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hurley

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#14, and the only peep you'll hear in the Buffalo sports media is when WGR does a scoreboard update.  I'm a born and raised Buffalonian, and I'm continually embarassed by this supposed "sports town".  This is a Bills and Sabres town, and that's it.  A city of losers (I'm feeling very salty today)

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11 minutes ago, UBigbobby said:

#14, and the only peep you'll hear in the Buffalo sports media is when WGR does a scoreboard update.  I'm a born and raised Buffalonian, and I'm continually embarassed by this supposed "sports town".  This is a Bills and Sabres town, and that's it.  A city of losers (I'm feeling very salty today)

Sabres still get a fraction of the news coverage the Bills do, but I completely agree.

Let’s rock the place on Saturday! 

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My weekly review of the voting (for some odd reason I enjoy looking at how everyone voted). Graham Couch of the Lansing paper has us at #5, which is up from 8 last week. He values true road wins. Dicky V has us at 14. A writer from the St. Louis Post Dispatch is the only voter without UB is his/her top 25. Two or three voters have UB at #9 and one at #10.Let's keep it rolling with a big win next Saturday against the Salukis! Go Bulls!

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15 minutes ago, UB85 said:

My weekly review of the voting (for some odd reason I enjoy looking at how everyone voted). Graham Couch of the Lansing paper has us at #5, which is up from 8 last week. He values true road wins. Dicky V has us at 14. A writer from the St. Louis Post Dispatch is the only voter without UB is his/her top 25. Two or three voters have UB at #9 and one at #10.Let's keep it rolling with a big win next Saturday against the Salukis! Go Bulls!

Graham Couch is a particularly interesting case. He isn't ranking teams that have not played a road game so far this season. This means he left Kansas, Duke, Tennessee, Auburn, and Texas Tech unranked even though they are all in the top 11 currently. I think he even said that once Tennessee plays a road game next week, he might put them at number 1. 

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9 minutes ago, cheese_66 said:

Graham Couch is a particularly interesting case. He isn't ranking teams that have not played a road game so far this season. This means he left Kansas, Duke, Tennessee, Auburn, and Texas Tech unranked even though they are all in the top 11 currently. I think he even said that once Tennessee plays a road game next week, he might put them at number 1. 

His article, https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/sports/columnists/graham-couch/2018/12/10/graham-couch-ap-top-25-college-basketball-ballot-why-duke-kansas-tennessee-didnt-make/2264942002/

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8 minutes ago, UB85 said:

If you disagree, feel free to email me (gcouch@lsj.com) or tweet at me (@Graham_Couch), but do so only after you email or tweet at your spineless coach, whose fear of the road makes my point. Or whose arrogance deserves to be admonished.

 

Damn... Strong words

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24 minutes ago, ubmae86 said:

If you disagree, feel free to email me (gcouch@lsj.com) or tweet at me (@Graham_Couch), but do so only after you email or tweet at your spineless coach, whose fear of the road makes my point. Or whose arrogance deserves to be admonished.

 

Damn... Strong words

I support this 100%.  However, judging from his Twitter feed on the topic, I am in the minority.  Of course, I suspect most of those mad about this are from the blue bloods who don't like to travel.  Heck...Duke does not play a true road game in OOC...their first road game is at Wake on 1/8.  I hope they lose by 20 points.

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The number I had in my head and was hoping for was #14 today and thats where we ended up (14/15). Very exciting. This has been quite the ride.

3 very tough games coming up. We could lose 2 out of 3 and we still all very proud of this amazing team. I mean losing on the road to Marquette and SYR, depending how the games look, are not at all anything to be ashamed of. As far as rank goes, I could see that possibly dropping us out. I think to stay ranked we have to win 2/3 of these games.

Again the rank isn't the end all be all of this year. If #14 is the highest we ever get, amazing. I will never forget it. And then we keep rolling through the MAC with this deep team.

