Ohio won the first showdown of the MAC season, clobbering Buffalo 83-55 in Athens. Both teams are now 11-2. OU is 2-0 in the MAC, Buffalo 1-1.

Buffalo was the only team to beat Ohio last season and did it three times.

Other MAC scores:

-- Central Michigan (10-4, 2-0) 89, Akron (7-6, 0-2) 62 at CMU.
-- Northern Illinois ((9-4, 2-0) 89, Bowling Green (4-10, 0-2) 76at BG.
-- Toledo (10-3, 1-1) 66, Eastern Michigan (5-9, 0-2) at Eastern.
-- Western Michigan (11-2, 2-0) 85, Miami (6-8, 0-2) 60 at Miami.
-- Ball State (9-5, 2-0) 71, Kent State (6-8, 0-2) 47 at Ball State.

Western, which has won 10 in a row, plays at Ball State Saturday in what should be a very good game.

(01-04-2017 10:53 PM)cschierh Wrote:  Ohio won the first showdown of the MAC season, clobbering Buffalo 83-55 in Athens. Both teams are now 11-2. OU is 2-0 in the MAC, Buffalo 1-1.

Buffalo was the only team to beat Ohio last season and did it three times.

Other MAC scores:

-- Central Michigan (10-4, 2-0) 89, Akron (7-6, 0-2) 62 at CMU.
-- Northern Illinois ((9-4, 2-0) 89, Bowling Green (4-10, 0-2) 76at BG.
-- Toledo (10-3, 1-1) 66, Eastern Michigan (5-9, 0-2) at Eastern.
-- Western Michigan (11-2, 2-0) 85, Miami (6-8, 0-2) 60 at Miami.
-- Ball State (9-5, 2-0) 71, Kent State (6-8, 0-2) 47 at Ball State.

Western, which has won 10 in a row, plays at Ball State Saturday in what should be a very good game.

Miami has been blown out in our first two MAC games. Year four of Cleve Wright and we're showing no progress, we should've never gotten rid of Maria Fantanarosa.

(01-05-2017 12:24 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  Miami has been blown out in our first two MAC games. Year four of Cleve Wright and we're showing no progress, we should've never gotten rid of Maria Fantanarosa.

Yes, the conference seems to have a some perennial bottom-feeders - Miami and Kent State and, more recently, Bowling Green. Kent looked during the OOC part of the season that they might have improved, but we'll see. The MAC East looks very unbalanced right now with a couple of very strong teams and three very weak ones, with Akron in the middle. The West is much more competitive top to bottom, with EMU being the weakest link.

(01-06-2017 04:37 PM)Dwight Wrote:  

(01-05-2017 12:24 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  Miami has been blown out in our first two MAC games. Year four of Cleve Wright and we're showing no progress, we should've never gotten rid of Maria Fantanarosa.

Yes, the conference seems to have a some perennial bottom-feeders

How is that different from other MAC sports?

Interesting Saturday for MAC women.

NIU (10-4, 3-0) knocked off Ohio (11-3, 2-1) in Dekalb, 88-80. Two years ago NIU was one of the worst teams in the league and averaging 57 points a game. Now they're second in the country in scoring at about 90 points a game.

Buffalo (11-3, 1-2) lost at Central Michigan (11-4, 3-0), 88-71. It's Buffalo's second straight loss and third in its last four games after starting 9-0. All the losses have been to really good teams (Harvard, Ohio and CMU).

Ball State (10-5, 3-0) ended Western Michigan's 10-game wining streak with a 61-56 win at home. Western Is 11-3, 2-1.

Bowling Green (5-10, 1-2) beat Akron (7-7, 0-3) 62-58 at Akron.

Kent State (7-8, 1-2) beat Eastern Michigan (6-9, 0-3) 86-67 at Eastern, breaking an 11-game losing streak to the Eagles. Three KSU players had double-doubles.

Toledo (12-3, 2-1) beat Miami (6-9, 0-3) 64-50 at Toledo.

Link to MAC standings and some team statistics is at http://www.espn.com/womens-college-baske...onference.

The two best teams in the pre-conference season (Buffalo and Ohio) already have three losses between them. The MAC is usually wide open, but this year seems more so than ever. You could make a championship case for half the teams in the conference.

Here's a nice story on a hard topic. NIU freshman Paulina Castro was diagnosed with lymphoma.

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2017/01/0...s/a17rh4p/

It's the same disease that former KSU coach Danny O'Banion was diagnosed with just before the 2015-15 season. O'Banion underwent chemotherapy during and after the season. She's now associate head coach at Memphis and tweeted earlier this season that she's still cancer free.

(01-07-2017 11:24 PM)cschierh Wrote:  Interesting Saturday for MAC women.

NIU (10-4, 3-0) knocked off Ohio (11-3, 2-1) in Dekalb, 88-80. Two years ago NIU was one of the worst teams in the league and averaging 57 points a game. Now they're second in the country in scoring at about 90 points a game.

