Tickets.com Client Spotlight: University at Buffalo

International Bowl Attracts University at Buffalo
Mid-American Champs will play in Toronto

TORONTO, ONTARIO – The University at Buffalo, the winner of the Mid-American Conference Championship on Friday against previously-unbeaten Ball State, has accepted an invitation to represent the MAC in the International Bowl, January 3, 2009 at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

It will be the first Bowl appearance in the school’s historic football program, which began in 1894, and follows an exciting season in which the Bulls capped off a first-place finish in the MAC East Division with an emphatic 42-24 victory in the MAC Championship game. Buffalo played in four overtime games this season, winning three of them and had six games decided on the final snap.

The UB Bulls have made significant strides under the direction of third-year head coach Turner Gill, a Heisman Trophy finalist in 1983 with the University of Nebraska. Gill guided the Bulls to a first-place finish this year in the MAC East Division with a 7-5 record. It marked the second consecutive season that Gill’s team improved its record from the year before. Gill was named the MAC Coach of the Year in 2007. “It is with great pride, and anticipation, that we accept an invitation to play in the International Bowl on behalf of our administration,” Gill remarked. “Our football program is extremely excited to come to the great city of Toronto, where we know we will be well-represented not only by UB students, alumni and Western New York, but also Southern Ontario. It is another great step forward for our University, and particularly fitting that it occurs 50 years after our 1958 team earned our first bowl bid.”

The ’58 Bulls team rejected an opportunity to play in the Tangerine Bowl that year against Florida State in Orlando, Florida because it had two African-American players and the Orlando High School Athletic Association prohibited blacks and whites from playing together.

International Bowl Executive Director Ken Hoffman praised the Buffalo program for its tremendous season in 2008 and added the team is a great representative for its conference. “Congratulations to Coach Turner Gill and his team for their outstanding season,” Hoffman said. “Buffalo has a long and rich history and brings a unique element to this year’s game because of the school’s proximity to Toronto.”

The 2009 International Bowl will be broadcast in the U.S. on ESPN2 and in Canada on The Score.

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL BOWL:

The International Bowl is the only NCAA Division I football game played outside the U.S. The third annual International Bowl will be played on Saturday, January 3, 2009 at Rogers Centre with a noon kick-off.

For further information, including media credential requests, please visit the official International Bowl website at www.internationalbowl.org