UB92

The Good News: After this game, UB should be back in the polls. The Bad News: It will be the Bottom 10 (or on the waiting list!

I don’t understand not going for it there. Regardless, giving up 40 at home to Fordham? I love UB and bleed blue, but two years in a row after a spirited try against Wisconsin means there is a larger issue with motivation.

It can’t be that we lose back to back years to FCS teams. It just can’t.

We are also playing some guy named James Madison and another named Fairleigh Dickinson. Not sure why we are playing games against individuals, but I will leave that up to the AD. Maybe it is cheaper that way?

The MAC coaches have UB predicted to finish 3rd. With those numbers, it seems about 6 - 7 wins in that scenario, perhaps. https://getsomemaction.com/news/2023/7/16/football-toledo-ohio-selected-as-favorites-in-head-coaches-preseason-poll.aspx What do you think will happen? Or have we all forgot about the giant egg we laid at the end of the season at home...only to survive (and to win a bowl game) because we were playing Akron? Perhaps we choose to forget! After all, it is possible for us to go 12 - 0! Go Bulls.

This sounds like a reasonable projection. I do think that UB will keep it relatively close and, maybe, lose 31 to 13 or something like that, with a long 4th quarter TD run by Wisconsin putting the game out of reach.

You can read it here: https://www.knightcommission.org/2023/08/statement-from-amy-privette-perko-ceo-knight-commission-on-intercollegiate-athletics-thursday-august-17-2023/ or here: https://www.knightcommission.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/KCIAPerkoStatementonrealignments.FINAL_.8.17.23.pdf

This reads more like someone pushing all the benefits of a rotary phone relative to a smart phone. It reads like a justification for inaction. It’s a bit of an obituary. What if the MAC died and nobody noticed?

There is no world where this could happen. Too much other stuff tied together (TV rights, bowl tie ins, future schedules, etc, etc). Relegation and promotion happened in English soccer in the 90s. The 1890s It is part of that culture. Heck, they can’t even do it here with MLS and it won’t happen here. But am I interested in seeing Haaland at Kenilworth Road this year!

I believe the guy in the article I linked to is a lawyer in that area of law and spoke about how he would approach that.

This conference realignment is really interesting from a business/financial perspective. In reading some articles (especially today with the ACC not even taking a vote on Cal and Stanford and SMU), I have a real fear that the run which caused the death of the PAC 12 is going to happen in the ACC -- and it will get ugly. The schools in the ACC have until August 15 to announce if they will leave in 2024, so that's an important date. Clearly FSU wants out. I think there are SEVERAL ACC schools that are seeing what happened to the PAC 12 and don't want to be like WSU, OSU, Cal and Stanford...holding the bag at the end and out in the cold. This author seems to think that this will play out like the PAC 12...UCLA and USC left a year earlier...and then the chaos happened the next year. Or, in other words, FSU and Clemson will leave by August 15...and then a decision will be made by the rest of the teams the following year. I disagree with this since all of the schools in the ACC are already aware of FSU's grumblings (and others), so several are likely making their own deals (or with groups of schools) for certain conferences. Accordingly, I think there will be even more upheaval on/by August 15.

I wonder who retains, if anyone, the name "PAC 10 or PAC 12". There is some value in that name. If WSU and OSU join up with those MWC schools (and/or others), I think they should just try to keep the PAC 10 name. This is an interesting story. The WSU President (who was leading the PAC 12 presidential group) really thought he had kept the conference together with the Apple TV streaming deal and the promise to renegotiate in a few years, but the other schools were negotiating all this time with other places (and paid him lip service). And now the WSU fanbase is outraged about this. He really should have had a plan b to jump to once everyone was jumping ship. But he went down with the ship (and, I guess, took OSU with them). This sort of thing was inevitable. It makes sense that two, non-descript PAC 12 schools are going to be casualties of this. I mean, if you had to select schools that could be left out of this game of P5 conference musical chairs, WSU and OSU would be on a list. The ACC for Stanford and UC-Berkeley are not done deals. There is still acrimony in the ACC about their monetary deals...and both those schools don't add much to the conference from a monetary standpoint (other than increasing travel costs). They look great on paper since they are two of the nation's most prestigious academic institutions, but that doesn't win you football games or increase TV revenues. Interesting times.

