Buffalo Bulls

Infobox college athletics
name = Buffalo Bulls

university = University at Buffalo
conference = Mid-American Conference
division = Division I
director = Warde Manuel
city = Buffalo
state = New York
stateabb = NY
teams =
stadium = UB Stadium "The Bullpen"
baseballfield = Amherst Audubon Field
arena = Alumni Arena
arena2 =
mascot = Victor E. Bull
nickname = Bulls
fightsong = Victory March Fight Song
color1 = Blue
color2 = White
hex1 = 0000FF
hex2 = FFFFFF
pageurl = http://www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu/
pagename = ubathletics.buffalo.edu

The Buffalo Bulls are the athletic teams representing the University at Buffalo in intercollegiate athletics. The Bulls currently play in Division I, and are a member of the Mid-American Conference for all sports except women's rowing. They have been a member of the Mid-American Conference since 1996. The Buffalo Bulls field men's and women's athletic teams in 9 sports.

The Bulls are notable for being the only Division I team with an African-American Athletic Director (Warde Manuel), Head Football Coach (Turner Gill), and Head Men's Basketball Coach (Reggie Witherspoon).

Men's sports

Football

The Buffalo Bulls football team is a relatively new member of the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, having joined in 1999. Despite its brief history and disappointing recent performances in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Bulls football program has a rich tradition.

Notable former players who played (or play) in the NFL include:
*Edward Ellis
*Ramon Guzman
*Drew Haddad
*Gerry Philbin
*Jamey Richard
*Chad Upshaw
*Trevor Scott

Men's basketball

The Buffalo Bulls men's basketball team has been a member of Division I for many years, spending time in the Mid-Continent Conference before moving to the Mid-American Conference in 1999.

After several years of mediocrity, the Bulls had their most memorable season in their 2004-2005 campaign. Led by senior guard Turner Battle, the Bulls went on an improbable run to the Mid-American Conference Championship, beating Western Michigan in the semi-finals at the 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. Thus, the Bulls failed to clinch the automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, and were not selected by the selection committee on Selection Sunday. They went on to participate in the NIT.

occer

The most successful men's athletic team in recent years has been the Buffalo Bulls soccer team. The team briefly achieved a ranking of 20th overall in the NCAA.

*Andrae Clarke - Chicago Fire [http://www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu/menssoccer/news/msc02-02-2007-ClarkeMLS.shtml]

Other men's sports

The university places teams in several other men's sports, including: baseball, track and field, cross country, tennis, wrestling, and swimming and diving

Women's sports

As for the women's teams, the Bulls feature teams in basketball, track and field, cross country volleyball, softball, rowing, tennis and swimming and diving. The UB women's tennis team has made the MAC Championship in each of the last three seasons, finally clinching the MAC Title in 2008, defeating Western Michigan, 4-3. The Bulls went to their first NCAA Tournament where they played eventual NCAA Champion, UCLA. UB's women's basketball coach is Linda Hill-MacDonald, who used to coach in the WNBA with the Cleveland Rockers.

True Blue

As of 2008, the primary student organization who supports UB athletics is True Blue. [ubtrueblue.com] The prominent faces of the club is a group of at least five students who paint themselves to spell out "BULLS" for every home football game and selected basketball games for both men and women.

Marching band

The Thunder of the East is the student marching band.