MAC had a wild day of MACtion today.

Almost all games (maybe all games) were decided in the last 5 or 10 seconds.

I had WMU on ESPN-U and BG and NIU games on ESPN3. Three simultaneously. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. MAC won 4 of 5 (I think that was the final tally).

I will echo what Bovine said...why not us? I know Toledo still gets Applewhite for MAC play, but they haven't looked that great. Same with Western. Both teams are having trouble replacing their big loss from last year (Pearson and Whittington). NIU looks about the same as they did last season. No reason why we shouldn't contend for at least the division.

(11-30-2014 10:01 PM)EagleSam Wrote:  I will echo what Bovine said...why not us? I know Toledo still gets Applewhite for MAC play, but they haven't looked that great. Same with Western. Both teams are having trouble replacing their big loss from last year (Pearson and Whittington). NIU looks about the same as they did last season. No reason why we shouldn't contend for at least the division.

I've seen NIU play a few times and I haven't been impressed.

They improved last season at mid-year with the big guy transfer, Threloff (sp).

Transfers are a big part of the MAC landscape.

(11-29-2014 07:34 PM)emussuperfan Wrote:  I was told that the tournament cost between $90,000 -$100,000. And that we are paying the 4 NAIA division 2 teams between 5-6,000 dollars each to come here, real D1 teams can get $25-45,000 pregame.

Make sense:

1). We are paying the expenses of the visitors. The D-I schools have significant travel expenses to SE MI for a multiple day tourney. The NAIA have small expenses and they clear a few bucks to boot.

2). We are essentially 'buying victories', which schools do all the time. They pay teams they think they can beat to visit. We paid to get all of these home games and then will go on the road and the shoe will be on the other foot.

Important thing: We got a lot of winnable games while we break in a lot of new players...

I wish the EMU Classic was marketed.

Yes we COULD win the division but it isn't going to be a cakewalk. We haven't seen an accurate measuring stick, yep we've beaten Oakland and some lower Div I teams. Not sure about upcoming games against Dayton, MSU and U of M-probably not real accurate as well in terms of measurement.

Dayton is really good. As good as, or a little bit better than, UMass was last year. They would win the MAC easily. I don't think that'll paint an accurate picture of what we can do in MAC play. Missouri State will be a better test. If we beat Dayton, we should all go nuts because that means we are pretty damn good. I'm not expecting it. I'll be happy to stay within 10.

Oakland seems like a middle of the road MAC team. Poor record so far, but played competitively against decent opponents.

Winning by plus 30 against one of the other three div 1 teams is also a good sign.

CMU falls back down to earth with a double digit loss to a blah Bradley team. Just us and BGSU in the undefeated column now.

NIU down 9 at halftime to DePaul.

This puts some perspective:

http://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-basketball...ngs-week-3

5 MAC games tonight and we aren't favored in any of them. Would be nice for the conference to get some wins tonight.

Dayton only beat Miami (OH) by 4. Granted it was at Miami, but maybe this game is more winnable than I think.

Now, I understand that the game was in Oxford, but the fact that Dayton could never put away Miami makes me believe we have a damn good shot at this game on Saturday.

BG goes down to Western Kentucky 62-52. We stand alone in the MAC with an unblemished record. Hopefully we can continue that after Saturday.

(12-03-2014 10:20 PM)FrankAnderson Wrote:  BG goes down to Western Kentucky 62-52. We stand alone in the MAC with an unblemished record. Hopefully we can continue that after Saturday.

I like the way this season is turning out. I like being undefeated in December and playing the 'game of the decade' Saturday.

Don't hold your breath, Steve. EMU will almost certainly be defeated soon. They have a good MAC caliber team.

I'm still not confident about saturday, and I think we will be 10-12 point underdogs, but Dayton at least showed some vulnerability. They had a comfortable lead and let Miami get back into it at the end. Either this was a wake up call for them, or they aren't as good as I think they are. Hoping its the latter.

Another person's opinion:


http://eagletotem.net/blog/2014/12/03/ir...#more-9016

(12-04-2014 08:26 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Another person's opinion:


http://eagletotem.net/blog/2014/12/03/ir...#more-9016

I'll worry about a loss Saturday, if it happens.

No sense feeling pain on Thursday and pain (again) on Saturday (assuming that to be the case).

(I had a hernia surgery Monday. Before my surgery my internal medicine doc asked if I was worried. I said no. I knew there would be pain but I didn't worry about it. I did miss watching the Marygrove game. I couldn't get into a WiFi network). I see no reason to feel 'anticipatory' pain and pain of the event itself.

That said, I don't know if the game will be good or bad. If we will win or lose close or get beaten badly... That's why they play the game.

I'm hoping the team lays it all on the line DEFENSIVELY and gives Dayton problems.

Saw that article. How is it silliness to rank us #1 in the MAC right now? It's not like anyone else is lighting the league on fire. Plus it's the beginning of December, and once again the MAC is showing itself to be a one-bid league, so these are games to just garner experience for MAC play.

UNCG and Longwood probably won't help in the long run, but Oakland and Youngstown play in a comparable league to the MAC. OU showed as much by beating our preseason league favorite, Toledo. No one has crowned us MAC champs or anything...why can't people just be happy (not satisfied...big difference) that we look to have a pretty good team this year?

Dear EagleSam,
I agree. The people at Western are all giddy about their football record even though they did not beat anyone of distinction. Yes they defeated Bowling Green and Central, but both of them finished at 7-5. Would I take their record over ours? In a heartbeat.
So, yes, let's be happy about what is going on with the basketball team right now.