UBigbobby

I absolutely lost my shit when Hannah got bowled over and there was no call.  I was out of my seat screaming terrible things at the refs.  Totally lost it.  Haven't felt that since the old Mighty Maniacs days yelling at Charlie Cole and shit.  It was nice.

2 minutes ago, admin said:

Just listened to Steve Smith and Andy Katz. Katz has us beating Texas Tech. He thinks we are due for a breakthrough.  He has us falling to Michigan. 

Is anyone else a little uncomfortable with all the love from the experts? Next thing we know Barkley is going to jump on the wagon. 

Welcome to the big time.  Being the underdog is nice because if you lose...well you we're supposed to, so people will give you credit for how close to kept it, or the fight you put up.  But if you want to be big time...that comes with expectations.  No UB program has ever been in that position.  Hell, it's been a long time since any Buffalo team (including Bills and Sabres) have been in that position.

3 minutes ago, rma said:

Completely agree.  The little things add up.  I noticed the Wegmans on Transit/Maple gives UB equal merch space as the Sabres currently (though it is still weird to see UB Under Armor apparel).  You see people walking around with UB hats or shirts.  My coworkers go from "How did UB do?" to "Wow, what a great win".  WGRZ had an article saying season ticket sales are up 40%, merchandise sales up 50%.

Yup, I noticed the same at the Dick Rd. Wegmans.  Earlier in the season there may have been maybe 1 or 2 UB things.  However a few weeks ago I noticed that the Sabres, Bills, and UB stuff was evenly split, and the UB still was being given the better, more visible placement. 

I just realized this already happened lol.  Oh well, cool none the less.

2 minutes ago, dutchcountry7 said:

I am being serious here.  I want to understand what you think it would take to get A10, American and other higher level conference teams (not Bonas) to come in. 

I want to have actual definitions so we can look back on this.  I would be glad to be wrong and Alumni be hosting big games in three years.  I just don't think it is going to happen.  It isn't like it was in the 90s.

I don't think you can, at least not with any sort of regularity.  There will occasionally be a UCONN or Pitt (when they were very good) that will do it because they want a few "easy" road wins.  Best that you can hope for is some bigger programs willing to have UB go there to play, and then maybe finding a few better mid-majors like Southern Illinois, San Fran, etc. to come to Alumni.  You're simply not going to get Cinci, Houston, UCF, etc to come to UB with much regularity IMO.  There's little reason for them to. Those AAC teams need to build their own tournament resumes by playing power conference teams, not go on the road to UB unless you know UB is going to be ranked.  This year people thought UB would be good for a mid major, but not this good.  

Just now, rma said:

I know the women's team get a lot less coverage than the men's, but Felisha Legette-Jack is up there in my list, possibly higher than Nate Oats.  Listen to her speak and you'll know why.

Love the WGR coverage.  I'm not a listener (though I did tune in today), but it's a HUGE audience that we need to capture.

WGR is terrible, but important.  They drive a LOT of what the sports conversation is and where fans attention is placed.  For much of the year, other than short segments and a weekly interview with Nate on Howard Simon, WGR completed ignored UB, despite their ranking.  Buzz was building in the city and people were talking about them, but WGR continued to steadfastly demand it wasn't a story worth anyone's time and refused to cover it.  Them finally deciding that the buzz among the public was too much to ignore and deciding to devote this much time to UB is important.  There are still a lot of UB skeptics out there who haven't heard the news.  WGR giving UB airtime like the Sabres or Bills legitimizes the program in the eyes of many Buffalo fans who may have not jumped on the bandwagon yet. 

Byron Brown announced that on Sunday the 17th a long list of buildings and landmarks including City Hall, Fountain Plaza, the Peace Bridge, Seneca Tower, Theater District, and more will be lit up in Blue and White all night to honor the UB men and women.

https://twitter.com/MayorByronBrown/status/1107391885956526080

I'll take either team.  I LOVE the Oats v Hurley story from a fan standpoint, and let's all admit, March is about the storylines.

