The Wiz of Odds

Buffalo

Buffalo's program will be in terrific shape if Lance Leipold can come anywhere close to duplicating what he did at Wisconsin Whitewater. Leipold was an eye-popping 109-6 in eight seasons at Whitewater, winning the Division III championship six times.

Buffalo

Buffalo's hopes of advancing to the postseason for the second year in a row start up front. The Bulls return all five starters on the offensive line, and that's comforting news to quarterback Joe Licata. Buffalo has seven home games, including a Sept. 12 date against Baylor, which crushed the Bulls, 70-13, last season in Waco.

Buffalo

Buffalo has struggled mightily in Jeff Quinn's two seasons as coach, winning only five games. Quinn welcomes back 16 returning starters, but the schedule is not kind, beginning with a road game at Georgia. The team also plays Connecticut and Pittsburgh. The man in the middle of the poster is running back Branden Oliver, who ran for 1,395 yards last season and had 1,760 all-purpose yards.

Click the image to enlarge. Poster designed by Old Hat Creative.

Northern Illinois Escapes Buffalo With a Win

Greg Laughlin's destination on Saturday was Buffalo, where the hometown Bulls played host to Northern Illinois in a Mid-American Conference game.

The Huskies held on for a 31-30 victory after the Bulls missed an extra point that would have tied the score with 14 seconds remaining.

There are more photos after the jump, and you can view Greg's full gallery by clicking here.

Buffalo

Jeff Quinn's first season as Buffalo coach didn't go as planned. The Bulls staggered to a 2-3 start, then lost their last seven, which leaves the team tied for the second-longest losing streak in Division I-A. The schedule is challenging. It includes games against BCS teams Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Tennessee.

Click the image for an enlarged view. Poster designed by Old Hat Creative.

Turner Gill Is Kansas' Choice as Coach

Turner Gill, who resurrected the Buffalo program in his four seasons as coach, will be introduced Monday as Kansas' new coach.

Gill, 47, is bringing Chuck Long and Carl Torbush with him, according to the Kansas City Star. Long, the former San Diego State coach, will serve as offensive coordinator under Gill. Torbush, currently the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State, will have the same position at Kansas.

The hiring of Gill drew this response from Star columnist Jason Whitlock, a former player at Ball State:

"As a black member of the media, I know what I'm expected to do today — shout that Gill's hiring as Kansas' new football coach is a bold step for college football mankind, a terrific hire by [athletic director] Lew Perkins and the culmination of Martin Luther King's dream.

"The problem is, unlike most of Gill's prominent supporters in the media, I've actually watched his Buffalo Bulls play numerous times. Never once have I been impressed. Not even on the night when Gill's Bulls ended my then-12th-ranked Ball State Cardinals' Cinderella season with a shocking 42-24 victory in the 2008 MAC championship game.