Can anybody beat the Zips?

1. Akron


Big drop after that ... Put NIU, Toledo, Kent in a hat and pick one.

Another drop ... BG is improving vs. poor competition, and no clear read on Ball State. Ohio is in this mix, too.

Then everybody else.

Zips aside, the biggest collective challenge I see is no team other than Akron (and BG) seem to have steady rotation of players. A lot of teams searching, many w/their starting fives but most 6-9 bench.

Talent-wise, I still think NIU may have the best overall roster in the league, albeit young. BG has some nice pieces. Look out for Hill, he's All-MAC, and Agee has found himself as a rebounder.

Kent has some athletes, but like everybody else, no real consistency. Ohio has guards for days, but nothing else.

While I see no real challenge to Akron for the regular season title, Looking ahead, March,
I would expect to see one or two teams from the BG-Toledo-Kent-NIU pool to improve enough to challenge Akron in Cleveland.

Your thoughts.

Word is that Keshawn Williams is done again for the season. Whatever his injury it must be a freak thing because he barely played in the one game.

Akron remains the favorite as they have a great player and some solid pieces around him. As they grow their identity with Ali finally playing they could be really good.

Kent is loaded with talent, but they've been a bit inconsistent vs tough competition. Senderhoff usually has them peaking late and if they come all the way together they will be tough to beat.

Toledo has a 3 man core of Moss Cochran Simmons that's more physical than anyone else's top guys. all are good attacking the rim. the rockets' staff has decided to use a rugged non-conf to tinker with lineup. it's been uneven but has had promising performances.

Ohio has good perimeter talent and depth which always gives you a shot in the MAC, at least for the tourney title.

NIU has some guys and have the best group of bigs to throw at Freeman inside.

BG has one of the best scoring guards in the league, pretty good bigs and probably gets better the more they play under a first yr coach.

WMU and Buffalo got key frontcourt players eligible after the waiver court case decision last week. one of them might become relevant.

EMU has one of the best scoring guards and looks like they could make it to Cleveland.

Miami just got their top guy back and immediately got their first win over a good team this season.

I'd say it's Akron vs the field for the regular season title. by Cleveland it's whoever plays the best team ball. who knows how to maximize their talent.

Miami is getting better. Our two best wins, at Marshall and Vermont at home compare favorably vs most of the better MAC teams this year. We may surprise.

Akron had to go to OT at home to beat Gardner-Webb. They are far from unbeatable.

(12-24-2023 04:07 PM)bobcat_backer Wrote:  Akron had to go to OT at home to beat Gardner-Webb. They are far from unbeatable.

Gardener Webb prob better than you realize. 4 single possession losses. Road wins over strong mid majors W Carolina and Weber St (who are 17-3 against the rest of their schedule, wins over Notre Dame, Vandy, Yale and some good mid majors). Without a strong PG Akron won't run away from many teams.

Akron is 9-3. of those losses two were by a bucket in Quad 1 and 2 games without Ali eligible. Otherwise, we'd be looking at an 11-1 MAC leader with at-large ambitions. I don't think anyone has stopped Enrique freeman in 3 years.

I don't think NIU has the defense. And every team we play shoots free throws better than we do. We mostly can't play 2 good halves. I expect we'll end up slightly above .500 in conference.

(12-25-2023 07:43 PM)pono Wrote:  

(12-24-2023 04:07 PM)bobcat_backer Wrote:  Akron had to go to OT at home to beat Gardner-Webb. They are far from unbeatable.

Gardener Webb prob better than you realize. 4 single possession losses. Road wins over strong mid majors W Carolina and Weber St (who are 17-3 against the rest of their schedule, wins over Notre Dame, Vandy, Yale and some good mid majors). Without a strong PG Akron won't run away from many teams.

Akron is 9-3. of those losses two were by a bucket in Quad 1 and 2 games without Ali eligible. Otherwise, we'd be looking at an 11-1 MAC leader with at-large ambitions. I don't think anyone has stopped Enrique freeman in 3 years.

I stand by my statement. Time will tell.

Even that ranked Buffalo team of a few years back lost 2 MAC games. You have to go back to Cincy in 1950 to find the last MAC team who went undefeated in conference play. Of course nobody is unbeatable.

(12-26-2023 06:58 PM)kreed5120 Wrote:  Even that ranked Buffalo team of a few years back lost 2 MAC games. You have to go back to Cincy in 1950 to find the last MAC team who went undefeated in conference play. Of course nobody is unbeatable.

Not Quite -

The 1957-1958 Miami team with Wayne Embry went 12 - 0 in MAC play!

(12-27-2023 11:38 AM)Bang Burger Wrote:  

(12-26-2023 06:58 PM)kreed5120 Wrote:  Even that ranked Buffalo team of a few years back lost 2 MAC games. You have to go back to Cincy in 1950 to find the last MAC team who went undefeated in conference play. Of course nobody is unbeatable.

Not Quite -

The 1957-1958 Miami team with Wayne Embry went 12 - 0 in MAC play!

I stand corrected, but the point still remains.

Using historical data you can expect every MAC team to drop at least 1 MAC game. Realistically speaking this years regular conference champ will probably lose 3 or 4 games in my best estimation. That doesn't mean a team still can't be viewed as a favorite.

MAC has declined in basketball and the race looks wide open. Despite soft schedules the MAC struggled. A poor performance at home vs the Sun Belt was an early indication how bad things are. The good news everybody is weak. Some coaches will be let go after the season. Every coach is on the hot seat.

(12-30-2023 03:42 AM)OhioBobcatJohn Wrote:  MAC has declined in basketball and the race looks wide open. Despite soft schedules the MAC struggled. A poor performance at home vs the Sun Belt was an early indication how bad things are. The good news everybody is weak. Some coaches will be let go after the season. Every coach is on the hot seat.

This is a bit over the top ... the 'poor performance' vs. Sun Belt was actually a winning overall record in favor of the MAC. The real test will be the return games in Feb., all on the road.

Yes, MAC struggled, but schedules, particularly for Toledo, Kent, Akron, NIU were all solid to strong (but no team truly stepped up).

Truly doubt any coaches will be let go this season as all the veteran MAC Coaches (Groce, TK, Senderoff, Boals) have very solid records and strong recent histories to fall back on. Most of the other coaches are inside their first three years.

If you want to say CMU is on the hot seat, just to have one, I guess that's the closest. But after that, without a Chris Jans-type incident, tough to see any other MAC coach on the hot seat.

Yes ... after Akron ... the race does look wide open, with every other MAC team playing for second and trying to improve enough to be a true Zips challenger by March.

Like a poster said, history indicates the MAC Champ will have a few losses. But if there was ever a year to see the MAC Champ go undefeated, this is it.

(12-24-2023 12:29 PM)DICK Wrote:  Miami is getting better. Our two best wins, at Marshall and Vermont at home compare favorably vs most of the better MAC teams this year. We may surprise.

I feel more optimistic about Miami’s chances in the MAC than I have for Many years. We are healthy now and have improved a lot since early season. Getting Mirambeaux back and Potter healthy have balanced out our team, we now can score both inside and outside, earlier in the year it was mostly just perimeter offense. Plus our freshmen keep showing more. Freshman point guard Evan Ipsaro is the real thing. He is tough, a competitor, and plays more like a 3 year starter than a true freshman. Point guard play is really important.

The other factor is the MAC overall seems very down and I look at all those teams and I think we are going to do well.