UB92

Two things: 1. No good effort attempts anymore like last year with Cincy, Cuse and TAMU. 40 minutes of hurt at Marquette. Don't hope to win, expect to win. This should be a more entertaining game if you like scoring. 2. If you wanted to wager on UB winning it all, you can. 800 to 1 odds. Better than their Friday opponent. https://www.actionnetwork.com/ncaab/college-basketball-2019-national-title-odds-tracker-duke-kentucky-kansas

I read this. It is a fairly typical fan base of blue bloods, with some reasonable people sprinkled in for garnish. However, the fan base knows something is off (with their coach, their offensive, losing to SBU and UB, having so many UB fans at the game, etc.), so that's different than a typical blue blood. Most of the their fan base (which is very, very typical) think of UB as some sort of upstart on a good run. Heck....you see that in the comments section of the articles of UB/Syracuse from the Syracuse newspaper. What almost all of their fan base (and many casual fans) don't understand is that UB is not some team that is on a good roll...they are an experienced, senior-heavy, defensive-committed team that is just very good (not very good for the MAC, but very good overall). Some B1G fans on some other place want to swap out Rutgers for Buffalo... 😉

I was wrong...we didn't win by 16. It was 12. Never a doubt, guys. Go Bulls.

Obviously. Still...they lost 15 times.

And...contract details released (or implied). https://www.ohio.com/sports/20181217/university-of-akron-football-new-coach-tom-arth-will-look-north-to-help-bolster-recruiting $500,000 a year for 5 years. This would put him in the middle (i.e. median) of MAC coaches. http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/ He got more than I anticipated.

15 loss Alabama as an at-large. SMH. Zero true road wins OOC and an 8 - 10 conference record. The system is set up for the P5. That's why we gotta get into one of those leagues...eventually.

"I think some kids still act like they might be above Buffalo," Coach Nate Oats said. "Well, OK, we're ranked 14th in the country. Do you have a scholarship offer from the 13 teams above us?" ========= Yeah...I love, love, love his attitude about this. It is 1000% the right approach. Keep at it Nate! By the way, the article (once again) emphasizes the importance of that first tournament appearance on recruiting. Next milestone tonight: Beat Cuse in their place. They wouldn't stoop to come to Buffalo (last time in 1996), Ithica (1981), Olean (2003), Canisius (2006) or Niagara (1982). The last time UB beat Syracuse was 1963 in Buffalo. It was an overtime affair that UB won 63 - 61.

That bit about turnovers...I've noticed the decrease in the numbers as well. Whatever he has said or has done, it has worked. Turnovers were the killer for UB for many, many years. Now it hasn't been as much of an issue.

I honestly thought that the betting public, who are smarter than the rest, would move the line closer to pick-em or even with the Bulls a slight favorite. However, so far the line is about Syracuse -3.5 to -4. Here is the thing about this game -- I see this as a UB blowout. 83 - 66. At some point, it is 20 point UB lead. Foot on gas for the entire 40 minutes. You miss a shot? Who cares...take it again. Run, run, run. Run them right out of the gym. Syracuse is a team ready to hit rock bottom. Sure...they staved that off with a win over Georgetown and they had a good game vs. OSU on the road. They still have talent, certainly. But something is not there for them. You can't lose to ODU. You also can't say "we have to play harder" or whatever tripe the players said after the latest loss. Often times people (i.e. the outside public and, perhaps, the team themselves) think that they will turn it on now...and then play great. Yes...that happens sometimes. But sometimes it is just a rung on the ladder going down...and then there is an even worse loss that follows a bad loss. Unless Syracuse tries to really, really slow the game down. Take all the time on a possession (weave, weave, weave, shoot the 3 with under 5 to go on the shot clock). Then they are reacting to us and not playing their own game. That's a win from the start. We get the long rebound and then run...and score in three seconds. In that scenario, we will still win, but likely not by 20. Still a win, though! (and take the under). Arizona was great because it was done on a national stage and got everyone's attention (and still does). This one...will hit closer to home...about 150 miles east. Go Bulls!

