University at Buffalo Cedes Three-Year "War of the Empire State" to Syracuse

"War of the Empire State." "The New York War." "The Great Brand Conflict."

Whatever you want to call these last three years of marketing warring between the Syracuse Orange and Buffalo Bulls, it appears it's over. The University at Buffalo announced today that they'll put "Buffalo" back on the front of its football uniforms.

The move is part of a full re-brand, detailed further by SB Nation's Bull Run. The team will be utilizing "Buffalo" as its main brand again, instead of the confusing "State University of New York" and bold "NEW YORK" wordmark. They've also revitalized the Bull logo to be more modern and mean-looking.

Buffalo has also created a new tagline: "New York's Public Powerhouse."

Maybe not the same zing as "New York's College Team" and there's some questionable accuracy around the statement depending on your definition of the word "powerhouse" and whether or not you count three-time national champ Army as "public." But still, there's a clearer message here that says Buffalo is the state's top public school for football.

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Obviously the "war" is never over, though. Rutgers (New York's New Jersey College Tire Fire), St. John's (New York's College Team That Didn't Make the Final Four) and Connecticut (#6THBOROUGH) all continue to push their own branding. And Syracuse will double down on New York's College Team if it's the last thing it does, DOCTOR Gross or no DOCTOR Gross. But at least for a day, the battle rests..