Last 8 years MAC rpi
2006 16
2005 10
2004 14
2003 11
2002 12
2001 15
2000 12
1999 11
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ave 12.6
I never thought we would have missed Marshall that much. lmfao
Blame our mediocore OOC record, combined with precious few W's against top 100 teams and losses to some RPI +200 squads.
Next weekend, it's "Bracket Buster or Bust!"
Or, in short, blame the fact that the MAC really isn't that good this year.
Painful to say, but true.
RPI doesn't mean a thing for the MAC - we were #10 RPI last season and became the first top-10 RPI conference ever to only get one bid
our best chance for two bids is for Akron to win out and finish 22-5 with a win at Nevada and then get to the conf championship, lose a heartbraker to either KSU, Ohio or Miami, and then get one of the final at-large bids at 24-6
that is a long shot - but still possible
axeme Wrote:Or, in short, blame the fact that the MAC really isn't that good this year.
Painful to say, but true.
You're right. The underlying question is, "Have the NCAA snubs taken their toll on the conference?"
Has the conference missed out on 2-3 kids who'd be difference makers? Have they gone to Xaiver, UWGB, tOAMU?
I don't know (bball is a sissy sport after all) but I do wonder.
I think the OOC records will improve next year as most teams return some nice young talent. We lost a lot of star players from last year and it took some time for some teams to get going. WMU and BGSU are far better now than in December. You don't lose the kind of players they lost and not struggle a bit. Ball State losing Stovall hurt them a lot in December. Next year we get some nice return games for the bracket buster. The bracketbuster does helps get better teams on the schedule for teams. The idea of playing different teams is from other regions may help.
Vandelay Wrote:RPI doesn't mean a thing for the MAC - we were #10 RPI last season and became the first top-10 RPI conference ever to only get one bid
our best chance for two bids is for Akron to win out and finish 22-5 with a win at Nevada and then get to the conf championship, lose a heartbraker to either KSU, Ohio or Miami, and then get one of the final at-large bids at 24-6
that is a long shot - but still possible
We've had teams with far better resumes than Akron would have if all that happened and still not make the tournament. It absolutely is NOT going to happen this year. The MAC is a one-bid league this year no matter what happens.
One thing the MAC could is add three teams and go to a three division format for basketball. play 8 division games and 10 non-division games. top 12 teams get into conf tournament with three division winners getting byes.
Group A
Buffalo
Kent
Akron
Miami
Ohio
Group B
Toledo
BG
EMU
CMU
WMU
Group C
Ball State
NIU
Butler
UW-Milwaukee
UW-GB
Vandelay Wrote:RPI doesn't mean a thing for the MAC - we were #10 RPI last season and became the first top-10 RPI conference ever to only get one bid
our best chance for two bids is for Akron to win out and finish 22-5 with a win at Nevada and then get to the conf championship, lose a heartbraker to either KSU, Ohio or Miami, and then get one of the final at-large bids at 24-6
that is a long shot - but still possible
Oh, good. Yet another reason for everyone to root against crAkron! ;-)
RealTimeRPI.com has the MAC at No. 13. But even a No. 13 ranking is lower than we have been for a long time. The Mountain West, Colonial, Atlantic 10, Western Athletic and Metro Atlantic are all ahead of us. C-USA on the other hand is in the No. 17 position. At least we can feel good about that - I think.
midlandchip Wrote:RealTimeRPI.com has the MAC at No. 13. But even a No. 13 ranking is lower than we have been for a long time. The Mountain West, Colonial, Atlantic 10, Western Athletic and Metro Atlantic are all ahead of us. C-USA on the other hand is in the No. 17 position. At least we can feel good about that - I think.
i would be willing to put our top 5 (Memphis - UAB - UTEP - Houston - Rice) against the MAC's top 5...the only team that would stand a chance would be whoever is playing Rice.
and as of today C-USA is 14th and the MAC is 15th...so you can stop feeling good about that.
Go Tigers!!!
Drew
Actually, the MAC is 16th this a.m. on CollegeRPI.com.
Memphis is clearly better than all the teams in either conference. Past that, UAB is pretty good, but UTEP and Houston? No better than the better MAC teams. You surely don't want to play all the way down the conference.
CUSA's top 4 are good teams, but the MAC is better balanced.
How good is CUSA going to be when Memphis takes their ball and goes somewhere else? Can't see Calipari staying in that conference too long. Memphis is carrying CUSA. What would the RPI be without them? We're having a down year for us, but one team wouldn't make that much difference. Same teams were top 10 RPI last year, even with Marshall dragging the league down.
