Rush the Court currently does not have a correspondent from the MAC so if you would like to represent the conference and educate the rest of us, please e-mail us at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.

Predicted Order of Finish:

East

1. Akron (12-4)
2. Buffalo (11-5)
3. Kent State (10-6)
4. Bowling Green (9-7)
5. Miami (OH) (8-8)
6. Ohio (7-9)

West

1. Ball State (8-8)
2. Northern Illinois (7-9)
3. Eastern Michigan (7-9)
4. Central Michigan (6-10)
5. Toledo (6-10)
6. Western Michigan (5-11)

All-Conference Team:

• David Kool (G), Sr, Western Michigan
• Darion Anderson (G), Jr, Northern Illinois
  
• Jarrod Jones (F), So, Ball State
• Brandon Bowdry (F), Jr, Eastern Michigan
• Zeke Marshall (C), Fr, Akron
  

6th Man. Brett McKnight (F), Jr, Akron

Impact Newcomer. Zeke Marshall (C), Fr, Akron

What You Need to Know. To begin with this is the MAC not the MAAC. Sienadoesn’t play in this conference so if you came here expecting to see a preview for them you are in the wrong place (at least for a few days). This conference, the MAC, is ridiculously unbalanced. While none of the the teams in the MAC would be considered contenders for a national title there are four good teams in the East that might actually pique some interest when they played a decent BCS school as an “Upset Alert.” There isn’t a single team in the West you could say that about even if they were playing a cellar-dweller in any of the BCS conferences. In fact, last year the last-place team in the East (Ohio) would have been tied for first in the West. The winner of the automatic bid will almost definitely come from the East with Akron and Buffalo being the top contenders. The edge may go to the Zips who lose less of their championship team from last year (only Nate Linhart) and add a 7’0″ center in the middle with Zeke Marshall while the Bulls will not have Greg Gamble and Andy Robinson this year.

Predicted Champion.  Akron Zips (NCAA Seed: #13). Coming off a 20-win season and the MAC title/NCAA bid the Zips are loaded by MAC standards. The only significant player they lose is Linhart (the MAC tournament MVP), but the Zips should have more than enough to stay up at the top of the MAC with the McKnight brothers (Chris and Brett) leading the way. Even though Brett came off the bench last year, he still led the team in scoring and figures to do so again although I’m not sure if he will stay on the bench with Linhart’s departure. With the McKnights and Marshall controlling the inside, Daryl Roberts and his 39.6% from beyond the arc should get his fair share of quality looks. With so much returning talent, the key for the Zips will be how quickly Marshall adapts to the college game. Marshall, who FoxSports.com rated as the #13 impact freshman this upcoming season, could give the Zips something the MAC hasn’t seen in a long-time–a legitimate seven-foot center. His presence, even if tips the scales at a relatively svelte 218 lbs, could be just the boost that the Zips need to repeat in the MAC and scare some big-name school in the 1st round.

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Greg Miller of WPSD Local 6 is the RTC correspondent for the OVC and MAC Conferences.

What in the world has happened to the MAC?  Check out Monday’s edition of bracketology and you’ll see Bowling Green as Joe Lunardi’s choice to be the MAC’s representative in the NCAA Tournament.  No problem with that, considering they edged Buffalo for the MAC regular season title on Sunday.  The problem lies with where they are seeded.  A #16 SEED!?!?!?  WHAT?!?!?!?  This conference is at maybe it’s lowest point in decades.  Scratch maybe.  This is rock bottom for the MAC.

With that being said, the play has been super-competitive within in the league.  Going into the final four game stretch, every team in the MAC East was alive for the league title.  We’re not even going to touch the West.  They were a flat debacle.  Nobody had a winning record.  Ball State had the most wins in the West and the Cardinals won 13 games.  Just sad.

The league did announce their postseason awards Monday.  Click here to take a look.

The league tournament starts on Tuesday and, if you throw out the West, the tournament should be wide open.

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Welcome back to another edition of Boom Goes the Dynamite. I’m back as your semi-regular host after a day off with John Stevens covering for me. Today is a kind of weird day of basketball with the best games later in the day going head-to-head against the NBA All-Star game. So hopefully everyone will be sticking with us throughout the day and the real basketball fans (the ones who actually like defense and competition) will stay with us into the night.

