This conference primer was prepared by the RTC staff. If you are knowledgeable about the MAC and have an interest in becoming the correspondent for this league, please e-mail us at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.

Reader’s Take I

Top Storylines

• The Freshman Grow Up. After having 15 freshman start for MAC teams last year, this year promises a more balanced, less chaotic version of basketball as many of those freshmen will have matured (although we know that is not always the case). With increased experience, the MAC promises to offer a higher quality of basketball with less inconsistency across its teams. It also bodes well for the conference’s futures as many of these players are expected to be four-year players so even if the conference is not loaded this year it has the potential to be very strong in another year or two.
• Three Team Battle at the Top. While the MAC has traditionally been a wild conference, there appears to be three teams this year — Akron, Kent State, and Western Michigan — as the class of the conference. While the Zips and Golden Flashes return quite a bit of experience and waged a hard-fought game in the conference tournament finals that was decided on a last second block, the Broncos field a young team with plenty of potential. They are probably a step below the other two teams, but this trio is most likely several levels above the rest of the conference.

Can Akron Do It Again? (AP/M. Duncan)

• Can the MAC Get an At-Large? As mentioned earlier, the conference has traditionally been a wild one, which means that the team that wins the regular season will not necessarily win the conference tournament (Kent State the past two years). The question is whether a team from the MAC can establish a strong enough regular season resume to earn an NCAA at-large bid. The truth is that we aren’t sure, but at least the three teams already highlighted are trying to play good non-conference schedules, which should boost their strength of schedule come Selection Sunday. Western Michigan has the toughest schedule with a home game against Temple (November 17), at Purdue (November 23), at Gonzaga (November 26 listed as a “neutral site” game in Spokane), at Detroit (December 8), at Oakland (December 23), and at Duke (December 30). Akron has games at Mississippi State (November 9), home against Detroit (November 26), at West Virginia (November 28), and at home against Virginia Commonwealth (December 29). Kent State isn’t quite as impressive, but still has games at West Virginia (November 15) and at Utah State (November 22).
• How Bad Will Toledo Be? We usually don’t like kicking a team when it is down, but the Rockets might end up having one of the worst teams in Division I this year. Last year they were 4-28 overall and 1-15 in the conference while finishing 344th in Division I in scoring and that was before they had their scholarships cut from 13 to 10 due to poor APR scores and they lost their top returning scorer Malcolm Griffin and Hayden Humes to transfer and Justin Moss retired after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (an enlarged heart). So basically this team is going to be really, really bad.

Alex Varone is the RTC correspondent for the Mid-American Conference. With the MAC Tournament set to tip Tuesday, get up to speed with RTC’s preview and regular season wrap-up.

Postseason Preview

The Favorite: In what was an up-and-down regular season, no one displayed more consistency from start-to-finish than Kent State. Two of the Golden Flashes’ four conference losses were in overtime, and not once did they lose two consecutive league games. Kent State is led by forward Justin Greene, but the strength of this squad is a balance and cohesiveness that is exhibited by the five scorers who average at least 9.4 points per game.

The Sleeper: Ohio came into the season as many expert’s preseason pick to repeat as MAC Champions. The Bobcats never lived up to those expectations and really struggled out of the gate in conference play. But of late, Ohio has looked like the type of team that could win four games to capture the MAC Tournament title. This team has evolved offensively from being the D.J. Cooper Show to a strong, balanced unit that features four double-digit scorers, quality shooters, and a strong inside presence.

Upset Alert: All four teams with first-round byes better be on upset alert, as we saw last year (a No. 9 seed and No. 7 seed both made the semifinals). This year might not see as much parity, but don’t be surprised if anyone seeded 5 through 8 not only pulls off an upset, but wins the whole tournament.

Best Potential Matchup: The beauty of this year’s MAC Tournament is the opportunity for so many great contests that should feature fantastic finishes. An Akron-Miami quarterfinal would be hard-fought, with neither team giving an inch. A Kent State-Western Michigan final would be a lot of fun and a chance for the West to regain some bragging rights. But a Kent State-Ohio semifinal features a number of juicy subplots: two hot teams, last year’s champion vs. this year’s regular season champion, a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal stunner.

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Kevin Doyle is an RTC Contributor.  His weekly column, The Other 26, explores the minutiae of the twenty-six Division I conferences outside the BCS sextet. 

One of the best weekends of the year prior to Championship Week and, of course, the NCAA Tournament, is when the BracketBusters are played. It provides a nice break from conference play, and some of the top mid-major teams in the country have an opportunity to strut their stuff, build up that all-important resume, and have a last opportunity of picking up a quality non-conference victory. Because many of the top games are televised, it is also a great chance for all you guys out there that solely pay attention to the BCS teams around the country to gain some insight of who may have a shot at upsetting a higher seed and advancing a round or two when filling out your Tournament bracket next month. Here are my top 10 BracketBuster game, from tenth to first:

10.   Kent State at Drexel—February 18, 9PM (ESPNU)

Neither team is in the running for an at-large bid, but obtaining additional confidence heading into their respective conference tournaments is what both will play for. Drexel is just a step below the top teams in the CAA, while Kent State is right in the mix for the MAC crown as there has not been one team that has truly distinguished themselves. The Flashes, led by Justin Greene’s 16 points and 7.5 boards a night, are one of the more balanced teams in the MAC as five players average nine points or more. Chris Fouch, arguably Drexel’s top player, will really test Kent State’s backcourt.

