For the first time in school history, the UB men’s basketball team has earned a national ranking, coming in at No. 25 in the Associated Press poll that was released yesterday.

The Bulls are 3-0 after beating Southern Illinois, 62-53, on Monday night. UB received the national ranking after a 99-94 overtime win Friday at then-nationally ranked West Virginia.

Buffalo received 154 points in the poll, good for the 25th spot, just one point away from 24 and future opponent, Marquette. Duke received 48 first-place votes and is ranked No. 1 with 1,606 points.

“This is a great feat for the players that are here and the players that have been here in the past that helped build this,” says head coach Nate Oats. “If we hadn’t beaten Arizona last year in the NCAA Tournament, I don’t know that people would be talking about us the way they are, so it’s a tribute to the guys we have on this team that people all over are starting to recognize how hard we play and what we have been able to accomplish here at Buffalo.”

Buffalo become the first Mid-American Conference team to be ranked in the Associated Press poll since Kent State was ranked 23rd on Feb. 25, 2008.

The Bulls have earned numerous recognitions following their strong start to the season. CJ Massinburg was named the MAC Player of the Week, as well as the Lute Olson National Player of the Week by Collegeinsider.com. Andy Katz, who currently covers college basketball for NCAA.com, has Buffalo listed No. 16 in latest Power 36; he also named Massinburg as his national player of the week.