1:00 PM: Our early games today are Illinois at  Indiana on CBS and Clemson at Virginia on ESPN Full Court and ESPN360.com. We’ll be updating you with highlights of those games throughout the day, but like always if there is something going on that we are missing or we make a mistake leave us a message in the comment section.

1:10 PM: Illinois is up 10-7 early. Bruce Weber‘s club must be riding high after their amazing comeback at Northwestern in their last game. Clemson is tied 3-3 in Charlottesville with 15:54 left in the first half. I’m guessing today is Sean Singletary day at UVA today based on the parts of the pre-game that I caught. Singletary, a 3-time 1st team All-ACC player, is one of three players in ACC history (Danny Ferry and Johnny Dawkins being the others) to have 2,000 career points, 500 career assists, and 400 career rebounds.

1:25 PM: Illinois is up 15-7 as we go to a TV timeout. CBS just showed a graphic about Indiana’s tough losses this year by featuring the games they led, but lost. You know the Hooisers are having a bad year when having a lead of 2 points at some point during the game is highlighted as a tough loss. Meanwhile, UVA is up 16-7 with 11:54 as they head into a timeout as well.

1:30 PM: I just noticed the electronic board on the side of the court at Assembly Hall. I guess it’s a nice fan friendly feature and probably generates some revenue through ads, but I think it looks horrendous in this famous arena. I haven’t noticed it at Cameron Indoor, but I think they should avoid it in the historic arenas.

1:40 PM: Jeff Jordan just hit a jumper for Illinois. As we noted before, he was recently was given a scholarship at Illinois. For those of you who haven’t seen him play, we think you might have missed his only big play of the day if his performance this season is any indication of what we can expect today. He’ll probably be out there quite a bit since Indiana is awful so watch for #13 on Illinois.

1:45 PM: UVA is up 22-16 coming out of a timeout with 5:11 left in the first half. Illinois is up 27-13 with a little less than 5 minutes left in the first half. I’ll be focusing on the UVA-Clemson game for now unless the Illinois-Indiana game gets interesting.

1:55 PM: UVA is up 33-25 at half. That 3 by Terrence Oglesby with a little over a minute left in the first half was Clemson’s first of the day after the Tigers missed their first 10 straight. The Cavaliers might have a chance if the Tigers continue to have difficulty hitting from the outside. Trevor Booker has had a big first half with 10 of Clemson’s 25 points, but it wasn’t enough as none of the other Tigers are playing well today. Illinois is up 38-21 at half.

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Ed. note:  if you have some nominees that we missed, send them to us at rushthecourt@yahoo.com or leave it in the comments and we’ll try to get a photo up…

While we were sitting around watching a closer-than-it-should-have-been game between Memphis and Central Florida a couple of weekends ago, it occurred to us that we were spending more time staring at the appallingly hideous UCF Knight plastered onto the middle of the floor.  And when the tv cameras took us to one end of the court, away from the menacing black knight ready to swallow up half of the players, my eyes were forced to contrast their two-tone floor where everything within the three point line was one color (light beige) and everything outside of it, another (beige).   It was horrible.  But our visual disaster is your gain, as it gave us an idea for a neat post comparing the ugliest home floors in America.

Central Florida – UCF Arena

The first thing we did was contact our loyal RTC correspondents, because who else will know about some abominable court hidden away in the Big Mountain South USA whatever Conference than our guys.  Here are some of their entries:

Eastern Michigan – Convocation Center

It’s never a good thing when you start painting giant basketballs on the court and coloring in the three-point areas.  Never.  A.  Good.  Thing.

Moving to the Big 12, which has not one, but two nominees…

Texas A&M – Reed Arena

We’re uncertain what bugs us about this particular floor, other than the bizarre checkerboard parquet and the enormous outline of the state of Texas in the middle of it.   Yeah, Texas is a big state, but come on…  And the T-star situation isn’t helping – what is that thing??  We thought the A&M logo always had the letters “A” and “M” in it.

Baylor – Ferrell Center

This one isn’t all that bad except for one minor major annoyance – unless you’re sitting in the first five rows, who thought it was a good idea to paint the new 3-point line in yellow on a hardwood-colored floor?  Especially when watching Baylor on tv, it’s nearly impossible to track what is a three and what isn’t a three because of that fact (sorry, we haven’t moved to HD in the RTC West Coast Compound yet).

Georgia Tech – Alexander Memorial Coliseum

This place has always bothered us – something about the deli mustard borders and the gigantic bee in the middle of the floor.  Why not go with the black/gold setup like Vandy or Wake instead?