9.   Austin Peay at Fairfield—February 19, 1PM (ESPNU)

Fairfield has been flying under the radar playing in the MAAC this year—not as much attention has been given to the league due to Siena’s return to mediocrity after a great run under Fran McCaffery—and they are one of the hottest teams in the nation. Aside from a tough one point loss at Loyola (MD) in mid-January, Fairfield has not lost since November 23 against St. Joseph’s. They are currently the favorite to win the MAAC, but there are a host of teams nipping at their heels. The Stags will take on an Austin Peay squad that sits atop their league—the Ohio Valley Conference—as well. The game will feature two of the better point guards in the land of mid-majors as Derek Needham for Fairfield averages 14 points and 5 assists, and Caleb Brown for Austin Peay is second in the OVC in assists.

8.   Hofstra at Wright State—February 19, 11AM (ESPNU)

Hofstra and Wright State are both teetering on the edge of becoming legitimate contenders in their respective leagues. The Pride got out to a quick 5-0 start in the CAA, but have gone 3-3 in their last six to fall behind Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason. In the crazy Horizon League this year, it is anyone’s best guess who will be the last one standing. Cleveland State with Norris Cole looks to be the current favorite, but Wright State is not far behind. The storyline for this game will undoubtedly revolve around Charles Jenkins who has a legitimate shot of hearing his name called by David Stern on NBA Draft night, but don’t be surprised if Vaughn Duggins for Wright State steals the show. The fifth-year senior has scored in double figures in every game save two, and is the fourth leading scorer in the Horizon League.

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Alex Varone is the RTC correspondent for the Mid-American Conference.

A Look Back

With the turn of the calendar to a new year comes the meat of the college basketball season: conference play. So, in what is the last Mid-American Conference Check-In of the year 2010, let’s review how the MAC has done in the non-conference portion of the season.

So far, MAC teams have gone a combined 63-82 in non-conference games. That 43.4 winning percentage is further evidence that the overall quality of the MAC is not up to the standard that the league would like to see. Almost by default, Kent State has established itself as the league’s best team (see the Power Rankings below for a quick review of Kent State’s and the other 11 MAC teams’ non-conference performance), and barring a double-digit win streak from the Golden Flashes or someone else, the MAC is a near lock to be a one-bid league come Selection Sunday.

Star Watch

Not to discount the fine performances of the MAC’s top players, including Kent State’s Justin Greene, who at this junction of the season has to be the favorite for MAC Player of the Year, but this week’s Star Watch belongs to Ohio sophomore guard D.J. Cooper, whose stat line against St. Bonaventure on December 18th was nothing short of extraordinary.

In the four-overtime 112-107 loss at St. Bonaventure, Cooper played 55 minutes, made 17 of 41 field goal attempts, scored 43 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, dished out 13 assists, and nabbed 8 steals. The 41 shot attempts were the most by a Division 1 player in the last 15 years, and while Ohio has gotten off to a disappointing start to the season, Cooper has been sensational in posting per game averages of 19.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 2.9 steals.

Power Rankings (last week’s ranking in parentheses)

1. Kent State (1) 9-4 RPI: 55
Best Win: vs. South Florida
Worst Loss: at Morehead State

The Golden Flashes have the best RPI to date in the MAC thanks not only to the win over South Florida, but under-the-radar victories over Iona, Robert Morris, and Furman. A 17-point loss at Morehead State earlier this week was Kent State’s worst performance of the season, but its three other losses are against teams with a combined record of 30-6 (Cleveland State, UAB, Florida).

A Look Ahead: Dec. 31 vs. James Madison, Jan. 8 at Akron, Jan. 11 vs. Bowling Green

2. Buffalo (3) 7-4 RPI: 144
Best Win: vs. Green Bay
Worst Loss: at Youngstown State

Buffalo has hardly played the nation’s most difficult schedule to date, but credit goes to the Bulls for both picking up some decent wins (vs. Green Bay, at Army, at Canisius) and avoiding a set of crippling losses to start the season. Six of Buffalo’s seven wins have been by double-digits, while the 11-point loss at Youngstown State and an eight-point final deficit against BYU are the Bulls’ only losses by more than four points.

A Look Ahead: Dec. 30 vs. BYU, Jan. 3 at Cornell, Jan. 8 vs. Bowling Green

3. Ball State (2) 6-4 RPI: 74
Best Win: vs. Indiana State
Worst Loss: vs. Alaska Anchorage (non Division 1)

Ball State’s best win so far is a toss-up between a 15-point home win over Indiana State, a 7-point win at Eastern Illinois, or a 2-point win at DePaul. But the Cardinals’ best performance came in a five-point loss to St. John’s in the Great Alaska Shootout. But also taking place in Alaska was Ball State’s worst performance: an 18-point drubbing at the hands of Alaska Anchorage.

A Look Ahead: Dec. 31 vs. North Carolina A&T, Jan. 3 vs. SIU Edwardsville, Jan. 8 at Northern Illinois, Jan. 12 vs. Western Michigan

4. Akron (6) 8-5 RPI: 83
Best Win: at Detroit
Worst Loss: at Dayton

As evidenced with its best win being at Detroit, none of Akron’s non-conference wins stand out on their own merits, but with the exception of a 35-point blowout loss at Temple, all of Akron’s losses have been competitive. The Zips were defeated by thirteen vs. Cleveland State, and by eight points each at Dayton, at Minnesota, and vs. Miami (FL).

