(WGR 550) --You'd think experts would know what they're talking about.

Despite ESPN bowl projections that currently have UB travelling to either Hawaii or Las Vegas for a bowl date due to weak power conferences, it is simply untrue, according to a school official.

Now that Buffalo has won the MAC East Division, they can only appear in one of its conference's three bowl tie-ins. So, here are the three dates to keep open, if you're trying to keep your travel schedule open (courtesy of NCAA.org):

Dec. 26, 2008 - Motor City Bowl (Detroit, Mich.) -- MAC vs. Big Ten (7:30 p.m. kick-off, ESPN)

Jan. 3, 2009 - International Bowl (Toronto, Ont., Canada) -- MAC vs. Big East (Noon kick-off, ESPN2)

Jan. 6, 2009 - GMAC Bowl (Mobile, Ala.) -- MAC vs. Conference USA (8 p.m. kick-off, ESPN)

On the opinion side, Toronto makes sense to me and several extremely knowledgable folks I've spoken with regarding the college bowl system. Not only is the Buffalo to Toronto commute the shortest of the Mid American Conference teams, but it has long-been whispered that the International Bowl would love to have an invasion by the Buffalo market.

In case you're wondering what match-ups these bowls held in the past, here's a five-year refresher:

Motor City Bowl:
2007- Purdue 51, Central Michigan 48 (MVP- Curtis Painter, Purdue)
2006- Central Michigan 31, Middle Tennessee 14 (MVP- Dan LeFevour, Central)
2005- Memphis 38, Akron 31 (MVP- DeAngelo Williams, Memphis)
2004- UConn 39, Toledo 10 (MVP- Dan Orlovsky, UConn)
2003- Bowling Green 28, Northwestern 24 (MVPs- Josh Harris, BG/Jason Wright, N'western)

International Bowl:
2008- Rutgers 52, Ball State 30 (MVP- Ray Rice, Rutgers)
2007- Cincinnati 27, Western Michigan 24 (MVP- Dominick Goodman, Cincinnati)

GMAC Bowl:
2008- Tulsa 63, Bowling Green 7 (MVP- Paul Smith, Tulsa)
2007- Southern Miss 28, Ohio 7 (MVP- Damion Fletcher, SMU)
2005- Toledo 45, UTEP 13 (MVP- Bruce Gradkowski, Toledo)
2004- Bowling Green 52, Memphis 35 (MVP- Omar Jacobs, BG)
2003- Miami (OH) 49, Louisville 28 (MVP- Ben Roethlisberger, Miami)

The Bulls have two games remaining before bowl season, closing out the regular season at UB Stadium against Kent State. It's an afternoon contest on Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving. The MAC Championship game will be against either No. 15 Ball State (11-0, 7-0 MAC), Central Michigan (8-3, 6-1 MAC) or Western Michigan (9-2, 6-1 MAC).

In terms of the Motor City Bowl, the Big Ten currently has seven bowl-eligible teams, with Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota the current unranked teams. No. 22 Michigan State would be an intriguing option at 9-3 and at least one of the MAC Michigan schools available.

Bowl-eligible teams from the Big East include Rutgers, Pitt, UConn and South Florida, and would-be potential dates for an International Bowl dance. In an extremely-intriguing option, Notre Dame is often considered a Big East team if they do not qualify for a BCS spot.

Finally, bowl-eligible teams from Conference USA are currently East Carolina, Tulsa, Houston and Rice. Teams that can become eligible with a win in the final week of their season are Southern Miss, Memphis and UTEP.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

A riddle: What do a pulled hammy, a Trojan horse, a Catholic prayer, a Hoosier tap dance and a Venezuelan history lesson have in common?

Your answer: My favorite sports weekend in recent memory. Let's walk through it together.

Saturday - Noon - Temple at Buffalo, UB Stadium
If there was a danger in my sports weekend, it was here. The UB Bulls have a pretty nice history against Temple. The Owls have been the victim of Turner Gill's first win (9-3 to open the season in 2006) and the Bulls eye-opening 42-7 throttling of Temple in Philadelphia last year.

