A few years ago, UB began to attract more 3 star athletes than they usually had in the past. That made me curious to see how they were doing relative to the rest of the conference. Sure, recruiting sites provide summary lists showing quantity of 3 star recruits. I went the extra step, and summarized the quantity of offers each recruit had received.
This year feels like it is shaping up to be another good one for the Buffalo Bulls. So, I have begun to collect data about all of the MAC's recruits. Of course the recruiting season is not over, and anything can happen between now and national signing day. This is just a snapshot of where things are at this point in time. And, how they might compare to a previous season, if they continue as is. Each column of the following tables are sorted on their own, and one row does not necessarily represent the same team. I didn't see the point in naming each athlete, or team, until Letters Of Intent have been signed. But, I did add UB's data in Bold.
| 2021 - Labor Day | # Recruits | # 3 Stars | Additional Offers | FCS | MAC | Other G5 | Power 5 |
| 1 | 21 | **15** | **172** | **62** | 57 | **43** | **22** |
| 2 | 19 | 15 | 126 | 45 | 55 | 22 | 16 |
| 3 | **18** | 14 | 119 | 41 | **45** | 17 | 15 |
| 4 | 18 | 12 | 91 | 39 | 39 | 16 | 13 |
| 5 | 18 | 10 | 85 | 36 | 34 | 15 | 9 |
| 6 | 17 | 10 | 76 | 34 | 32 | 14 | 7 |
| 7 | 16 | 9 | 76 | 32 | 22 | 13 | 6 |
| 8 | 12 | 7 | 72 | 31 | 21 | 10 | 3 |
| 9 | 11 | 7 | 69 | 27 | 18 | 10 | 3 |
| 10 | 8 | 5 | 68 | 24 | 16 | 10 | 2 |
| 11 | 8 | 5 | 63 | 23 | 10 | 7 | 1 |
| 12 | 7 | 1 | 18 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 1 |
For comparison, here is the 2014 data, shown in the same format.
| 2014 - Final | # Recruits | # 3 Stars | Additional Offers | FCS | MAC | Other G5 | Power 5 |
| 1 | 30 | 15 | 131 | 32 | 56 | 38 | 46 |
| 2 | 26 | 7 | 119 | 23 | 29 | 32 | 40 |
| 3 | 26 | 6 | 113 | 20 | 27 | 18 | 34 |
| 4 | 24 | **6** | 67 | 17 | 27 | 15 | 13 |
| 5 | 23 | 5 | 51 | **16** | 24 | **12** | 10 |
| 6 | **21** | 4 | **46** | 12 | 19 | 11 | **9** |
| 7 | 20 | 4 | 45 | 10 | 19 | 8 | 8 |
| 8 | 20 | 4 | 45 | 8 | 14 | 7 | 6 |
| 9 | 18 | 3 | 44 | 8 | 13 | 6 | 5 |
| 10 | 17 | 3 | 38 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 5 |
| 11 | 17 | 3 | 36 | 4 | **9** | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Before going through this exercise, I was pretty excited for UB's class. After seeing the quantity of offers, to go along with the quantity of 3 star ratings, I am even more excited. Gaining more than three times the total quantity of offers from a few years ago shows how far the reputation of the program has come. Leading the conference in total offers, and in particular other G5 offers is quite remarkable. For as much of an improvement as there has been, there is still a little ways to go, in the eyes of other P5 recruits... in order to be on par with the Toledos, NIUs and WMUs of years past.