I am wondering what the line will be tomorrow. I expect (yep) that UB will be a road favorite...maybe 1 1/2 points or somewhere in there. Fans think one thing, but those guys know how to set lines. So...I expect this is the game that UB players, fans and coaches have waited for since they left the court last year around this time. We had the lead with 3:16 to go (68 - 67), but failed to score until 33 seconds left. Since that time, UB figured out they were really good during conference play and, despite a hiccup here and there (looking at you KSU on the road), they won the MAC, survived Toledo, exposed Arizona and played Kentucky tough. And haven't lost since. They are a team with a lot of confidence that won't get rattled on the road, has been through the wars already and has plenty of options on the floor (and on the bench) should someone have an off day. And they are committed to the defensive end and value possession. I expect this is another coming out party for UB basketball as the rest of NYS figures out what we already know: UB's ranking is deserved and they are the top basketball team in NYS this year. Go Bulls.

Yes...I could see us at 15 or 16...at best holding at 14. Is OSU going to be rewarded for barely beating Bucknell at home?

Are they going to be on the hook for the 2 years they owe Bowden? Arth is not an inspired hire. I think UTC fans were not displeased to lose him. I don't know the contract details, but I would wager that, with his background, he may start out at the tail end of the MAC salary scale.

Just win...forget the rest about who beats who and where. Control what you can control -- the rest is wasteful. Go Bulls!

Done.

This is what it says it will give: Yamaha sound bar with built-in subwoofer; Timely Watch Co. watch; Maui Jim sunglasses; Wilson game ball However, I have been to Dollar General many, many times. My guess is that they get they get the following: Three pack of holiday wrapping paper (35 square feet each). $3. Three 12-packs of Coke products (on sale for $10.00). A package of Rubbermaid "TakeAlongs", 3 pack. A 12-pack of bungee cords (assorted sizes)

The technology exists.

Here is Joey Loose's methodology: "Devising a methodology to rank all of them is virtually impossible, so the following was used as a baseline. Certain statistics such as career winning percentage, NCAA Tournament success, conference championships, and expectations for the 2018-19 season were all taken into account. There may be some coaches who seem too high or too low, but any coach can see a drastic change in the ranking with one good or bad season. Most information was gathered from Sports Reference and future projections were taken from KenPom’s ratings. " Here is the one comment I found on the article: "First of all, this list is just insane. There is no objective measure to determine one coach being better than another. Even on subjective measures, you are flinging poo. How can you say that Josh Pastner is a better coach than Bob McKillop? That is just nuts." ---- The less time we spend thinking about Joey Loose and his list, the better.

I am all for playing games in MSG, Barclays and the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. We have to keep trying and trying to tap into the NYC/metro market. There is a lot of good that can happen if UB athletics can do that (even in a small way). And...I don't want UB to play Stony Brook. I want them to play P5 or equivalent at one of those venues. But....gotta keep winning. When you win, good things happen. Big game on Saturday.

I appreciate your enthusiasm and your willingness to say that we should be able to draw 6k for a game with at Top-15 team. People can always find whatever excuse they want to say "no" or "this can't happen". I've seen it many, many times in my career during the past 25 years. Good on you for having reasonable expectations.

Soccer...yes, I am sure the eyes of WNY will be glued to their screens for the West Ham - Fulham matchup (the story lines are endless...can Fulham get out of the drop zone?) I know...the affiliates are contractually obligated to show it, but it is not like they are dumping any of the Big 6 teams. They could do it... By the way...a shopping tip for you: Christmas is Dec 25th, so you actually have two more weekends to shop.

I understand how important it is to get people out to the game, but increasing regional interest by showing the game on TV...that's good. Unless our region is really interested in Utah State vs North Texas in the New Mexico Bowl... Yes...get the game on TV. If it means 500 less people show up for the game in person, but 50,000 watch it (I am making up numbers here), that's good!

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.

Yeah...I love the fact he did this. I think he was amazed by the profanity and couldn't help but to twist the knife a bit. Lots of likes for that tweet tonight!

Statue of Turner Gill? Yes. 100%. At an appropriate time, invite him back to campus and unveil the statue. It is hard to oversell his importance to UB athletics and UB football.

From an academic standpoint, we look a lot like B1G. Large, flagship school that have very strong engineering programs. OSU, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, etc. But we are light years behind in athletics. But that doesn't mean we have to stay that way. Right now, I would say we look like UMass. We look like no other MAC school in my opinion.