page_title: 2009 International Bowl
section_title: Pregame buildup
hierarchical_section_title: 2009 International Bowl / Pregame buildup
caption_attribution_description: English: Turner Gill is introduced during a UB Men's Basketball game against Central Michigan on January 21st 2006.
context_page_description: The 2009 International Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Connecticut Huskies and the Buffalo Bulls at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, on January 3, 2009. The game was the final contest of the 2008 NCAA Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision football season for both teams, and ended in a 38–20 victory for Connecticut. UConn represented the Big East Conference in the game; Buffalo entered as the Mid-American Conference champion.
  Connecticut was selected as a participant in the 2009 International Bowl following a 7–5 regular season where they won their first five games, only to lose five of their last seven contests. Facing the Huskies were the Buffalo Bulls with a regular season record of 8–5, highlighted by an upset win over then-No. 12 and undefeated Ball State in the 2008 MAC Championship Game. Pre-game media coverage focused on the legacy of the 1958 Buffalo Bulls, the first team from the university to be invited to a bowl game. When told that the two African-American members of the team would not be allowed to play because of segregation, the team elected to refuse the bowl bid. Buffalo would not play in a bowl until this game, 50 years later.
context_section_description: In the weeks leading up to the game, media coverage focused on the achievements of the Buffalo Bulls. Buffalo had been one of the least successful programs in college football from their transition to Division I-A in 1999 to 2006, during which they had a cumulative record of 12–79. In 2008, the Bulls had their first winning season since 1996, won five games in a row for the first time since 1986, beat a ranked team for the first time in program history with their upset victory over Ball State in the MAC Championship Game, and would be making the first bowl appearance in school history. The turnaround of the Buffalo program brought acclaim to Bulls head coach Turner Gill, who had taken over the team in 2007.
  Comparatively, Connecticut was an afterthought heading into the game. Pre-bowl coverage of UConn focused on NCAA rushing leader Donald Brown, who was considering foregoing his senior season to enter the 2009 NFL Draft. Brown indicated before the game that he had decided to return to UConn for the 2010 season.
caption: Buffalo Bulls head coach Turner Gill
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