A Look Ahead: Jan. 3 vs. Oral Roberts, Jan. 8 vs. Kent State, Jan. 12 vs. Ohio

5. Ohio (5) 7-6 RPI: 136
Best Win: vs. Valparaiso
Worst Loss: vs. Marshall

Inconsistency has defined Ohio in its first twelve games, as the Bobcats have failed to win more than two games in a row at any point this season. Ohio has missed opportunities in winnable contests against Oakland, Marshall, IUPUI, and the aforementioned 4OT loss at St. Bonaventure. And on its biggest stage of the season thus far, the defending MAC Champs lost to Kansas by 57 points.

A Look Ahead: Dec. 30 vs. Norfolk State, Jan. 2 vs. Robert Morris, Jan. 9 vs. Miami (Ohio), Jan. 12 at Akron

6. Miami (Ohio) (4) 5-8 RPI: 133
Best Win: vs. Xavier
Worst Loss: at Wright State

Its 5-8 overall record is misleading, as Miami (Ohio) has played the 12th toughest schedule in the nation, which has included losses at Duke, vs. San Diego State, at Ohio State, at Dayton, and vs. Cincinnati. With an upcoming date at Kansas, the RedHawks will have played (and likely lost to) five of the seven remaining unbeatens in college basketball.

A Look Ahead: Jan. 2 at Kansas, Jan. 9 at Ohio, Jan. 13 vs. Buffalo

7. Western Michigan (7) 6-6 RPI: 161
Best Win: at Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Worst Loss: vs. Troy

Western Michigan has already had its share of close contests, going 4-3 in games decided by one possession. The Broncos opened the season with a near miss at Xavier, falling to the Musketeers by just three points, and later suffered a two point loss at Towson, and a three point loss in a neutral site game against Troy, the Trojans only win over a Division 1 opponent to date. Close wins over Detroit, at Georgia State, South Dakota State, and Idaho State have kept the Broncos near .500 all season.

A Look Ahead: Dec. 31 vs. Eastern Illinois, Jan. 9 vs. Central Michigan, Jan. 12 at Ball State

8. Northern Illinois (8) 3-7 RPI: 232
Best Win: vs. Illinois-Chicago
Worst Loss: vs. Boise State

Northern Illinois has only two victories over Division 1 opponents: a two-point home victory over Illinois-Chicago (RPI: 230), and a six-point road win at Maryland Eastern Shore (RPI: 295). The Huskies were easily handled against Northwestern, at Temple, and at Missouri, but nearly won at DePaul and at Bradley.

A Look Ahead: Dec. 31 vs. Utah Valley, Jan. 3 at Iowa State, Jan. 8 vs. Ball State, Jan. 11 at Eastern Michigan

9. Central Michigan (9) 3-10 RPI: 305
Best Win: at Illinois-Chicago
Worst Loss: vs. Detroit

After a season-opening win vs. Cal State Fullerton in Hawaii, the Chippewas lost nine of their next ten games, only notching a ten-point road win at Illinois-Chicago in the interim. The back-to-back West Division champions have largely failed to meet expectations thus far, and only recently picked up their third win of the season in a three-point win over Cornerstone, a non-Division 1 opponent.

A Look Ahead: Jan. 9 at Western Michigan, Jan. 12 vs. Toledo

10. Toledo (11) 3-10 RPI: 259
Best Win: vs. Valparaiso
Worst Loss: at Youngstown State

Heading into this season, Toledo was looking like the clear-cut MAC bottom-feeder, a sentiment that did not change after the Rockets’ 0-9 start. But Toledo was more competitive than expected in losses to Illinois-Chicago, Rhode Island, College of Charleston, and Youngstown State. And over the past two weeks, Toledo looked to be the hottest team in the MAC, defeating Valparaiso, Florida Gulf Coast, and non-D1 opponent Indiana Northwest, but regressed in a blowout loss to UNC Wilmington.

A Look Ahead: Jan. 3 at Alabama, Jan. 8 vs. Eastern Michigan, Jan. 12 at Central Michigan

11. Bowling Green (10) 4-9 RPI: 338
Best Win: vs. Manhattan
Worst Loss: at Howard

Bowling Green has two wins over Division 1 opponents: a pair of convincing, but unspectacular home wins against Florida International (3-7, RPI: 321) and Manhattan (2-10, RPI: 294). Some of the Falcons’ early losses haven’t been encouraging either, including a road defeat at Howard (2-9, RPI: 302), and a neutral site loss vs. Niagara (3-10, RPI: 261).

A Look Ahead: Jan. 1 at Saint Louis, Jan. 8 at Buffalo, Jan. 11 at Kent State

12. Eastern Michigan (12) 2-9 RPI: 341
Best Win: vs. Rochester (non Division 1)
Worst Loss: vs. North Dakota

The “Best Win” being over a non-D1 opponent says it all. Eastern Michigan is one of thirteen teams in the nation without a win over the other 344 Division 1 teams. In fairness to the Eagles, six of their nine losses have been by single-digits, including one possession losses against Monmouth and Detroit. However, Eastern Michigan’s RPI ranks 341st out of 345 teams.

A Look Ahead: Dec. 31 at Samford, Jan. 4 vs. Ferris State (non-D1), Jan. 8 at Toledo, Jan. 11 vs. Northern Illinois

Alex Varone is the RTC correspondent for the Mid-American Conference.

