Daily Fix: The Secret Is Out

For whatever reason, the University of Buffalo always seems to treat their basketball schedule like it’s a top secret that would be kept in Vice’s man-sized safe than made known to the public. By the end of September, cooler heads in the Athletics Department seem to prevail and the schedule is no longer treated like a Bill Belichik-coached team’s injury report and is released. Why it is that high-profile programs like Gonzaga and Pittsburgh can make their schedules known in the early September but a team that’s struggled to stay out of the MAC East basement can’t is a different question. What’s important is that the UB Bulls 2007-08 basketball schedule is finally here:

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* Mid-American Conference Games
All Times Eastern

Home games in BOLD CAPS

At this point, the 2007-08 non-league slate seems to be an upgrade over the past couple of seasons, which saw coach ‘Spoon’s squad get ready for the rough-n-tumble by MAC by playing a slate of games that were about as challenging as remembering to flush after a Mighty Taco-induced dump. The possibility of playing UConn in Storrs, UTEP in El Paso, along with a visit to Pittsburgh to play the Panthers and a Sun Bowl tourney first rounder against Wyoming should prove plenty challenging for a team that ended last season in upheaval and has to replace a four-year mainstay in the pivot.

If things go well, meaning the inexperienced bigs rebound and play D and Andy Robinson, Greg Gamble, Sean Smiley, and Rodney Pierce provide firepower from the perimeter, then the Bulls might be able to notch 6-to-8 non-league wins. Certainly, games against Canisius, a rebuilding Niagara, UNC-Asheville, Ohio Valley, and Florida International seem very winnable right now. Hold serve against Tulane, South Florida, Evansville, and in the Bracket Buster, and there’s nine games total UB has a shot at winnin.

The Bulls MAC schedule couldn’t be any more accommodating for a team that figures to struggle to stay out of the cellar in the East. With a closing stretch that sees the Bulls play 5 of their final 7 MAC games at home, coach ‘Spoon’s squad will have an opportunity to finish strong. That seven-game sprint to Clevo should help the Bull to overcome a January that sees A-Rob & Co. visit Kent, Miami, Bowling Green, and Toledo while hosting Akron, Western Michigan, and archrivals Ohio.

Should the Bulls do the one thing they haven’t done the past two seasons— improve as the season goes along — then the schedule is in their favor. Spend February and March regressing like they have the past two seasons and closing with 5-of-7 at home ain’t gonna make a bit of difference.

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