University of Buffalo Wins MAC Championship

Hamilton Tiger-Cats
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Although this happened a few days ago and is not Ticat related, a tip of the hat to former CFLers Turner Gill and Danny Barrett, now respectively the head coach and offensive coordinator at University of Buffalo, for turning around the Buffalo Bulls' football program and capturing the NCAA Mid-American Conference Championship with a surprise 42-24 win over previously undefeated Ball State on Dec 5/08. The Bulls will play Connecticut in the International Bowl in Toronto in early January 3, 2009 and will undoubtedly play a more exciting game than the NFL Buffalo Bills did yesterday in Toronto.

The Buffalo Bulls were perennial losers when Turner Gill arrived on the scene in 2006 and struggled again that year with a 2-10 record. Danny Barrett joined the staff in 2007, taking over an offence ranked 107th in rushing yards per game and 86th in passing yards per game. This year, his offence is ranked 64th in rushing yards per game and 36th in passing yards per game.

This link includes an espn video summarizing the game and the priceless post-game reaction of Turner Gill.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/clubhouse?teamId=2084

According to the video, Auburn has apparently asked for permission to speak to Turner Gill about their head coaching position. If Gill gets the Auburn job, there is little doubt that he will ask Danny Barrett to go with him. A great story indeed.

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There is more to this story. This is the first NCAA bowl game appearance for the Buffalo Bulls football team. However, according to this Globe and Mail article by Jeff Blair, they were invited to play in the Tangerine Bowl back in 1958 but declined the offer because they had two black players on the team and the stadium policy prohibited black players from playing on the field. Now that is what being a team is all about!

Members of that 1958 Buffalo Bulls' team will be in attendance at the International Bowl in Toronto. Here's hoping that the fans at the Rogers Centre give them a special cheer and the current Bulls team give them a victory to cheer about.

[url=http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081211.blair12-web/GSStory/GlobeSportsFootball/home]http://www.globesports.com/servlet/stor ... tball/home[/url]
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so Bulls are playing in the international bowl at Skydome(ROGERS CENTER)
anyone else going to game..
Should be Blast ..