#4 Buffalo (18-8, 12-5 MAC) vs. #1 Colorado State (18-6, 14-4 MWC), 7 PM
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Buffalo will begin play at the 2021 National Invitation Tournament on Friday night when the Bulls face Colorado State in Denton, TX.  This will mark the second ever meeting between the programs and the second all-time appearance in the NIT for the Bulls. This will be Buffalo's first game in the state of Texas since Dec. 21, 2017 at Texas A&M.

With no postseason last year due to COVID-19, Buffalo will be playing in a postseason tournament for the fifth time in the last six seasons, with the previous four being NCAA Tournament appearances.

UB has not played in the NIT since the 2005 season, when the Bulls went 1-1, defeating Drexel in overtime in the first game before falling to St. Joseph's in the second round. This will be the first time the Bulls and Rams meet on the hardwood since Dec. 20, 2008 when Buffalo defeated Colorado State in the championship game of Outrigger Rainbow Classic in Hawaii, 67-53.

Since the 2017-18 season the Bulls have won 18 games in March, tied for third most in the nation with Virginia. Oregon is second in the nation with 19 wins in March, while Texas Southern leads the way with 22 victories in the month of March.

Junior Josh Mballa was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year, the fourth time in the last five years a Buffalo player has won Defensive Player of the Year.  Mballa, Jeenathan Williams, and Jayvon Graves were all named to the All-MAC Second Team, while Mballa and Williams were both named to the MAC All-Tournament Team. Graves recently moved into eighth place on UB's all-time scoring list, surpassing Turner Battle, a member of the Bulls during their last NIT appearance.  Graves is also third all-time in games played for UB as Friday night will be his 131st career game. Mballa had 50 rebounds over three games at the MAC Tournament, the most rebounds in one tournament in MAC history.  He averaged 16.7 boards per game, including 20 in UB's semifinal win over Akron. Mballa is 10th in the nation in total rebounding and he is second in the nation in offensive boards at 4.33 per game.

After leading the nation in rebounding a year ago, Buffalo again leads the country in that category, averaging 43.96 boards per contest. The Bulls are second in the nation in offensive rebounds. No team nationally has finished a season averaging 44.0 or more rebounds since Quinnipiac averaged 45.37 during the 2014-15 season.

There is a connection amongst coaching staffs as UB head coach Jim Whitesell was the head coach for Colorado State assistant JR Blount, while at Loyola (IL). Blount was a team captain for the Ramblers under Whitesell. Blount also coached at Saint Leo (FL), the alma mater of UB assistant coach Angres Thorpe, although Thorpe was there earlier.

This will be the 15th postseason games in UB's Division I school history, combining the NCAA Tournament, NIT, CBI, and CIT.  UB is 6-8 all-time in the post season,having won postseason games in each of the last two postseasons played.

Buffalo is 68th in the latest KenPom rankings and they have the 11th fastest possession length in the nation at 15.1 seconds.