Buffalo officially declared MAC East champion

BUFFALO, N.Y. » The Mid-american Conference made it official Wednesday by declaring No. 24 Buffalo as winners of the East Division title.

The announcement came after the Bulls (4- 0) appeared to clinch the title outright once their game against Ohio (2-1) last Saturday was canceled and declared a nocontest.

That decision was made because the Bobcats’ roster was depleted due to COVID-19.

Ohio was the only team left with a mathematical chance to win the title before the cancelation occurred in the second-tolast week of the regular season.

Buffalo closes its season by hosting Akron (1- 4) on Saturday and then advances to the MAC championship game to be played in Detroit on Dec. 18.

The winner of Saturday’s game between Western Michigan and Ball State earns the West Division title.

The Bulls are ranked in The Associated Press college football Top 25 poll for the first time in program history, at No. 24, and have been led by Jaret Patterson this season.

The junior running back is coming off a game in which he ran for 409 yards and eight touchdowns in a 70- 41 victory over Kent State.

Defensively, the Bulls have been paced by junior linebacker James Patterson, who has racked up 37 tackles this season, 22 solo.

Senior defensive end Malcolm Koonce has 22 tackles, including five for a loss. He has a team-high four sacks this season.

Buffalo is outscoring opponents 50-24 points per game.