Buffalo

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The Akron rivalryPete Lembo took over as Buffalo's head coach, replacing Maurice Linguist.our read

Mid-American · Pete Lembo, year 3 (15-12) · UB Stadium · 30,270 · 8,690 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#124 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #109 (-11.6) · FPI #122
The marketPenn State by 39.5at Penn State · our model 9% Buffalo · a number, not a pick

LastL 20–33 at Florida International · Sat Sep 12 · Chance Morrow 173 rec yds, 2 TD, 1 tackles

Nextat Penn State · Sat Sep 19 · 12 pm ET · Beaver Stadium · Penn State by 39.5 · series 1-3, lost the last 3 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program IV#191 all-time– holding
one line from Regional Program III
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 69-73 12 seasons
Best season 10-4 2018
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 — '15 5-7 '16 2-10 '17 6-6 '18 10-4 '19 8-5 '20 — '21 4-8 '22 7-6 '23 3-9 '24 9-4 '25 5-7

Buffalo's 2014–2025 record is 69-73. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.485
Ranked seasons (AP)
1/12
Best AP finish
#23

Program outlook

Buffalo has one MAC title in program history and one all-time great in Khalil Mack — and just signed the biggest naming-rights deal in conference history a year after its best season in over a decade fell apart.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

The program's one banner came in 2008: Turner Gill's Bulls went 8-6, won the MAC East, and beat Ball State 42-24 at Ford Field in Detroit behind two defensive fumble-return touchdowns. It remains the only conference championship in school history.

The program's best individual talent came a few years later and needed no championship to matter. Khalil Mack was the 2013 MAC Defensive Player of the Year — the first Bull to win it — and left with an NCAA-record 16 career forced fumbles and a share of the NCAA record for career tackles for loss. Oakland took him fifth overall in the 2014 NFL Draft, still the highest pick in program history, and he went on to become one of the league's premier pass rushers.

Buffalo spent the years after chasing another peak, and got close in 2024: a 9-4 season under first-year coach Pete Lembo, a 26-7 Bahamas Bowl win over Liberty, a five-game winning streak the program hadn't matched since 1959, and just the third nine-win season in school history. Then 2025 happened — a 5-7 regression in Lembo's second year, the same MAC gauntlet producing a completely different result. Off the field, the university answered with real investment: a $31.75 million, 15-year naming-rights deal with Broadview Federal Credit Union, announced in March 2026, the largest such deal in MAC history, renaming the 30,270-seat stadium Broadview Stadium. Whether the money and the momentum add up to a repeatable program, or whether 2025 was the truer read on where Buffalo actually is, is the question hanging over 2026.

On the field

A program without one fixed defensive or offensive identity across eras — 2008's title team won with defense and situational execution; the 2024 breakout leaned on a full-team surge under Lembo. What's constant is the program's ability to produce elite individual talent (Mack chief among them) even in years the team result doesn't match.

program outlook · as of 2026-07-03

All-time record · Buffalo

Buffalo has won 39% of its games since 1898 — 47% at home, 31% on the road.

173-266-4 all-time · 54 seasons · 1898–2026

Home 99-110-2
Away 69-151-2
Neutral 5-5
4 g 1890s
7 g 1900s
6 g 1930s
3 g 1940s
4 g 1950s
54% 1960s
18% 1970s
0% 1990s
25% 2000s
43% 2010s
49% 2020s

Coaching Era · Buffalo

Pete Lembo

Pete Lembo in year 2 of the rebuild. The methodology is taking shape.

Era Pete Lembo · 2025–presentPrev: Maurice Linguist (2021–2024)OC: Tony TokarzPrev OC: Dave Patenaude (2024–2025)DC: Brian DoughertyPrev DC: Joe Bowen (2024–2025)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
2 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

2008 MAC Championship Game

Buffalo beats Ball State 42-24 at Ford Field, sealed by two defensive fumble-return touchdowns, for the program's only conference title

2014

Khalil Mack drafted fifth overall

The Oakland Raiders select Mack fifth overall, the highest NFL Draft selection in program history

2024 Bahamas Bowl championship

Buffalo beats Liberty 26-7 to cap a 9-4 season and a five-game winning streak, the program's best season in years

NFL Draft Pipeline

2026–2026

Buffalo has sent 1 player to the NFL Draft since 2026 — none in the first round.

Thin. Roster development still maturing.

1 picks · 0 in round 1
#257 Red Murdock Linebacker · 2026 · Denver · #27/583 final season
#130 all-time · 1 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

Buffalo is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Maurice Linguist departs14-23, 4 seasons
  • Hired Pete Lembo2024
  • Lance Leipold departs37-33, 6 seasons
  • Hired Lance Leipold2015
  • Hired Maurice Linguist2021
  • Hired Alex Wood2014
  • Jeff Quinn departs20-36, 5 seasons
  • Alex Wood departs2-2, 1 season
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Buffalo’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · Alex Wood2015–2019 · Andy Kotelnicki2020 · Andy Kotelnicki / co-Jim Zebrowski2021–2022 · Shane Montgomery2023 · DJ Mangas2024–2025 · Dave Patenaude2026 · Tony Tokarz
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · Lou Tepper2015–2019 · Brian Borland2020 · Brian Borland / co-Chris Simpson2021 · Joe Cauthen2022 · Brandon Bailey2023 · Robert Wright2024–2025 · Joe Bowen2026 · Brian Dougherty
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

The 2008 MAC Championship

since 2008

more

Turner Gill's third season delivered the only MAC title in program history -- an 8-6 record, the MAC East division, and a 42-24 win over Ball State at Ford Field in Detroit on December 5, 2008, sealed by two defensive fumble-return touchdowns. Every subsequent Buffalo team is measured against getting back to that game.

Khalil Mack's Ascent

since 2013

more

Khalil Mack was the 2013 MAC Defensive Player of the Year -- the first Bull to win the award -- finishing his career tied for the NCAA record in tackles for loss (75) and setting the NCAA record for career forced fumbles (16). The Oakland Raiders drafted him fifth overall in 2014, still the highest NFL draft selection in program history.

Broadview Stadium (renamed 2026)

since 2026

more

In March 2026, the University at Buffalo signed a $31.75 million, 15-year naming-rights partnership with Broadview Federal Credit Union -- the largest such deal in MAC history -- renaming the 30,270-seat stadium Broadview Stadium and funding new student scholarships.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2018-2024): 4-1

Most recent: 2024 — win 7-26 (away). Last 5 postseason: 4-1.

20242022202020192018
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

268
[Postgame Thread] Holy Cross Defeats Buffalo 37-31
Sep 2022 · r/cfb
161
[Postgame Thread] Buffalo Defeats Wagner 69-7
Sep 2021 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

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