Buffalo Bulls Make Bowl After 50 Years

The Buffalo Bulls have been playing football for more than a century -- but without much success. The University at Buffalo's football program has been regarded by some as the worst program in the nation and, in recent years, a true laughingstock.

In a move of solidarity, the 1958 University at Buffalo football team unanimously decided to reject a bid to the Tangerine Bowl because the Bulls' two African-American players were not welcome.

(Courtesy University of Buffalo)
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But this season, the Bulls' luck has changed. With dramatic upsets and fairy tale finishes, the team earned the title of Mid-American Conference champions, defeating heavily favored Ball State 42-24 on Dec. 5 at Ford Field in Detroit.

For the just the second time in school history, the Bulls earned a spot in a post-season bowl game. They'll face Connecticut in the International Bowl in Toronto on Jan. 3.

The last time the Bulls earned a bid to a bowl game was 50 years ago. The 1958 team had a monumental 8-1 season and was honored on "The Ed Sullivan Show" with the Lambert Cup for the best small school program in the East.

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The hard-nosed '58 Buffalo squad earned a trip to the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, but under one condition: their two African-American players, defensive end Mike Wilson and star halfback Willie Evans could not attend.

"Coach says that if we go, Willie and Mike are going to have to stay home," said Joe Oliverio, a quarterback on the 1958 Bulls, now 69, who remembers feeling blinded-sided by the news.

The Orlando High School Athletic Association, which hosted the Tangerine Bowl, prohibited inter-racial teams.

"I went and got the paper and there was my picture along with Mike Wilson's on the front page of the Courier Express," said Evans, the left halfback on the '58 Bulls.

In Buffalo, a place where whites and blacks worked alongside each other and the black and white teammates played together seamlessly, the Bulls were angry and dumbfounded when they first heard the news.

I was "insulted that my teammates would be treated based on the color of their skin," said Oliverio.

The university and coach Dick Offenhamer left it to the players to decide whether or not to play the game. They gathered in the basement of the gym to vote.