Buffalo Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Bulls

BOISE, ID - MARCH 17: Montell McRae #1 of the Buffalo Bulls reacts during the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 17, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

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OMAHA, NE – MARCH 23: Head coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange speaks to his team during a timeout against the Duke Blue Devils during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at CenturyLink Center on March 23, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Non-conference schedule for the Bulls

Nov. 6 (H) – St. Francis (PA)

Nov. 9 (A) – West Virginia

Nov. 12 (A) – Southern Illinois

Nov. 21 (N) – Dartmouth (Belfast Classic)

Nov. 24 (N) – Marist (Belfast Classic)

Nov. 30 (N) – UW-Milwaukee (Belfast Classic)

Dec. 1 (N) – San Francisco or Stephen F. Austin (Belfast Classic)

Dec. 5 (H) – LeMonye College (D-2)

Dec. 8 (A) – St. Bonaventure

Dec. 15 (H) – Southern Illinois

Dec. 18 (A) – Syracuse

Dec. 21 (A) – Marquette

Dec. 29 (A) – Canisius

Buffalo has consistently been a strong scheduling mid-major team, while not just signing up for buy games in which they’re overwhelming underdogs. For a program that should be a prolific offense once again, the Bulls will have two incredibly notorious defenses to deal with on the road. West “Press” Virginia and the 2-3 zone of Syracuse presents fun challenges for Oats and Buffalo to deal with. Good news for those two teams is that a loss to the Bulls wouldn’t be damaging towards their resumes.

There are a couple of mid-major bouts that Buffalo fans should keep an eye on. The home and home battles with Southern Illinois will be tough, as the Salukis return their top four scorers from a year ago and is a preseason top-3 Missouri Valley team.

The others should be winnable, including the first few games in the Belfast Tournament. However, either San Francisco or Stephen F. Austin would be a dangerous opponent, as both return their best players also. In today’s world of mid-major at-large, it would take the Bulls to beat at least one of the top teams (WVU, Syracuse or Marquette, and avoid no more than 1-2 bad losses to the others.