Contenders for the title
1. Akron they got the frontline, depth and experience in the backcourt to win the MAC. 
2. Ball State- With the balanced lineup and Jones inside they are looking like a serious threat
3. Kent State- Green and Sherman are a tough combo.  They play great defense. 
4.  Western Michigan- Jawan Howard Jr coming along nice for them looking better each week

5.  Miami- they have experience in the frontcourt. Tough schedule will help them
6.  Buffalo- they can shoot the three ball.  Darkhorse team to surprise 
7. Ohio- tough to finish any higher than this without protecting home court in the MAC. unproven away from home 
8. CMU- Zeiglar is a good player, but not much else.   
Teams have little chance to win the MAC
9.   NIU - Silas getting hot gives them a chance on some nites, most nites a double digit loss.
10. Toledo-they are young but improving fast
11. Bowling Green- they are aren't very good 
12. EMU- Its January and they haven't beat a division I team

 

I mean, seriously, you are just wasting our time with these dumbass posts. If you want to go throw out stupid, mindless blasts with no thought behind them - go to facebook or something. You're wasting my time.

This may be semi-controversial...but I think I'm picking Buffalo to win the MAC East Regular Season. I have NO clue what happens in the tournament, but I like the mix of youth, veterans, size, and ability that Reggie has this year.

A. This conference is just unbelievably bad, so even a marginal team like the Bulls can rise to the top without much fanfare.

B. They are 5-1 at home, and 2-3 on the road. They've played a pretty weak scheduled, but I like how they held their own against BYU the other night. Canisius on the road is a decent win, but like the rest of the MAC they've had their share of bad losses to go with few quality wins.

C. They're shooting 48% from the field this year, getting good looks with Watt (56%), Alston (61%), and McCrea (67%) really getting good looks inside.

D. Mulkey and Alson good Senior Leaders. Tons of Junior talent (Filzen, Watt, Robinson), and good freshmen. Reggie knows the league pretty good, so he could be in good shape with it being so wide open.

Just my thoughts. They'll probably finish 5th and lost in the 1st round of the MAC Tourney, but at least I put the hex on them now.

All in all, OU is obviously right there, but things are going to have to improve in just about every facet of the game.

Oh.

Apparently you've mistaken this forum for a place which gives a #$^*@ flip about your posts.

More specifically, our next opponent is redhawk.  And, that is all that matters.  I posted the most succinct, compelling analysis possible of that contest.  Many here agree with it.  In fact (look it up), you ought to have this phrase inked on you and your twins.  [This has been a public service announcement.]

Otherwise, thank you for:  'OU (uh, it's OHIO) is obviously right there, but things are going to have to improve in just about every facet of the game.'  You nailed it there.


I know.  It makes me a Bad Person to start off 2011 this way.  But if you're gonna carp at me and others in a more than passing, friendly way then I'm gonna keep this up until the chickens come home to roost...or the walk outers come back in from the LouLa walkout.

I have it going:

East

Akron
Kent State
Ohio
Buffalo
Miami 
Bowling Green

West:

Ball State
Western Michigan
Central Michigan
Northern Illinois
Toledo
Eastern Michigan

I think Ohio has a chance to win the MAC East with the league being down again this year but I am going on the safe side and picking them to finish 3rd in the East and 4th overall.

Also, I agree that UB may be a sleeper team. They took BYU down to the wire a few days ago in Buffalo. They've had an VERY VERY VERY easy schedule to this point to get to 7-4 but may have the pieces to go 8-8 or 9-7 in the MAC.

So, at least in the East, which team(s) are most likely to develop over the course of the season?  I'd think we fit this category given how young we are.

Wish we had Joe Mitch this year.

If you look at teams in the MAC, they all have the same problems as Ohio. There have been bad losses, with only a handful of decent wins.

Buffalo has only beat one team with a winning record (Army at 8-7) and lost to a bad Youngstown State team.
Kent State's best wins were Iona and South Florida and those teams are a combined 14-15. No real bad losses.
Akron's best win is Detroit (8-7). No real bad losses.
Miami had one good win against Xavier (and with as many good teams as they play, they're bound to win one of them). But they also loss to Wisconsin-Green Bay (somewhere around #200).
Ball State's best win is Indiana State (6-7) with a loss to Division II Alaska-Anchorage by 18 points.
Western Michigan looks decent at 7-6 but their best wins are South Dakota State and Detroit with losses to Troy (around #300) and Towson (in the 200s).
We fit right in with our best wins of Santa Clara (9-7), Valparaiso (10-5) and Illinois State (8-5) with bad losses to Robert Morris and IUPUI (and not nearly as bad as some of the teams other MAC schools have lost to).

To me, we should project to still win 10 or so MAC games, probably winning a road game against a team you wouldn't expect like Kent State or Akron and certainly lose a home game to someone we have no business losing to. I think everyone in the MAC will lose at least three, probably four, games, and we could be in contention for the division title until the last week. I know it's been frustrating because expectations were high, but we've performed about on par with the other top teams in the league.

I have no idea what to expect from the MAC this year.   I think you can throw everybody in a hat and pick a winner in the East. The only team that I don't think isn't really in the running is BG so that probably means they win it.  Akron, Buffalo, Fiami and Kent all have as many major flaws as we do. They've all lost games they had no business losing.  I think we've got as good a shot as anybody but obviously some things have to happen. We've got to have a much better consistent defensive effort from beginning to end. Groce has to settle on a rotation and let these guys gell as a team IMO. We've got to find that 3rd consistent scorer.