The problem here is that the Owls are no longer a doormat, and sandwiched between road games at Pittsburgh and Missouri on the Bulls schedule. They also have a versatile quarterback in Adam DiMichele, and posed a serious threat to the Bulls' MAC title hopes during the teams' conference opener Saturday.

It went according to Temple's plan for the most part, but the Bulls rallied in the fourth quarter to take a 24-21 lead on a 25-yard field goal from A.J. Principe, the normally-reliable kicker who was anything but in the Bulls' 27-16 loss to Pitt last week. Pretty gutsy turn-around for a kid.

Yet on came the Owls, as DiMichele lead a thing of beauty in Amherst, finishing the drive with a punctuating 11-yard touchdown pass to put Temple up, 28-24 and on the road, with 38 seconds to play.

Ballgame? Hardly.

Senior quarterback Drew Willy heaved a final-second Hail Mary into the sky, and local hero Naaman Roosevelt grabbed that prayer like a St. Joe's boy should, tucking it away and falling into the end zone as the Bulls emerged victorious. The crowd went bananas, ESPN paid attention, and the Bulls have some fond memories heading into a Saturday afternoon showdown at Missouri, a team that hasn't scored under 50 points this year and is now ranked in the top five in the country.

To be honest, the Bulls needed almost holy help, and got it. I love my college football team, and you should go see them soon (Oct. 11 - Western Michigan, Oct. 18 - Army, Nov. 4 -Miami (Ohio), Nov. 28 - Kent State).

(Have you seen the game-winning TD yet? You can find it and vote it as the ESPN game-changing play of the week: http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/contests/pontiacgcp/?evar24=ponredirect)

Saturday - 8:05 p.m. - Ohio State at Southern Cal, the Memorial Coliseum
Oh, the plight of one Nick Mendola here. A lifelong Michigan supporter - even if the slimy Rich Rodriguez has me rethinking my allegiance - I hate Ohio State perhaps more than any other athletic team in the world. Unfortunately, I love the Big Ten. What could work out in my favor here?

Well, Jim Tressel could be embarassed on a national stage by a team that looks better than any other in the country save Oklahoma and Florida.

This wasn't about the Buckeyes' ineptitude, it was about complete and robotic destruction by a USC team that had me wondering how they'd fare against the St. Louis Rams. Linebacker Ray Maualuga is the best player in college football, and the Trojans defense keyed a 35-3 win. Get ready to hear his name from me in perpetuity -- he's my new Limas Sweed -- because the idea of Kawika Mitchell, Paul Posluszny and Ray Maualuga makes me want to cry tears of football joy.

That said, perhaps ol' Tressel learned his sweater-vested lesson. Don't keep your star running back in the third-quarter of a pounding against lowly Youngstown State, and try to look like an actual football team against the Ohio Bobcats before you take your "Top-five" program into USC. Yeah, there's some hate here, but the Trojans were machine-like, and I get to pretend that Penn State and Wisconsin would put up a better Big Ten fight for several weeks.

Saturday - 10 a.m. - CS Italia at Buffalo City Football Club, Ellicott Creek Park
Hey, it's my weekend, and I don't feel like talking about my Newcastle United FC circus over in England, so how about the first ever win for the Trumpets of Buffalo City FC. Ryan Edwards (Niagara Falls) headed in a Scott Lombardo (Sweet Home) corner kick, and we took down CS Italia, 1-0, in a super hard-fought home game in a mess of grass and mud. I left the game with one of the most painful injuries I've had in my life, and now totally understand why Howard Simon doesn't risk his hamstring. If any Bills player ever missed a game with a hamstring pull, I get it. You can still walk, but any quick movement whatsoever feels like your upper leg could disconnect from your knee.

It would take a whole lot of ice, heat, Icy Hot and compression shorts for me to play Sunday, and my wife said I wouldn't.