I am excited to goto the SIU game and get a program that says #14 to replace my Le Moyne one with the #17 :)

Just for fun let your imagination go wild and we beat SIU, SYR, MAR... Top 10 for sure.

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3 hours ago, UBigbobby said:

#14, and the only peep you'll hear in the Buffalo sports media is when WGR does a scoreboard update.  I'm a born and raised Buffalonian, and I'm continually embarassed by this supposed "sports town".  This is a Bills and Sabres town, and that's it.  A city of losers (I'm feeling very salty today)

Who cares. Ive told you before, this isn't even a hockey town. They ride the Sabres if they are playing well. I dont care what the paper or WGR reports on.

In my circles the UB ranked buzz is very real. My extended family as been going nuts this year. We even have a massive group text going for each game.

There are even a lot of fans that only came back when UB basketball football starting playing well a couple years back. Everyone but the Bills has the bandwagon effect, even UB. Those of us who are always here just keep moving forward. I enjoy the national coverage, which we get more of honestly.

I just honestly am having too much fun with this season to get upset about local media who aren't worth the time any way.

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5 hours ago, UBigbobby said:

#14, and the only peep you'll hear in the Buffalo sports media is when WGR does a scoreboard update.  I'm a born and raised Buffalonian, and I'm continually embarassed by this supposed "sports town".  This is a Bills and Sabres town, and that's it.  A city of losers (I'm feeling very salty today)

It’s embarrassing! I love the Bills and Sabres just like everyone else in Buffalo but I can’t even convince my friends to consider watching UB basketball despite them being ranked 14th in the country. 

People have their own preconceived notions of what UB athletics is which prevents them from getting personally invested in the program. 

If they were branded “Syracuse” or “Ohio State,” it would be completely different. It all comes down to this, UB has never been relevant at this level before and the majority of locals haven’t been groomed to follow them so they don’t care, regardless of how good they are.

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1 hour ago, xDerekRx said:

Who cares. Ive told you before, this isn't even a hockey town. They ride the Sabres if they are playing well. I dont care what the paper or WGR reports on.

In my circles the UB ranked buzz is very real. My extended family as been going nuts this year. We even have a massive group text going for each game.

There are even a lot of fans that only came back when UB basketball football starting playing well a couple years back. Everyone but the Bills has the bandwagon effect, even UB. Those of us who are always here just keep moving forward. I enjoy the national coverage, which we get more of honestly.

I just honestly am having too much fun with this season to get upset about local media who aren't worth the time any way.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had the same experience. My wife and dad love UB basketball despite being Ball State and Canisius Alums.

Some of my friends who follow college basketball closely are also enjoying it but other than that, none of my “average Joe” friends and family have even taken notice that UB is ranked.

Personally, that doesn’t impact me either way. I’m loving this season and will soak it all in but it’s amazing they haven’t gained more mainstream local coverage outside of what you see on social media and the occasional highlights on the news.

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Was talking to a buddy of mine. He and 17 others are going to the SIU game. Many of them are Canisius grads. Having a excellent track record of success enhanced by a top 25 ranking is a big draw. UB has been mostly irrelevant on the national stage. Making the tourney 3 out of the last 4 years and hopefully 4 out of 5 is a big deal. The was a huge buzz in the local community, I presume because playing in the tourney is a national event. People here want to support big time sports. A buddy of mine had it right decades ago. I went to a lot of Canisius games when they were in the NE conference. I had a hard time figuring out why they couldn’t get more than 2k or so in the aud. My buddy’s theory? No one wants to watch “North” Hampshire play. He was right. Oats has the program on an upward path. If it continues  community support as well as student support will get significantly larger. I see signs of it already. 

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17 minutes ago, MKBullsfan said:

It’s all about the conference. You bring in big name schools like Cuse, Villinova or Uconn to alumni people will come. But until they upgrade in conference, people will dismiss the level of play even though UB is legit good. 