A Look Back

Once again, there appears to be a clear divide between the Mid-American Conference’s East & West Divisions. Four of the East’s six teams (Kent State, Ohio, Akron, Buffalo) have winning records at this early junction in the season, while a fifth (3-4 Miami (Ohio)) just upset Xavier of the Atlantic 10. Meanwhile, none of the West’s six teams have a winning record, three have fewer than two wins (Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Toledo), and the only team without a losing record (Ball State) just lost to Alaska-Anchorage.

Star Watch

• Justin Greene (19.4 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.6 BPG) has continued his fine season for the 6-1 Kent State Golden Flashes, ranking in the top five in the league in points, rebounds, and blocks. Entering the month of December, Greene has been the MAC’s best player. But don’t overlook some of this conference’s other fine talent, including Xavier Silas out of Northern Illinois. The senior guard leads the MAC in scoring at 24.8 PPG, and opened the season with four consecutive 20-point games, including back-to-back 34-point outbursts.
• Byron Mulkey out of Buffalo has been one of the pleasant surprises of the early season. The senior sat out last season, and has bounced back with some of the MAC’s finest all-around play, averaging 13.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 5.5 APG, and 4.3 SPG. Those numbers are comparable with Ohio‘s star D.J. Cooper (17.8 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 6.7 APG, 2.7 SPG), the league’s best guard.

Power Rankings (Last week’s ranking in parentheses)

1. Kent State (2) 6-1 – Sure, the Golden Flashes don’t have any attention-grabbing wins over teams from high-major conferences, but Kent State has quietly defeated Robert Morris and Lehigh, a pair of NCAA Tournament teams from last season. And Kent State’s only defeat in the month of November was a three-point loss at still-undefeated Cleveland State. Keep an eye on Kent State’s continued performance in close games, as the Golden Flashes have recorded four of their six wins by five points or fewer. The week ahead, with road games at UAB and Florida, may put a dent in Kent State’s fine early record, but those games will go a long way in showing how good this team actually is.
2. Akron (4) 3-2 – Another year, another quality start for the Zips. Akron’s two losses — at Dayton, vs. Cleveland State — were fairly competitive, and Wednesday’s eight-point win at Detroit was a better win than most realize. Four players are averaging double-figures for Akron, but the development of 7’0 sophomore center Zeke Marshall (14.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.3 BPG) gives the Zips a dangerous weapon come conference season.
3. Ohio (3) 4-2 – Ohio has only lost one of its last four games, but what a loss it was. The Bobcats were defeated by 57 points (!) at a neutral site against Kansas. To expect the defending MAC Champs to beat the Jayhawks was unreasonable, but to at least be competitive for 40 minutes wasn’t. Ohio only made 14 field goals against Kansas; half of them were made by Cooper, the team’s only double-figure scorer through six games. This is still a good team, but Ohio needs more consistent scoring from some other players.
4. Miami (Ohio) (5) 3-4 – The RedHawks’ continued gauntlet of a non-conference schedule paid off this Wednesday with a nice 11-point win at home over perennial A-10 power Xavier. But still looming this week is a trip to Dayton on Saturday. While Miami (Ohio) hasn’t shown much offensive explosion early on in the season, forwards Antonio Ballard and Nick Winbush are capable of notching double-doubles, as is junior Julian Mavunga, who leads the team in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks per game.
5. Ball State (1) 3-3 – What might have been for Ball State at the Great Alaska Shootout. The Cardinals nearly upset St. John’s before falling by five in overtime, and then suffered a crushing 18-point loss against Alaska Anchorage. So what does that mean for this team? Well, the truth is that Ball State probably isn’t as good as it played against St. John’s, and it probably isn’t as bad as it played against Alaska Anchorage. And for now, that middle ground is still good enough to be the top team in the sorry West Division.
6. Buffalo (9) 4-2 – Credit to the Bulls, who have been better to this point in the season than it was originally thought. Buffalo’s four wins — home versus Navy and Towson, road at Canisius and Army — aren’t exactly eye-opening, but it’s a nice set of wins over some decent mid-majors in what looked to be a rebuilding year. The Bulls do their best work on the defensive end, ranking in the top 40 nationally (courtesy of Ken Pomeroy) in effective field goal percentage and turnover percentage.
7. Central Michigan (8) 2-4 – Only two wins so far for Central Michigan, which has two 16 PPG scorers, and two of the conference’s top six scorers, in freshman Trey Zeigler and senior Jalin Thomas, but seemingly little else offensively. A big problem for this team has been getting to the free throw line. Last time, I mentioned that Zeigler had eight attempts from the line in a single game against Hawaii, a number which is now exactly half of his total attempts from the line on the season.
8. Western Michigan (7) 1-4 – In its first game of the season, Western Michigan blew a seven-point late second half lead in an eventual loss at Xavier; in its latest game, Western Michigan blew a fifteen-point late second half lead in an eventual loss at Towson. As it stands now, the Broncos have only one win — albeit against a tough early schedule — and uncertainty about an offense that’s still trying to replace guard David Kool and his 21.6 points per game last year.
9. Northern Illinois (11) 2-3 – If there’s one thing to like about Northern Illinois, it’s the aforementioned Xavier Silas. When on, Silas has the potential to carry the Huskies offense for forty minutes. But when a 2-for-9, 9-point performance happens for Silas, as it did against Boise State at home earlier this week, that’s when Northern Illinois only scores 51 points in a 29-point home drubbing and in the process looks like a bottom level MAC team.
10. Eastern Michigan (6) 1-3 – If you’re looking for a problem with Eastern Michigan through four games, look no further than offensive struggles, beginning with the Eagles’ best player, senior forward Brandon Bowdry. On the surface, Bowdry’s stats (18.5 PPG, 9.3 RPG) are no worse than last year’s (16.3 PPG, 10.0 RPG), but so far this season Bowdry’s field goal percentage is way down (from 48.8% to 39.7%), as is his free-throw percentage (63.6% to 48.3%).
11. Bowling Green (10) 1-6 – Speaking of offensive troubles, the Bowling Green Falcons have had a tough time scoring, and therefore, a tough time winning. Bowling Green has not yet defeated a Division-I basketball program, and losses to teams like Howard, Niagara, and Albany can be pinned down to an offense that doesn’t have a go-to-scorer, shoots a combined 37.1% from the field, and turns the ball over 16 times per game.
12. Toledo (12) 0-7 – The winless record doesn’t lie: Toledo is a terrible basketball team. In fact, not only is it the least talented team in the MAC, but it’s also one of the least talented teams in the country overall. But first-year coach Ted Kowalczyk has the Rockets fighting hard each game, see last week’s pair of single-digit road losses at Youngstown State and Illinois-Chicago. However, win number one is still a ways away.