Sunday - 1 p.m. - Buffalo at Jacksonville, All-Tel Stadium
My "Immediate Reactions" piece for this week deals with this game in depth, but how fun will this week be knowing the Bills could be 3-0 for the first time in 16 years if they can manage to shut down Darren McFadden and Michael Bush (a taller task than you think). I feel like the Bills are in danger of doing what I'm doing -- salivating at the thought of the Bills defense against the Arizona Cardinals offense in a battle of 3-0 teams -- but who cares? This was a big win.

A quick thought for those who thought Marcus Stroud didn't have a good game because he didn't register a tackle: You're not watching football correctly. Three-point-one yards-per-carry for the Jags' running backs, and more disruption in the middle than you believe. Go ahead and rewatch this one on DVR, TiVo or whatever, the line had penetration, it just couldn't haul down David Garrard. All-in-all, a good part of a great weekend.

Sunday - 8:30 p.m. - Chicago Cubs vs. Houston Astros, Miller Park, Milwaukee
After "The Final Whistle" show that I host after Mike Schopp and The Bulldog's post-game rendezvous on our airwaves, I was stuck at the station for an extra 25 minutes because my car wouldn't start, a feat the ol' ZX2 would repeat at 4:45 this morning, thank you very much.

It was a blessing in disguise, because I was about to "hit the hay" before checking the Cubs' score one last time. It was the top of the eighth in Milwaukee, and my favorite pitcher, Carlos Zambrano, had a no-hitter in tact against the Astros, with only one walk to show for it.

I called the wife out. I texted many friends that "Big Z was having a very very good game" and that ESPN was about to switch over to the ninth inning on Sunday Night Baseball. Lacey had never seen a no-no, so we sat watching our beloved Cubs chase history. They did. We yelled... and went to bed. She's well-versed in the curse and told me it would be the best moment of the year for the Cubbies.

I didn't speak to her for several minutes.

And oh yeah, don't bring it up to her, but...

Sunday - 10 a.m. - Delaware Spallers at Buffalo City Football Club, Ellicott Creek Park
Yeah, after she waited on my bum hamstring and ankle day-and-night Saturday, I took a couple pain relievers, bathed in Icy Hot and stretched just enough to play in our Sunday game... and we won again. It was sweet to put two together, but two side notes made the day more memorable.

A) During the game, the entire net blew over their goalkeeper's head, and landed around him. This was only funny because he didn't die. The rest of the game was played with metal garbage cans holding the net up.

2) After the game, I met up with the keeper, who is listener/caller to my show (so he's the one). Jim had emailed me years back when I was talking about Mike Foligno being my favorite player of all-time, and he delivered big time. He had a game-used Foligno stick he had no use for, and gave it to me, signed by Uwe Krupp, Mike Ramsey and Darren Puppa, arguably the three greatest Sabres of all-time. Suffice it to say, I'm trading him a sweet piece of memorabilia that will remain nameless until he receives it after our next game... that is if we win, Jim.

For the record, Scott Lombardo again scored in our 1-0 win, pounding in a Scott Frauenhofer (Kenmore East. Go Bulldogs) rebound, and BCFC takes on Lake Shore FC at 10 a.m. next Saturday at Ellicott Creek Park. Go unofficially-nicknamed Trumpets!

Miscellaneous- Sunday night
I also received an email and subsequent phone call from a great guy I used to wait tables with at Big John's during college, and he's moved on to really solid things. He and his wonderful wife have a 2-year old son (Nicholas, absolutely no connection unless Jay's an idiot. I mean, really, I once dented the ceiling at the restaurant by playing catch with a 20-pound ham), and he's working with kids full-time. Not to get emotional, but when you find out good dudes are living the right way, that's the perfect cap to a good day.

What a weekend! God, I'll take another!

Email: nick@wgr550.com

P.S. Oh yeah... hockey starts soon.