However, I'd prefer St. John's because I think it's a better matchup for us.  Either way, UB is the better team and if the whole team decides to show up and put in a true 40 minute high intensity defensive effort, they should win it solidly.

This UB team can beat any team in the country except maybe Duke, UVA, or the Zags.  However to do so they need to lock it in for a full 40 minutes and they can't have half the team fall asleep.  They were prone to this all year.  UB is better than ASU and St. Johns, but they WILL lose if they do what they did for much of the MAC season and sleepwalk through games.  We need an Akron effort.  If they give a CMU effort they will get bounced fast.  BUT, if we get that Akron effort, they should win their first game and have a very good shot at Texas Tech.  I don't think Michigan is as good as many think (as MSU keeps showing us) and are beatable.  Elite Eight will be difficult, but it also wouldn't be shocking if they make it there.  But again...they cannot repeat the bad habits we saw from them during many MAC games.  You can blow a 16 point lead vs BG and still win by 15.  You cannot against Texas Tech or Michigan.

I saw a few people in the game thread saying they booked a flight.  There are also some Bulls alumns around the area already that said they're going.  I would expect turnout to be similar to Boise last year.  People in Buffalo have a bad habit of treating UB like a small, local college like Canisius or Niagara or something.  UB is a 30,000 student national university with alumni in damn near every major city and every state in the country.  There are a LOT of UB alumns in LA and I expect a good turnout if they can get to the second weekend especially.  UB fans don't only live in WNY and NYC like many seem to think sometimes.  

I listed to Howard and Jeremy this morning.  Only talked UB men and women for at least an hour and a half.  It was the main topic of their show.  On the drive home WGR were talking 100% UB Bulls.  Talking matchups with ASU or St. Johns.  Every single caller wanted to talk about UB.  Talking about the recruits coming in next year, and the the long term possibilities.  

Basically, the Bulls were being treated like a legitimate companion to the Bills and Sabres.  There was a discussion on who you think the most important Sports personalities in Buffalo are.  Many people felt #1 was either Eichel/Dahlin or Josh Allen.  #3 or #4 was Nate Oats.

I will admit I don't know what Schopp and Bulldog talked about.  They have previously said they do not follow basketball (college or NBA) at all, so i don't know if they tried to talk UB or instead debate which third string tackle the Bills should sign next.

This may only last until the weekend, but never, at any point did I think UB basketball could be more than a weekly interview of Nate Oats on Howard and Jeremy and a 5-10 minute segment.  To see basically the entire day dedicated to actual discussion of the Bulls was fantastic.  

At work today I had people talking to me about the Bulls because they know I'm a fan.  One colleague started a water cooler discussion about how she loves CJ and doesn't understand how Jordan can be so bad at freethrows.  She's a Buff State alum and her husband went to Canisius.  She has 0 UB connections.

10 minutes ago, Jeseph said:

For those in Buffalo they have cancelled the watch party. Really unfortunate for the teams

 

ESPN really screwed the pooch on this.  They were showing the brackets for 20 minutes on ESPNU this morning.  20 Minutes!!!!  Major cockup that really hurts these programs that fight on campus for all the attention they can get.  Shame on ESPN.

14 minutes ago, UBFan99 said:

If UB wins they are staring at UCONN in round 2. Sweet 16 ain’t gonna happen this year. 

UCONN is a fantastic program. But they've been surpassed by others.  The quality of the women's game has been rising across the board.  They're no longer the boogeyman they used to be. 

4 minutes ago, dutchcountry7 said:

The team beat Arizona last year and returned all the star power. 

The second game of the year was a win over ranked West Virginia.

Every season has seen a steady rise in attendance.  It also coincides with how the teams tend to get better as the season progresses and the most meaningful games are late in the year.

Why did it take so long for the attendance to follow?  Isn't it curious how the attendance saw a rise as the competitive games started to happen.

Remember when football had a big win and then everyone turned out for Army?  Why did it take the basketball team so long to attract fans?  If better teams were being played the people would have come out sooner.

Tell me, what do you think the lowest attendance will be next year?  How many will turn out next year to see a team like St. Francis or Dartmouth?  You still expecting 6,500?

