The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 245 is Buffalo basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of Buffalo basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 2
- Bids: 4
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 12.5
- Bids per season: 0.07
- AP Polls: 19
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 0
- Conference Players of the Year: 5
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 5
- Conference tournament titles: 4
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Buffalo basketball
For years, the University at Buffalo basketball team couldn’t field a product, despite past success at Canisius, Niagara, and St. Bonaventure. But in the 2010s, that finally changed.
While head coach Reggie Witherspoon had some solid years, he was never able to take the Bulls dancing. In 2014-15, just Bobby Hurley’s second season, the Bulls went to the NCAA Tournament. Hurley would bolt for Arizona State.
But that might have been the best-case scenario for Buffalo, because Nate Oats would take over and go on a wild run:
- 2015-16: 20-15 (10-8), MAC Tournament champs, lost in NCAA Tournament first round
- 2016-17: 17-15 (11-7)
- 2017-18: 27-9 (15-3), MAC regular season and Tournament champs, upset 4-seed Arizona, lost to 5-seed Kentucky in NCAA Tournament second round
- 2018-19: 32-4 (16-2), MAC regular season and Tournament champs, beat 11-seed Arizona State, lost to 3-seed Texas Tech in NCAA Tournament second round
It may have just been four seasons, but it brought Buffalo multiple NCAA Tournament bids and wins and even an AP Poll ranking high of 14th in his final season.
Outside of Hurley/Oats – not much going for this Buffalo program that would otherwise be toward the bottom of the MAC. But those years were great, and in 2022, a mostly UB alumni team from this era won The Basketball Tournament, putting the icing on the cake in a cool way.