Hey folks,

It's one of my favorite times of the year -- College football season. My preview technically started in a Buffalo.com chat room with UB's Jon Fuller and Buffalo.com's Evan Parker Pierce, looking ahead to the UB season. It was a great time, we had 250+ folks in the room, and I'd encourage everyone to log on to Buffalo.com every Wednesday at Noon for their IMportant people chat series (though I hardly qualify as important). Here are some highlights of the chat. Hope you enjoy, and I'll post another college football column later:


12:02 Buffalo.com - After years of struggling, it seems the UB Bulls football team has arrived - Turner Gill has been steering a turnaround for the program, with a shared MAC East title last year.

12:03 Buffalo.com - It seems the college football world is high on the Bulls for the first time. Jon, why do you think the Bulls are poised for a run this year?

12:04 Jon - Thanks for having me. Buffalo returns 18 starters to a team that won a share of the MAC regular season title last year and the players are playing under coach Gill for the third year. I think everyone is comfortable with the offensive and defensive systems and are excited to go.

12:05 Buffalo.com - Nick, what do you think about the Bulls' chances?


12:06 Nick - I just think it's difficult to not see the positives from a team that lost precious little in the area of assets. There are very few true weaknesses on this team, and one, linebacking, is more of an unknown than a weakness. Plus, senior quarterbacks are all the rage.

12:07 Buffalo.com - Speaking of senior QB's - Drew Willy is a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award - what do you think his prospects are for this year, especially with so many talented offensive skill players coming bakc?

12:10 Jon - Drew Willy is beginning his fourth year as the Bulls' starter, so he is very experienced. He is comfortable running coach Gill's offense and coach Gill is more than comfortable will Willy at the helm. With weapons like Naaman Roosevelt, Ernest Jackson and Brett Hamlin, I think he will stand out as one of the elite quarterbacks in the MAC.

12:12 Jon - As always, the MAC will be a tough league. As far as the East Division goes, I think Miami and Bowling Green will be the teams to watch, However, Temple should be much improved and Akron and Ohio have always had solid programs.

12:12 Nick - The topic of Drew is a terriby enticing one. He's grown every year, and I can remember how excited Howard Simon sounded describing his first game. He's grown in order; confidence, getting rid of the ball and finally, something Coach Gill talked about last year, his body language. As Jon said, too, lost in the Buffalo media's understandable longing for Naaman Roosevelt, is Ernest Jackson's big play ability and toughness in traffic.

12:12 Buffalo.com - Whoops, sorry. Naaman's a junior


12:12 [Comment From BK]
Jon, how is the MAC shaping up this year? Tough or no?

12:15 Jon - Look out for Bowling Green and Miami in the East. They will be tough. Temple should be much improved so the MAC opener with the Owls on Sept. 13 will be a big game.

12:16 Nick - The MAC is a pretty tough contest, but I honestly find it hard to see it as any more difficult than last season. I'm not totally buying into the Bowling Green hype (They're pretty good). If UB can close the deal against Miami, I love their chances in the West. Ball State is the class of the conference, mostly because of quarterback Nate Davis who is a Meast... part-man, part-beast.




12:18 [Comment From GZ]
Who will have a better record this year - the Bulls or the Bills?

12:20 Nick - Well, GZ... The Bills obviously play more games than the Bulls, but in terms of true winning percentage it should be close. I like both teams to be a game or two above .500... Look for the Bills at 9-7, and the Bulls at 8-5 or 7-6 depending on their bowl opponent (Yeah, I said it. Handle it).


12:21 [Comment From DJ]
UTEP has a very prolific QB of their own in Vittatoe...how do you expect the UB defense to handle him?

12:22 Jon - Vittatoe is a very good quarterback, but I think one of the strengths of our team is a defensive backfield. So they should give him a good test. Safety Davonte Shannon was a first-team All-MAC selection last year and safety Mike Newton has nine INTs over the last two years. We are also pretty solid at CBs with Domonic Cook and Josh Thomas.

12:22 [Comment From not the islander]
sean taylor was the only meast, RIP. jon, how about fans? how do you fill the stadium this year? and nick, how do you see WGR covering the team now that you guys dont have the live coverage?

