EMU lost at Kentucky - 38-90

*Not sure a whole lot of stock can be put into this loss. If anything, the Eagles are really really struggling on offense. I'm beginning to wonder more and more if they should have let Murphy bolt for the NBA earlier this year. Hindsight is 20/20, and they still sit at 7-6 going into conference play.


Kent wins at Cleveland St - 72-55

*Cleveland St had already beaten BGSU, Ball St and Toledo from the MAC. Now they've lost to Akron and Kent. The Flashes now sit at 9-5 and are the clear favorite for the 3rd best team in the East right now IMO. Lots of new faces to go with Holt, Brewer and Evans...basically the same results though.


Miami lost at home to UMASS - 69-70

*Good showing by Miami. UMASS has a 9-3 record so far. Sullivan had a last second shot in transition to try and win it for Miami, but it didn't fall. One of the reasons why Miami struggled so bad last year was because Allen Roberts was injured in the first minute of their first game. He's back and recovered after a medical redshirt year...and averaging double figures from his guard spot. He his 5 threes last night.


Akron won at home against Coppin St - 91-63

*Blowout win for the Zips as predicted. The shocking thing about this game was that Akron had 3 players record double doubles. Harney, Marshall and Kretzer were the culprits. Zips went with a different lineup than I expected last night. The removed Walsh from his wing spot and replaced him with Harney. Walsh responded by hitting 4/6 from long range and registering 14 points in 12 mins. Harney responded with a double double. Sounds like they might continue with the switch. I'm not sure I like this at all for WMU. Hutch now guards Harney...with Pokely guarding Gilliam. I'd rather have Poke guarding Walsh who basically runs off screens and wants to shoot 3's. Oh well...gotta bring our A game no matter what.


Buffalo lost at Tulsa - 57-63

*Tulsa is 8-6 on the year, so they aren't a cupcake. McCrea was basically a beast again. 22 points and 11 rebounds. I remember watching him as a frosh when they beat our Broncos at UA in the CIT two years ago. He killed us that game and he hasn't looked back since. He's getting plenty of help from Will Regan, the transfer from Virginia.


Ball St won at home against Norfolk St - 62-61

*Last second dunk by Majok gets the win. 10 combined 3's from Scaife and Berry helped the cause. Before anyone gets too fired up about this win, Norfolk checks in at 6-10 and have already played 2 conference games. In short, they likely are not very good and their minds were already on their conference where they started 2-0. I don't understand Billy Taylor's insistence on playing Zach Fields. Tyler Koch has returned to almost full strength after a thumb injury two months ago. On cue, Kamienicki is fighting a sore back and has not played the last game or two.

Just got my kicks for the day after reading multiple threads on Ohio's board that were calling for Jim Christian to be fired.

Does anyone else feel like WMU is the legitimate MAC West favorite entering MAC play? Hard to believe.

(01-03-2013 11:54 AM)BrianPersky Wrote:  Does anyone else feel like WMU is the legitimate MAC West favorite entering MAC play? Hard to believe.

Cautiously optimistic. I'm very happy that we are trending in the right direction. Slow to proclaim any type of clear cut favorite until we respond on the road in the MAC. I have no doubt we will play well at home. I'm worried about our road play and how we respond. To date, we've done better on the road than I anticipated...but it's still a smaller sample size.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketba...basketball

Myron Medcalf of ESPN has taken notice.

He also switched to picking High Point in the North Division of the Big South.

Nice to see WMU getting some credit for the OOC record. But we have a very difficult start to MAC play. It doesn't get tougher than Akron on the road. And then Ohio at home, followed by Toledo at home.
I will not make a prediction on those 3 games, but I will say that if our Broncos can go 2-1 in the first 3, they will have a great shot at winning the West. Again, that will not be easy. We need our guys to be what they have been so far, tough, resilient, and unselfish as a team.

Good reality based comment and I agree.