New York Bulls - FAQ

Does Buffalo Have the Right to Call themselves New York?

Short answer: Yes

Long Answer: I looked at all FBS Teams, and found 69 FBS teams contain some kind of a claim to their state. 3 more teams, (the academies) claim to represent the whole country.

To qualify in that 72, you had to use the name of the State in your Athletic name:

San Diego State, (officially California State University, San Diego) does not qualify as they use San Diego State.

Buffalo Bulls (officially State University of New York at Buffalo) would not qualify, but for the sake of discussion they are in.

Secondly, no qualifiers. No Florida International, no Northern Illinois (you're welcome Stoops) even no Texas Christian, to qualify you have to represent the whole state even the heathens. If Buffalo went with Western New York Bulls, I wouldn't count them in this discussion and I wonder if there would be the same amount of outrage.

Nomenclature:

Georgia Technical Institute stands alone in the naming department.

Tech is Tied for 5th most representative school, Atlanta houses 55% of Georgians, it is the biggest city in the state and the capital.

22 Schools use the University of [State] format

University of Washington is 7th most representative, Seattle housing 56.6% of Washingtonians and is the largest city in the state.

3 Schools use the United States [Military Branch] Academy format

The United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and represents 0.2% of the US population.

18 Schools use the [State] State University format
(including the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)

Arizona State University is the 3rd most representative school, Phoenix housing 64% of Arizonians as well as being the largest and capital city.

7 Schools use [State] University

West Virginia University is 29th, Morgantown hosts 7% of West Virginia.

21 Schools use [State] University - City Combinations

University of Hawai'i at Manoa is the most representative, Honolulu hosts 68.5% of Hawaiians and is the Capital and largest city of Hawai'i.

Where Does Buffalo Rank

Buffalo is 32nd most representative of their state.

Buffalo hosts 5.8% of New York's population, falling just short of Texas (10.8%) & Oregon (9%), Buffalo is more representative than Colorado (5.7%), Iowa (5%), Alabama (4.8%), Connecticut (3.9%) and Michigan (3.5%).

Is This Really a Rebrand?

Well yes technically, it's actually the Athletics Department rebranding to fit the official University name, which the University and most students and alum rarely use.

So Buffalo is that a Sunny?

See this is part of the problem. A) move away from New York, then hear this every time you say you went to Buffalo. B) SUNY does a horrible job marketing itself.

But You're not in New York City

You do realize that New York is a State, that Albany is the capital, and that you can't get there via Subway. Buffalo is also not a borough.

Are you ripping off Syracuse

I guess, it's a good idea for whoever does it, however Syracuse is a private school, I really can't think of a private school being the State representative. I think Syracuse points to their alumni base, their Big East Tournament games in MSG and recent games at Yankee and Met Life Stadiums that make them New York City's Team.

Also we don't care what Syracuse is doing, they rarely played us, and as far as I'm concerned, they are now Carolina's New York Team in the ACC, it's a world away. I'm more focused on UConn and Pitt, the former big east teams we seemed to play very often. That said thanks for the coach, I do hope it works out great for Buffalo and awful for Syracuse, just cause well we hate a lot, (don't confuse that for care or concern).

Is This The Right Move?

Yes...because...

University of Minnesota Twin Cities = Minnesota
University of California Los Angeles = UCLA
University of Nebraska Lincoln = Nebraska
University of California Berkeley = California
University of Nevada Reno = Nevada
University of Wisconsin Madison = Wisconsin
University of Texas Austin = Texas
State University of New York at Buffalo = New York
University of Colorado at Boulder = Colorado
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign = Illinois
University of North Carolina Chapel HIll = North Carolina
University of Maryland College Park = Maryland

But then Buffalo will disappear, no one will even know where the school is.

Well look back at the list above, chance are you knew 95% of those school locations. If anything snobs love to say the city name, (Cal? I went to Berkkkkeley) and sportscasters love to interject the city name to sound more poetic.

This game comes to you a few miles from the majesty of the Niagara Falls, the home of the chicken wing, the city of Buffalo, New York, home of the New York Bulls.

Who really gets forgotten?

How many people know West Virginia University is in Morgantown, or that Ohio University is in Athens. Where is Texas Tech University or Texas A&M University, or New Mexico State University?

State - City seems to be the best way to acknowledge the bond between University and State as well as the bond between University and City.

I'm not from Buffalo, why are you trying to be New York City?

Well as a Buffalonian let me tell you something...sometimes it's not all about New York City. It is a big, diverse State. Syracuse's New York's College Team campaign was aimed mostly at New York City. Buffalo's New York Rebrand should be aimed at the entire State, as UB tries to develop into New York State's Premier State Institution which, we unofficially already are.

I'm from Buffalo, why are you disrespecting Buffalo?

Well as a expat Buffalonian let me tell you, sometimes you gotta let go. Buffalo gets attacked often, so Buffalonians are always on guard to protect their reputation. Once you leave, you spend less time defending the greatness of the city and more time appreciating it. Think of it this way, it's not a weakness of Buffalo that requires us to focus on New York, it is instead our strength as a city that we can become the athletic and academic standard for public education in one of the 5 biggest States in the country. Albany cannot be New York's team, Stony Brook can't do it, Syracuse can't do it...It can only be Buffalo. Carry the State on your back with pride.

What Do You Want?

So what do we put on the helmets? You don't want SUNY on there, in my opinion the best brands are spelled..."Uklah", is not the same as U-C-L-A...the L-A part means something, likewise, the soonee, is not the same as S-U-N-Y. We can't use a spelled out SUNY, because S-U is associated with Syracuse, and SUNY is an already established brand. I think for now the patch is good, but I think most fans would prefer an outline of the state, with a "UB", or a "B" where Buffalo is located on the State. That would be the perfect combination of recognition of the city, and branding of the State.