to the Final Four.

Michigan is an awesome school academically (as is Buffalo, by the way). Alabama...not as much. But I have to tell you that Alabama is looking to change that (and have been). They have a lot of money and are, basically, buying REALLY GOOD out of state students through their scholarship program. They are doing a lot of building and are making it a destination. The problem is, of course, it is in a small, poorly accessible town in Tuscaloosa. But once you are on campus, they do an outstanding job of recruitment (forget about athletes...I am talking about a general student)...and they have a lot of things on campus. Considering the weather (at least in the winter) and the importance of athletics at Alabama (go beyond MBB and football...you will find a lot), I can see why Oats would have no intention/interest in moving. I think he stays for a long while -- why would he go? Maybe if he wins a championship at some point and wants the challenge of the NBA, he could...but I don't see it at the moment. The job Oats did last night was great. There were a few times I felt they would get run off the court with their decision making and turnovers, but they made enough shots and he kept them in the game. UNC could not keep up the defensive effort for much time after the time outs...it dragged on them. Oats didn't overreact at all...he was thinking about all 40 minutes. Just a great win for him in a game where I don't think they were the better team, overall.

The thing that bothered me most about the AD was the pretty obvious lack of preparation when it came time to replace Oats. I have outlined this more in other threads. NIL part, obviously. But other things. I mean, we have had some very successful ADs. Manuel, White, Greene. Heck, having Manuel and White back-to-back was pretty amazing for a school like Buffalo. So this AD pales in comparison. Even Greene went to Auburn and is now back in Oxford. I would be okay in keeping GH3 for another two years if we could start over (now) with a new AD.

I mentioned this before, but being a recruit in HS is a lot of "me me me" spotlight. These are young kids. Now they can chase that spotlight more than once by entering the portal. This is even at the potential expense of their (non athletic) future, especially if they are not guided well. But as (young) humans, most prefer the immediacy and not the future.

They had highlights on ESPN and I watched this. That entry pass at the end of the 4th quarter. If I didn't know there wasn't a foul on UB, I'd have been listening for the whistle. At any rate, on to the Finals! Congrats WBB.

There were 36 names here: https://getsomemaction.com/news/2024/3/12/mac-announces-2023-24-mac-mens-basketball-all-mac-teams-specialty-award-winners.aspx None were from UB. I don't have the time or heart to check back in the history books to see when this happened the last time for UB (though who knows if there were 36 slots back then). I understand the various tables and figures (and analysis therein) allows one to go deeper into the numbers (which is fine), but the "eye test" tells me that this is reasonable. There was a poster recently that looked at the (recent) history of Freshman and their impact -- it was a good look into that. I remember about 15 years or so ago people on this board would project the hell out of some of our players who were underclassman and coming off questionable seasons. Things like "so and so will be a junior next year" and that fact alone was supposed to account for improvement. It was silly then and its silly now. -- I think 0 - 36 and 3 D1 wins tells you all you need to know about the year. On the plus side...I bleed blue...so...Tim Oboh! I hope GH3 and his staff have a phenomenal offseason in filling out the roster. Go Bulls.

I would be very happy to be wrong, but you could also put together a scenario for the A's to win the West this year as well. My point is that, with the portal and the very likely roster turnover, we are relying on this coaching staff to remake the roster AND improve on all the other challenges people have listed. It is not even a big ask...it's a huge ask.

I was going to start this topic after the game, but then I went out of town...and now I see it has already started and thrived. A few thoughts... Has anyone on this board ever complained about UB scoring too many fast break points? I don't think so, but it was brought up. One of the things we saw was GH3 trying to play the system he knew at Villanova, but didn't get the guys he needed to do it. However, he ran that system anyway for most of the season...and it showed. Throughout the season, the 1 v 1 ball and the look of a pick-up game was very evident on the offensive side. I don't know enough about basketball coaching/coaching staffs to properly diagnose why that was, but I suspect whatever the reason...it isn't a good thing. As someone mentioned, it was in sharp contrast to the women's team and, of course, to MBB. In fact, I really can't remember that much 1 v 1 ball in any of our coaches in the last 20+ years (except McCrea, and when you are All-MAC 1st team for 3 years, it is okay!) The defense broke down alot. From my eyes, this was the biggest weakness. Other teams scored so easily so often. We seemed always a step behind. Someone mentioned that the players, it seemed, didn't really like each other (or looked like they didn't like each other). When you are losing like they did, it is hard to gel. Having a new coach, many new players, and less than seasoned assistants, perhaps this was inevitable. I am not sure how many players we will turnover (outside of graduation), but I suspect it will be a sizeable chunk of the roster. After all, UB is a known team playing in a decent conference...but ends up 345 NET (surrounded by teams you don't want to be surrounded by). I suspect many/most players will explore their options elsewhere as scholarship athletes. I can't say I am optimistic here. This coach/his staff didn't recruit well/get what they needed last year...and even with that, they (by most measures) underperformed as a team. So the expectation is that they will now recruit what they need for his system and perform up to par? They had 3 D1 wins and 27 D1 losses. That should get you fired, but that won't happen here for a variety of reasons. I don't even have to see what the roster looks like for November to say that a single-digit win season is exceedingly likely. Anyone who is thinking a .500 season is in the cards isn't really looking at the facts. I am sure someone with time can look at 3-win teams during the last 20 years and provide an average win total (with SD) in the following season. Or 5 win and under teams and look at the win-total change in the last 20 years (year-by-year) to identify any portal outliers. While Championship Week progresses across the country without UB, I will think back to days when people were saying...Gonzaga of the East. Of course, of the 350 or so D1 teams, I only have one: Buffalo. So I bleed blue...and am saddened by the 3-win season as I think about the spring football game next month (and who will be our QB).

No. Too forced. This is the AD's efforts? Make up a trophy? A lot of Civil Conflict vibes...

I am sure we have improved some...in that there are parts of the game (for minutes at a time) we are playing better basketball than we were during the first several games. Of course, other teams have improved as well. If a student fails an exam with a grade of 10 out of 100...then...after studying/training...takes the exam again and gets 20/100...you can say they improved a lot. But...it's still 20.

We really don’t have a very good AD…

If I was a debate judge, you'd have won this round. I think one thing that has taken a back seat in these discussions is the coaching itself. I can remember a game when UB lost to Army under JW in a home game they had no business losing. Oats would have exploded during and after the game...but JW just shrugged (verbally). They are different leaders, different coaches...even with a lot of the same players. Certainly UB is spoiled to have had Oats here and the type of play/effort/performance/success he got out of his players. I know that this sort of "look back in history" is what we are doing now since the current team is at/near the bottom of the MAC conference...and we have to think about the glory days (even if they weren't that long ago).

You can lay this on the feet of the AD, but the President, based on what has and hasn’t happened, isn’t supportive of doing that at the present time. The focus is on investment in research…as evidenced by what has happened during the last several years. Heck, that AI institute is now at UB. Sports investment will need to wait.

Has anyone read or heard (via interview) what Lembo has said about Patenaude? It is obvious Lembo has brought in guys he is comfortable with, but is inheriting a brand new OC. Well…new to UB anyway as Patenaude is long on experience.