12:23 Nick - In terms of WGR coverage, we'll be there for all the home games and one or two of the road... although maybe I shouldn't say "we." Am I allowed to be honest here? I like the idea of going to the Pitt game, but I also like the idea of adult hops and barley. Also...

12:24 Jon - Tickets have been selling very well. We nearly reached our season ticket goal and the season hasn't even started. We have averaged over 100 new season tickets per week over the last 10 weeks. The community is rallying around this team and their support is very important.

12:24 Nick - I'm a season ticket holder, and I know several of the staff members will be headed to UB Stadium as well... some on the Time Warner TV broadcast (Howard Simon and Jeremy White) and some as true fans.

12:25 Nick - Jon, I'm responsible for six of those season tickets. Is it against NCAA rules for you to buy me nachos at the opener?

12:25 Jon - I think it takes seven season tickets for the free nachos.

12:25 Nick - Son of a....

12:30 [Comment From DJ]
Which player has the best shot of playing on Sunday's?

12:30 Nick - Do we have to go with seniors, Jon? Can I take an underclassman?

12:32 Jon - As far as seniors go, I truly think Drew Willy has a shot. He is big and has a strong arm. His accuracy is also a plus. Other seniors that may get a shot are WR Ernest Jackson and guard Jeff Niedermier.

12:33 Nick - Davonte Shannon is one of the most exciting players in the Mid American Conference. I love watching this kid play football, and he was First Team All-MAC as a freshman. That's ridiculous (in a good way). Even his media guide bio is something to root for (Greatest athletic experience: "Championship. Coming soon...) and (Lifetime goal: Go to Heaven). Nice.

12:33 Nick - He'll play on Sundays... almost guaranteed.

12:33 [Comment From Nate]
I'll be at the Bills game tomorrow. Any chance they'll be flashing the UB score on the big board? I'd like to see UB sports have a stronger presence in the local psyche.

12:34 Nick - Nate, even I picked the UB game... come on, man.


12:34 Nick - Plus, the Bills are playing on four days rest, who are the ad wizards who came up with their schedule?

12:35 [Comment From Nate]
Well, that Bills ticket is already paid for. I'm trying to make it down to Pitt next week

12:36 Jon - I think winning cures everything. Buffalo is a town that rallies around winning teams. Unfortunately, the team has struggled in year's past, so they were more of an afterthought. However, if the team can have a strong year, I think the demand from fans will be there and the media will give us as much coverage as the Bills and Sabres.



12:37 Nick - Also, Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh is legit. Get a sandwich with coleslaw on it. Trust me.

12:37 Nick - and fries on that sandwich. Unbelievably good.


12:37 [Comment From drew willy-nilly]
jon, at what point does UB become the flagship program of new york state? syracuse appears to have serious long-term issues...and cornell hasn't been the same since they went back-to-back in 1921 and 1922.

12:39 Jon - I think UB is ready to become New York's flagship school. I think that coach Gill has this program headed in the right direction and if the team continues it's upward swing. The sky is the limit.

12:39 [Comment From GZ]
I'd like to know - to what extent does winning the MAC, or competing in a bowl, help recruiting?

12:40 Jon - Winning a MAC Championship would do wonders for the program. A MAC title would give the Bulls even more national exposure which in turn helps recruiting.

12:40 [Comment From morning man]
nick, i enjoyed the show this morning when jeremy complained about getting old. i also enjoyed when the old guy called and gave you guys a through scolding. old guys are awesome.

12:41 Nick - Old guys are the best. like Jeremy. He's 29. Might as well buy diapers.

12:41 [Comment From mike]
i like turner gill alot but another great season and he's likely outta here...which I think spells doom and gloom again.

12:43 Jon - If coach Gill would leave, he would leave the program in great shape. In year's past, when a coach left it was because the team was struggling. If coach Gill leads the team to a MAC Championship and decides to take another job, it would be a much easier program to sell to a high profile coach.