Colorado State – Moby Arena

Oh, Lord, no…  this just can’t be allowed to continue.  The photo isn’t great but you can clearly make out the outline of a ram’s horns all over this court.

Boise State – Taco Bell Arena

But the school that takes the cake, not once, but twice, has to be our blue-turfed friends in Boise.  Both incarnations of their home floor in recent years (the top is their current one) have been downright offensive (the horse heads are bad enough, but we esp. hate the half-basketballs in the corners).

Princeton – Jadwin Gymnasium

Honorable mention goes to Princeton, not so much for its floor (which is solid) but for its multipurpose arena known as Jadwin Gymnasium.  The space-age Epcot-style lighting and airport-hangar background there really scares us.   For Chrissakes, they have temporary restraining walls on the sidelines so the ball doesn’t roll into the indoor track/field area.  What a disaster.

Reader nominees:

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Greg Miller of WPSD Local 6 is the RTC correspondent for the MAC and OVC Conferences.

MAC Standings as of January 12:

EAST CONF. W-L OVERALL W-L

1. Miami (OH)     1-0     8-5
2. Bowling Green     1-0     8-6
3. Ohio     1-0     8-6
4. Buffalo     0-1     8-5
5. Akron     0-1     8-6
6. Kent State     0-1     7-8

WEST CONF. W-L OVERALL W-L

1. Ball State     1-0     6-7
2. Northern Illinois     1-0     5-8
3. Western Michigan     1-0     4-10
4. Central Michigan     0-1     3-10
5. Eastern Michigan     0-1     2-13
6. Toledo     0-1     2-13

Since we’ve last talked, the MAC has officially tipped off conference play.  But before we dive into that, let’s look back at how the league ended non-conference play.

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Greg Miller of WPSD Local 6 is the RTC correspondent for the OVC andMAC Conferences.

As 2008 winds down, the MAC is looking more and more like a one-bid league (again).

The league still has yet to beat a ranked team and is 0-17 against the BCS leagues (Pac-10, Big Ten, Big XII, SEC, Big East & ACC).

If there is any good news, despite their stuggles the league still has four teams in the RPI’s top 100; #20 Miami, #85 Buffalo, #88 Bowling Green, #98 Akron.

Unfortunately a deeper look into the numbers shows us there are only two teams that falls in between #100 and #200 (#103 Ohio & #147 Ball State).

The rest of the league falls at #229 or worse.

As expected the East is king in the MAC with five of their six teams in the top 103.  The only team outside the top 103 is Kent State, a pre-season favorite.  The Flash have played a weak schedule, but should still be a factor come conference play.

Strangely enough, the league is ranked #17 in the RPI and has a #7 strength of schedule ranking.  Too bad they don’t have many wins over the strong part of that schedule.

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Greg Miller of WPSD Local 6 is the RTC correspondent for the OVC and MAC Conferences.

Reason #182 of “Why the MAC is a one-bid league”: Record vs. BCS opponents in 2008 is 0-14.

That’s right.  Thrrough November and very early December, the MAC is a robust 0-14 against teams from the BCS leagues. In fact, their overall non-conference record is a very unimpressive 33-44.  The league is having a very hard time picking up big out-of-conference wins.  They’ve had some near misses, but those don’t really count come March. A more telling stat, is the MAC is a somewhat impressive 15-7 at home in the non-conference.  That only makes their road record of 13-25 even more disturbing.  Again, this league needs to do a better job of getting home games in the non-conference.  If they can somehow make this happen, you’ll see these records improve and quite possibly see an upset of a BCS team or two.  The league did pull off some eye-opening wins the past two weeks.

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Greg Miller of WPSD Local 6 is the RTC correspondent for the MAC.

Like most MAC pre-conference seasons, the majority of the league spent the first two weeks beating up on the Sisters of the Worthless Miracle.  But there were some MAC teams that took the time to play the big boys with mixed results.

