A decent 7-4 start has failed to get Buffalo fans excited about the commencement of MAC play. Casual UB fans saw the non-descript out-of-conference schedule and expected the MAC finalist from last season to lose at most two games.
To many, losses to the likes of Jacksonville, Canisius and Vermont provide enough evidence that nothing has changed. There’s no reason to believe this team will finally reach the NCAA Tournament… there’s no reason to put any weight on those early Bracketology projections that pitted No. 14 seed Buffalo against No. 3 Kansas State in March.
Saturday is Buffalo’s time to show that the times are, indeed, changing as it plays its first game of the new decade.
When Buffalo won it’s last MAC opener, “Grillz” by Paul Wall was owning the Billboard charts and Night at the Museum was killing it at the box office. Only one current Bull – senior guard Sean Smiley – was on the roster during that game, and he logged a total of zero minutes.
In the grand scheme of thing, it’s only been four years, but a 1-0 start with a win against always tough Miami would give fans some hope.
You never want to start conference play on a sour note, and to be honest, Coach ‘Spoon can’t afford to fall behind in the conference standings. According to the fans, he should be on a short leash, and no matter how tough Miami’s out-of-conference slate was, losing to a 3-10 team wouldn’t have the Alumni Arena fans feeling jolly. Just look how they reacted when Buffalo took a loss to 1-7 Jacksonville.
