Big 4 Hoops Blogger

This is my general takeaway as well. It's going to be a roller coaster type season. In the end, I hope there's more highs than lows and that they get hot heading into Cleveland. Much different mentality than past years for me personally.

Appreciate you tuning in! Tulane game is definitely winnable with them recently losing at home against Fordham. Won't be easy for UB though. I think 125-150 is a fair expectation for this group based on their early results this season. UB is currently 165 in KenPom. The Howard game is their only ugly looking loss in the metrics while James Madison was their worst effort overall. While it might be difficult to get coaches to speak on record, we do have a few connections that we can hopefully get some more insight from at some point during the season.

Great win for Buffalo over the weekend against St. Bonaventure. The Bulls dominated from the very beginning. Curtis Jones and Zid Powell look to be a dangerous 1-2 punch. A big key for the Bulls was getting Chad Venning into foul trouble early. Yann Farrell will be good for the Bonnies but was their only real threat on Saturday. UB is looking solid heading into the end of non-conference play. The victory over Bona changes my outlook a little bit. Buffalo now has three Top 130 KenPom victories just eight games into their season. They might have the ability to cause some problems in MAC play.

I’ll eat crow, I didn’t see that coming. Great win for UB. I’m really encouraged by the 1-2 scoring punch they’re developing with Jones/Powell. It’s never easy controlling the tempo against St. Bonaventure and the Bulls controlled the pace from the very start.

Curtis Jones is playing out of his mind! 27 points with 11 minutes left. UB might have a young star in the making.

I'm giving St. Bonaventure a slight edge in this one. Bonnies are good at slowing down the pace which could give UB some issues. SBU guards are hit or miss. Banks and Luc both have the ability to go off any given night but also have the potential to force shots and struggle from the field. Their young forwards have some ability. Transfer Chad Venning has size and was strong against Notre Dame. Freshman Barry Evans was highly touted and Yann Farrell was a Top 150 recruit for them, choosing St. Bonaventure over a bunch of P5 programs. Buffalo has a chance today but they'll need to take care of the ball and shoot well overall. Bonnies lost to Canisius, which is awful but have responded well since. I'll pick the Bonnies 67-63.

Appreciate your response and input. My point about the schedule is that it’s one that could potentially really beat up this Bulls squad. As mentioned earlier, there’s multiple different philosophies on how to create non-conference schedules. I’ll never say I’m right or wrong because it’s all about individual point of views. This is a schedule I’d be more in favor of if UB was expected to be a MAC contender. With a rebuilding squad, I would’ve liked something more along the lines of what St. Bonaventure put together to build some confidence. KenPom has UB as underdogs in their next four D1 games and heavy underdogs against WVU and MSU. Realistically, Buffalo could be 5-8 after 13 games if they don’t find a way to split Bona/Tulane which are both hovering around Top 100. There are aspects of this UB team that I’m encouraged about but it’s difficult to take too much away from a dominating win over Canisius, although there is something to be said about taking care of business which the Bonnies failed to do against the Griffs. Curtis Jones has been incredible and I think Zid Powell is fitting in nicely. Jones has a scoring touch that I didn’t see happening this quickly in his career. I like the Bulls defensive intensity but there hasn’t been many other high level performers. Hardnett has taken a step forward to where I think many of us expected him to be a few years ago. As far as Adams and Foster, they’re scoring but I’m hoping they’re able to step up their level of play because I was expecting a little bit more out of both of them. UB has been playing with a fast tempo which is nice but they also have to cut down on their turnovers. I think the MAC preseason prediction of 6th place will be pretty close to accurate with this squad.

I'm going to update the link to our show every week here so I don't need to start new threads. Fast forward to the 15:00 mark for some UB talk. We discuss their challenging upcoming slate of games and breakdown their recent victory over Canisius. We started the show this week discussing St. Bonaventure's win over Notre Dame if you want insight on the Bonnies and spent some time near the end breaking down Nate Oats recent success at Alabama.

Going live with our latest episode at 6:45. I’ll post the link below and the replay of it afterwards. Lots to discuss today regarding UB. Big 4 Talk Episode 3

Ohio led by as many as nine points and had a 61-55 lead at U4 timeout before things unraveled. Bobcats roster full of transfers and young freshman. Dwight Wilson III is back for his final year of eligibility and was an absolute beast tonight. Rest of team is trying to figure out their identity. Has the feel of Kent/Akron where they might struggle a little bit to open the season before figuring things out in MAC play.

So, that was a tough week for UB... It wasn't unexpected but never good to get blown out in back-to-back conference games in mid-February. The Bulls are struggling and they don't exactly have freebies remaining on their schedule. Buffalo already lost to three of their four remaining opponents. Siting at 12-15 overall, it looks like they could have their first losing season since Reggie Witherspoon's final year with the program in 2012-13 when they went 14-20. John and I addressed the current state of the Big 4 and if UB is capable of making a run in Cleveland. Fast-forward to the 17:30 mark for UB talk.

