Buffalo Bulls
The Buffalo Bulls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, New York. The Bulls compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I level as a member of Mid-American Conference East Division, having joined the conference in 1998. Buffalo sponsors teams in seven men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The football team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level for college football.
The mascot of UB athletic teams is Victor E. Bull.
History
The first half of Buffalo's color scheme of blue and white was implemented in 1886 when Buffalo's medical school began tying its diplomas using blue ribbons. Later, its pharmacy school began tying its diplomas using white ribbons to distinguish itself from the medical school. Those colors were adopted as Buffalo's official colors as the university grew and added more departments. Internally, Buffalo refers to its shade of royal blue as "UB Blue" and its shade of white as "Hayes Hall White."Buffalo's athletic history predates the foundation of the NCAA. In 1894, a group of medical students at what was then known as the University of Buffalo formed the University of Buffalo Athletic Association and organized its first football team. A baseball team also represented Buffalo since at least 1894, according to an article in the Buffalo Evening News from October 1895 which mentioned that the previous year's team would be reorganized. Before the close of the century, a hockey and track and field team were also formed.
In 1903, the school's athletics program was canceled due to lack of funding. In 1905, during the period of inactivity, a men's basketball team began play, although it was not officially sponsored by the school.
Buffalo's intercollegiate sports program returned in 1915.
Buffalo's sports teams were known as the "Buffalo Bisons" until 1931, at which point they changed their name to the Bulls to avoid confusion with several professional sports teams of the same name. However, the "Bulls" moniker had been used by local newspapers as early as 1923. In 1960, the Buffalo Bills began play in the American Football League. Their similar names would lead to decades of brand confusion. In 1997, Buffalo's women's teams changed their names to the Bulls from the "Buffalo Royals".
Buffalo joined the State University of New York Athletic Conference in the 1978–79 academic year.
In 1986, the State University of New York approved university president Steven Sample's request to elevate the school's sports from NCAA Division III to NCAA Division I within an estimated five to seven years. At the time, the expectation was that UB would play football in NCAA Division I-AA. The school joined Division I-AA in 1993 and Division I-A in 1999.
In 1997, Buffalo introduced Victor E. Bull, its new mascot, a student in a blue, anthropomorphic bull costume. The mascot was named by a student write-in contest in the school's newspaper, The Spectrum. He replaced a brown, anthropomorphic bull named "Woody Bully."
In 2013, under Athletic Director Danny White, Buffalo rebranded in such a way as to "expand and enhance the visibility of UB's athletic teams in New York State and nationwide." The rebranding capitalized on its status in the State University of New York system and included wordmarks featuring the formal "State University of New York at Buffalo" name in which "New York" was emphasized in more prominent letters. The basketball court at Alumni Arena and turf at UB Stadium also featured silhouettes of New York State. In April 2016, following the departure of Danny White, the school announced it would revert to Buffalo-focused branding.
Following the 2016–17 academic year, Buffalo eliminated its baseball, men's soccer, men's swimming and diving and women's rowing programs. The university, then under the direction of president Satish K. Tripathi and athletic director Allen Greene, estimated the measure would save the school $2 million while maintaining the number of teams at sixteen, the minimum amount necessary to maintain membership in Division I.
Championships
National championships
Individual
Team
Conference championships
Sports sponsored
Basketball
Men's basketball
The Buffalo Bulls men's basketball team has been a member of Division I since the mid-1990s after dropping to the Division III level for the 1977–1978 season.In their 2004–2005 campaign, led by senior guard Turner Battle, the Bulls went on a run to the Mid-American Conference Championship game, beating Western Michigan in the semifinals at Gund Arena in Cleveland. In the MAC final, despite leading by 17 at the half, the Bulls lost in overtime to Ohio University on a tip-in by Leon Williams with 0.5 seconds remaining. The Bulls failed to clinch the automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, and were not chosen by the selection committee on Selection Sunday. They then went to the National Invitation Tournament. During that season, the Bulls were led by Coach Reggie Witherspoon, and ended the season with a school record of 23 wins.
The 2014–15 Bulls team, under second-year coach Bobby Hurley, won its first conference championship and clinched its first trip to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in the school's history. The 2015–16 team, under rookie coach Nate Oats, repeated as MAC championships, making their second trip in a row to the NCAA tournament. In 2018, the program made the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years and upset no. 4 seed Arizona in the First round, marking its first win in a Division I tournament game in school history. In the following season the team was ranked in the Associated Press' top-25 poll for the first time ever after beating fourteenth-ranked West Virginia in West Virginia.
Sam Pellom played in the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks. He also played for the Washington Generals in a game against the Harlem Globetrotters before making it to the NBA.
In 2022, Blue Collar U, a team consisting mainly of UB alumni, won The Basketball Tournament, a summer professional full-court tournament with a $1 million winner-take-all purse. Former Bulls star C. J. Massinburg was named tournament MVP.
Women's basketball
was hired as the women's basketball head coach on June 14, 2012, making her the first coaching hire made by Athletic Director Danny White.In 2016 the women's basketball team won the MAC tournament and made their first trip to the NCAA tournament in program history. In 2018, the team made another trip to the NCAA tournament, beating South Florida in the first round and Florida State in the second round, reaching the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history.
Cross country
Men's cross country
In November 2013, Zach Ahart won the MAC men's individual championship race with a time of 24:47.60. He was the first MAC cross country champion in school history., no Buffalo men's runner had matched that feat.Women's cross country
In 2012, UB hosted the MAC championships. They were also scheduled to host the NCAA Regional meet in the 2017 season.Football
The Buffalo Bulls football team is a member of the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, having joined in 1998.In 2003, the Bulls were 6–39 since going to Division I-A. At that time, they were ranked 117, and were coached by Jim Hofher. The Bulls averaged just under 11,250 fans per game in 2003. Five years later, in 2008, the Buffalo Bulls routed the previously ranked and unbeaten Ball State Cardinals 42–24, capturing their first Mid-American Conference Championship. In that game, two fumbles were returned for touchdowns. The final game of the 2008 campaign was against the University of Connecticut in the 2009 International Bowl on January 3, 2009, at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario. In that game, the Bulls lost with a score of 38–20.
Selected notable professional football players
- Ed Ellis
- Ramon Guzman
- Tyree Jackson
- Khalil Mack
- Steven Means
- Branden Oliver
- Jaret Patterson
- Gerry Philbin
- Jamey Richard
- Naaman Roosevelt
- Trevor Scott
- Kristjan Sokoli
- James Starks
- John Stofa
- Josh Thomas
- Drew Willy
Soccer
The UB women's soccer team won a regular season MAC title in 2000. In 2014, a program record was set with fourteen straight victories including their first conference championship in a game over Western Michigan. Buffalo also earned its first berth in the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament.In 2020, the MAC elected to discontinue the Mid-American Conference Women's Soccer Tournament in order to save money and instead send the leading team in each division to a conference championship game. As a result, in 2021, Buffalo was not given a chance to play for the conference championship despite finishing with the most wins and the highest rating percentage index in the MAC East. Bowling Green finished first in the MAC East with a record of only 5–1; because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bowling Green's season was put on pause and they played two fewer games than Buffalo and four fewer games than some other MAC teams. The Bulls team was outraged by the outcome.
The men's soccer program was discontinued in 2017.