From The Message Boards: On Drew Allen & Buffalo's Dominance Over New York

I don't really read the message boards all that much. I enjoy some of them but, who has the time? Well, some of you do, so, good for you.

Anyway, two Syracuse-related message board posts recently came to my attention that I thought were worth sharing.

First up, an interesting perspective from an Oklahoma Sooners fan on the "real" story about Drew Allen. I use quotes there not to mock but because, quite frankly, I can't verify anything. But it sure sounds good.

...Unbeknownst to the fans and sports media outlets, Drew was the actual back-up. When the staff put together the running qb idea, they originally intended to use Drew; he was faster than Blake, he can actually throw the ball, and he had game experience from 2010. However, Huepel (OU's OC) decided it was best to put the redshirt freshman, third string quarterback in because hell, if he got injured doing it, it didn't really matter; we still had the real back-up in case Landry went down. So as the season went on, Belldozer saw an increasing number of snaps at psuedo-quarterback where all he did was dive ahead and not really play qb and OU fans collectively fawned over the idea of a Blake Bell era at qb. On then, to point numero uno, Landry's return for the 2012 season.

Long story short, Drew was good enough to start for OU, he was just there at precisely the wrong time.

The second story is pretty amazing. Hat-tip to ppk700 who brought it to our attention. It's basically a rant about how SUNY-Buffalo The University of New York is primed to not only become a prominent athletic powerhouse but also overtake Syracuse in terms of NY popularity.

You WAAAAAAAYY overestimate the popularity of Syracuse in Western New York. As you say, St. Bona, Canisius, Niagara, UB, Notre Dame, and the Big Ten (because of the rise of the BTN) makes Syracuse next to invisible during basketball season. And as far as football goes, it cracked me up that there were a LOT of Bills fans that didn't even know that Doug Marrone coached at Syracuse when he was hired.

No one here cares one whit about Syracuse football. As far as College, it's mostly, Penn State, Notre Dame, UB, Ohio State, Michigan, West Virginia, Pitt, and THEN..... MAYBE Syracuse. A rebranded University of New York would make Syracuse not only little brother, but baby brother statewide in ten or 15 years. You would be cultivating a statewide student body of 450,000 current SUNY students every year to a Syracuse student body of 19,000.

But the big kicker is the Bills. The chance of them being in Buffalo (or Toronto) 10 years from now is about 25%. Twenty years from now, about 10%. That leaves an ENORMOUS gap in big time football in a football crazed town. Buffalo (the city) would have no choice but to market The University of New York HEAVILY. The University of New York would have a top notch stadium to play in, and city that is used to paying the price for Pro football tickets.

Logistically, The University of New York is set up perfectly to handle the hoards of people that would be coming in from out of town on a Big Ten gameday.

The Big Ten isn't looking one year out. They are looking 10 and 20 years out. And they are looking for research giants that can deliver television sets. If the city and state play their cards right, The University of New York (not UB, The University of Buffalo, or Buffalo) may find it easier to get a bid to the Big Ten than you think.

Sorry, SU fans. Hope it was fun while it lasted. Make way for Buffalo.