This is all such nonsense.  You keep screaming, "UB NEEDS TO PLAY BETTER TEAMS AT HOME!!!".  And we're all like, "Yea, that would be great, I agree, but no one will come here and Nate has been trying."  And your response is just, "YEA, BUT UB NEEDS TO PLAY BETTER TEAMS AT HOME!!!".  Get off it man.  We ALL want better home games, but they simply have not been there for the taking.  Do you realize we were the first ranked team to play in most other MAC arenas in literally a decade or two?  You want better mid major games at home...yea...well so do those better mid majors!! 

Also, UNC made the tournament as a 9 seed despite having a record of 18-14 including a losing record of 4-7 on the road.  They made it...as a 9 seed.  Ohio got left out as a 34 RPI.  As usual, the men's bracket looks downright sensible and well reasoned as opposed to the non-nonsensical cluster that is the women's committee.

2 minutes ago, mikescherrer8 said:

I think a 10 seed is fair. If we were an 11 last year, I can definitely live with a 10 this year.

I have more of a problem with UB being a 10 seed playing an 7, yet UB is ranked 4 spots HIGHER in the RPI than the 7 seed they're playing.  Honestly, this works out well in that first game for UB but it's also shitty on paper.  

Alright, this shit is enough.  Go create another thread for Season Ticket holds to bitch and moan about paying $15 per game instead of $10 per game or whatever.  Let's keep this about Nate's contract.

16 minutes ago, Jeseph said:

Welp ESPNU just leaked the bracket.

I'll let you search Twitter if you want to spoil it

I like the matchup...however it's also a very unfair seed in comparison to who UB is playing IMO.  And we think the men's committee disregarded the NET.  The women's committee wiped their asses with the RPI rankings.

Done.  UB to the Elite Eight.  Gonzaga wins it all.

16 minutes ago, dutchcountry7 said:

I get your wise cracks but the schedule needs more home games and better home games if you want fans to pack it in. 

You don't have to have big names, you just need good teams that give good games.  In the past the coaches have wanted to go on the road to play big names and make a name for Buffalo.  Well now people know about Buffalo and the community turns out.  Give the community something to see.  No one wants to see blowouts and go three weeks between home games.

Oats has spoken at LENGTH about the scheduling problems he faces.  

#1 Power conference teams don't like going on the road to mid-majors

#2 Power conference teams don't like playing good mid-majors at all.  

You act like the program doesn't try and schedule big home games and conveniently ignore the multiple times the coach talks about how he tried to schedule big home games and no one will come.  

31 minutes ago, skrabukes said:

That probably wouldn't be good, we'd have to pay to park/walk too far away and would have to leave early because there'd be too much traffic getting out of there. Also we'd hear about bad sight-lines because it's a hockey arena, not a basketball one so there'd be too much space between the seats and the floor.

People already complain about the 2 minute walk they have to make to Alumni.  They have no problem walking from another zipcode for a Bills or Sabres game, but park one lot over at Alumni and it's a problem.

Program is growing.  Season tickets will be in more demand.  Prices will go up and new policies will have to be put in place that weren't needed when the team drew 3,000 per game.  These are all good things.  All I'm reading is STHs who want the program to grow and be successful, but not if it means paying a few bucks more per game.  

Flights are stupid expensive right now due to the combination of short notice, being a Sunday today, and the Boeing 737 Max mess which has grounded a lot of flights.  It usually costs me $250-$300 to fly round trip to dallas with Southwest for work.  It's currently over $700

Just now, ubmae86 said:

I know it's not the best to have Buffalo playing out west. It kind of shafts the fan base. I'm personally excited to see them get to the second weekend because I like about 25 minutes from Anaheim! Anyone who want's to book a flight, you are welcome to stay at my place for the game.

Yea, but I don't think 5, 6, or 7 seeds are really in any place to complain about locations.  

Hey, if you're really confident in UB, if they make it to the sweet sixteen they'll play in Anaheim.  Jet Blue flies direct from Buffalo.  Just checked and it was $176 each way.