TORONTO — One of the lasting images from the University at Buffalo’s triumph in the Mid-American Conference Championship Game was Turner Gill and Warde Manuel in a long embrace with both men in tears. It was an outpouring of emotions over accomplishing a goal few believed the football program could ever achieve.

“There were so many people from the time I interviewed for the job here that said we couldn’t do it, we couldn’t win a championship,” Manuel said. “People were particularly emphasizing we couldn’t win it in football. We were too bad and it just wasn’t going to happen.”

Since arriving from the University of Michigan in 2005, Manuel has been instrumental in changing the culture of the UB athletic department, from merely trying to become competitive in the MAC to contending for and winning league championships. As the Bulls (8-5) prepare for their first bowl game in school history — Saturday’s International Bowl against Connecticut (7-5) at the Rogers Centre (noon, ESPN2, Radio 1230 AM) — Gill has been given much of the credit for molding this once wretched program into a champion. But he’s also quick to give a nod to his bosses.

“Our success starts at the top,” Gill said, “it starts with President [John] Simpson and Warde Manuel.”

Reaching this point wasn’t without challenges. Manuel was told by some that football was not the answer to his championship aspirations and that he should focus on starting programs in either hockey or lacrosse.

During his first year, the Bulls lost their first nine games and finished 1-10, which led to the firing of coach Jim Hofher. After so many years at Michigan spending the holidays preparing for bowls, Manuel didn’t know what to do with his time.

“My wife was like, ‘Let’s take a family vacation,’ ” he said. “I was mad for about two weeks.”

But Manuel had a plan that started with the hiring of Gill. The structure was in place for UB to find success — UB Stadium was a big part of it — and Manuel added another by securing a $500,000 gift from Robert and Carol Morris that allowed the school to double its current weight room space. The next phase was putting together a competitive schedule with games at Auburn, Boston College, Wisconsin and Penn State. Doing that earned nearly $2 million for the athletic program.

The reasoning behind the schedule was threefold. First, Manuel wanted the Bulls to play in competitive environments against top-level opposition so once they stepped into the MAC, they wouldn’t be unsettled.

“We were putting them in position to play against a caliber of team that they grew up always wanting to play against,” he said. “They were not intimidated at Penn State or Auburn therefore they weren’t intimidated going into any MAC stadium.”

Second, Manuel also wanted Western New York fans to realize UB was playing in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A).

“There’s no slight against these programs, but we didn’t need to play against Hofstra and Colgate and all the teams we were playing in our history before when we were playing in Division III and Division II and I-AA,” he said. “People needed to recognize we’re playing Penn State because we’re in the same [division] as Penn State.”

Lastly, Manuel persuaded Simpson to keep the income from playing the guaranteed games in the football program and athletic department. The money was used to upgrade weight equipment and computer facilities for academics and the coaching staff.

“It wasn’t to meet budgetary goals, it was to invest back into our program,” Manuel said.

Now that Manuel and UB have gotten this far, the objective is to win another one.

“People used to ask our old equipment manager at Michigan, ‘What’s your favorite ring?’ and he would say, ‘The next one,’ ” Manuel said. “When we get the championship ring I’ll wear it proudly but my favorite championship ring will be the next one.”