Last year Miami secured the top seed with a 12-6 record with a log jam of teams at 11-7 closely behind. Right now, Miami, Akron and Kent remain undefeated and several teams are without MAC wins. What will be the record of the top seed for the MAC tournament. At the beginning of the season people on this board scoffed at the idea of anyone being 14-4 or 15-3. Now that Miami is off to a 6-0 start, they would need to go only .500 the rest of the way to match last seasons 12-6 record. I am going to guess that the top seed this year will be 14-4.

I hate to say this but Akron will be the top seed at 13-5 or 14-4. They have the easiest crossover games and i believe there 3 remaining games against the west are Western at home and both home and away vs Eastern. So i would see them at 8-0 vs the West. With the East being so balanced i see everyone (minus BG) being right around .500 against the East teams.

Now winning a game in Cleveland might be another story for the ZIPS as correct me if i wrong but i don't think they have ever won a game at the Gund/Q.

Impossible to tell at this point who is going to finish with the best record out of the eastern log jam.

Its all going to come down to who is playing the best basketball in February.

i'd say NIU. They play in the west and the west really sucks this year. I wouldn't be shocked in the 2nd place team in the west has a losing record in the conference.

utpotts Wrote:i'd say NIU. They play in the west and the west really sucks this year. I wouldn't be shocked in the 2nd place team in the west has a losing record in the conference.

I agree that it is possible. As you say, most of our remaining schedule is West which is the easier part while the East is beating themselves up. However, we have yet to play Kent twice and Ohio one more time so anything can happen. THis is not to dismiss the West because I am sure we will get some hard fought games(excluding CMU of course) ;-)

I don't know if we've ever won at the Gund, either. Not that I can recall.

The Zips are on a roll but just won a very close one by blowing a huge lead in the last few minutes. I was at the CSU game and we almost let that one get away from us, too. Closing is, for us, going to be very critical to our success.

I really believe in Coach Dambrot. What he has done in 1.5 seasons here has been nothing short of miraculous. I'm excited for the finish of this season, but I think we'll get ahead of the MAC next year in a big way.

i wouldn't be so quick to want a Number One seed. remember that the number one seed doesn't mean much once all the teams get to Cleveland. i don't have the stats in front of me, but i know the top seed has had trouble winning this tournament historically. look at last year just as a quick example. miami gets knocked off by Ohio in the semi-finals. a bye is good to have in a lot of ways but there are good things to say about having a home game as a momentum boost (assuming you win that home game!). a few years ago, CMU came into the Convo as the #12 seed and knocked off #5 Ohio. We were more than a little shocked! It just goes to show that ANYTHING can happen with the added pressure of a tournament thrown into the mix. that's why i love that time of year so much! DRAMA!

I think the #1 seed will make a difference this year. The MAC is only 6 deep right now and who gets the 7th or 8th seed might make a difference. I do think BGSU could be a contender in the east. They have shown a lot of improvement and you can throw out the OOC records. They mean squat once MAC play started. Miami, Akron and Kent are perfect while Ohio and UB have dropped 3 games to the weak west. BGSU will win in Anderson. Who they beat will have an impact on the east race.

i also agree that NIU could end up being the #1 seed. i know it's a long season still, but the huskies do have wins over the East (with another one possible this saturday versus Kent State). then the huskies should feast on the weaker West competition, which could translate into the #1 seed in Cleveland. Then you'd have to think that seeds #2 all the way through #7 could be East teams. that would be quite strange to see!

Never mind...I get it. I was retarded for a minute there.

I struggled with that too at first, but I believe he meant three games combined. NIU has a great chance at the #1 seed, but I have to believe they might lose at Western and/or Ball State. Even with the lack of firepower, it is unlikely they get through the West round-robin undefeated.

Yes. 3 games combined for the the Bobcats and Bulls after 3 combined OOC. Next week the stakes get bigger.

I might just be forgetting, but how will the tournament work this season. Will there just be 2 teams that get the first round off, or will everyone play campus site games this year?

KSUDan Wrote:I might just be forgetting, but how will the tournament work this season. Will there just be 2 teams that get the first round off, or will everyone play campus site games this year?

the general consensus is that #1 out of the east and west will get byes, along with the two teams with the next best MAC record, regardless of division. After that it'll go 5v12, 6v11, 7v10, 8v9 at the higher seed's home court on the monday before the cleveland weekend (thurs QFs, Fri SFs and Sat the final) I think thats right. please correct me its wrong