A Look Ahead

Will any of the Mid-American Conference’s top teams take advantage of the December non-conference action to emerge from the pack as a legitimate favorite come conference play? The following games are opportunities for those teams to capture a signature non-conference win:

• Dec. 4 – Miami (Ohio) at Dayton
• Dec. 5 -Kent State at UAB
• Dec. 8- Ohio at Illinois State
• Dec. 9 -Kent State at Florida, ESPN2
• Dec. 11- Ball State at DePaul
• Dec. 12 -Akron at Temple
• Dec. 15 -Akron at Minnesota

Alex Varone is the RTC correspondent for the MAC and the CAA.

A Look Back

The 2010-11 college basketball season is barely underway, and already the MAC is down to just one unbeaten (Ball State). On the whole, it’s been a fairly disappointing start for the league, as the conference’s twelve teams have a combined 12-15 record, with three of those wins coming over non-D1 opponents. Furthermore, in games against teams from the “Power 6” conferences, MAC teams are 0-5, with none of the five games decided by fewer than 19 points.

Player of the Week

A tough call with so few games played and so many deserving candidates thus far, including Ohio guard D.J. Cooper (21.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 7.5 RPG, 5.0 SPG), Eastern Michigan forward Brandon Bowdry (32 points, 15 rebounds at Michigan State), and any one of Ball State’s trio of guard Jauwan Scaife (21.5 PPG), guard Randy Davis (14 PPG, 8.5 APG), or forward Jarrod Jones (13.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG). But the honor this week goes to Kent State forward Justin Greene (18.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.8 BPG). Through Kent State’s first four games, Greene is leading the Golden Flashes in points, rebounds, blocks, and is hitting on 60% of his field goal attempts.

In Kent State’s season-opening win over Iona, Greene scored 26 points, hauled in 14 rebounds, and blocked three shots. In the game’s final minute, with the score tied at 72, Greene blocked a shot, grabbed a defensive rebound, and hit the game-winning free throw with only one second left.

Power Rankings (pre-season power rankings in parentheses, overall record in brackets)

1. Ball State (4) [2-0] – The Cardinals top the debut of the in-season rankings mostly on the virtue of being the MAC’s lone unbeaten. Ball State hasn’t faced the stiffest competition in earning that unbeaten record, but easily handled Eastern Illinois and Indiana State at home, and the aforementioned trio of Scaife, Davis and Jones could be as talented as any group within the MAC.
2. Kent State (3) [3-1] – A three-point loss at Cleveland State is the difference between the Golden Flashes and the number one spot in the rankings. In addition to the season-opening win over Iona, Kent State cruised to a 41-point win over Bryant, and held serve at home against two-time defending NEC champion Robert Morris.
3. Ohio (1) [1-1] – The defending MAC Champs handled a young Delaware team in the season opener, but were then humbled in a twelve-point home loss against Oakland. It’s hard to criticize Cooper, a guy who nearly posted a quadruple-double against Oakland (18 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 7 steals), but the sophomore turned the ball over seven times, which is far too many for Ohio to be successful.
4. Akron (2) [1-1] – A 48-point win over Millikin and an eight-point loss at Dayton hasn’t revealed much about the Zips that we didn’t already know. Akron is a balanced offensive team that will feature a lot of different scorers and will win games in a variety of ways.
5. Miami (Ohio) (6) [1-1] – After a three-point victory over Towson, Miami (Ohio) began its gauntlet of a non-conference schedule with a blowout loss at Duke. Nothing unexpected there, but the RedHawks only made 18 field goals against the Blue Devils, while committing 15 turnovers, which is never a good sign, no matter the opponent.
6. Eastern Michigan (7) [1-1] – The Eagles were the first, but certainly won’t be the last team to get blown out at Michigan State this season. Bowdry had a great game against the Spartans, but only followed it up with seven points in what was a team-wide lackluster nine-point win against Madonna University.
7. Western Michigan (10) [0-1] – Many people expected Western Michigan to lose at Xavier, but not many people expected the difference on the scoreboard to be only three points. The Broncos were very impressive in defeat, leading the Musketeers–one of the Atlantic 10 favorites–by as many as eleven in the second half.
8. Central Michigan (5) [1-2] – The early record isn’t exactly what Chippewas fans had in mind with the arrival of Trey Zeigler, but all three contests were close (two decided by three points, and a seven-point OT loss). As for Zeigler, the freshman has already scored 20 points twice, and impressively got to the free-throw line eight times in Central Michigan’s last game.
9. Buffalo (11) [1-1] – Perhaps Navy is far worse than most thought, but Buffalo’s 42-point thrashing of the Midshipmen was impressive nonetheless. Unfortunately, the Bulls followed it up with an 11-point defeat at Youngstown State, which probably goes to show that this could be an up-and-down year for the young Bulls.
10. Bowling Green (8) [1-2] – The Falcons’ lone victory is over a non-Division I opponent, Ohio Dominican, which was sandwiched in between a pair of disappointing performances: a two-point loss at Howard, and a 19-point defeat at Michigan. Bowling Green has issues on offense, which will be tough to overcome in the competitive East Division.
11. Northern Illinois (9) [0-2] – Northern Illinois was soundly defeated at home against Northwestern, but the Huskies bounced back and showed some grit in a three-point loss at Bradley. A bright spot for the Huskies has been guard Xavier Silas, who is the early leading scorer in the MAC at 23.5 points per game.
12. Toledo (12) [0-2] – To be fair, Toledo’s first two games (at Illinois, at Temple) were the most difficult of any of the MAC’s twelve teams. But the Rockets were never a factor in either contest, and with this team’s poor collection of talent, Toledo has a stranglehold on the bottom spot in these rankings.

