I cannot remember the last time the MAC was this on fire to begin the year posting a 30-9 record. Is this a mirage or is the conference really this good? A few teams that have surprised me early that I didn't realize how good they are include CMU, EMU, and Bowling Green. I know the MAC will be primarily a 1 bid league but maybe this year can go a ways in changing that perception.

Akron has beat USC and South Carolina already this year.

(11-24-2014 12:06 PM)Michael James Wrote:  Akron has beat USC and South Carolina already this year.

Yes, even add Akron and Kent to those list of good teams, Kent especially surprising. Here are the composite rankings for MAC teams right now, not sure I have ever seen this many MAC teams in the top 200

http://masseyratings.com/cb/compare.htm

#91 Toledo
#92 Buffalo
#97 Akron
#102 Western Michigan
#117 Bowling Green
#128 Kent State
#135 Eastern Michigan
#138 Ohio
#169 Northern Illinois
#179 Central Michigan
#226 Miami-OH
#293 Ball State


A staggering 10 of 12 MAC teams in the top 200


And conference rankings MAC is number 11 of 33:

1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 Big 12 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 6 53.13
2 4 2 2 1 3 2 2 2 3 2 Big 10 4 2 2 2 1 3 2 3 2 58.96
4 3 3 3 3 2 3 4 3 5 3 Atlantic Coast 5 3 4 4 2 2 3 2 1 62.44
3 2 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 2 4 Big East 3 5 3 3 4 4 4 5 4 67.32
5 5 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 4 5 Pac 12 2 4 6 5 6 5 5 6 3 75.72
6 6 5 5 5 5 5 6 5 6 6 Southeastern 6 7 5 6 5 6 6 4 5 76.95
7 8 7 7 7 9 7 7 7 7 7 Atlantic 10 8 9 7 7 7 11 11 11 9 112.42
8 7 10 9 8 7 8 8 8 9 8 West Coast 7 8 8 9 8 7 8 8 8 116.82
9 9 8 8 9 8 9 9 9 8 9 American Athletic 10 6 10 8 9 10 10 10 11 119.84
10 10 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 Mountain West 11 12 11 10 10 9 9 9 10 130.57
11 11 12 12 12 12 12 11 12 12 11 Mid-American 9 13 9 11 12 12 12 12 7 150.06
12 12 11 11 11 11 11 12 11 11 12 Missouri Val 12 11 13 12 11 8 7 7 14 157.00
14 13 13 16 14 13 14 14 19 13 13 Conference USA 13 13 12 13 17 12 12 12 13 177.12
17 15 14 15 13 14 13 13 17 14 14 Horizon 17 13 17 17 15 12 12 12 12 183.75
15 19 16 14 16 16 15 15 13 16 15 Big West 14 13 16 20 18 12 12 12 19 192.04
13 14 19 19 18 15 16 18 15 15 16 Colonial 15 13 14 14 20 12 12 12 18 192.14
16 18 17 18 19 20 20 20 18 19 17 Patriot League 16 13 15 18 14 12 12 12 16 197.84
19 16 15 13 15 18 17 17 14 20 18 Ivy League 23 10 21 15 13 12 12 12 24 198.27
18 17 18 17 17 19 19 16 16 17 19 Metro Atlantic 21 13 18 16 16 12 12 12 21 200.48
20 20 20 20 20 17 18 19 20 18 20 Summit Lg 18 13 20 19 19 12 12 12 29 209.45
21 22 21 22 22 21 22 21 22 21 21 Sun Belt 24 13 24 25 24 12 12 12 22 229.99
22 23 22 21 21 22 21 22 21 23 22 OH Valley 25 13 23 22 22 12 12 12 27 230.33
24 21 25 25 24 24 24 25 27 22 23 Western Athletic 19 13 19 21 29 12 12 12 15 235.69
23 24 23 23 23 25 25 27 23 28 24 Big South 22 13 22 27 21 12 12 12 23 239.27
25 25 24 24 26 23 23 26 25 24 25 Big Sky 20 13 26 24 28 12 12 12 26 241.79
26 26 27 26 27 28 26 23 24 29 26 Southern 26 13 25 23 23 12 12 12 17 244.97
27 27 28 27 25 27 27 24 26 30 27 America East 29 13 29 29 25 12 12 12 30 253.20
29 28 26 28 29 29 28 28 28 27 28 Atlantic Sun 30 13 27 28 26 12 12 12 20 253.85
28 30 30 30 28 30 29 29 29 26 29 Northeast 28 13 28 26 27 12 12 12 28 259.67
30 29 29 29 30 26 30 30 30 25 30 Southland 27 13 30 30 30 12 12 12 25 260.80
31 31 31 32 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 Mid-Eastern AC 31 13 31 31 31 12 12 12 31 283.47
33 32 32 33 32 32 32 32 33 32 32 Southwestern AC 33 13 32 32 33 12 12 12 32 306.30
32 33 33 31 33 33 33 33 32 33 33 D1 Independent 32 13 33 33 32 12 12 12 33 310.82

Unfortunately I think the only way to get an at large is with a signature win for a MAC school, unless somehow someone goes with like 3 or 4 losses and doesn't win the tourney.

I agree that it is a very encouraging start to the bball season for the MAC. Keep in mind 8 of those wins are vs non D1 competition, but a strong start nonetheless.

Maybe more important to note than the quality of wins at this point is the quality of losses. Here's the 9 losses so far-

#1 Kentucky(5-0)
#15 VCU(3-1)
#17Miami(5-0)
#25 Utah(2-1)
FGCU(4-0)
Evansville(3-0)
Oregon(3-0)
Yale(4-1)
IUPUI(2-2) Ball St in OT

There's only 1 stinker in the group but that's by our worst team and that was in OT. Getting wins vs quality and ranked opponents is the goal but for now minimizing BAD losses is a step in the right direction if the MAC wants to start earning multiple bids again. It's still very early in the season but so far there's reason to be hopeful for a solid year for the MAC.

http://www.rpiforecast.com/confs/MAC.html


Current RPI: 4
Current OOC Record: 24-9 (0.7273)

No team in the MAC has a losing record.

Toledo losses 82-79 at home tonight to Detroit. They don't play defense.

Akron cooled off in the secone half vs Penn State after leading 13 at the half is now down by 8 with less than 3 to go.

Maddawg, Im watching your guy Abdel Nader, he is not a happy camper! He is not getting many minutes for Iowa St and you can just tell he is pissed! Ten minutes last nite and looks about the same tonight.

(11-25-2014 10:23 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  Maddawg, Im watching your guy Abdel Nader, he is not a happy camper! He is not getting many minutes for Iowa St and you can just tell he is pissed! Ten minutes last nite and looks about the same tonight.

Well now there is a surprise haha. thanks for the update. I still cant believe some people thought his departure was the end of NIU hoops

Way too early to get terribly excited.