• As always, Miami’s schedule is murderer’s row.  The Redhawks first six games are on the road, including the 2K Coaches v Cancer Classic at UCLA.  Miami gave the #4 ranked Bruins all they could handle before falling 64-59.  Michael Bramos (MAC Player of the Year candidate) scored 22 points to surpass the 1000-point mark in his career.  The Redhawks left Pauley Pavilion feeling pretty good about themselves after the near-upset.  Unfortunately that feeling didn’t last long.  Just four days later, the Redhawks were humbled at #6 Pitt 82-53.  Bramos had just two points in this loss.  Miami was within three early in the second half before the much more physical Panthers just took over.  The gauntlet continues for Miami the next two weeks.  Road games at Wright State, Xavier and Temple loom.  This early season schedule should, without question, have the Redhawks ready to compete in the MAC.
• Western Michigan is supposed to challenge in the MAC West.  The Broncos’ first three games this year were minor disappointments.  They lost to TCU by four, Hofstra by three in OT and then handed SIU-Edwardsville their first-ever division one victory by 11.  Not the start the Broncs were hoping for.  A silver-lining was David Kool.  He averaged over 24 points in those three losses.  But it’s obvious, he’s going to need help if WMU is going to be a serious MAC title contender.  They did fare better with a 13-point win over Detroit.  Road games at talented Sam Houston State and VCU the next two weeks will tell us a lot about this team.
• Eastern Michigan suffered a serious setback before the season even started.  Senior point guard and pre-season All-MAC performer Carlos Medlock was lost for the season with a broken foot.  It’s the same foot he broke during the 2006-07 season.  He’ll apply for a medical hardship, but that won’t help the Eagles this year.  EMU had high hopes for their first winning season in a long time.  Medlock’s departure could hurt those chances.  His absence was felt in their blowout loss to Purdue where the EMU point guards combined for 13 turnovers.  Eastern would never had beaten Purdue with Medlock, but he certainly was missed.   EMU did bounce back nicely with a near upset of Georgia, losing 61-60 after leading by double-digits in the second half.  Not sure what this says about Georgia, but it’s certainly a confidence boost for EMU.
• Toledo’s dance with the big boys was anything but memorable.  The Rockets were rocked by Florida 80-58 and stomped by Xavier 81-65.  Good news, Tyrone Kent smoked the Muskies for 37 in the loss.
• Northern Illinois is supposed to bring up the rear again this year in the MAC.  But a sign of life was found in a win over Missouri Valley foe Indiana State.  The Sycamores ain’t exactly SIU or Creighton, but it’s still a nice win for Ricardo Patton’s club.
• Ohio, as expected, easliy won their opener over William & Mary.  Jerome Tillman picked up where he left off last year notching his sixth straight double-double.  Tillman is a serious Player of The Year candidate in the MAC.
• Kent, a favorite in the MAC East with Ohio and Miami, is 2-0 under new head coach Geno Ford.  They picked up an impressive road win against St. Louis and head coach Rick Majerus 76-74 in overtime.  Reigning MAC Player of the Year Al Fisher was tremendous in the win.  Fisher tallied 35 points, including 16 of Kent’s 17 overtime points.  Oh, and he hit the game-winning layup with less than :02 left.  No word on whether he drove the team bus home too.

The MAC has some big games to make a name for themselves the next two weeks, including match-ups with powerhouses like Kansas, Connecticut, Illinois and Marquette.  Here are some games to keep an eye on these next two weeks:

• Bowling Green at Ohio State (11/24)
• Kent State at the South Padre Invitational (starting vs. Illinois 11/28)
• Ohio at George Mason 11/29
• Temple at Buffalo 11/29
• Miami at Xavier 11/29
• Kent at Kansas 12/1
• Central Michigan at Marquette 12/2
• Tulsa at Ohio 12/3
• UMass at Toledo 12/3
• Miami at Temple 12/3
• Northern Illinois at Air Force 12/3
• St. Mary’s at Kent 12/4
• Western Michigan at VCU 12/4
• Connecticut at Buffalo 12/4

LINKS FOR HIGHLIGHTS:

• EMU V PURDUE
• PITT V MIAMI
• TOLEDO V FLORIDA
• UCLA V MIAMI

Greg Miller of WPSD Local 6 is the RTC correspondent for the Mid-American Conference.

