Bulls fans descend on Boise

BOISE — Bulls fans have descended on Boise.

When the brackets were revealed Sunday and it was announced that UB was heading to Idaho for the NCAA tournament, many wondered whether there would be much UB blue in Boise.

But the Big Dance is a big deal, and it’s got Bulls fans coming in from all corners of the country.

Bulls supporter Tunney Murchie, who flew in yesterday, said he’s looking forward to witnessing his first NCAA tournament experience. “It’s the excitement of being included in March Madness. It’s something not a lot of teams get to experience. It’s great to see UB earn a berth by winning the MAC championships,” he said.

Murchie is owner and president of Lackawanna Products Corporation in Clarence. He is a 1975 graduate of UB with a degree in management and also earned his MBA from the university in 1976. He played hockey for the Bulls from 1971-73 and was an assistant coach with the program in 1974.

The new fieldhouse being constructed next to UB Stadium will bear the Murchie family name in recognition of a $3 million leadership gift Murchie made to UB Athletics in 2014.

Murchie saw the Bulls win their conference tournament in Cleveland last week, and is hoping for another big victory here in Boise. And, he said, “We’re big Nate Oats fans.”

Other alums have been trickling in from Buffalo and out West:

UB alumna Carla Hinman and her husband Matt Laidlaw are traveling from Missoula, Montana.

Roy Manno, a 1965 alum who played basketball at UB and serves as president of Williamsville-based Franz-Manno Service Corp., will also be in attendance.

Joli Weiss, an epidemiologist who received her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from UB, was making the trip up from Phoenix.

Thomas Uhl, a 1984 UB graduate, was driving up from Ogden, Utah, near Salt Lake City, with his two daughters Barbara and Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a 2010 alumna who now lives in Ogden and served as president of True Blue from 2009-10. Barbara graduated from the University of Utah, a Pac-12 school, which means they really hate Arizona.

The Uhls try to catch UB sports teams anytime they come out west. They were among the Bulls fans in attendance when UB football played in the 2013 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise.

"It was a no-brainer to come to Boise," Thomas Uhl said about midway through their four-hour drive. "As soon as we heard they were coming out this way and we didn't have to fly somewhere, we decided to make the trip."

"We had a bit of a dilemma, though," Liz said. "We had tickets for an event for Saturday night, but we were able to move them to Sunday so we can come back to Boise Saturday when the Bulls win."

Grant Haseley, a 2015 UB alum, made the five-and-a-half hour drive up from Salt Lake City, where he works as an analyst with Goldman Sachs, with his friend and Buffalo native Nick Lange.

“I’m super excited. I was tracking it the whole time to see if they’d be coming to Idaho. I know Boise is tough to get to for a lot of Buffalo fans, but I’ll be doing my part to represent the city,” said Haseley, who, in true Buffalonian spirit, will be decked out in Buffalo Bills zubaz pants at the game.

Haseley, a huge college hoops fan, has been keeping tabs on all the Big 4 teams this season. “There’s a resurgence of college basketball in Western New York. It’s been a lot of fun,” he said, adding that Bulls basketball in particular has led the charge. “The Athletics Department is doing an amazing job. Look at the guys (Bulls basketball coach) Nate Oats is bringing in. These are power 5 guys coming to UB.”

Haseley is excited that the rest of the country gets to see his alma mater in the spotlight. A win tonight against the fourth-seeded Arizona Wildcats would be “program-changing,” he said.

Fans can follow the men's and women's teams on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. Use the hashtag #UBDancing.