Jeremy Guy @JGuyMAC

MAC Top 100 RPI Teams: @BGSUMHoops (58th) @UBmenshoops (65th) @CMUMensBBall (78th) @UTRocketHoops (85th) @KentStMBB (87th) @ZipsMBB (92nd)

Max Bretos @mbretosESPN

-10th rated RPI conference should mean 2 tournament bids.

https://twitter.com/mbretosESPN/status/5...2533462016

No.

The cutoff RPI for at large is usually in the 40s. These numbers are going to continue to go down through the rest of the season as teams play the likes of Ball State

There are no at-large worthy teams in the MAC this season. The conf. RPI is good because there are 6-7 teams who are solid whereas there are usually only 3-4 teams that are top 100, if even that many. But none are top 50, let alone the top 30 which would get a team in the at-large conversation. Even being in the conversation (i.e. the bubble) only means you'll get a closer look at the resume along with a bunch of other teams competing for the few final at-large slots.

It's not close. Conferences don't get at-large bids, teams do.

Take CMU for example. We could win the rest of our games leading up to the MAC championship game, lose that by 1 point to whoever, and we would still have zero case for an at-large berth.

I don't see anyone in the MAC who has the marquee OOC wins that would help them get a bid. I hope CMU schedules differently - and carefully - next season.

the MAC will be a 2 bid league when there are two teams worthy of a bid. When your lowest RPI is 58 there aren't two worthy teams.

For reference, here's all of the years the MAC had multi-bids in the tournament, I couldn't find RPI data prior to 1995-

1999 MAC RPI- 10th
14 RPI Miami 24-8(15-3) AT LARGE
24 RPI Kent 23-7(13-5) auto bid

1998 MAC RPI- 17th
49 RPI EMU 20-10(13-5) auto bid
52 RPI WMU 21-8(14-4) AT LARGE (Ball St had identical record but RPI of 63)

1995 MAC RPI- ??
47 RPI Miami 23-7(16-2) AT LARGE
73 RPI Ball State 19-11(11-7) auto bid

1986 MAC RPI- ??
?? RPI Miami 24-7(16-2) AT LARGE
?? RPI Ball State 21-10(11-7) auto bid

1985 MAC RPI-??
?? RPI Ohio 22-8(14-4) auto bid
?? RPI Miami 20-11(13-5) AT LARGE

How young is the MAC this year? Am I correct in my impression that most of the MAC's talent is underclassmen?

I think we are trying to get two NIT bids and stock up some of the lower post-season tourneys.

BTW, the MAC is strong and balanced at the top. As others have said, not a good recipe to get TWO teams to the NCAAs.

It is nice to have two teams in the NCAAs but sometimes it means they beat up on a lot of weak sisters and that isn't a good conference.

It is damn impossible this year for a MAC team to win 15, 16, 17 or 18 (insert Kentucky joke about being a NBA farm team here) conference games.

(02-16-2015 12:58 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  How young is the MAC this year? Am I correct in my impression that most of the MAC's talent is underclassmen?

We lose Juice Brown, Dave Brown, Richaun Holmes, Maurice NDour, Justin Drummond, Karrington Ward, Bean Willis, Mike Talley, JD Weatherspoon, and Dev Manley (I'm sure I'm missing others). Lots of talent there. But teams like CMU, Buffalo, and Akron have tons of underclass talent. I don't think we'll be a two bid league, but we should be very good, if not better next year.

...Derek Jackson, Kris Brewer,...

(02-16-2015 01:20 PM)axeme Wrote:  ...Derek Jackson, Kris Brewer,...

Oops, forgot two guys (as I said I probably would). Although looking at Brewer's numbers, I don't know if I'd lump him in with the other players mentioned.

To further set proper expectations, here's a list of all of the at large teams in last year's tournament with each team's RPI and the RPI of the conference they came from. This should give you an idea of the profile of an at-large worthy school.

Big12 #1
#3 Kansas
#26 Oklahoma
#28 Baylor
#37 Texas
#45 Oklahoma State
#50Kansas State

B1G #2
#6 Wisconsin
#10 Michigan
#24 Ohio State
#49 Nebraska
#62 Iowa

Pac12 #3
#2 Arizona
#27 Oregon
#35 Colorado
#40 Stanford
#47Arizona State

Big East #4
#5 Villanova
#11 Creighton
#57 Xavier

ACC #5
#8Duke
#16 Syracuse
#25 North Carolina
#39 Pitt
#52 NC State

A10 #6
#13 VCU
#23 UMass
#29 George Washington
#31 St Louis
#43 Dayton

SEC #7
#18 Kentucky
#42 Tennessee

American #8
#21 Cincinnati
#22 UConn
#36 Memphis

West Coast #9
#30 BYU

Mountain West #10
#14 San Diego State

(02-16-2015 01:13 PM)EagleSam Wrote:  

(02-16-2015 12:58 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  How young is the MAC this year? Am I correct in my impression that most of the MAC's talent is underclassmen?

We lose Juice Brown, Dave Brown, Richaun Holmes, Maurice NDour, Justin Drummond, Karrington Ward, Bean Willis, Mike Talley, JD Weatherspoon, and Dev Manley (I'm sure I'm missing others). Lots of talent there. But teams like CMU, Buffalo, and Akron have tons of underclass talent. I don't think we'll be a two bid league, but we should be very good, if not better next year.

BG loses a couple other seniors, including IIRC, Henderson and Clarke who are their 2 and three scorers.

A MAC team would need 29-30 wins to get an at-large bid to the big dance. It's possible, but may never happen. They'd have to absolutely destroy everyone all season then lose the MAC championship game

(02-16-2015 01:11 PM)emu steve Wrote:  It is nice to have two teams in the NCAAs but sometimes it means they beat up on a lot of weak sisters and that isn't a good conference.

Sounds like this year's MVC:
- Two Top 15 teams (Wichita State, Northern Iowa)
- Four teams (Illinois State, Evansville, Loyola, Indiana State) with RPIs anywhere between 97-162
- The rest of the conference with RPIs well up into the 200s

To their credit, Wichita State and Northern Iowa are both very capable of making noise in the NCAAs. Both, however, have also benefited by beating up on a MVC that is much weaker compared to its recent past.

(02-16-2015 12:58 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  How young is the MAC this year? Am I correct in my impression that most of the MAC's talent is underclassmen?

CMU has just two seniors on the roster, and the one who plays comes off the bench, so we should only get better next season.

Bowling Green does have a snowball's chance in hell of getting an at-large.

(02-16-2015 03:17 PM)Okie Chippewa Wrote:  Bowling Green does have a snowball's chance in hell of getting an at-large.

I laughed, but they literally have zero chance. Best OOC win was #140 Cleveland State. Not nearly good enough of a profile to even be considered.

They should be able to get a decent seed if they win the MAC Tourney though, assuming they keep the losses to a minimum the rest of the way. Like a 12 or a 13. Those seeds have won plenty of games in the past.

Just curious: What are the marquee MAC wins this season?