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BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo football program is just days away from beginning preparations for their first Division I-A football campaign in 29 years.

Over 100 players are expected to participate in the pre-season workouts that will culminate in UB's first-ever Mid-American Conference game against Akron on September 11 at 7:00 pm at the newly-expanded UB Stadium.

Twenty-nine first-year players will arrive on August 13th and will practice on August 15th, 16th and 17th. The upperclassmen will arrive on August 17th with the entire squad on the field for the first time on August 19th with practices slated for 6:30 am, 10:20 am and 4:00 pm.

On August 17th Outback Steakhouse will present the first UB Football Media Day on the UB Stadium field. All returning players and the coaching staff will be available for interviews during that event.

The team has scrimmages tentatively set for 3:00 pm on August 25th and on August 29th at 7:00 pm. Craig Cirbus will be available for comments following those scrimmages.

Other notes for pre-season camp:

· The Bulls will play their first major college schedule since 1970 when they begin play in the Mid-American Conference this fall. Ironically, four MAC schools appeared on the 1970 schedule as well (Ball State, Toledo, Northern Illinois and Kent). UB's last Division I-A win was October 31, 1970 when the Bulls defeated Holy Cross, 16-0, on ABC regional television.

· UB has the most experienced offensive line in all of I-A football, according to a recent study by I-A Sports Information Directors. UB's offensive line - LT Joe Hattendorf (Shillington, PA/Governor Mifflin), LG David Pruce (Chardon, OH/Chardon), C Dom Monacelli (Caledonia, NY/Caledonia-Mumford), RG Mike Garofalo (Sharpsville, PA/Kennedy Christian) and RT Tom Brown (Amherst, NY/Amherst Central) started all 11 games intact last season and has made 113 combined starts. Next up on the list is Wisconsin (108), Bowling Green (104), Ohio State (104) and Alabama (101). That unit set a school record with 2,463 yards rushing last year and helped UB accumulate 25 rushing touchdowns.

Hattendorf, is attempting to recover from a summer foot injury which may keep him out of pre-season drills. No member of the UB offensive line missed a start last season.