A Look Ahead

The non-conference portion of the season is just heating up. Here are five key games to watch for over the next week and a half.

• Nov. 20 – Ball State at Butler
• Nov. 25 – Ball State vs. St. John’s in Alaska
• Nov. 26 – Ohio vs. Kansas in Las Vegas
• Nov. 26 – Miami (Ohio) at Ohio State
• Dec. 1 – Xavier at Miami (Ohio)

These five games are prime opportunities for the Mid-American Conference to move past its early-season struggles and land a marquee win over a “Power 6” or nationally-ranked team.

PUT. THAT COFFEE. DOWN.

For the third year in a row, ESPN is bringing us what we consider one of the great television events on the sports television calendar, the 24 Hours of Hoops Marathon. That means that for the third year in a row, I’ll be live-blogging the whole thing from start to finish — and this year, we’re climbing this hoops blogger’s Everest without supplemental oxygen. That is to say…I’m going caffeine-free. More importantly, here is the schedule of games for this year’s marathon (all times Eastern):

• 12:00 midnight — Miami (FL) at Memphis (ESPN)
• 2:00 am — St. John’s at St. Mary’s (ESPN)
• 4:00 am — Central Michigan at Hawaii (ESPN)
• 6:00 am — Stony Brook at Monmouth (ESPN)
• 8:00 am — Robert Morris at Kent State (ESPN)
• 10:00 am — Northeastern at Southern Illinois (ESPN)
• 12 noon — Oral Roberts at Tulsa (ESPN)
• 2:00 pm — La Salle at Baylor (ESPN)
• 4:00 pm — Virginia Tech at Kansas State (ESPN)
• 5:30 pm — Marist at Villanova (ESPNU)
• 6:00 pm — Ohio State at Florida (ESPN)
• 7:30 pm — Miami (OH) at Duke (ESPNU)
• 8:00 pm — Butler at Louisville (ESPN)
• 9:30 pm — Belmont at Tennessee (ESPNU)
• 10:00 pm — South Carolina at Michigan State (ESPN)
• 11:00 pm — San Diego State at Gonzaga (ESPN2)
• 11:30 pm — Pacific at UCLA (ESPNU)

The first attempt at this resulted in some hallucinations and arrhythmias as the hour got late (I had been up for 16 hours before starting the live blog) and I required a few caffeine-laden beverages. Last year, we had a technical glitch that kept us on our toes, but the live blog survived. This time, to raise the standard yet again, I’ll be sans caffeine. I know that without a webcam (we’re not that kind of site) you have no reason to believe that I’m not pounding sodas and cappuccinos and Five Hour Energy drinks by the blender-full. Since I believe RTC is the only site that’s done this all three years, well…you’ll just have to trust me. After two years, I think our relationship is in that kind of place. I hope you’ll join us right here (the live blog will continue in this post) a few minutes before midnight. Now, for my pre-live-blog meal. How’s a little turkey and wine sound?

11:47 PM Monday — Here we go. The high-def at the RTC Southern Compound is rockin’. We’ve checked the router and the internet connection to the building (which bit us in zee buttocks last year), and it appears solid. The football game is all but over (as it has been since halftime). Let’s go.

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For the second October in a row, we’re bringing you our RTC Impact Players series.  The braintrust has gone back and forth on this and we’ve finally settled on a group of sixty players throughout ten geographic regions of the country (five starters plus a sixth man) to represent the who and where of players you should be watching this season.  Seriously, if you haven’t seen every one of these players ball at least once by the end of February, then you need to figure out a way to get a better television package.  As always in a subjective analysis such as this, some of our decisions were difficult; many others were quite easy.  What we can say without reservation is that there is great talent in every corner of this nation of ours, and we’ll do our best to excavate it over the next five weeks in this series that will publish on Mondays and Thursdays.  Each time, we’ll also provide a list of some of the near-misses as well as the players we considered in each region, but as always, we welcome you guys, our faithful and very knowledgeable readers, to critique us in the comments.

You can find all previous RTC 2010-11 Impact Players posts here.