Our school does not have the money to host big name programs though. And even if we did, teams don't want to play us on the road. Changing conferences isn't going to happen for a while. You think because we've had actual success in basketball for the past 4 years that we can just jump conferences? Nope. That won't happen for a long long time. Patience is a quality we as fans must have. As long as the university is committed to basketball, committed to Nate and invests in him, then he can build it into a college atmosphere and built into some special. 

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21 minutes ago, MKBullsfan said:

It’s all about the conference. You bring in big name schools like Cuse, Villinova or Uconn to alumni people will come. But until they upgrade in conference, people will dismiss the level of play even though UB is legit good. 

Also, fuck anyone who dismisses us. We are #14 in the nation, and people in the world of college basketball recognize the talent UB has right now. Haters are going to hate. For God's sake, we have never been ranked during the season. Let's live it up. Let's pray for Nate and his staff to take us somewhere special. 

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4 hours ago, xDerekRx said:

Who cares. Ive told you before, this isn't even a hockey town. They ride the Sabres if they are playing well. I dont care what the paper or WGR reports on.

In my circles the UB ranked buzz is very real. My extended family as been going nuts this year. We even have a massive group text going for each game.

There are even a lot of fans that only came back when UB basketball football starting playing well a couple years back. Everyone but the Bills has the bandwagon effect, even UB. Those of us who are always here just keep moving forward. I enjoy the national coverage, which we get more of honestly.

I just honestly am having too much fun with this season to get upset about local media who aren't worth the time any way.

Unfortunately it does matter Derek.  We talk about how the program gets tepid support because there's no culture of supporting the program and they're seen as "minor league" because they have traditionally been bad and play in a mid major conference.  However, building that culture is a combination of winning (which the team has done the last 5 years) AND getting buy in from the local community.  Like it or not, the only exposure most people in WNY will get to the program is through the local media outlets like the Buffalo News, local telecasts, and WGR.  It doesn't help that most games can only be watched on subscription ESPN+ online.  If the team is going to truly grow the fanbase and generate real local buzz they need the local media to realize this is a big deal and important for the WNY sports scene.  Like it or not, WGR and company ARE local trendsetters when it comes to sports in WNY and if these outlets don't treat this like a big deal, the majority of WNY fandom won't either.  

Like you, I'm tickled pink over what's happening but the lack of knowledge about what's happening around WNY is downright frightening.  We all want the program to move up to bigger and better things, and a better conference, but this year suggests that even if they somehow moved to the Big Ten it might not matter to Joe Bill's Fan, and that's a problem for the long term viability of the program to compete on a high level.

You are right about your Sabres point, and I agree.  Buffalo as a sports town is a complete myth.  Buffalo is a BILLS town and occasionally Sabres when they do something worth noting.  Otherwise, we might as well be Miami or Atlanta for the overall support of athletics in WNY.

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2 hours ago, UBigbobby said:

Unfortunately it does matter Derek.  We talk about how the program gets tepid support because there's no culture of supporting the program and they're seen as "minor league" because they have traditionally been bad and play in a mid major conference.  However, building that culture is a combination of winning (which the team has done the last 5 years) AND getting buy in from the local community.  Like it or not, the only exposure most people in WNY will get to the program is through the local media outlets like the Buffalo News, local telecasts, and WGR.  It doesn't help that most games can only be watched on subscription ESPN+ online.  If the team is going to truly grow the fanbase and generate real local buzz they need the local media to realize this is a big deal and important for the WNY sports scene.  Like it or not, WGR and company ARE local trendsetters when it comes to sports in WNY and if these outlets don't treat this like a big deal, the majority of WNY fandom won't either.  

Like you, I'm tickled pink over what's happening but the lack of knowledge about what's happening around WNY is downright frightening.  We all want the program to move up to bigger and better things, and a better conference, but this year suggests that even if they somehow moved to the Big Ten it might not matter to Joe Bill's Fan, and that's a problem for the long term viability of the program to compete on a high level.