Predicted Order of Finish:

MAC East

1. Kent  (22-9, 12-4)
2. Miami (OH) (16-13, 11-5)
3. Ohio  (20-9, 10-6)
4. Akron  (16-15, 8-8)
5. Bowling Green  (16-13, 7-9)
6. Buffalo  (12-17, 6-10)

MAC West

1. Western Michigan  (18-12, 10-6)
2. Eastern Michigan  (16-14, 10-6)
3. Central Michigan  (14-15, 9-7)
4. Toledo  (13-17, 6-10)
5. Ball State  (10-19, 4-12)
6. Northern Illinois  (7-22, 3-13)

WYN2K.  The MAC’s new logo is just a small part of the change that the Mid-American Conference is hoping will push their league to the next level.  Seven of the league’s twelve head coaches are either in their first or second year, a sign that it really is a new era in the MAC.  The league is hoping to make the leap that leagues such as the Missouri Valley have made over the past decade.  It’s been ten long years since the MAC has had two teams in the NCAA Tournament.  That was back in 1999 when Kent earned the automatic bid while Miami (OH) picked up the league’s last at-large bid.  They proved very worthy as Wally Szczerbiak carried the RedHawks to the Sweet 16.  But the MAC has not since been able to recapture the glory of 1999.  Yes, they did watch Kent make a run to the Elite Eight in 2002, but it’s been quantity rather than quality that has plagued the MAC in the new century.  Since that multiple bid year of 1999, the league has sat back and watched a number of conferences do what they’ve been unable to do.  We mentioned the Valley, who has been a multi-bid league eight times in the interim.  Additionally, the Mountain West (8), WAC (7), West Coast (5), Horizon (2), CAA (2), Sun Belt  (1) and Big West (1) have all been a multi-bid league at least once.  In order to make that leap to a multi-bid league, the MAC must schedule better and most importantly take advantage of the opportunities they do get against the major conference teams.

Predicted Champion.  Kent (#13 NCAA).  As it’s been 7 of the past 10 years, the winner of the MAC will come from the East.  Just what team from the East remains to be seen?  Miami, Kent and Ohio all should make serious runs at the title, but none would be anything higher than a #12 seed in the Big Dance. 

• As long as Jim Christian was at Kent, the Flash were guaranteed a 20-win season (ten straight).  But Jim Christian left for TCU.  Kent assistant coach and former MAC superstar Geno Ford (Ohio ’97) takes over the bench for the Flashes, but he will have some familiar faces to help him in his first season.  Guard Al Fisher (13.9 ppg, 4.0 apg) is the first returning MAC Player of the Year since 2002.  Fisher leads a group of eight returners that made up 65.1% of the KSU attack.  Chris Singletary and Jordan Mincy help Fisher solidify the backcourt.  The frontcourt is where Kent will have to fill some holes.  Gone are  Hamminn Quaintance and Mike Scott, both All-MAC performers who averaged over 23 points and 13 rebounds per game. 
• Miami (OH) has veteran leadership on their side.  Charlie Coles, the dean of MAC coaches, is back for his 13th season with the RedHawks and he returns four starters and eleven letterwinners.  The most significant is Michael Bramos, a POY candidate.  Bramos (16.3 ppg) is a sharp-shooter who has the ability to light it up at anytime.  He went for 30+ points four times last year.  His scoring and the RedHawks always-frustrating defense will keep Miami in the hunt all year.  Miami has to find someone to replace the production of All-MAC frontcourt star Tim Pollitz. 
• Ohio might be the longshot of these three, but don’t sleep on the Bobcats.  Like Kent, they have a new head coach in John Groce who comes from Ohio State where he played a big part in the recruiting of Greg Oden and Mike Conley.  It will take Groce some time to work his recruiting magic in Athens, but he does have some talent to work with.  Jerome Tillman (13.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg) might be the best player in the league.  He’s been very solid the past three years for the ‘Cats, posting 18 double-doubles.  The only question with Tillman is can he do it without his tag-team partner of the past two years?  Gone is Leon Williams, who garnered double and triple teams throughout his career in Athens.  Williams opened things for Tillman, but with him gone on the inside, how will Tillman handle the bulk of the attention?  The Bobcats also return senior starter Justin Orr in the frontcourt, a player who has yet to tap into his full potential.  Michael Allen is the only other senior on the team.  He’ll be asked to be a leader on the floor from the point guard spot where he showed flashes of brilliance last year.  The Bobcats must find a way to win on the road if they want to be a serious contender.  They were 7-1 at home in the MAC, 2-6 on the road last season.

