With the MAC going a dismal 4-8 over the weekend and our top teams (Akron, Kent, Buffalo) all losing and Ohio losing to MAC west teams, we are once again going to be a one-bid league. Not since 1999 when Wally led the RedHawks to the Sweet 16 as an at-large team has the MAC had multiple bids to the big dance. Sadly, are are doomed to the same fate this year too.

For an "are you kidding me" stat, two storied MAC b-ball programs who have not been to the NCAA Tournament in a generation; Toledo last went in 1980; BGSU in 1968. Ouch !

At least both can hang their hats on women's hoops over the past decade.

The conference never steps up when it needs to in men's basketball.

Another issue is chronic sub 200 RPI play out of some of our basketball programs. I can understand a program having an off year by simply not having anybody on the roster but for a few of the programs in the conference like NIU bad basketball play seems endless.

The MAC West was 2-4, the MAC East was 2-4.... I think the divisions are pretty equal to me

(02-19-2012 10:27 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  The MAC West was 2-4, the MAC East was 2-4.... I think the divisions are pretty equal to me

The MAC East played tougher competition.

(02-19-2012 10:27 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  The MAC West was 2-4, the MAC East was 2-4.... I think the divisions are pretty equal to me

+1

really a yr of almosts for men's hoops.

if ohio pulls out that close game at louisville they may be an at large. kent was well positioned for an at large but went into a funk around xmas time and hasn't fully emerged. akron has had 5 or 6 games against tourney teams which went down to the final minute and lost them all. if they had split those along w their convincing wins at bubble teams miss st and marshall, they would be right there. buffalo had some good wins non conf and if they hadn't blown a 2 possession last minute lead at temple would have a signature road top25 rpi win n their resume.

honestly, in watching the league this yr i think the level of play is better. i also think any of the 4 good teams (ou, buffalo, kent, akron) could win a tourney game.

meanwhile, the league isn't going down. akron could be real good next year. ou will be strong, buffalo good, and programs like toledo, eastern and maybe niu seem to be turning the corner

NIU will be turning the corner to be about a 9 win team next year ...
Turning the corner to possibly compete for the MAC ship is EMU and Toledo. This year they will both be near .500 which is an increase from last years sub .500 teams respectively, and next year they can move into the top 4 of the MAC. WMU has been stationary for a while, but I think they could win the West this year, and also be good in the MAC next year. Most teams are moving up. I'd say the only teams who got worse are CMU, Ball State, Miami and NIU.

(02-19-2012 10:34 PM)Louis Kitton Wrote:  

(02-19-2012 10:27 PM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  The MAC West was 2-4, the MAC East was 2-4.... I think the divisions are pretty equal to me

The MAC East played tougher competition.

Obviously, there was a there for a reason.

But to look at it in golf terms... Each team had a handicapp and played other teams with that same handicapp. So if we saw every team play an equal, the MAC West is equally as good/bad as the MAC East at beating teams they're even with

The MAC used to be a "sometimes" 2 bid league..I think we received at large bids 3 years out of 10 in the 90's. And all 3 at large teams won their first round NCAA games as I recall.

(02-20-2012 10:32 AM)exCincy Kid Wrote:  The MAC used to be a "sometimes" 2 bid league..I think we received at large bids 3 years out of 10 in the 90's. And all 3 at large teams won their first round NCAA games as I recall.

That's probably why they stopped giving us at-large bids.

Bracketbusters isn't there to promote mid-majors but to spread some Ls around and give the big boys a day off from us OOC. It's like all the BCS schools not willing to schedule Boise St. or TCU but then watch them play each other guaranteeing one gets an L. If they really wanted to spread wealth they'd do away with the Bracketbusters and replace it with one game where a major goes on the road to a mid-major as they mostly refuse to do that on their own.

(02-20-2012 07:18 PM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  Bracketbusters isn't there to promote mid-majors but to spread some Ls around and give the big boys a day off from us OOC. It's like all the BCS schools not willing to schedule Boise St. or TCU but then watch them play each other guaranteeing one gets an L. If they really wanted to spread wealth they'd do away with the Bracketbusters and replace it with one game where a major goes on the road to a mid-major as they mostly refuse to do that on their own.

great idea , but never going to happen, I guess we can only dream.

GO FLASHES!!!!!

Instead of finding fault with the event, we should be evaluating what we need to do to become at least a mediocre mid major. I watched our best teams get beat by better and smarter players who were motivated to win. It was in their DNA. I saw better, younger, more energetic coaches putting their stamp on their team. I saw our "has been" conference look feeble and not deserving of respect. So, instead of measuring our revealed short comings, let us just criticize the event. At least some of us were on TV even though it did not show the nation that we are relevant. We are just a little too proud of ourselves. We need to get with the game.

