Buffalo adds Stonehill, completes 2029 nonconference football schedule

Stonehill’s place on Buffalo’s 2029 schedule is more than a fill-in. The Skyhawks will open the Bulls’ nonconference slate on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2029, at Broadview Stadium, giving Stonehill a first-ever meeting with Buffalo and a road stage that carries the usual FCS incentives of visibility, revenue and a straight-line test against a larger roster.

Buffalo added Stonehill on April 10, locking in the final piece of its 2029 nonconference board. The Bulls’ future schedule now runs Stonehill at home on Sept. 1, then at Illinois on Sept. 8, at Delaware on Sept. 15 and against Connecticut on Sept. 22. That sequence tells the story of how the Bulls are building years ahead, balancing a home FCS date with a road game at a Big Ten program, another trip to an FCS opponent in Delaware and a home game against an old regional name in Connecticut.

For Stonehill, the value lies in where the game sits inside the program’s arc. The school began its transition to NCAA Division I athletics in the 2022-23 academic year after accepting an invitation from the Northeast Conference, and football has been part of that climb at the FCS level. Head coach Eli Gardner oversees that move into Division I FCS membership, and a date at Buffalo gives the Skyhawks another proof point in front of a larger audience while adding a useful data point to their long-term scheduling profile.

The matchup also fits the way FCS programs are often used in the modern schedule economy. A road game at an FBS opponent can help complete a nonconference slate, but it also gives the visiting program a recognizable opponent and a chance to measure itself against a deeper resource base. Buffalo gets a home date and a clean schedule ledger. Stonehill gets a chance to walk into a bigger building, against a bigger-budget program, with something concrete to take back to Easton.

The setting will matter, too. Buffalo’s football venue now carries the Broadview Stadium name under the university’s $31.75 million, 15-year partnership with Broadview Federal Credit Union, a deal that also covers the basketball arena and an athletics village. By the time Stonehill arrives, that branding will be part of the backdrop, another sign of the financial scale surrounding the game. For the Skyhawks, the trip is a measuring stick. For Buffalo, it is the last scheduled move in a 2029 nonconference slate that already looks built to stretch the Bulls in several different directions.