Others Considered.  Eastern Michigan hasn’t been dancing since 1998 and hasn’t had a winning season since 1999-00.  So why would we mention the Eagles?  Well, they could be a darkhorse in the West.  All-MAC guard Carlos Medlock returns as well as 2006-07 All-MAC freshman forward Brandon Bowdry who missed all of last year with a stress fracture.  The Eagles did finish second in the West last year at 8-8, so a winning season in 2008-09 is not out of the question.  Western Michigan will be considered the West favorite thanks to the return of All-MAC guard David Kool.  Along with having one of the best names in the MAC, he averaged over 16 points per game.  The Broncos will struggle trying to find a replacement for inside workhorse Joe Reitz.  In the East, Bowling Green and Buffalo could be sleepers.  BG returns almost everyone and has a talented coach in Louis Orr.  Buffalo was only 3-13 in the MAC last year, but they return all five starters and ninth-year head coach Reggie Witherspoon has won in this league before.

RPI Boosters.

The MAC does have a number of games against the BCS schools.  But overall, the league has done a pretty poor job of scheduling.  They’re aren’t nearly enough key games at home.  It’s been an ongoing problem for years in the MAC in trying to get bigger schools to come on-campus and play.  This year is no different.  But with that being said, there are chances to make some noise in the non-conference season.  The league plays quite a few mid-majors including a handful of teams from the MVC and Atlantic 10.  Here is a list of the top 25 games where the MAC really has a chance to put themselves on the map.  The italicized games are the rare times a big school has agreed to play at a MAC school.  If the MAC is able to pull a few upsets in these games, then what those teams do in conference will go a long way in earning them a possible at-large bid. 

• Miami at UCLA  (11.13.08)
• Toledo at Florida  (11.14.08)
• Miami at Pitt  (11.17.08)
• Toledo at Xavier  (11.17.08)
• Eastern Michigan at Purdue (ESPN2)  (11.17.08)
• Akron at Pitt  (11.21.08)
• Bowling Green at Ohio State  (11.24.08)
• Kent vs. Illinois (South Padre Invitational)  (11.28.08)
• Kent vs. Texas A&M/Tulsa (South Padre Invitational)  (11.29.08)
• Miami at Xavier  (11.29.08)
• Kent at Kansas (ESPNU)  (12.01.08)
• Central Michigan at Marquette  (12.02.08)
• UMass at Toledo  (12.03.08)
• St. Mary’s at Kent (12.04.08)
• UConn at Buffalo  (12.04.08)
• Ohio at Louisville  (12.07.08)
• Purdue at Ball State  (12.09.08)
• Ohio at Xavier  (12.10.08)
• Eastern Michigan at Michigan  (12.13.08)
• Western Michigan at UNLV  (12.14.08)
• Southern Illinois at Northern Illinois  (12.17.08)
• Miami at WVU  (12.20.08)
• Houston at Toledo  (12.20.08)
• Western Michigan at Southern Illinois  (12.22.08)
• Eastern Michigan at Illinois  (12.28.08)
• Central Michigan at Kentucky  (12.29.08)

The league is set up for teams to open with five division games, six cross-division games and then five division games to finish.  So we’ll have a good idea of the front-runners in both the East Division and West Division by late January.  It also sets up for some potentially big games in late February/early March to decide the division races.  On paper, the East Division is again stronger than the West Division.  The Michigan directional schools will all get their cracks at the East to prove otherwise in late January.

• Kent at Ohio  (01.11.09)
• Ohio at Miami  (01.14.09)
• Miami at Kent  (01.17.09)
• Eastern Michigan at Kent  (01.27.09)
• Kent at Western Michigan  (01.31.09)
• Miami at Eastern Michigan  (01.31.09)
• Eastern Michigan at Ohio  (02.07.09)
• Ohio at Western Michigan  (02.11.09)
• Bowling Green at Toledo  (02.11.09)
• Western Michigan at Miami  (02.14.09)
• Miami at Ohio  (02.16.09)
• Ohio at Kent  (02.17.09)
• Eastern Michigan at Western Michigan  (02.18.09) 
• Eastern Michigan at Central Michigan  (02.28.09)
• Kent at Miami (03.01.09) (could decide East champion)
• Central Michigan at Western Michigan  (03.08.09)

Neat-O Stat.  If history is any indicator, Kent will be there in the end.  They’ve played in the MAC Tournament title game 7 of the last 10 years, winning five of them.

Hello, My Name Is…

The league has 7 coaches who are either in their first or second years.

