It's early, but here is how I see MAC B-ball rankings to date, long way to go though. Note, the east division is far better than the west this year. The top five in the east are all pretty solid and it should be a real dog fight for the divisional winner. BG will be a distant last place in the east and Dakich will finally be sent his packing papers. In the west after Toledo there isn't much. Western and Ball St will get better as the year goes on, Judson my be gone at NIU by year's end and Central and EMU are just bad.
East
1. Akron <NCAA 14th seed>
2. Kent St (tie) <NIT>
2. Miami (tie)
4. Ohio (tie)
4. Buffalo (tie)
6. BG
West
1. Toledo <NIT>
2. Western
3. Ball St
4. Northern
5. Central
6. Eastern
Ouch--a 14/3 seed game.
Kent will beat Akron.
So will Miami
Akron just isn't that good. People are overlooking their graduation losses, which while not super-stars, were all important role players. These players have not been replaced. I also think you are overrating Miami.
If forced to guess at this point, I'd say Ohio or Kent will win the East. It will come down to whether Kent's inexperienced talent, or Ohio's PG situation, solidifies quicker.
BobcatFan Wrote:Akron just isn't that good. People are overlooking their graduation losses, which while not super-stars, were all important role players. These players have not been replaced. I also think you are overrating Miami.
If forced to guess at this point, I'd say Ohio or Kent will win the East. It will come down to whether Kent's inexperienced talent, or Ohio's PG situation, solidifies quicker.
=>Ohio U. has a better chance winning the 12 team MAC tourney then it does winning the six team MAC East. I think O'Shea has a hard time focusing his team night in and out which is needed to win the league. Ohio U. seems to be a team that can get upset by a weaker team on any given night. To win the East, a 12-4 record or better is needed. I just cannot see Ohio U. losing only 4 games.
Ohio U.'s talent is as good as anyone in the league. Talent is more important than coaching in a 3/4 games in 3/4 days type of tourney where preparation is minimal.
agreed Mollautt - Ohio has the talent, but I am not sold on their coach since O'Shea came to Athens
O'Shea's team finished 1 win short of a regular season title in 2004-05. He's capable of winning one. If the Bobcats can go undefeated at home, they need only split on the road to go 12-4. A tall task, but not impossible considering their road schedule: at Kent, at Miami, at BSU, at CMU, at WMU, at Akron, at BUGS, at Buffalo.
As of right now, I'll take OU at BSU, at CMU, and at BUGS. If OU can steal one of the other 5 games, and remain perfect in the Convo, a regular season title is very possible.
without a doubt the MAC (especially the East) is wide open this year. The top 5 teams in the East are all good teams that can cause some damage. I wouldn't be suprised if 3 or 4 East teams are in the MAC semis.
Kent St showed last night that they are still a balanced team that can get points from Smith, Q, etc.
Ohio still has a rediculous starting 5 that will keep them in games, and they have had some solid wins this year, including Marist, St. Joes, and one could come tomorrow against Davidson.
Miami has gotten off to a tough start, but they have played some games close. Their OOC schedule was pretty hard with Xavier, Kentucky, Michigan(lost by 6), Illinois (lost by 1), etc.
Akron was picked to win with Travis and Joyce leading the squad and have had only one real bad lost against UALR. UIC was a bad loss, but their a decent team.
UB has started off good with a 7-4 record, with wins against some decent squads like UMiami and Temple, there have been games where they have shown their youth, and they will have to find some more depth on their bench if they want to challance teams in the MAC.
Bang Burger Wrote:Kent will beat Akron.
So will Miami
I want to argue but I can't. Kent and Miami look tough and Akron does not have it together yet and they are not showing any excitement on the court.
If Akron doesn't start showing up for games we could finish 3rd in the East!
I don't agree with Toledo winning the West. I think Western will pull it off! Any thoughts??
Seems like Kent was struggling about this time last year, with Ohio all but declared champ prior to MAC play.
Pretty early to be able to tell who is going to be tough in league play. As for the west, I was skeptical of Toledo because of no big man, but if the Kansas game is any indication, there doing OK so far. Western is getting better with each game and their schedule has been a bear. I wouldn't count them out as that is what they are shooting for, that West title.
