The BG football team will be battling the University of Buffalo Bulls for the Mid-American Conference East Division title on Friday.
The game will be held at a neutral site for the second-consecutive season, this time at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League.
The Falcons have a short week to prepare for the Bulls, who are tied with BG at the top of the East Division. The winner of the game will move on to the MAC Championship game against the West Division champions, the Northern Illinois University Huskies, in Detroit on Dec. 6.
Buffalo holds an identical 8-3 (6-1 MAC) record with BG. The Bulls lost their first two games against the then-ranked No. 2 Ohio State University Buckeyes 40-20 and the then-ranked No. 23 Baylor University Bears 70-13.
The Bulls had a close call in their home opener against the Stony Brook University Seawolves, a FCS team. Buffalo and Stony Brook went into five overtimes before the Bulls could come out with a 26-23 victory.
Following their 0-2 start, the Buffalo Bulls won seven straight games against the University of Connecticut, Eastern Michigan University, Western Michigan University, the University of Massachusetts, Kent State University and Ohio University.
The seven game win streak was snapped by the University of Toledo Rockets who defeated the Bulls 51-41 in a midweek match on Nov. 5.
Following its third loss, Buffalo defeated Miami University 44-7 on Nov. 19.
Buffalo has arguably the easiest MAC schedule in the conference. The Bulls’ conference opponents have a combined record of 14-53 (22-56 with BG), with three of those teams already reaching 10 losses on the year. They faced one MAC opponent with a winning record and that was Ohio, who has lost three-straight against MAC East opponents.
BG’s conference opponent record totals at 24-54 (32-55 including Buffalo’s record).
The Falcons have won the past two meetings with Buffalo including a 21-7 win at Crew Stadium in Columbus this past season and a 42-28 victory in Buffalo in 2011.
The Bulls have only defeated BG three times including a 28-26 loss at BG during the 2010 season. BG’s first and only loss against Buffalo on the road was on Sept. 23, 2000 when the Bulls won 20-17 in the first meeting between the two teams.
BG and Buffalo are set to kickoff in Buffalo at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29. Follow @BGNewsSports on Facebook and Twitter for game updates.