First-Year Head Coaches

• John Groce – Ohio
• Geno Ford – Kent
• Gene Cross – Toledo

Second-Year Head Coaches

• Louis Orr – Bowling Green
• Ernie Ziegler – Central Michigan
• Billy Taylor – Ball State
• Ricardo Patton – Northern Illinois

Veteran Coaches

• Charlie Coles – Miami (13th year)
• Reggie Witherspoon – Buffalo (9th year)
• Keith Dambrot – Akron (5th year)
• Charles Ramsey – Eastern Michigan (3rd year)
• Steve Hawkins – Western Michigan (6th year)

65 Team Era.   There’s a reason every coach gets a lump in his throat when the brackets first come out and he sees a MAC team opposite his sqaud, and it’s not necessarily because he thinks they’re going to lose.  Rather, if history is any indication, he’s likely to win the first-round game, but he’s in for an all-out war in doing so.  Despite an average seed of #11.9 throughout the era, MAC teams play their first-round opponents very tough, losing by 12 pts or less in all but seven of their first-round matchups.  The overall conference record of 15-29 (.341) with four trips to the Sweet Sixteen isn’t too shabby either.  Unfortunately for MAC fans, however, the conference is on a five-year streak of first-round losses, which is the longest such streak of the era.

Final Thoughts. 

• While the MAC desperately wants to make the move to the next level and earn multiple NCAA bids, the reality is, this might not be the year for that to happen.  The league lost a lot of star power from last year and with a ton of new coaches, it might be a year or two before this league really starts to take off and maybe even return to the form of the late 1990s where they were not just earning NCAA bids, but winning NCAA games.  2008-09 will be like most years in the MAC.  Once they get to conference play, it will be an all-out war with teams beating up each other.  That makes it tough to earn an at-large out of this league.  Despite the top-heavy league records, the MAC is a tough league to win within, especially on the road. 
• On a more positive note, this league is getting better.  You will see some budding coaching stars in Geno Ford, John Groce and Gene Cross.  Not to mention a few coaches who have been around the block that know a thing or two about winning like Charlie Coles, Ricardo Patton and Louis Orr.  They do have stars to replace, but there are stars ready to shine.  Keep an eye on Jerome Tillman (Ohio), Michael Bramos (Miami), Al Fisher (Kent), Carlos Medlock (EMU), Tyrone Kent and Boomer Tucker (Toledo) and David Kool (WMU).
• This might not be a league who earns multiple NCAA bids in 2008-09, but they will make noise out of conference.  Miami always gives people fits.  Ohio is usually good for an upset.  Kent has been rock-solid for the last decade.  And with the much-improved Bowling Greens, Eastern Michigans and Toledos of the world, the MAC could jump up and surprise a big boy or two if they’re not careful.

With the news Wednesday that Duke whiffed on PF Patrick Patterson (who opted for Kentucky over Duke and Florida), combined with yesterday’s news that Roy Williams has extended his contract with UNC through the 2014-15 season, we started to wonder if we’re seeing an unusual blip in Durham, or if last season and the presumed immediate future signal a larger problem there.

Be-Deviled?

The last time Duke had such a blip was in the mid-90s. In 1995, with Coach K’s back hurting and Pete Gaudet at the helm for two-thirds of the season, Duke went 13-18 (2-14) and did not make the NCAA Tournament. There has been considerable harping over the years about whose record (K’s or Gaudet’s) all those losses should fall on, but at the time, it wasn’t a leap to see that even when Duke was 9-3 in early January 1995, a team led by the likes of Cherokee Parks and Jeff Capel (as opposed to Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley or Christian Laettner) was flawed. This was especially true in light of a stacked ACC that season (Each of Duncan, Wallace, Stackhouse, Childress and Joe Smith were all-americans in 1995).

The next season, when K was back on the bench, shows just how far the talent level at Duke had fallen. The 1995-96 team only performed five games better than its predecessor, going 18-13 (8-8) and losing both its first round ACC Tourney game and its first round NCAA game (by 15 pts) to… Eastern Michigan? The following year, 1996-97, Duke only got marginally back on track. The Devils finished with a 24-9 (12-4) record and won the ACC regular season, but they flamed out early again in the postseason, inexplicably losing to #8 seed NC State in the quarters of the ACC Tourney and barely scraping by Murray St. in the first round before losing to #10 seed Providence (by 11 pts) in the second round of the NCAAs. Does this sound familiar at all? It should, as Duke just finished its 2006-07 campaign with a 22-11 (8-8) record, culminating in a first round ACC Tourney loss and a first round NCAA loss to… VCU.

Is there cause for concern among Devil faithful, or is last year’s mediocre regular season and short-lived postseason just an anomaly?

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