You are right about your Sabres point, and I agree.  Buffalo as a sports town is a complete myth.  Buffalo is a BILLS town and occasionally Sabres when they do something worth noting.  Otherwise, we might as well be Miami or Atlanta for the overall support of athletics in WNY.

Buffalo is a Sabres town after the Bills are done. But Buffalo hasn't been a college football town ever or a basketball town since Bob Lanier and Calvin Murphy. You can't expect minds to change overnight. Trust me, even though interest level is not comparable to the Bills or Sabres yet, UB is enjoying it's highest awareness ever in WNY right now. TV ratings for UB games are good. Fans watch games in bars like 716. It's gotta build some more. I hope the school can give Nate Oats another bump in contract and get more locals to buy tickets and/or make contributions to the B&W Fund.

Another idea I had was maybe playing a game in Toronto? Might be enough of a carrot to get a marquee opponent.

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Just keep the success going and the momentum will grow. Keep winning and more people will notice. Then we hope that some high schoolers who are invested in college ball notice and decide to come to buffalo slowly growing the student fan base and slowly making this a sports school. Let’s enjoy the success that’s happening and be patient as others have said. The dividends will come 

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13 hours ago, UBigbobby said:

#14, and the only peep you'll hear in the Buffalo sports media is when WGR does a scoreboard update.  I'm a born and raised Buffalonian, and I'm continually embarassed by this supposed "sports town".  This is a Bills and Sabres town, and that's it.  A city of losers (I'm feeling very salty today)

We got about 2 minutes of UB talk on Hawaii sports talk during my drive home tonight, no real knowledge of who we are, but kinda talk about how it's cool that were up there and the Arizona & WVU wins.

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13 hours ago, UBigbobby said:

Unfortunately it does matter Derek.  We talk about how the program gets tepid support because there's no culture of supporting the program and they're seen as "minor league" because they have traditionally been bad and play in a mid major conference.  However, building that culture is a combination of winning (which the team has done the last 5 years) AND getting buy in from the local community.  Like it or not, the only exposure most people in WNY will get to the program is through the local media outlets like the Buffalo News, local telecasts, and WGR.  It doesn't help that most games can only be watched on subscription ESPN+ online.  If the team is going to truly grow the fanbase and generate real local buzz they need the local media to realize this is a big deal and important for the WNY sports scene.  Like it or not, WGR and company ARE local trendsetters when it comes to sports in WNY and if these outlets don't treat this like a big deal, the majority of WNY fandom won't either.  

Like you, I'm tickled pink over what's happening but the lack of knowledge about what's happening around WNY is downright frightening.  We all want the program to move up to bigger and better things, and a better conference, but this year suggests that even if they somehow moved to the Big Ten it might not matter to Joe Bill's Fan, and that's a problem for the long term viability of the program to compete on a high level.

You are right about your Sabres point, and I agree.  Buffalo as a sports town is a complete myth.  Buffalo is a BILLS town and occasionally Sabres when they do something worth noting.  Otherwise, we might as well be Miami or Atlanta for the overall support of athletics in WNY.

How do you knock Atlanta as a sports town? Their soccer team outdraws the Bills.

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10 hours ago, promotherobot said:

You can't expect minds to change overnight. Trust me, even though interest level is not comparable to the Bills or Sabres yet, UB is enjoying it's highest awareness ever in WNY right now. TV ratings for UB games are good. Fans watch games in bars like 716. It's gotta build some more. I hope the school can give Nate Oats another bump in contract and get more locals to buy tickets and/or make contributions to the B&W Fund.

This is something that I'm starting to come to terms with. We've all been along for the ride for years - the average fan hasn't. As much as we want instant sellouts, we're still building in the minds of many new fans.

I think we're going to enjoy one of those best years we've had in terms of public support/attendance and buzz. The AD(epartment) is doing it's job, winning, raising profile and maintaining academic standards. We're going to become hard to ignore soon.

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