12:43 Nick - Again, I'm going to be honest here... I think Turner would only leave for a huge-time job... I mean if he didn't take off for Nebraska, what would it take? I think Turner is legit when he says he signed on for something. I'm not naive enough this think he wouldn't go to a nice program like Oklahoma, UT or Texas Tech, but to just think any job would make him move doesn't seem to fit his demeanor and attitude.

12:44 Buffalo.com - Speaking of doom and gloom:

12:44 [Comment From John K]
What do you think of the article that came out recently saying Buffalo was #3 on most miserable sports cities

12:44 Nick - I hate it and the person who wrote it.

12:45 Buffalo.com - An NFL team on the upswing, a reliably competitive NHL team, and a D-1 football program on the rise? That's miserable? Maybe unlucky is a better word to describe Buffalo's sports history.

12:45 Nick - But there's an aire of legitimacy in it... the truth is... it's the same city who ponied up over $123,000 in our Radiothon for Hunter's Hope, which we were happy to have Turner as a guest on. So if we want to play the tough guy role and be miserable, we're going to have to continue to pretty much be the best people around.

12:45 [Comment From DJ]
who do you guys think will be playing for the national title?

12:45 Nick - A Big 12 team against an SEC team. Does that count?

12:47 Nick - I'll write something more on it later, but if I had to guess... if Auburn's new coordinators work out, they'll come out of the SEC... but I like Florida if Percy Harvin heals well. Also look out for Georgia, as everyone has love for. How bout Oklahoma vs. Florida?

12:47 Nick - Maybe Texas.

12:47 Nick - Or Michigan/UB

12:48 [Comment From Nate]
Also, how effective to recruiting is having players drafted into the NFL?

12:49 Nick - That has to be huge, and not just for recruiting but for the players on the team. I ended up in touch with Trevor Scott after the Raiders picked him up. I think Trevor and Jamey Richard are revered at UB Stadium, and there have been others beforehand (Gemarra Williams, Ed Ellis, Chad Upshaw).

12:49 Nick - What do you think, Jon?

12:50 Jon - Very effective. When a recruit can walk into the coach's office and see a picture of Jamey Richard in a Colts uniform or Trevor Scott in a Raiders uniform, it gives our program a legitimacy in the eyes of recruits.

12:50 [Comment From mike]
i really like florida

12:51 Nick - You have to... I sort of wish the Bills had picked Derrick Harvey, but look what he got paid.

12:51 Nick - My goodness, college football is so much more fun than the pros.

12:52 Buffalo.com - If college football is so much more fun, would you say college football gets enough coverage in this area?

12:52 Nick - No. A resounding no.

12:54 Nick - Places like the Niagara Gazette have really upped their coverage of UB, even though it's not in Niagara County, and The Buffalo News' coverage has creeped up a little bit, but the numbers say that the Sabres and Bills push sales around here. College football fans need to make their voices heard. Trust me, as a member of the media, there are subjects we are dying to cover. You need to tell the people who matter that it matters to you.

12:54 Jon - I think that the media in this town in too focused on the Bills and pro football and in turn that helps the Ralph sell out every week. If UB football had two stories a day in the Buffalo News like the Bills do, I think local interest in the program would take off.

12:54 Nick - It's like those letter writing campaigns to Congress. Everyone says they are going to do it, but they'd rather forward chain mail about some rose that never dies if you send it to 10 people.

12:55 Nick - It doesn't work. No roses at the Mendola house.

12:55 Buffalo.com - We're getting to the end of our lunch hour here, so we'll toss out one final question: UB vs. UTEP - who you got, and by how many?

12:56 Jon - I think it will be an offensive shootout. Both teams have explosive offenses so it should be very exciting. But of course I have to go with UB.

12:56 Nick - Well, UB has some huge question marks at defensive end and linebacker, and I think the latter will be too green to shut UTEP down this early in the year, but I like James Starks to have a monster day, and look out for Ernest Jackson.

12:56 Nick - I say it goes like this...

12:57 Nick - Starks for 135 and a TD, Alex Pierre blocks a punt and the Bulls outlast the Miners, 32-31.

12:57 Buffalo.com - Let's hope for a high scoring affair.