Still WAY too early to be very instructive, but with the MAC b-ball schedule having reached the half-way point I thought I'd see how the seeding for the MAC Tournament would look if the season ended today:

http://machoopsmusings.blogspot.com/2007...ament.html

The key home games left of the 2-6 seeds
Akron-Ohio
Toledo-Akron
Ohio- Miami and Kent State
Miami- Akron, WMU
Kent State- Akron, Miami, Toledo
WMU- Kent State, Ohio, Toledo

Toledo 13-3
Kent State 12-4 wins east on tie breaker
Akron 12-4 gets third on tie breaker
WMU has 1 loss projected the rest of the way if its holds home court and doesn't lose to second division teams. 12-4 and 4th seed
Ohio 11-5 on tie breaker
Miami 11-5 6th with loss to Toledo the deciding factor

How more bad losses for WMU, Miami and Ohio. That is what is separating the teams right now. Miami's loss to UB and Ohio's to Ball State are killers if all the top teams continue to hold home court and win over second division.

Ohio has 6 of last nine on road including a rough bracketbuster game away 2 time zones away. 2 of the three home games aren't cupcakes. Miami and Kent State those two marched into Athens last year and came out with W's.

Bobcats are only 4-7 away from Athens this season......1 true road win over hapless St Bonaventure. That's the bad news....

In Athens, Ohio is 42-4 over last 46 home games. They beat Toledo and Akron.....

Ohio is 10-2 inside the state of Ohio this year with the two losses in overtime. 4-5 outside the state. Thank god the MAC tournament is in Cleveland where Bobcats are 5-1 over last three seasons.

no way western goes 12-4. no way miaimi goes 11-5.

i'd say
toledo 13-3 (toledo wins tiebreaker via home win over akron)
akron 13-3
ohio 11-5
kent 11-5
western 10-6
miami 8-8
central 6-10
ball state 6-10
eastern 6-10
bg 5-11
buffalo 4-12
northern 3-13

pono Wrote:no way western goes 12-4. no way miaimi goes 11-5.

i'd say
toledo 13-3 (toledo wins tiebreaker via home win over akron)
akron 13-3
ohio 11-5
kent 11-5
western 10-6
miami 8-8
central 6-10
ball state 6-10
eastern 6-10
bg 5-11
buffalo 4-12
northern 3-13

3 conference wins? Are you insane?

This is going to be a fun race up until the end. That Akron-Kent game to end the season should be a fun game to watch, (hopefully). With the new format of all the teams going to Cleveland, it takes away some of the excitement for the 4-12 seeds. Seeds 4-8 had something to fight for, and that was at least a home first round game. Now, let's say your a 9 seed you don't have as much to fight for. Regardless, I can't wait for the tourney to start. And for us Northeast Ohio folks we get an extra day to skip work.

http://www.sportswebnews.com

Quote:This is going to be a fun race up until the end.

It will be a race up until the end. I'll tell you how much fun it was on March 11.

Updated seeding and analysis through last night's games:

http://machoopsmusings.blogspot.com

Needless to say, we're in Must Win territory for the top five teams for the remaining six games. Each game is going to produce huge swings in seeding and possibilities for the tournament, not to mention that regular season championship.

Toledo/Akron and WMU/Kent are HUGE. If either of those East teams get out with a win, that's a huge boon. Ohio has the luxury of roasted Huskie and the knowledge they already beat both of those teams, so the pressure is definitely on the Zips and Flashes.

If Akron beats Toledo, they have the inside track on the #1 seed. If not, it becomes a huge scrum in the final five.

If Kent beats WMU, they at the very least stay on Akron's heels and keep Ohio and Miami at bay, and at best move into a tie. If not, they fall back into the miasma.

If both teams win, they've established a cushion for themselves. If they both lose, watch out! One game separating four teams!

Sorry if I'm repeating myself, but I'm just really, really excited for this stretch run. Are you excited? I'm excited. It doesn't get any better than this. And people say the regular season doesn't matter. They don't know what they're missing out on!

The interesting thing is that nobody in this conference has stepped up and scored a big road win. You have to think that statement "W" is coming real soon, yes? We're not going to have everyone hold serve at home again in the East, are we? I don't think so. Someone is going to emerge. Will it be Akron @ Kent? Kent @ Ohio? The #1 seed may very well come down to who scores the tough road victory.

No doubt the race the next few days could take a wild turn. Right now Akron has control, but a loss at Toledo and next week to Ohio would put Akron on the wrong side of all tiebreakers with Ohio and the schedule would then tip in Ohio's favor.