I don't understand why people list "cold" as a major draw back. Your going to be indoor MOST of your time anyways. And its only REALLY cold about 4-5 months of the year (by that I mean temperatures below 30 degrees)
I didn't interview at UT, so I know nothing about them, but buffalo is a great school. Strong curriculum (they give your own chair in 3rd and 4th year), very friendly student body (from what I can tell) and relatively cheap (even if your out-of-state, since you can switch ur residency status to in-state after 1 year)