The Council of Presidents of the Mid-American Conference, which met Jan. 7, has voted to include UB in full league play for all intercollegiate sports other than football in 1998. Football will start sanctioned league competition beginning with the 1999 season. "Although we anticipated full integration of all sports including football by the 1998 season, we are excited with the opportunities that this potentially creates for us," says Nelson E. Townsend, UB director of athletics. The league also announced an East-West division format in football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball.

"Much of our scheduling has already been in place, leading us to Mid-American Conference league play in 1998," says Craig Cirbus, UB head football coach. "The formal attachment to the MAC now being scheduled for 1999 will basically be transparent to all associated with our program. Our scheduling process will not change. In fact, this may enhance many of the goals that we set out to achieve as a I-AA independent. I was eager to jump into the new conference as soon as possible but realistically understand the step-by-step progression that the leadership of this conference is taking."

MEN'S BASKETBALL

The Bulls stood at 7-6 and 4-2 in the Mid-Continent Conference as they headed into a Jan. 22 matchup at Eastern Illinois. UB fell out of a first-place tie over the weekend, losing at Valparaiso 86-65. Jamie Anderson led for the Bulls, scoring 14 points with Mike Martinho adding 12. Leonard Tangishaka led the Bulls' rebounding efforts with six. Martinho led the Bulls to an 80-66 win over Northeastern Illinois Jan. 15, connecting on 6-of-8 from the field and 11-of-14 at the free throw line for 24 points. He had a career-high 32 points, including a school-record eight three-pointers at Canisius Dec. 5 and was voted Mid-Continent Conference's Male Athlete of the Month for December. He was the league's American Eagle Player of the Week during the month. The Bulls, home this weekend, host Central Connecticut State and Troy State on Saturday and Monday.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Head coach Sal Buscaglia's Royals have been impressive during the first half of the season as they headed into the Jan. 22 showdown at Eastern Illinois, 12-4 overall and 4-2 in the Mid-Continent Conference. Brenna Doty's 25 points and Charissa Gardner's 24 paced the Royals to an important non-conference 75-66 win over Duquesne in Pittsburgh Jan. 17. The win raised the Royals' winning streak to five. However, they dropped a 51-44 decision to the Crusaders at Valparaiso Saturday. The Royals have won 10 of their last 12 contests. In the Jan. 8 win at Western Illinois, Buscaglia earned his 100th victory with the Royals. The following contest, an 85-60 drubbing of Colgate, gave Buscaglia career win No. 350. The Royals lead the league in seven of the conference's nine categories. UB also leads the country in three-point field goal percentage at 43.6 and the Royals' defense is ranked third nationally in field goal percentage defense at 34.6 behind only top-ranked Louisiana Tech and Montana. UB continues the Mid-Continent wars at home Saturday and Monday hosting Central Connecticut State and Troy State.

WRESTLING

UB finished third at last weekend's New York State Wrestling Championships at West Point. The finish was highest for a Bulls team since 1987. Cornell won the team competition with 156 followed by Army's 128 and UB's 101 in the 16-team meet. Two wrestlers went undefeated in their weight classes to win state championships. Junior Jason Wartinger at 126 pounds and senior Rob Pavis at 142 took top honors while seniors Brian Dowdall (118) and Marcus Hutchins (167) registered third place finishes. The Bulls, 3-3 in dual meet competition and 1-2 in the East Coast Wrestling Association, travel to Kent for a match Jan. 26.

FOOTBALL

Juniors Gerald Carlson and Craig Guest were rewarded for excellence on the football field by being named to the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division I-AA All-Star team. Both were selected as first-team all-stars. UB finished the season at 3-8 under first-year coach Craig Cirbus, highlighted by a road victory over two-time defending Division I-AA champion Youngs-town State. Carlson holds 10 UB kicking records, including most field goals in a season (17) and most field goals in a game (4), both of which he set this year. Carlson made 17-of-22 field goals on the season, including a school record-tying 52-yarder against Villanova. His average of 1.54 field goals per game ranked him fourth in the nation. He led the Bulls in scoring this season with 69 points.

Guest had a stellar year at inside linebacker, leading not only the Bulls, but the entire ECAC-44 Division I-AA schools-in tackles with 168 (15.3 per game). Included in that figure was a school-record 29 stops against Maine. He recorded a team-high 77 solo tackles.

-Ted Wasko, Sports Information Office

Friday, Jan. 26

Men's & Women's Indoor Track & Field UB Invitational at Alumni Arena

Women's Basketball vs. Central Connecticut State 6 p.m. at Alumni Arena

Men's Basketball vs. Central Connecticut State 8:15 p.m. at Alumni Arena

Women's Basketball vs. Troy State 6 p.m. at Alumni Arena

Men's Basketball vs. Troy State 8:15 p.m. at Alumni Arena