(02-21-2012 12:37 PM)GFlash68 Wrote:  Instead of finding fault with the event, we should be evaluating what we need to do to become at least a mediocre mid major. I watched our best teams get beat by better and smarter players who were motivated to win. It was in their DNA. I saw better, younger, more energetic coaches putting their stamp on their team. I saw our "has been" conference look feeble and not deserving of respect. So, instead of measuring our revealed short comings, let us just criticize the event. At least some of us were on TV even though it did not show the nation that we are relevant. We are just a little too proud of ourselves. We need to get with the game.

I agree with you, but we need our better teams to be the ones that have home games too.. The bracketbuster travel takes a lot out of these teams.. Buffalo having to find a way to get to South Dakota State was not easy... in fact their trip home was an absolute nightmare... Same can be said for Akron having to travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma...

I think being the home team in this event is a huge advantage... especially in the TV games.

If you're truly gonna bust brackets, then you gotta be ready to do it on the road as well as at home. VCU put the traveling excuse to dust last year. If you want respect, go out and win.

GF68 - with all due respect, I was bashing this thing well before we (MAC) crapped the bed this year.

While some (from the east) may say something dumb like, "if it helps just ONE MAC team, we should do it," my position is that if it is not helping most teams and in some cases (travel) is a hardship, why bother participating?

I see little of value to it and am deeply suspicious of anything that ESPN touches because we know that they don't really care about anything except their beloved BCS (football) and Power Six Conferences (hoops). I'm waiting until they start including AQ teams in the event for the inevitable creep to the big audience ratings that drive ESPN. It's probably only a matter of time.

A much better alternative would be to pair up good mid-majors against the middle of the pack power six teams, which always coincidently happen to crowd out deserving mid-majors when the dance field gets announced. Not only pair them up, but make the power six teams travel to the mid-major (which, we all know, they abhor). The mid-major can give them a return game the following year. Under THIS proposal, we won't have to see teams in the NCAA tourney from the power conferences that couldn't even go .500 in their league while playing mostly home OOC games. Now, THAT would be an actual bracket buster.

Of course, the power conferences would howl and protest to protect their kingdom and this kind of proposal has no chance to advance. If you really want to "bust some brackets" it should start will all the borderline teams from power six conferences that crowd out deserving mid-majors. These leagues have an entitlement mentality where they believe that their also-rans are more deserving than a mid-major that doesn't have all the built in advantages and had to actually play non conference games on the road.

(02-21-2012 05:15 PM)MileHighBronco Wrote:  GF68 - with all due respect, I was bashing this thing well before we (MAC) crapped the bed this year.

While some (from the east) may say something dumb like, "if it helps just ONE MAC team, we should do it," my position is that if it is not helping most teams and in some cases (travel) is a hardship, why bother participating?

I see little of value to it and am deeply suspicious of anything that ESPN touches because we know that they don't really care about anything except their beloved BCS (football) and Power Six Conferences (hoops). I'm waiting until they start including AQ teams in the event for the inevitable creep to the big audience ratings that drive ESPN. It's probably only a matter of time.

A much better alternative would be to pair up good mid-majors against the middle of the pack power six teams, which always coincidently happen to crowd out deserving mid-majors when the dance field gets announced. Not only pair them up, but make the power six teams travel to the mid-major (which, we all know, they abhor). The mid-major can give them a return game the following year. Under THIS proposal, we won't have to see teams in the NCAA tourney from the power conferences that couldn't even go .500 in their league while playing mostly home OOC games. Now, THAT would be an actual bracket buster.

Of course, the power conferences would howl and protest to protect their kingdom and this kind of proposal has no chance to advance. If you really want to "bust some brackets" it should start will all the borderline teams from power six conferences that crowd out deserving mid-majors. These leagues have an entitlement mentality where they believe that their also-rans are more deserving than a mid-major that doesn't have all the built in advantages and had to actually play non conference games on the road.

There will be the mid-major vs lower power conference team matchup you suggest in the near future. You're just going to find it in the NCAA tournament couple years from now when they expand to 96 teams. This 68 team setup, just a speed bump on the way to a very diluted tourney.

Truth to power, MileHigh. It's nothing but the ghetto-ization of various conferences. I applaud the MVC and whoever for getting the most out of it. One could certainly say that the Colonial's VCU was a direct beneficiary last year, beating Wichita State which gave them a boost in the eyes of whoever (enough to get them thrown into the assumed death of the play-in game). The problem is Wichita State still deserved to be in the tournament too. And they proved themselves by winning the NIT over various mid-packers from the football AQ conferences.

whichita state's non conf losses last yr were san diego st (elite 8) vcu (final 4) uconn (national champ) they beat a slew of top 100 teams

The other thing I don't understand is why do Bracketbusters have to be non-conference games.. Pick a day that ESPN wants to showcase mid-major basketball and then pick you best conference games from that day.. You are still showing casing the best teams and you are actually watching them in meaningful conference games.