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Are UB and St. Bonaventure rivals?!?


Is UB/Bona a rivalry game?  

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  1. 1. Is UB/Bona a rivalry game?


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  • Poll closed on 12/09/2018 at 05:04 AM

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Buffalo and St. Bonaventure are rivals, even if some fans disagree

I felt the need to ask this. Growing up, I always assumed each of the local Big 4 schools considered themselves rivals. Obviously, I understood some of the matchups were more meaningful than the others but I still felt they were important games in the local hoops landscape even with UB being a D1 newcomer.

I bring this up with Buffalo getting set to battle St. Bonaventure. I've seen many fans questioning if this truly is a rivalry game. I think it is and I definitely believe it can blossom into a much more heated game going forward if both teams sustain their recent success.

Each time UB takes on SBU, WNY supremacy is on the line. Both schools recruit at a high level and despite conference affiliation, they're comparable talent wise and play an exciting brand of basketball.

So what do you all think? Check out my column and let me know your thoughts!

Edited by Big 4 Hoops Blogger
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4 minutes ago, Jeseph said:

It’s a rivalry. We need to start winning to make it a good one.

It has all the hallmarks of a rivalry.  In state schools in close proximity, which leads to battles for recruits, bragging rights and fan support.   Public versus private school.  We play each other every year already.  I could go on.  As said above...we need to take control of the rivalry.

Quick question...Do anyone of you feel we have an inferiority complex (big brother/little brother) when it comes to Bonaventure?

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2 minutes ago, DooleyBull06 said:

Quick question...Do anyone of you feel we have an inferiority complex (big brother/little brother) when it comes to Bonaventure?

Nope, just hate them and want to Beat them.

Also, aside from beating us they’ve done nothing more impressive than us since the 70s

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I'll say no. I've never been to Olean, I know nothing about Bona, I don't know anyone who went to Bona and have no real aspirations to ever go to Olean. I don't want to be them, I'm not jealous of them, I literally could not care less. My major beef with Bona is the Buffalo News adopts them as their team in a way they have never done for UB.

Our MAC rivalries have grown and we don't NEED a rivalry in basketball, we still lack a true football rival, although I think Temple, UMass, EMU and Ohio have potential, the administration at some point has to get involved to really make these rivalries pop.

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If it's the media's "Big 4 rivalry" label, then, sure. I choose 'in time' because it's not any further than that. If both schools clearly set themselves apart from the MAAC Big 4's and play huge matchups yearly, then sure. It's not like it is an Albany-Siena, Cincy-Xavier, Seton Hall-Rutgers type of close proximity game. The Little 3 schools have each played themselves hundreds of times. We have played NU the most, and Bona the least. Any history is newly developing. Canisius is the top local rival for us with the Main street proximity and some tough, chippy games.

 

Edited by RecoveringHillbilly
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I consider them a rival strictly because they are in the Big 4. During my time at UB we always traveled to Olean to see the games and their fans always traveled to UB. Do I think it is a bitter rivalry? No. But any game against one of the Big 4 seems to have a different feeling than other OOC games.

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3 hours ago, SGBull said:

I consider them a rival strictly because they are in the Big 4. During my time at UB we always traveled to Olean to see the games and their fans always traveled to UB. Do I think it is a bitter rivalry? No. But any game against one of the Big 4 seems to have a different feeling than other OOC games.

Do agree that any game against one of the Big 4 has a different feel no matter what the records are of the teams. We have went to most of the Big 4 games over the years and for the most part just the buzz of the crowds are different. It has been just an enjoyable time to be a local college basketball fan in spite of where your allegiance is. Go Bulls!!!!

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1 minute ago, John said:

Do agree that any game against one of the Big 4 has a different feel no matter what the records are of the teams. We have went to most of the Big 4 games over the years and for the most part just the buzz of the crowds are different. It has been just an enjoyable time to be a local college basketball fan in spite of where your allegiance is. Go Bulls!!!!

To be fair, the crowd has a different feel because they are the only games where there are any visiting team fans in attendance and have historically been the games with the best crowds.

I wonder why we don't play Niagara and Canisius regularly.  We struggle to get D1 teams to play at Alumni Arena but then we have two local teams that we don't schedule?  What sense does that make?

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Yes we're rivals. Bona fans like to act like we're not because "history" is the one thing they can hold over our head. It eats them alive that we have the more recent tourney win (nobody counts your de facto home play in game against a UCLA team that got in based on name). We have as many tourney appearances in 4 years as they have in 40. We land better recruiting classes (thus accusations that we're dirty), I mean they start a kid from Amherst that we weren't even bothered to offer. Imagine chanting "we want UB" and then turning around and acting like you don't care about this game because we're not rivals. I've never participated in a "we want Dartmouth" chant.

Edited by trueblue32
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35 minutes ago, dutchcountry7 said:

I wonder why we don't play Niagara and Canisius regularly.  We struggle to get D1 teams to play at Alumni Arena but then we have two local teams that we don't schedule?  What sense does that make?

We’re playing Canisius and Niagara said no. So....

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I voted "yes".  They are relatively close, in a good conference and easy to hate.  What's not to like about this rivalry?

Much, much better than anything we have in football, that is for sure.  I don't believe any UB football opponent has chanted "we want UB"...

Go Bears!

Edited by UB92
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1 hour ago, dutchcountry7 said:

To be fair, the crowd has a different feel because they are the only games where there are any visiting team fans in attendance and have historically been the games with the best crowds.

I wonder why we don't play Niagara and Canisius regularly.  We struggle to get D1 teams to play at Alumni Arena but then we have two local teams that we don't schedule?  What sense does that make?

Were playing the griffs on 12/28 I believe. The purple eagles did not want to play us. Not sure why. But it does seem a dumb move by them. 

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In Philadelphia, Villanova, St Joseph’s, Penn, Lasalle, and Temple all play each other every year. Drexel might play some of the other 5 but they aren’t considered to be in the group - Drexel is not considered a rival. You always want to protect your ‘turf’. I’d say Olean, even though it’s 90 miles away, is part of the ‘Buffalo’ turf. In that sense, Buffalo, Canisius, Niagara, and St Bonaventure are rivals. It seems like a rivalry game to me...but I’m from Buffalo. Maybe if you’re a Bulls fan from Syracuse you consider them a rival - but UB rarely plays Syracuse. Rivalries are great for sport. You hate losing to a rival. It eats at you more than losing to, say, the San Francisco team would have. I can’t wait to beat the Bonnies!

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52 minutes ago, mikescherrer8 said:

#JustOleanThings

Wonder why Bona  administration allows that??? You can shout a lot of things but does it have to be that type of language.  I guess I am in the minority on not to use foul language. Go Bulls!!!

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1 minute ago, John said:

Wonder why Bona  administration allows that??? You can shout a lot of things but does it have to be that type of language.  I guess I am in the minority on not to use foul language. Go Bulls!!!

Bonnies basketball is really the only thing Olean has. I feel bad for them, really. I don't even take it to heart when they say things like "fuck UB" or "UB sucks". It just makes the win even sweeter. But, moving on to SIU. Then we have more important things to worry about like Cuse and Marquette. 

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It hasn't been.  It's been one sided in Bona's favor, and they've only played like 14 times ever.  Unlike Niagara and Canisius who UB plays just about every year, until a few years ago UB and Bona's hadn't.  If UB can build on this and Bona's can find a way to be relevant more than once every 40 years, I hope it turns into one.  There are a lot of Bonnies fans and alums in Buffalo that like to shoot their mouths off about being the only good program in WNY because they were pretty good in the 70s.  Well, that's becoming less and less relevant with age and with the rise of UB.

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