3. Buffalo Bulls (11-1)
*Unanimous 3rd place team via the voters
Expectations were already a team bringing back a trio of 15 ppg scorers, yet Buffalo seems to have surpassed them in the first 12 games of the season. They pulled off a gutsy overtime win in Morgantown over West Virginia in the first week of the season, before beating San Francisco to win the Belfast Classic.
A season sweep over Southern Illinois came before another huge road win over the Syracuse Orange. They couldn’t hold Markus Howard and Marquette down in the second half in their first defeat of the season but the Bulls have already made a case for an at-large resume.
As expected, the senior trio of CJ Massinburg, Nick Perkins, and Jeremy Harris leads the way for the Bulls. Massinburg, in particular, has come up huge, including a career-high 43 points to beat West Virginia. His second-highest total came against Syracuse, solidifying his role as the alpha on the team.
Buffalo does have solid role players outside the “Big 3”, including guards Davonta Jordan and Jayvon Graves. Senior forward Montell McRae provides frontcourt depth as another starter.
The Bulls have shown why they’re the clear MAC favorites so far but it certainly won’t be a cakewalk, with Toledo and Kent State coming up on the schedule. Losses to them won’t hurt their resume but how many Buffalo does lose in conference play will be something to watch going forward.