Walk to Victory sends Bulls off to Columbus

Hundreds of fans turned out Wednesday for a Walk to Victory, sending the UB Bulls off in style to the Big Dance in Columbus.

The team was met in Alumni Arena by a buzzing crowd of cheerleaders; drum-, horn- and cowbell-toting band members; faculty, staff and students sporting UB blue; and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, who proclaimed Friday as UB Men’s Basketball Day to honor the achievements of the team and its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.

“UB, it’s your day in Buffalo,” said Brown. “But when you go to Columbus, all of the energy and passion of Buffalo and Western New York goes with you, and it will be your day — UB’s day — in Columbus as well.”

The Bulls earned the 12-seed in the Midwest regional after defeating Central Michigan to win the Mid-American Conference Championship and the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The week has certainly been a whirlwind of celebrations for UB and Western New York, but Bulls head coach Bobby Hurley is focused on the task ahead.

“By now, I think I can read my team pretty well, and I know they’re not satisfied,” said Hurley. “We’re hungry and we’re going to give it everything we have on Friday.”

The Bulls’ matchup against West Virginia is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. The game will be televised on TNT.