Haven’t been posting much lately but enjoyed the hell out of their win over Toledo. Big game coming up angainst Ohio. You guys know how I’m divided when these two teams play. Bobcats looked sloppy earlier in the year but are starting to put things together, much like UB has. Kurtis Rourke has finally become a top tier MAC quarterback like his brother. Bobcats secondary was horrendous / look up Fordham game numbers but have done better against MAC competition.

On paper, the Bobcats have a really talented roster. The question is how quickly their transfers and newcomers can gel together. I’d expect them to be in the mix in March.

You're definitely correct based on the modern era and no one comes close. Most of these recruiting services have only been around for a few decades though. Would like to mention Ohio had a Parade All American and National High School player of the year in their 1972 class. Impossible to compare era's but it’s arguable that Walter Luckett is the top high school recruit to commit to a MAC program (non-transfer situation).

One of the best recruits to ever commit to a MAC school. Will be interesting to see how this plays out. Former 5 star, Top 5 recruit in 2021 class.

I’m confident UB will be competitive and a .500 or better team but I don’t think they’ll finish in the Top 4 of the MAC. Toledo is still good without Rollins. Carry is returning to Kent State and Ohio has a strong collection of newcomers in addition to Dwight Wilson coming back. Factor in Ball State being much improved and Akron being the defending champs, I don’t think it’s likely UB will be near the top. IMO, they’ll be in the middle of the pack (5th-7th) I am intrigued to see what Whitesell does with his own players though. This is a fresh start. Hopefully this team steps up and plays loose with lesser expectations.

Ohio just landed another decent transfer, Devon Baker out of Tulane. Scored only 6 ppg last year but averaged 16 ppg on 43% shooting and 34% 3-pt shooting at UNC Asheville. Would imagine he'll be one of their primary scorers. With their three incoming transfers and strong HS class, you'd have to imagine they'll be near the top of the MAC again next year.

The players in the locker room liked Casey Case a lot last season and thought he deserved an opportunity. Obviously, the coaching staff wanted to bring in some competition with Cole Snyder. Right now, I think it's a coin flip. Case seems like the better passer with Snyder being more of a mobile threat. I don't think any of their other quarterbacks are in the running right now. Matt Myers had a brutal start to the spring game and was the 3rd quarterback to take snaps.

Yep, I think a lot of us saw the cracks in the pavement a while ago but it’s more obvious now after what’s gone down during the past four months. UB fans better pray these 3 star sophomores have some game and can elevate themselves to the recent standard established by this program or the Bulls could be in for a long year.

Old Dominion starting point guard to Ohio. Averaged 9.7 points, 4 assists per game at ODU. Believe he has two years of eligibility remaining.

Former Top 150 recruit who couldn't see the court at Louisville. Had offers from plenty of P5 schools out of HS. 6-11 forward. Will be a junior next season. https://247sports.com/player/gabe-wiznitzer-46057505/ Was ranked 117th and a 4-star recruit by Rivals. Planned on redshirting freshmen year but didn't due to Covid season. https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2020/gabe-wiznitzer-233211

I covered Jaylen Butz in high school when I was a sports anchor in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was a very good player at that level, guiding North Side to a state runner-up with his star teammate, Kentucky wing Keion Brooks Jr. Buffalo could use a guy like him. He's a solid forward that's a decent defender and rebounder. He's a limited scorer but good down low. He'd project around 10-13 points per game and 6-8 rebounds per game in the MAC imo Was a solid player at DePaul but didn't see the court much at Western Kentucky.

You guys know I love Mark Sears but I have no clue how this will play out. He’s a great mid-major scorer but has some limitations. Sears didn’t have the best vision and his height limits him. Luckily for him at Alabama, he won’t be asked to be an impact player like he was at Ohio. I see him being a SG now, averaging 10-15 mpg, 6-7 ppg and 1-2 apg. I think he’s talented enough to play P5 basketball but I’m not sure he’s good enough to be an impact player at that level. My gut says he’ll be more of a role player. Has a great shot and offensive game. Wish him the best!

Butler hired Thad Matta as head coach so it appears Boals and Groce will remain in the MAC unless something unforeseen happens.

Going back to the original theme of the thread... It's been an unbelievable run for St. Bonaventure that salvaged their season (I had said their season was a disappointment following Atlantic 10 Tournament. That's no longer the case) This is the first NIT Final Four appearance for a WNY school since Canisius in 1995. Of course, we all know the Bonnies won the NIT in 1977, which is the 2nd best accomplishment in their school history behind their Final Four appearance in 1970. I think their run might've played a role in Schmidt staying. The money obviously helps but the timing would've been horrible to leave during the middle of a magical run when you're considered one of the iconic coaches in school history. Another question is if Schmidt really took UMass seriously or if this was a money grab by his agent the entire time to leverage St. Bonaventure into paying him more. Regardless, good for the Bonnies fanbase as much as some on this board despise them.