Big 4 Hoops Blogger

Kent State game preview:

No threads yet so I figured I’d get it started. I think this game is a toss-up. Dustin Crum is great but the Golden Flashes are a largely unproven team. They’ve had a brutal non-conference schedule (Texas A&M, Iowa, Maryland) and opened up MAC play with a close win over Bowling Green. I’m going to go out on the ledge and pick a close UB victory tomorrow night.

Buffalo just announced their game against Kent State on 10/9 has been moved to 7pm on ESPNU. Huge news for a game with massive MAC East implications.

According to Tim Graham of The Athletic, the Buffalo Bills are open to sharing their proposed stadium with UB but the Buffalo athletic department isn’t interested unless the stadium is built in Amherst which seems unlikely. UB Stadium right now is subpar and less than ideal for the university. The issue is that the Bulls don’t draw enough to warrant going across town to play in Orchard Park and the Bills don’t have enough incentive to build in Amherst. Unless something crazy happens, I think UB will remain at UB Stadium for a long time. That said, Mark Alnutt addresses potentially exciting news for the stadium. He says that there are plans in place to build a separate track and field facility. As a result, UB can remove the track at UB Stadium and potentially lower their field down the line. Alnutt also said the university is looking to upgrade their current scoreboard. https://theathletic.com/2847449/2021/09/24/pegulas-invite-university-at-buffalo-to-play-in-bills-new-stadium-but-bulls-prefer-to-stay-on-campus/?source=user_shared_article

https://theathletic.com/2847449/2021/09/24/pegulas-invite-university-at-buffalo-to-play-in-bills-new-stadium-but-bulls-prefer-to-stay-on-campus/?source=user_shared_article I guess this answers my earlier question. According to Tim Graham of the Athletic, UB had 13,000 in paid attendance for their home opener against Wagner.

That’s strange. I can tell you for a fact that they did not have that number originally listed when they first posted the box score. They had a bit more than 13,000 for the Wagner game originally. I’m not sure why they would change it though. Maybe they originally had people actually in attendance and then updated it to the total tickets sold. Either way, we all know there wasn’t 17k for the opener. There were more people at the Coastal Carolina game with a lower attendance listed.

Attendance was announced at 16,739 so about 3,700 more than the home opener vs. Wagner.

Game preview with picks from the Bullet Points crew.

Interviews with Isaiah King and Quian Williams:

The Bullet Points team had the opportunity to live stream an extended podcast with UB head coach Maurice Linguist on Wednesday evening. We discussed everything from community support and his current squad to what he likes the most about Buffalo. Enjoy!

That’s the most important question. There’s no doubt UB has the potential to be a great athletic department but the funding part from the state has always been their greatest hurdle. It’s crazy to think that UCF and UB both began their D1 transitions around the same time and both played in the MAC simultaneously in the early 2000’s. Obviously they went on much different paths afterwards.

You can’t move into the big world of college athletics without taking risks. Sure, the American could eventually blow up but UB’s profile would dramatically improve in the eyes of many with the step up in competition. The increased tv money would help with travel expenses. It would almost become a necessity to upgrade facilities up to the standard of the AAC. From a basketball perspective, the AAC is loaded. Games like Memphis, Temple, Wichita State would be tremendous attendance draws. Even Memphis, SMU, Navy and Tulane from a football perspective would be fun to play and UAB sounds like a lock for expansion with their new stadium. It’s risky but you can’t move up to the big time unless you make baby steps first. UB isn’t jumping to a P5 conference anytime soon so better to make a small leap, improve the program and see if any of the big boys want Buffalo included down the line.

Sure, Marshall leaving for CUSA turned out to be a disappointment compared to what they were expecting but they’ve still had plenty of success in football and basketball since with many in their fanbase looking down on the MAC. I’m sure they would make the move again knowing what we know now.

Here’s a look at our Bullet Points preview for Nebraska including official predictions from the crew!

Will also have a game preview later in the week with predictions from the Bullet Points staff.

Let’s hope that’s the case. Like you said earlier, the Coastal Carolina game will be more telling. I can tell you though that there are some concerns within the program that even with Coastal being a ranked opponent, their lack of name recognition may be difficult draw.

Covid isn’t an excuse for the Buffalo community when they already sold out the entire Bills season and reached their season ticket cap of 60,000 for only the second time ever. I obviously understand that it makes an impact but to have a crowd of 13k is a disappointment no matter how you look at it. the mask mandates made a huge impact even though the majority of people inside the stadium weren’t wearing them. I say this as a fully vaccinated person who has followed all of the mandated rules without complaint.

For comparison sake, Buffalo had 18,142 in 2019 for a Thursday night home opener against Robert Morris. There’s no justifying the poor turnout from the Buffalo community last night.

Student turnout was unbelievable! Overall crowd though was disappointing. 13k for a home opener following Top 25 season with a new coach and fans allowed for the first time in two years is not acceptable whether it’s against a no name opponent or not. My belief is that the mask mandates and $30 tickets scared many families away on a Thursday night. It’ll be better against Coastal Carolina but that crowd should’ve been 17-18k based on normal circumstances.

Here's the link: UB Bulls 2021 Season Preview I wanted to share this video here. As many of you know, I used to be a sports anchor and news reporter for five years. I left the broadcast industry in 2018 but have been contributing to Bullet Points and Trainwreck Sports. The UB Athletic Department has been very accommodating to us throughout the past few years and we decided to put together a season preview video for the football team this fall. Please check it out. We have interviews with Coach Maurice Linguist, Kyle Vantrease, Kevin Marks, Jake Fuzak, Kadofi Wright, James Patterson and Taylor Riggins. In addition to the few stories we have, I also look into their marquee games, provide my three keys for their season and our Bullet Points team posts their season predictions. Only thing I was bummed about was our microphone struggling in the wind but I think you'll enjoy the video regardless. Just one of the things we have to deal with cheaper equipment.

Same here! I always root for the MAC to be strong because I think it benefits UB in terms of seeding and building a resume.