Lower Midwest Region (OH, IN, IL)

• Shelvin Mack – Jr, G – Butler. There were times during Butler’s superb run to the national championship game last season where you’d be excused if you thought Shelvin Mack, a 6’3 guard with icewater in his veins, was the best player on the floor.  In BU’s first round NCAA game against  UTEP, his explosive 18-point second half where he drained five threes in the first eleven minutes fueled a 22-4 blitz that awakened his sleepwalking team and drove the Bulldogs into the second round (and beyond).  He also added four boards, four assists and a couple of steals in that one just for kicks, but it was seemingly like that all season long.  While Horizon League POYs Gordon Hayward (2010) and Matt Howard (2009) garnered most of the publicity, Mack quietly went about his business of doing whatever was needed to win games — 25 points against UW-Milwaukee; 7 rebounds against K-State; 8 assists against Northwestern and Green Bay; sticky defense every night out.  And win Butler did, to the tune of 25 victories in a row and an unprecedented march to play Duke for the title.  Neither the Bulldogs nor Mack will sneak up on anyone this year, especially after a summer with USA Basketball where the stocky junior opened the eyes of NBA scouts and his peers by earning a spot on the USA Select team ahead of such notable guards as Jimmer Fredette, Jacob Pullen, LaceDarius Dunn, Scoop Jardine, William Buford and Scotty Hopson.  Go ahead — check any preseason all-american list and you’re likely to see quite a few of those names on it.  If anyone actually believes that Butler was a one-year flash in the pan, they haven’t been paying attention.  It’s very difficult for any school to make the Final Four in a given year, but the Bulldogs with Mack leading the way along with Howard and a cast of other returning players, will once again be in that conversation.  Sometimes you just know  when a player is a winner — he has that little extra something that doesn’t always show up in the box score yet you know he’ll find a way to get it done?  That’s Mack, a true example of the “Butler Way” if ever there was one.  All-American forward Gordon Hayward will be missed, but  we have absolutely no doubt that Butler will again be a top ten caliber program in 2010-11 in large part due to the heretofore overlooked glue player whose time has come to take the spotlight.

Butler's Heart & Soul Returns to Indy (AP/P. Sakuma)

• E’Twaun Moore – Sr, G – Purdue. Less than a week ago Purdue was one of the three favorites along with Duke and Michigan State to win the national title this coming April, but a Robbie Hummel ACL injury later and everyone has been talking about another lost season for Matt Painter and the Boilermakers. However there is still some hope in West Lafayette that comes in the form of E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson (Moore, Hummel, and Johnson were part of a loaded Boilermaker recruiting class in 2007). As talented as Johnson is it will be Moore and his all-around brilliance that will have to be driving force behind the Boilermakers if they are to make a push for the Final Four, of which they are still capable even with the loss of Hummel (to injury) and Chris Kramer (to graduation). Coming off a season where he was first team All-Big Ten and honorable mention AP All-American and an off-season where both he and Johnson briefly flirted with entering the NBA Draft before deciding to come back for their senior year, Moore will be expected to increase his scoring load and pick up some of the defensive slack created by the departure of Kramer. On the offensive end, Moore averaged 16.6 points per game providing the Boilermakers with their most explosive offensive threat since the days of Glenn Robinson while adding 2.7 assists per game, a figure that may not need to increase as the Boilermakers should be bolstered by the full-time return of Lewis Jackson. However it is the other side of the ball where Moore will really have to step up. Although he averaged a respectable 1.5 steals per game Moore was not expected to exert himself significantly on the defensive end as he had Kramer taking on the tougher defensive assignments and being an all-around Steve Wojciechowski-like pest to help create opportunities and cover up for the mistakes of others on the defensive end. To get the Boileramakers back to the Sweet 16, which they got to last year without Hummel, and beyond Moore will have to step around his all-around game while still maintaining his scoring even as teams continue to put an increased focus on him during their game-planning.

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Alex Varone is the RTC Correspondent for the Mid-American Conference.

Predicted Order of Finish

East Division

1. Ohio (13-3)
2. Akron (11-5)
3. Kent State (11-5)
4. Miami (Ohio) (9-7)
5. Bowling Green (7-9)
6. Buffalo (5-11)

West Division

1. Ball State (10-6)
2. Central Michigan (10-6)
3. Eastern Michigan (8-8)
4. Northern Illinois (6-10)
5. Western Michigan (5-11)
6. Toledo (1-15)

All-Conference Team (key stats from last season in parentheses)

• D.J. Cooper (G) – Ohio (13.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 5.9 APG, 2.5 SPG)
• Justin Greene (F) – Kent State (13.6 PPG, 6.9 RPG)
• Brandon Bowdry (F) – Eastern Michigan (16.3 PPG, 10.0 RPG)
• Brett McKnight (F) – Akron (10.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG)
• Jarrod Jones (C) – Ball State (12.2 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.1 BPG)

Sixth Man

Scott Thomas (F) – Bowling Green – (13.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.6 SPG in 2009-10)

Impact Newcomer

Trey Zeigler, Central Michigan

Reggie Keely, DeVaughn Washington and the Ohio Bobcats famously sent Georgetown packing last March (AP/Elise Amendola)

What You Need to Know

• Once again, the MAC’s East division was much stronger than the West last season. Four teams from the East finished with a record above .500 (defending champion Ohio was 5th at 7-9), compared to only one team above .500 in the West. In fact, the West Division has not sent team to the NCAA Tournament since 2004.
• In the much-maligned West division, keep an eye on Ball State and Eastern Michigan. Ball State has a star player in Jarrod Jones to lead a core that returns four of its top five scorers. The Cardinals went just 8-8 in conference play last season, but were a competitive team, playing in five overtime games. Eastern Michigan was the most improved team in the MAC last year, posting a nine-win improvement, and the Eagles feature one of the most talented players in the conference in Brandon Bowdry. Both Ball State and Eastern Michigan are capable of unseating back-to-back West Champion Central Michigan.
• Keep an eye on how Miami (Ohio) handles a difficult non-conference schedule. Last year, the RedHawks faced Kentucky, New Mexico, Dayton, Temple and Xavier, and despite losing each of those games, Miami (Ohio) rebounded in conference play to the tune of an 8-3 start. This year, games at Duke, home vs. San Diego State, at Ohio State, vs. Xavier, at Dayton, and at Kansas will provide plenty of challenges before the conference season starts.