As always, it will be fun to watch it play out and I won't be at all surprised if both divisions come down to the final day, as tradition in the MAC dictates.
Seeing all things through a KSU eye, here's how the rest of the MAC EAST it looks to me.
As shown last night, we have a tough match up at 5. Buffalo might give us fits with a size match up. Frankly, Buffalo has given us fits for a long time. For all the talk about tossing the Bulls out of the MAC a few years ago, they have the potential to have an elite hoops program. Think of it. They turned the corner in 2004 and have never looked back. I never count the Bulls out and the game against Pitt proves the point.
Miami consistently takes us out of our game. Given our propensity to lose focus on execution at this point and make bad passes, Charlie Coles could take us to the cleaners given his film study, preparation and press.
I just don't know that much about Ohio this year so won't comment about their talent. But Ditto on O'Shea. As compared to Reggie and Charlie, TOS just seems to have a hard time getting guys to buy in or stay in. He, does however, always seem to have talent on his team and lots of it. To me, OU is a wild card- could be awesome or awful down the stretch.
Akron has loads of talent. Simply looking at them as a match up with the Flashes, we match up well because we have loads of talent at the same spots. The Zips and the Flashes probably know more about each other than any other two MAC teams. The guys play pick up games in the off seasons and are frequently spooted in the stands of each other's games. I'd say the edge to the Flashes, not because Akron isn't loaded, because we are just a little deeper at guard and forward and J.C. (IMHO) is a better coach. Travis may be MAC POTY- he's that good- but take him away and as we saw at UIC the Zips are beatable. In fairness, the Zips could see us the same way. The MAC might come down to these two teams. If so, hold onto your friggin' hat.
Thank God BG moved to the East so the rest of us get two W's, because it's going to be hard as hell to get two W's against anyone else.
We are ranked way to high
Kind of like KSU's two automatic W's they had against BG last year.
Nobody is good enough in the MAC to assume wins against anybody. Everybody will lose a game or two it shouldn't. Even EMU will have a good win or two.
This season could be headed down the 2004-05 road where nearly everybody finished between 6 losses and 12 losses. I think, Akron is the only team with the talent and the leadership to pull away as KSU did last year, essentially losing a meaningless game to Akron at the end of the year.
Even then it is hard to gauge where Akron is in terms of development as their schedule has been incredibly weak. But you are right - there are no automatic wins in this league. Too much parity and if you don't bring your A game you won't win.
People keep overrating Akron's talent. The zips are pretty good but not head and shoulders above the league. Their guards have some skills but none are really special or big. Travis has always been tough for Toledo but I think OU will be fine against him and I think Kent's defense will improve by tourney time.
Toledo and Western have an edge due to their schedules. Western has possibly played the nations toughest schedule so far. Toledo has played at Kansas, at Vandy (8-3), at Drexel (7-2 with wins over nova and syracuse) at Missouri St (8-2 win over wisconsin), neutral court games with Iowa and VCU (8-2), etc... both of these teams have shown that they will compete every night and have learned how to compensate for their weaknesses and if they can learn to maximize strengths over the next month they will be very tough. I give Toledo a real shot due to having senior leadership, a point with handles and speed, and multiple scoring options. However, Toledo is an injury away from being average with their short bench.
Kent would be the other favorite. A senior guard you can turn the game over to in the clutch, potentially very good defense, proven coach, good home court advantage and the tourney a few miles away... Miami has played everyone tough, but can't seem to beat anyone. Plus, they have a freshman point and as much as I love C Coles, he hasn't had a team peak down the stretch in a while.
As for the lower half. Central is improving and will cause some problems for folks. BG isn't terrible and just got a key player eligible and may get another guy (Marschall) back from injury. I wouldn't write them off as an easy win, especially playing in Anderson Arena during the conference season when school is in session. Ball State will win some home games too. And NIU fans should finally get their wish and have a new coach by April or May.
Overall, I can't remember a time the MAC was as competetive against big name programs, yet lost so many close OOC games. Expect a rugged conference season.