Buffalo (11-3, 1-2) lost at Central Michigan (11-4, 3-0), 88-71. It's Buffalo's second straight loss and third in its last four games after starting 9-0. All the losses have been to really good teams (Harvard, Ohio and CMU).

Ball State (10-5, 3-0) ended Western Michigan's 10-game wining streak with a 61-56 win at home. Western Is 11-3, 2-1.

Bowling Green (5-10, 1-2) beat Akron (7-7, 0-3) 62-58 at Akron.

Kent State (7-8, 1-2) beat Eastern Michigan (6-9, 0-3) 86-67 at Eastern, breaking an 11-game losing streak to the Eagles. Three KSU players had double-doubles.

Toledo (12-3, 2-1) beat Miami (6-9, 0-3) 64-50 at Toledo.

Link to MAC standings and some team statistics is at http://www.espn.com/womens-college-baske...onference.

Ball State trailed Western Michigan 18-6 at the end of the first quarter. By halftime the Cardinals had tied the score 25-25 and went on to win by 5. Strange game.

The Rockets down the Bulls is "Amherst NY." As the anouncers made sure to point out 100 times. Why isnt the atheltic facility or campus in Buffalo??

Anyways, Rockets by 9.

12-3 Ohio beat Akron 85-69
12-4 CMU beat BSU 101-92
Miami got their first win in MAC play over EMU 72-61
11-4 NIU stays undefeated in MAC play with a 30 pt 4th qtr to beat Kent 98-97
12-3 WMU beat BG

The two teams still undefeated in MAC play scored (and gave up) a lot of points Wednesday.

Central Michigan (12-4, 4-0) beat Ball State (10-6, 3-1) 101-92 at Ball State. Presley Hudson had a school-record 43 points. In four league games she's scored 35, 35, 21 and 43. Central had a fairly mundane preseason by has won its MAC games by an average of 16 points.

Northern Illinois (11-4, 4-0) beat Kent State (7-9, 1-3) 98-97 at Kent State. I was at that one. There was absolutely no defense except for KSU forcing a lot of turnovers. Northern is a scoring machine. They shot 70 percent in the first half and had five players in double figures, led by 28 by a reserve. Kent's Larissa Lurken had 31. Story is on my blog at http://wbbflashes.com if anyone wants more.

Toledo (12-3, 3-1) beat Buffalo (11-4, 1-3) at Buffalo. Buffalo has lost three in a row to other really good teams -- CMU, Northern and Toledo. Toledo lost its opener to Ball State and has won three in a row. Northern Illinois plays at Toledo Saturday.

Western Michigan (12-3, 3-1) beat Bowling Green (5-11, 1-3) 75-56 at Western.

Ohio (12-3, 3-1) beat Akron (7-8, 0-4) at Akron.

Miami (7-10, 1-3) won its from league game over Eastern Michigan (5-11, 0-4) at home.

ESPN league standings are at http://www.espn.com/womens-college-baske...onference.

(01-12-2017 12:36 AM)cschierh Wrote:  The two teams still undefeated in MAC play scored (and gave up) a lot of points Wednesday.

Central Michigan (12-4, 4-0) beat Ball State (10-6, 3-1) 101-92 at Ball State. Presley Hudson had a school-record 43 points. In four league games she's scored 35, 35, 21 and 43. Central had a fairly mundane preseason by has won its MAC games by an average of 16 points.

Northern Illinois (11-4, 4-0) beat Kent State (7-9, 1-3) 98-97 at Kent State. I was at that one. There was absolutely no defense except for KSU forcing a lot of turnovers. Northern is a scoring machine. They shot 70 percent in the first half and had five players in double figures, led by 28 by a reserve. Kent's Larissa Lurken had 31. Story is on my blog at http://wbbflashes.com if anyone wants more.

Toledo (12-3, 3-1) beat Buffalo (11-4, 1-3) at Buffalo. Buffalo has lost three in a row to other really good teams -- CMU, Northern and Toledo. Toledo lost its opener to Ball State and has won three in a row. Northern Illinois plays at Toledo Saturday.

Western Michigan (12-3, 3-1) beat Bowling Green (5-11, 1-3) 75-56 at Western.

Ohio (12-3, 3-1) beat Akron (7-8, 0-4) at Akron.

Miami (7-10, 1-3) won its from league game over Eastern Michigan (5-11, 0-4) at home.

ESPN league standings are at http://www.espn.com/womens-college-baske...onference.

For those who casually follow WBB and EMU:

In addition to graduation losses, EMU lost to transfer two of their best players, Cha Sweeney and Janay Morton to transfer.

I think everyone pretty well knew that we lost too much talent.

Lost a very good coach, too, though I think Castro will be successful.

what a fun start to the year so far. lots of parity between a number of MAC clubs.

Should be a slug fest

When the #1 team in the country in a "down year" is still able to beat the 20th ranked team in the country by a score of 102-37, it makes it impossible for me to care about the sport of women's basketball.

