Two 5-7 teams close out their seasons in Akron, but only one sideline is still chasing a bowl bid.
Bush’s Picks
BUFAKR
BUFAKR
OverUnder
Best BetBuffalo
Buffalo carries the deeper talent pool into this one, with 6 players earning preseason All-MAC recognition even after a rough 2025. Akron's preseason 10th-place MAC ranking and admitted roster rebuild make them a live underdog, but not one you'd back to win outright against a program with Lembo's track record. The turnover issues are real, but so is the gap in overall roster continuity.
Buffalo
+Six players named Preseason All-MAC despite down year
+Lembo has a winning career record as HC
+2024 breakout (9-4) shows real ceiling
−Offense completely collapsed during 2025 season
−Lost 22 turnovers, four one-score defeats
−New OC/DC and roster turnover almost everywhere
Akron
+Snapped Buffalo's 7-game skid in last meeting
+Second-half surge (21-6) won last matchup
+Regular-season finale at home in InfoCision Stadium
−Picked 10th of 13 in preseason MAC poll
−Moorhead calls roster a rebuild project
−Tough non-conference slate leaves little margin for bowl bid
This is the last game on the schedule for both programs, and it's shaping up as a study in contrasts. Buffalo enters Year 2 of the Pete Lembo rebuild after an offense that completely fell apart in 2025, while Akron's Joe Moorhead is working with what he's openly called a rebuilt roster, still chasing his first bowl trip since taking over. By late November, both staffs will know exactly what they have — this is the game where it shows.
Buffalo's collapse last season wasn't subtle. The Bulls lost 22 turnovers and dropped 4 games by one score after opening as one of the MAC's preseason favorites. Lembo brought in 2 new coordinators and reworked the depth chart almost everywhere outside the secondary, betting that last year was a hiccup rather than the new normal. Six Bulls still made Phil Steele's Preseason All-MAC team, so the talent evaluators haven't given up on the roster even if the record didn't show it.
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BUF Buffalo
AKR Akron
Akron's path back to relevance runs through a much tougher non-conference slate — trips to Wake Forest and Minnesota, plus a home date with UNLV, all project as likely losses. That means the Zips are effectively playing a 5-3-or-bust math problem in MAC play just to sniff bowl eligibility, and every conference win carries extra weight. A finale against a MAC rival with something to prove is exactly the kind of game that decides whether that math works out.
Buffalo Bulls
Nov 17?vs Central Michigan—
Nov 10?@ Ball State—
Nov 3?@ Miami (OH)—
Oct 16?vs Massachusetts—
Oct 9?@ Toledo—
Oct 2?vs Western Michigan—
Sep 26?vs Robert Morris—
Sep 19?@ Penn State—
Sep 12?@ Florida International—
Sep 3?vs UAlbany—
Akron Zips
Nov 17?@ Massachusetts—
Nov 10?vs Western Michigan—
Nov 3?vs Ohio—
Oct 16?@ Miami (OH)—
Oct 10?vs Eastern Michigan—
Oct 2?@ Central Michigan—
Sep 25?vs UNLV—
Sep 19?@ Minnesota—
Sep 12?vs Robert Morris—
Sep 3?@ Wake Forest—
Recent form.
The head-to-head history favors whoever's playing better football in the moment. Buffalo had won 7 straight in the series before Akron rallied from a halftime deficit last October, outscoring the Bulls 21-6 after the break behind 4 interceptions, to win 24-16 at UB Stadium and flip the series lead in the Zips' favor for the first time in years. That kind of second-half surge is the blueprint for an Akron team that has leaned on grit over talent under Moorhead.
For Buffalo, the bigger question isn't whether the roster is good enough — it's whether an offense that cratered in 2025 can hold onto the ball long enough to let that talent show up. A late-season finale on the road against a scrappy, rebuilding Akron squad is either the get-right game Lembo needs or one more one-score gut punch to close out a lost year.