Coach Cal might actually have a great thing going by being in CUSA.
Being a "big fish in a smaller pond" worked well for years when UNLV was in the Big West. It's also working great for Gonzaga in the WCC.
As for the post comparing the MAC and CUSA, neither league has much (beyond Memphis) to huff and puff about this year. The conferences only played three games against each other, with the MAC going 3-0.
Toledo (currently 9th in the MAC) beat SMU (8th in CUSA) and East Carolina (12th); and Eastern Michigan (11th) defeated Tulsa (9th). So not much to go on with those limited results.
i'm just really curious (seriously). what is it going to take before you all realize and accept that the MAC is only getting the tournament champion into the NCAA tournament? i mean, come on. you all have sliced and diced every RPI ranking and every OOC result you can times 1,000,000. it's time to let it go for this year. seriously, let it go. there are worse things that can happen to a person!
You all?
I see one post in this thread that suggests a massive longshot for a tenuous at-large chance.
i'm not talking about this post alone. i'm talking about all of the posts in all of the threads that have been coming and coming since about the middle of january talking about this very subject. it's nice to dream in the beginning of the season but now it's time to face reality. we are again a one-bid league for the NCAA. if nothing else told us that, it should be the fact that all of the MAC's BracketBuster games were relegated to the lower end of the ESPN network. next year's another year and maybe we'll get two teams then. but this year? highly,highly unlikely. that's why i say just sit back and enjoy the races (especially in the East) and the upcoming tournament.
don't sweat the petty stuff and don't pet the sweaty stuff! ;-)
The MAC really has gotten its self in a weakened condition and I do not see it getting better unless changes take place. Some of the changes will most assuredly happen. Look at these indicators:
1- What coaches in the MAC are considered candidates to move up? The answer is: Maybe one and that is not for sure. Out of 13 teams, that is sad. The MAC has traditionally been a feeder to larger conferences. This is a bad sign
2- How many high profile players can you name from the entire conference? How many players from the entire conference could start for an average ACC team. The answer is: Maybe one or two and I can not even name them. This is a bad sign
3-What are the prospects for the programs with the best resources if changes are not made? Those programs are: Toledo, Ball State, OU, and may NIll. Those are programs with good potential for strong attendance. They are all weak in that category. This is not a good sign.
When you add the above conditions to our performance out of conference, I would say that the MAC is as weak as I have ever seen it and the future is not bright. One good thing about basketball is that it can be turned around rather quickly. All is not lost if changes are made. I look for changes at Ball State, (should lead the MAC every year) CMU, and possibly Toledo. Akron, KSU and Miami will stay strong because of good coaching. OU has to prove that TOS is not a one year wonder. (I am not yet convinced)
Basically, we have no room to complain because the conference blew its opportunities.
I also looked at the Horizon League to see how they compared to the MAC last eight years.
ave rpi rank MAC 12.6 Horizon 14.75
top 100 teams MAC 29 Horizon 15
Best program top 100:MAC Kent 7 of 8 Horizon Butler 6 of 8
number of members reach top 100 last 8 years:MAC 11, Horizon 4.
EMU is only MAC school to not finish top 100 in last eight years.
Best rpi year MAC:10 Horizon 11
best rpi team: MAC Miami 21 -1999 Horizon Butler 29 -2001
axeme Wrote:Actually, the MAC is 16th this a.m. on CollegeRPI.com.
Memphis is clearly better than all the teams in either conference. Past that, UAB is pretty good, but UTEP and Houston? No better than the better MAC teams. You surely don't want to play all the way down the conference.
CUSA's top 4 are good teams, but the MAC is better balanced.
How good is CUSA going to be when Memphis takes their ball and goes somewhere else? Can't see Calipari staying in that conference too long. Memphis is carrying CUSA. What would the RPI be without them? We're having a down year for us, but one team wouldn't make that much difference. Same teams were top 10 RPI last year, even with Marshall dragging the league down.
i use kenpom.com...i find his rankings to be more realistic.
and as for Cal...why in the world would he leave...we pay him over 1.5 million a year...and 1.5 in memphis is like 3 million in the north east...plus he has a easy run to the NCAA's much like the 90's UNLV and his old team UMass...and we all know what he did there...we have him all locked up til' 2010...and he has a MASSIVE buyout on his contract.
Go Tigers!!!
Drew
Now the MAC is 14th and C-USA is 17th, according to RealTimeRPI.com