The Buffalo Bulls Could Be The Perfect March Madness Cinderella Story

You can argue that Arizona is the story of the NCAA Tournament so far. Many had picked the No. 4 seed to advance to the Final Four. Some were even bold enough to have the Wildcats winning it all.

Unfortunately for those who banked on Arizona, it didn’t just lose to a heavy underdog in the Round of 64 on Thursday. It got throttled. And what shouldn’t be lost in all of this Arizona talk – all the speculation about Sean Miller’s future and Deandre Ayton’s NBA potential – is that Buffalo did the throttling.

The Bulls made Arizona look like the overmatched mid-major. The Mid-American Conference champs punched Miller’s squad in the face from the tip and dictated the terms of the game. Behind a suffocating defense and an arsenal of marksmen from downtown, the Bulls came out on top, 89-68.

There’s still plenty of things that have to happen, but Buffalo looks like it could be the perfect Cinderella story. Here’s why.

1. They have an us-against-the-world mentality

Third-year Buffalo coach Nate Oats didn’t seem to understand why people were surprised the No. 13 seed won.

“The more you looked at them, the more beatable they looked,” Oats said of Arizona.

Buffalo doesn’t lack confidence. In the days leading up to the Arizona game, the team repeatedly emphasized that they weren’t underdogs and believed they had been under-seeded. Seeing as how they entered the Tournament with a 26-8 record and ranked 71st in KenPom — just a few spots below 10-seed Providence, which they passed with a win — they might be onto something.

They even called out former President Obama for picking the Wildcats.

This “nobody believes in us” mentality is the one thing every great underdog needs. Through one game, Buffalo appears to have it in droves.

2. They have an emerging young coach

Oats was only a college assistant for one year before landing the head job when Bobby Hurley bolted for Arizona State. Prior to his move to Western New York, Oats was a high school coach at Romulus in Detroit, Mich., for 11 years.

Despite his lack of college experience, Oats has led the Bulls to two tourney berths in his first three seasons at the helm. The father of three has succeeded despite personal turmoil, as his wife, Crystal, has battled lymphoma.

“I don’t know one guy on the team that he doesn’t have a great bond with,” star guard Wes Clark said of Oats. “Just to have that family figure around and that type of effect is a different type of game.”

A common trend among recent Cinderellas has been that a number of them were led by up-and-coming coaches. Think of some of the most notable underdogs in recent years — Butler in 2011 (Brad Stevens), VCU in 2011 (Shaka Smart), and Florida Gulf Coast in 2013 (Andy Enfield).

Oats will get high-major looks, but don’t be surprised if he stays put. He recently signed a five-year extension.

3. They can get insanely hot from three

Buffalo shot 15-for-30 from downtown against Arizona. Some of it was definitely luck — hitting half of your threes, especially when one that goes in looks like this, is generally not sustainable.

But it wasn’t entirely shocking. The Bulls averaged 84.9 points per game during the regular season, sixth-best in the country, and hit the 12th-most threes nationwide. They had two of the MAC’s best three-point shooters in Jeremy Harris (43 percent) and C.J. Massinburg (40 percent), while Clark can also connect from downtown at a 40 percent clip.

Buffalo can get silly hot from outside, much like Davidson in 2008 and VCU in 2011. Hitting threes is often a way to level the playing field, and the Bulls can do that with the best of them.

4. They play smothering perimeter defense

What says “mid-major coming at a high-major’s throat” quite like a pesky guard getting all up in a ball handler’s grill? Buffalo’s Davonta Jordan, who made the MAC’s All-Defensive Team, was a fiend on the perimeter Thursday, refusing to give Arizona’s guards any breathing room.

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Chris Webber repeatedly commented on Buffalo’s insatiable defense – reminiscent of George Mason in 2006 – throughout the broadcast.

5. They have an endearing leader you can get behind

Some Cinderellas have an electric star bound for greatness, like Stephen Curry, Gordon Hayward, or if you want to go way back, Antonio Gates. Others have a guy who probably won’t make it in the pros, like George Mason’s Jai Lewis or Dayton’s Jordan Sibert.

The player’s long-term prospects aren’t important – what is important is that the team has an alpha dog who can absolutely take over. Buffalo has that in Clark.

A senior point guard who played three seasons at Missouri and averaged 10.1 PPG as a sophomore, Clark was dismissed by the Tigers for failing to meet academic standards. A former four-star, top-100 recruit, Clark was stuck in no man’s land.

Oats, his former high school coach at Romulus, rescued him. Clark had gone nearly two years without suiting up, but he immediately entered the starting lineup when he became eligible in the 2018 spring semester. He dominated in the MAC Tournament — averaging 13.3 points, five rebounds, 4.3 assists, and two steals per game — and was named MVP.

Clark scored 25 points, shot 10-for-14 from the field, and added seven assists and four rebounds in Buffalo’s upset of Arizona. Every time the Wildcats threatened, he answered.

This is Clark’s last hurrah, and he’s out to show the country he belongs with the big boys.

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Buffalo has a tough draw in the second round, as the Bulls will take on John Calipari’s Kentucky squad Saturday at 5:15 p.m.

Kentucky is loaded with talent, but don’t expect the Bulls to be intimidated. This isn’t the first matchup of the two programs — the schools squared off in Lexington in 2014, the year the Wildcats, led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker, went 38-1 en route to a Final Four appearance. The Wildcats pulled away late and won, 71-52, but Buffalo gave Kentucky a scare, even taking a 38-33 lead into the half.

Also, Justin Moss did this to Willie Cauley-Stein.

If the Bulls miraculously pull off another upset (the Wildcats are 5.5-point favorites), they’ll likely have to take on No. 1 overall seed Virginia in the Sweet 16, which makes their long-term odds of viability something resembling zero. But isn’t that what Cinderella stories are all about?