(01-12-2017 12:48 PM)kreed5120 Wrote:  When the #1 team in the country in a "down year" is still able to beat the 20th ranked team in the country by a score of 102-37, it makes it impossible for me to care about the sport of women's basketball.

The sport as a whole? Or MAC WBB? Because a MAC team will never be a national title contender so that's irrelevant to us anyhow. As far as someone knocking off UConn... people said the same thing about Bama in football. Will UConn win another title? Probably! But upsets happen. The entire country shouldnt quit because of it. The NBA sucks too... a couple super teams that spend a ton of money on big name players. At least WBB at the college level is still a pretty even playing field as far as extras go. No players make money... Geno has just built a culture of winning so he gets the 4 or 5 best players in the country on a yearly basis.

Every program has goals. Im proud of what my team has done under the current staff. An NCAA birth would be icing on the cake. Since Tricia Cullop has been head coach in 2008, she is 99 games over .500. We have a WNIT National Title, some great OOC wins, and a top25 program by attendance. WBB games are fun in my town. If the MAC spent half as much energy as UConn or even Toledo on their womens PROGRAM (everything around it), the MAC would be a multiple bid league in a sport that looks over WBB. We have 6 teams better than 11-4! That's awesome! Embrace it!!

(01-12-2017 03:23 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(01-12-2017 12:48 PM)kreed5120 Wrote:  When the #1 team in the country in a "down year" is still able to beat the 20th ranked team in the country by a score of 102-37, it makes it impossible for me to care about the sport of women's basketball.

The sport as a whole? Or MAC WBB? Because a MAC team will never be a national title contender so that's irrelevant to us anyhow. As far as someone knocking off UConn... people said the same thing about Bama in football. Will UConn win another title? Probably! But upsets happen. The entire country shouldnt quit because of it. The NBA sucks too... a couple super teams that spend a ton of money on big name players. At least WBB at the college level is still a pretty even playing field as far as extras go. No players make money... Geno has just built a culture of winning so he gets the 4 or 5 best players in the country on a yearly basis.

Every program has goals. Im proud of what my team has done under the current staff. An NCAA birth would be icing on the cake. Since Tricia Cullop has been head coach in 2008, she is 99 games over .500. We have a WNIT National Title, some great OOC wins, and a top25 program by attendance. WBB games are fun in my town. If the MAC spent half as much energy as UConn or even Toledo on their womens PROGRAM (everything around it), the MAC would be a multiple bid league in a sport that looks over WBB. We have 6 teams better than 11-4! That's awesome! Embrace it!!

The sport of women's basketball as a whole is what I'm referring to. At least on the men's side there is hope a team comes out of the woodwork like a Butler or VCU or even Kent to challenge for a national championship. You see the Appalachian State's of the world knock off Michigan in football. Bama has had a nice dynasty in football going for 7-8 years and even they can't match UConn's 90 game win streak or just pure dominance.

I'm not going to fault someone for taking an interest in wbb, but it's just not for me. I've hated what the NBA has turned into and honestly would have quit watching already if not for the fact my team is currently the one on top (Cavs). You want to call it more balanced than the NBA. I call it 1 GS, a handful of Toronto Raptors/Boston Celtics, and about 340 other Sacramento Kings/Philly 76ers/Nets.

Edit: For the record I attended a dozen or so games as an undergrad so its not like I haven't given the sport a chance.

(01-12-2017 03:23 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(01-12-2017 12:48 PM)kreed5120 Wrote:  When the #1 team in the country in a "down year" is still able to beat the 20th ranked team in the country by a score of 102-37, it makes it impossible for me to care about the sport of women's basketball.

The sport as a whole? Or MAC WBB? Because a MAC team will never be a national title contender so that's irrelevant to us anyhow. As far as someone knocking off UConn... people said the same thing about Bama in football. Will UConn win another title? Probably! But upsets happen. The entire country shouldnt quit because of it. The NBA sucks too... a couple super teams that spend a ton of money on big name players. At least WBB at the college level is still a pretty even playing field as far as extras go. No players make money... Geno has just built a culture of winning so he gets the 4 or 5 best players in the country on a yearly basis.

Every program has goals. Im proud of what my team has done under the current staff. An NCAA birth would be icing on the cake. Since Tricia Cullop has been head coach in 2008, she is 99 games over .500. We have a WNIT National Title, some great OOC wins, and a top25 program by attendance. WBB games are fun in my town. If the MAC spent half as much energy as UConn or even Toledo on their womens PROGRAM (everything around it), the MAC would be a multiple bid league in a sport that looks over WBB. We have 6 teams better than 11-4! That's awesome! Embrace it!!

Toledo is a completely different animal. Women's games are parties: fans all know the players and each other. I agree w you 100%, UpfTFan!

MAC now has four teams in the RPI top 100 with CMU and Toledo Jumping in. and NIU just outside

65 Ohio
67 Buffalo

94 Central Michigan
97 Toledo
103 Northern Illinois

141 Ball State
150 Western Michigan