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Buffalo

Bulls · Mid-American

Head coach Pete Lembo Year 2 with Buffalo

Year-2 HCs (2015-2024) averaged +0.09 W vs. preseason expectation

Season Projection · 2026 W5

10,000 sims
4.9
Expected wins
5-5
Proj record
2 to 8
Win range (90%)
#112 (78–135)
Final rank (90%)
0%
Make playoff
1%
Win conference

Path to Glory

Tap a win or a loss on each pivotal game to see how the playoff probability shifts. Leave any game unset to average across both outcomes.

Make the playoff

0%

Baseline projection.

  • vs UAlbany
    Home · Sep 3
  • vs UAlbany
    Home · Sep 3
  • vs UAlbany
    Home · Sep 3
  • vs UAlbany
    Home · Sep 3
  • vs UAlbany
    Home · Sep 3

Pivotal games are the 5 with the largest playoff-probability swing, ranked by the model. Math: chained Bayesian log-odds update from the conditional simulation set; gets the directionally right answer but won't perfectly capture cross-game correlations until the full Monte Carlo pipeline lands.

Returning production · 2026

25 score
  • Quarterback 2% (2/5 )
  • Offensive line 61% (11/18 players)
  • Skill (RB/WR/TE) 25% (18/32 )
  • Front 7 (DL/LB) 14% (15/30 )
  • Secondary 50% (15/23 )
  • Special teams 0% (2/6 )

Share of last season's production each unit returns. Higher means more continuity: 70%+ is healthy, 45–70% a normal rebuild, under 45% a major turnover.

Portal additions · 2026

-1.4 rating

12 proven transfers in, carrying the production below from their prior school.

  • Trevor Wilson TE ← Campbell 38 impact
  • Zae Jennings S ← West Virginia 10 impact
  • Drayson Crane CB ← Morehead State 8 impact
  • Caleb Oliver EDGE ← Wofford 8 impact
  • Sayre Smothers CB ← The Citadel 4 impact
  • Joey Cheshire LB ← Cornell 2 impact

Impact scores offensive skill additions (QB/RB/WR/TE) — prior-season production normalized within position (100 ≈ a 90th-percentile producer at that spot) and discounted for non-FBS competition, so a top back counts alongside a top quarterback. Defensive and O-line additions count as transfers but aren't box-score measurable, so they carry no impact score. The rating figure is this class's portal contribution vs. the FBS average, capped at ±2.5.

If QB1 is out (Ta'Quan Roberson)

GIE projects a -0.2 rating drop and a -0.9pp shift in playoff probability if Buffalo loses its QB1 for an extended stretch. (n=1 historical samples; pooled across recent seasons.)

Situational efficiency · 2025

FBS percentile rank
  • 3rd-down conversion 35.5% 39th — below avg
  • Red-zone TD rate 15.0% 53th — average
  • 4th-down aggression 31.0% 25th — below avg
  • Late & close 5.0 yds/play 49th — average

Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.

Schedule

Full 2026 slate. Tap a row for the matchup breakdown.

Latest Stories

  • Recap

    Buffalo: 2026 Week 3 recap

    Buffalo sits at 1–0 after scraping past UAlbany 21–17 in Week 1, but the narrow margin hints at deeper concerns. GIE rates the Bulls at –12.7, ranking them 111th nationally—a rating that hasn't budged week-to-week, suggesting the model…

  • Recap

    Buffalo: 2025 Week 16 recap

    Buffalo sits at 5–7 after a 31–26 home loss to Ohio in Week 14, dropping the Bulls to a GIE rating of –7.5 and a ranking of 95th nationally. The defeat underscored persistent offensive inconsistency; Buffalo managed 26 points at home but…

More coming

Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.