Buffalo Bulls
Overall Record: 23-10, 12-6 in the MAC (Round of 64)
Head coach: Nate Oats
Tenure at Buffalo: 1st season
Career coaching record: 0-0
Home court: Alumni Arena
Starters: G Lamonte Bearden, F Raheim Johnson, F Nick Perkins, G Jarryn Skeet, G Rodell Wigginton
Bench: F Willie Conner, F Blake Hamilton, G Nikola Rakicevic
Overview: Oats has a tough first year at the helm ahead of him as the Bulls enter the season as defending MAC tournament champions but without star forward Justin Moss. Moss was dismissed from the school after he and two teammates were caught stealing $650 from the dorm room of two Buffalo football players. Raheim Johnson and Mory Diane remain on the roster but were suspended. Now the MAC conference title is free for the taking for a host of teams and Buffalo has dropped to fourth in the MAC East preseason poll. Sophomore Lamonte Bearden—one of five players named to the East Division Preseason All-MAC Team—led the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio last season and will have to step up as the linchpin of the Bulls’ offense this year, producing more performances like his career-best 23 points against Canisius last November.
One thing that needs to go right: Bearden brings offensive firepower and Johnson and Nick Perkins step up to fill Moss’ shoes to give Oats a winning first season as head coach.
One thing that could go wrong: The loss of former head coach and Duke point guard Bobby Hurley to Arizona State and Moss’ dismissal prove too much for the Bulls to handle and the squad follows up its 2015 NCAA tournament appearance at the bottom of the MAC.
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