xDerekRx

Im still in awe by it. Being a fan for almost 2 decades though I appreciate it and live in the moment. I don't take anything for granted. Every day we show up on the top 25 line at the bottom of ESPN I smile because as amazing as this is, its incredibly tough to do. I never thought Id see us ranked in my lifetime. 350+ D1 teams, even if you are a great team in the MAC being ranked isn't really possible. I was fine with just seeing a #25 next to our name for 1 day. Didn't care after that. But the train keeps going, up to #17. I still feel the same way, enjoying it each day. I even got giddy seeing #17 on the program I bought at todays game. That will be a keepsake forever. Although hopefully we beat Bona which would mean the SIU game program we should be ranked the same or possibly even higher. Just noticed San Fran blew out Cal 79-60 in their first game back too. Makes that win look even better although Cal appears quite down this year, its still a nice name win. SIU has also been very good recently. We really have 4 tough games coming up

0-6 here all time. One of the toughest places to play. We have passed some big tests already this year. Obviously WVU but especially the San Fran game. Bona appears to be getting healthier and much more dangerous than had we played them a couple weeks ago. Im ok with any kind of win, ugly, close whatever. I can see this being a 70-68 type score.

Even though tied at the half I felt the defense was certainly going to be ratcheted up in the second. Glad they put in a convincing second half. Attendance was 4400, again for Le moyne pretty nice. I thought the students were a bit silent for way too long in this game. The consistency in their participation isn't what it was years ago. Maybe Im being a bit harsh for a game against Le moyne? Possible. As a collector and a long time fan owning this program is actually pretty cool. Just to have the rank # there and everything. You never know if we will ever be ranked this high again (although that at this point entirely rests on the Bona game)

Is this the first game since they announced having beer?

This is actually more true than anything. Cinderella type teams that people remember from their brackets like Stephen F Austin and Florida gulf Coast actually make better pub and more even challenge. Or like you said a Richmond, George Washington, Davidson type provides good challenge. You're not getting Uconn or Pitt in here again. They were both ranked #2 and we could have easily won both of those in the last minute. As far as students go, no excuse. Name opponent should not matter at all. Back in 2004-2007 they were drumming up interest based on the BULLS and how much fun they were and the different team personalities. Students are spoiled now to have a TOP 25 team to go see! Im not sure Eddie Asbie or whatever his name was did everything by the book but the dude got everyone on campus wanting to go.

UB should honestly crush them with just the bench. But the truth is Oats should and will approach this as a real game. You play everyone until the game is out of hand then you rest guys. That being said, CJ shouldn't play at all if hes even 90%. You don't need him this game, you need him for the games after.

A game against Lemoyne just isn't going to bring people out. If there is 4k there Im not going to say the sky is falling. Some people Ive talked to aren't sure if this is some kind of scrimmage to be honest... I would have preferred UB scheduling a lower D1 school or maybe this was the spot NU could have snuck into the schedule. Either way Im excited to see them hopefully put up a big number and have some fun watching the team with #17 next to their name.

#17 Cant believe it, so awesome. I remember just seeing #25 there was enough for me. Had we say lost to SIU the next game, you couldnt take that 25 away.... but now its just crazy. Going undefeated heading into Syr/Mar would be great. Both of those teams are just outside the Top 25 now in votes and could easily be ranked when we play them.

Growing up in Buffalo I always rooted for the local teams when they were going on tournament runs. Bona, NU, Can even SYR. UB was always tops... but Id say just years of playing them all and seeing their fanbases your local support interest erodes a bit unfortunately. When it comes NCAA tournament time and they are in Ill still support them as a Buffalo/local school but definitely no love for their fanbase. Although my girlfriend went to Bona and UB (law school), she roots a bit more for Bona simply because her student loans owed to UB are much greater

Might as well keep giving it... In a game he didn't factor as much into and looked a bit more injured down the stretch... he hits the clutch FTs at a time we needed them and when everyone else was missing. Ive been all about CJ since his first year. You could just see what he had in him despite all the players ahead of him on the chart. Guy can drive, splash 3s, and be clutch when needed. Definitely after all is said and done will be one of my favorite Bulls of the last 15 years.

Im more with you RMA. People have gotten pretty critical with a program moving the right direction. Expectations have gotten the best of people. Someone above just put down the fact that no one cares about a bowl game? To me I want to win a bowl game now. I dont care which one or who its against. I would have loved another MAC title, thankfully we got one in 2008 or it would be even more bitter. But we dont have that bowl title and I want that. To me I want it more than the MAC title as crazy as that sounds But as good as a season as this was there were some ugly times where expectations may have ruined it. We had some brutal losses. The offense would cave a bit in second halfs. And no matter how good of a season you could have had, losing the way you did in the title game is pretty brutal. It deserves a reaction. Your 2 best offensive players couldnt get you in even FG range when it mattered most and the Def just gave up 2 giant plays (something they kinda do at times) It was frustrating to see it lost that way. Plain and simple. Just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. But again that being said, Im excited for a bowl game and I want a bowl win.

Mcraes two treys were huge as mentioned. It was at the right time of the game for that. A bit scary late but CJ clutch from the FT line We all figured a tough game here and it was that. Great win for a deep team that didn't even need CJ until right at the end. If we had cleaned up the FTs a bit we could have had some separation in the score. Either way would be fun to see us ranked in the teens coming up with an easy week. Not sure why we have LeMoyne on the schedule. Would have preferred a D1 team if nothing else you could have put Niagara in there. Even with the weak opponent I haven't gotten to a game yet this year and I need to see them in person while ranked or I wont live with myself!

Definitely going to be a great test. Honestly could be the best team we have played this year tomorrow but if you're going to "win" one of these tournaments you have to play a good team. I love this test. Win this a very tough game against a solid 7-0 team on neutral court makes our rank even stronger. Loss would most likely knock our ranking number off (oh well not end of the world). But it would fun to see them destroy Lemoyne Wednesday night ranked in the teens :)

Correct, very weird, I wonder what the deal is with that. We have played them every single year since I can remember. Its an odd schedule. We play Southern Ill again at home in Dec... Never seen an Home and Home like that before... We also have the 530am est game in Ireland.

Yup that was great. My mom always brings up to this day how after that game I put her on the phone with Yassin (still her all time fave bull)

this is basically what has happened. Social media is so much more spread out now. Message boards in general for anything aren't the catch all anymore like they used to be. It only happened about 2 years ago. Before that this place was insane with activity. All that matters is people are talking about it somewhere! Either way we will always have our small core here since 2003 (and for those of us that started in like 2000 on the ESPN boards before Kyu made this)

Yup good times!

I remember Applebees in Erie

Very tough matchup honestly especially after the wvu win and the players getting texts about being top 25 from friends and family. Need to keep our heads in the game tonight Siu also sees that UB is coming in ranked and them and their fans would love nothing more than to knock off a top 25

17 years ago or whenever exactly it was when I saw my first UB basketball game I never would have thought we would be a ranked team. Now no matter what happens ever again, it's real. So awesome. The 3 Mac titles in short span, winning a first round game in the tournament... Those were all dreams for so many years. But now being ranked... One of my last dreams on a UB bucket list was always to have an NBA player, even just a decent one, drafted in the modern era...