Toledo loses again at home against 6-1 George Mason. Conference can't beat anyone decent in non-con. Did see where Miami won at Marshall last night.

Safford is at Kent. I don't know his status for the rest of the season.

Mirambeaux is out presumably for academic reasons but could return. Right now, they play only two guys taller than 6'5''. 6'8" sophomore Jaquel Morris is their "center" and 6'9" freshman Kotecki is his backup. Kotecki is pretty nice. They have a seven foot freshman who has been out with back problems. Interesting and encouraging that they beat Marshall on the road as the Herd play quite a bit of height.

So I have my system up and running. Most computers are still balancing their ratings by averaging in some preseason expectation. That's expected. It takes a good amount of data to connect 360 teams. But I don't have preseason expectations included and it has enough data to work pretty well so you can see how it looks unbiased.

I am of the opinion that inclusion in the postseason should be based mostly on a resume to to whom you defeated and defeated you rather than who you WOULD beat. Nobody was arguing that we shouldn't go to the MAC Championship last year because Rourke was injured and we don't make those sorts of arguments in professional sports at all. Oregon would still be favored to beat Washington if they played again. We don't want a system based exclusively on who the BEST teams are but more on who the most deserving teams are regardless of what the ESPN talking heads say to justify certain opinions. Anyway, to avoid going off on a tangent:

My evaluation of W/L record says that Ohio has the best resume in the MAC right now. The thing is, it isn't good. Our schedule has been week. It thinks that the best guess for a team 6-2 against our schedule is about 3.3 points above the average D1 team. That isn't even in the top 100. The MAC is probably heading for their first terrible seed in the NCAA tournament. There was a time for decades where the MAC was going to get a 12 or 13 almost regardless of who won the MAC tournament because it was decent and balanced. We have had crappy teams in the league post-pandemic but this year there are not 4 or 5 teams standing out from a bad crowd. I'd say NIL hasn't been good for the MAC.

As far as what it thinks the BEST team is, well, some of it was a little surprising.

Toledo +6½
NIU +6
Kent St. +4
Ohio +3
Akron +2
BGSU -2
WMU -4
Miami -5½
Ball St. -5½
EMU -8½
CMU -9
Buffalo -16 (What the heck has happened here. This looks like a warning for Ohio, Kent St., Toledo and Akron that, yes, a bad hire could leave you at the bottom of the MAC regardless of basketball tradition, recent success, and resources)

So Toledo and NIU have some close losses and it actually thinks that they are pretty decent. But their record isn't great and the conference as a whole isn't good.

By the time Cleveland rolls around....that tournament is going to be wide open with probably five teams having a real shot to win.

And many other outcomes will be decided between now and then and we'll continue to discuss them so they at least matter to most people.

I don't get the whole:

Out of conference games don't matter because they don't count toward the MAC.
MAC games don't matter because they don't help get in the NCAA.....

By that line of thinking the NCAA wins don't matter unless you can get six of them. But it does count. It counts as exactly what it is. It's an NCAA win. A MAC win is a MAC win. A MAC championship is a MAC championship. A second place finish, either in the regular season or tournament is a second place finish and better than a third place finish. A non conference win is a non conference win and helps us and the whole league. If the final game in April in the reductionist view is the only one that matters to you then why are you even here? Come back then.

Totally disagree with this take - we would get destroyed / place mid pack / bottom pack in all conferences and would take YEARS to get up to their level. Our arena does compare to similar arenas in those conferences but no upgraded practice facilities of any sort. And with getting into the tournament - if we could compete better / sign up Q1 and Q2 non conference opponents we would have a chance.

Bids by conference, recently. Not even mentioning the Big East because that's way out of our league:

2023: American (2), A-10 (1), C-USA (1)
2022: American (2), A-10 (2), C-USA (1)
2021: American (2), A-10 (2), C-USA (1)
2019: American (4), A-10 (2), C-USA (1)

Realignment hasn't made these leagues much more appealing than Ohio's current situation. Here's a wild idea: the MAC actually makes it's own changes and invests more.

All this stuff is ridiculous ... in order to move up, you must first become a BIG FISH in a small pond and then SUSTAIN IT. Then you look to move up.

To move up just to say you're now in a better league with more NCAA bids in no way means you will suddenly be in the top tier of that league.

If the A-10, C-USA or others want Ohio right now, it's because the Bobcats are instant fodder for said league.

Right now Ohio (like Akron, Toledo, Kent - and once Buffalo) seemingly rotate 1-4/5 in the league based on any given year. In that one year (or two years) Ohio may be top tier A-10 level. But is that the case now? Last year? Next year?

Let's be realistic folks. Ohio should be 1-2 in the MAC EVERY YEAR for at least a decade (with an at-large bid!!!) to even think about moving up.

Dominate the MAC first. Then let's talk.

And by dominate I mean a consistent string of 15-3 MAC records or better; 14-4 in a transition year.

Endorse the above.

I’m with you 100%. It only makes sense since they keep scores and put them in the record books. I don’t get the championship or nothing philosophy.