Interesting. Maybe that's how it can happen. But I don't think the geographical issues seem to be problematic for anyone at this point (or not initially). If Syracuse, BC, and Pitt come calling to UB, etc., something has gone horribly wrong for the ACC. And it could happen that FSU is the tip of the arrow for the ACC. https://www.si.com/college/fsu/football/new-report-reveals-seven-schools-actively-exploring-departure-from-acc If those schools leave for elsewhere (assumedly of Big10 or Big12 or SEC), it would leave: BC, Duke, Ga Tech, Louisville, Notre Dame (maybe), Pitt, Syracuse and Wake Forest. You'd have to wonder if those eight schools that are left would band together and try to make a "super conference" out of the leftovers from the PAC10, try to squeeze into one of the other conferences or something else. As much as it is fun to dream about, UB has made minimal moves to make themselves attractive towards potential conference expansion. I don't have a crystal ball, but I see the future as "superconferences" who will play each other...and the rest (AAC, MAC, Sun Belt, etc.) will sort of form an official "second-tier". I know they do right now (with the Group-of-Five), but I think it will become more of what the FBS is to the FCS. These teams won't be ranked, etc. I can see scenarios where the superconferences suck up all of the bowls (a 3 win Minnesota team is likely to draw a higher attendance and a higher TV rating than a 10 win MAC team, for example) in the future. There was an opportunity ... 10+ years ago...for UB to position themselves for today (or the next several years) for conference expansion. The decision makers decided "no". Financially it was (and is) likely the right call. But the sports fan and die hard alumnus is sad about it.

https://sports.yahoo.com/why-ohios-mr-football-lamar-180407400.html#:~:text=More-,Ohio's Mr.,for the Bulls in December.

A few comments... 1. You did do a lot of work on this! 2. I'd have thought that there is some freeware or template that could do this (maybe some Gantt charts), but sometimes you just need to bend a spreadsheet to your will. 3. The redshirt color is just a lighter blue. Maybe make the redshirt color...red. And make the dismissal something else (yellow?) 4. The column with the total minutes has shading that is a function of the value, but it isn't mentioned anywhere. 5. What about the overall and conference records along the top as well? It helps contextualize the year. 6. I am not sure it is worth it (or would make it too busy), but maybe incorporating something about positions as well. 7. I sometimes see something like this for bands that have been around a long time and have had many, many members. Here's an example (see the bottom of the page): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lynyrd_Skynyrd_members

The AD brought me out of hibernation when Whitesell was let go. I am excited for this hire and to see what GH3 does with this opportunity. Go Bulls!

Logical fallacy. I think straw man, but I don’t have them exactly memorized. Who said he was “the greatest Bulls coach”????? No one. They were just commenting on the positive vibes and different feel than the previous staff. Truth be told, I was mostly joking. But reading your response, I am now only half joking!

I guess you can start a “Fire GH3” thread if you want. It seems you are headed in that direction. Why wait for the games to start…you’ve had 100 days.

It is great he is committed so early. Imagine if he was 1000% committed...

I don’t care if they write “University in Buffalo”. They will have, hopefully, many years to learn where the “at” goes if they come to UB. Plus, they get easy access to Duffs.

I don’t know if this has been mentioned before, but WMU got a boat load of money from a very generous donor, with a nice chunk of it going to athletics. Perhaps some of that is for NIL. It can be a game changer for them.

If he comes here, there is plenty of time for him to learn the “at”

I know there is no other place to put this info, but why are stories of where are portaled players are visiting in the ‘23-‘’24 roster thread? If they sign somewhere else, fine. If they return back to UB, fine. But I am not really interested in how Jones’ visit to ISU went, to be blunt. Let’s focus on the guys that have committed and the guys who are here, rather than desperately following the portal guys. It’s a bad look.

Jaden Bradley, Fr from Alabama, is in the portal. He is from Rochester and also was with those other two players during the murder of that woman on the Strip. Do you think he will be persona non gratis, or will some place have interest? Would UB have interest?

Can we promise as a fan base to entirely put the question of “where will Halco go next” out of our collective minds for at least the next two years? I mean, not even entertain a thought. Let’s just focus in UB basketball for the next two years. I want to focus on recruiting the guys in the portal from our end, others in the portal he wants, his assistant coaches, etc. I am all in on Halco. Let’s go Bulls!