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Alex Varone of College Basketball Daily is the RTC correspondent for the Mid-American Conference

Around The MAC:

• Will Ohio Dance Again?: Three Mid-American Conference teams reached postseason play in the 2010 season, led by the Ohio Bobcats, who shocked the nation by handing third-seeded Georgetown a 14-point loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Kent State Golden Flashes, MAC regular season champions, also represented themselves well by winning a first round NIT contest over Tulsa before falling to Illinois. The Akron Zips were the third team to reach the postseason, qualifying for the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournament by virtue of 24 regular season wins.
• A Different Coach K: The conference’s lone coaching change this offseason took place at Toledo, where Gene Cross resigned amidst allegations of an inappropriate physical relationship. Cross spent only two seasons on the sidelines at Toledo, compiling a meager 11 wins against 53 losses. Tod Kowalczyk takes over at Toledo, and had previously spent the last eight seasons in the Horizon League with Wisconsin-Green Bay, where he posted a 136-112 mark.
• Top Players: In player news, 2010 MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player Armon Bassett left Ohio after his junior season to enter the NBA Draft. The guard had originally joined the Ohio program after transferring out of Indiana, and averaged 17.1 points per game in his only year as a Bobcat. On the recruiting trail, Central Michigan received national headlines as 6’5 guard and ESPNU Top 100 recruit Trey Zeigler decided to join the Chippewas and play under his father and CMU head coach Ernie Zeigler.

Power Rankings [Division and last season’s record in brackets]

1. Ohio [East, 22-15 (7-9)]: On March 1, 2010, the Ohio Bobcats were a struggling 16-14 (6-9) outfit that many fans felt would be fortunate enough to win a game in the MAC Tournament. Twenty days later, Ohio wrapped up its season with a second round NCAA Tournament loss to Tennessee, a team that would go on to reach the Elite Eight.  So how will the Bobcats respond this season, with the target of being MAC champions on their back? Had Armon Bassett decided not to forgo his senior season and enter the NBA Draft, Ohio would have been a clear-cut favorite to repeat as MAC champs. Even with the losses of Bassett, center Kenneth van Kempen, and the transferring Jay Kinney, Ohio is still in good hands with sophomore point guard D.J. Cooper. The 2010 MAC Freshman of the Year is the likely 2011 MAC Player of the Year favorite if he can improve on last year’s numbers of 13.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 5.9 APG, and 2.5 steals per contest. Senior forward DeVaughn Washington (11.3 PPG, 5.4 RPG) and senior three-point marksman Tommy Freeman (10.5 PPG, 97 three-pointers made) are returning contributors from last year’s team that will complement Cooper. With the combination of the returning talent and the experience of last season’s run, Ohio has a solid claim on the MAC’s number one ranking.
2. Akron [East, 24-11 (12-4)]: Akron was an overtime loss to Ohio in the MAC Tournament final away from reaching the NCAA Tournament for a second consecutive year. Leading scorer and First Team All-MAC performer Jimmy Conyers is gone, but the Zips were hardly a one-man team in 2010. Eight Zips averaged between 16.8 and 27.6 MPG and 5.1 to 10.1 PPG last season, five of whom are back for the 2010-11 campaign. Headlining that group is senior forward Brett McKnight, who averaged ten PPG in just under 20 minutes per contest, numbers which figure to increase this season. Also returning is the senior backcourt duo of Steve McNees (8.3 PPG) and Darryl Roberts (7.3 PPG), both of whom are capable outside shooters. Joining McKnight in the frontcourt will be 6’8 junior Nikola Cvetinovic (6.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG) and 7’0 sophomore center Zeke Marshall (5.1 PPG, 1.7 BPG). Marshall, a 2010 MAC All-Freshman performer, but who weighs in at just 218 pounds, will be an interesting player to watch develop this season. This isn’t a flashy group — nor was last year’s — but Akron has been a MAC Tournament finalist four years running, and is in position to make it five.
3. Kent State [East, 24-10 (13-3)]: The Golden Flashes were the MAC’s best team during the regular season, but flamed out in the tourney quarterfinals by way of a 17-point loss to Ohio. After a 1-2 start to the MAC season, Kent State reeled off 12 wins in its final 13 conference games, including a No. 1 seed-clinching win at Akron in the season’s final game. Returning from last year’s team is leading scorer and rebounder Justin Greene, a strong post presence who contributed 13.6 PPG and 6.9 RPG as a sophomore. But fifth-year senior guard Rodriguez Sherman (10.6 PPG) is the only other returning starter from last year’s squad, which will have to replace the all-around consistency of First Team All-MAC performer Chris Singletary. Overall, four of the top six scorers from last year’s team are gone, which signals a step back for this program, even with the expected continued development of Greene. Read the rest of this entry »