Agree.....a .500 season in Boals first year would be a big success in my opinion. I believe it will be difficult to pull off. The conference slate in first nine games will be will tough to navigate.

What I like seeing so far is they are putting away teams they're supposed to. Don't let these also-rans hang around too long in the second half. Step on the gas and end the game in the first 8-10 min of the second half. Feels like we didn't see that enough in the previous regime.

It's tough to keep your foot on the gas with no bench to speak of. Just look at the Tennessee Tech game. We had three guys playing minutes in important times of the game that I don't believe would be in the regular rotation if we had everybody healthy. One of those, McMurray, started. One of them, Michael Brown, is a walk-on. I also worry about the minutes that Preston and Vander Plas are amassing. It's tough to push the game as much when you know you're not getting a breather. The plus side of this is we are getting valuable experience for guys who may have been riding the pine and that should enhance their development. Guys like Marvin Price get to play through their mistakes and learn from them. We are also very lucky to have a guy, Preston, so adept at controlling tempo. He's been a joy to watch for me.

Anyone on here who thought we'd be 7-3 at this point of the season is lying and anyone who said it without knowing the injury issues we've had would be lying or waaay too hopeful. Preston has become a legit MAC POY. McDay will be All-MAC freshman. Ogbonda has EXCEEDED my expectations. BVP has become a leader and a joy to watch. Darty has returned (before the knee) quicker than I thought. Foster has been 10 times better than I anticipated. McMurray is a hustler and is fun to watch, kind of a Treg Setty Lite. And Roderick looked good in limited run. All of this is without a 6-7 shooter on the wing and our backup point guard in Brown. Love this team. Love Boals. Love the energy. If we win 6 games in the MAC I would feel like we're a success. I promise you this...teams in the MAC thought going into the year they would have a year off from tough OU teams. They are wrong.

This is pretty dead on. I did not in 100000 years think they'd have 7 wins in the first 10 games.

In fact, I thought they'd be lucky to win 5 non conference games.

Road wins at Iona and St. Bonnie are stunning ... especially considering the injuries and the fact it was the first two games of the year?!?!

I haven't had a chance to watch a lot of other MAC teams ... but I've seen some scores. Kent, Akron and BG appear to be pretty decent. Miami is competitive, but has scuffled. UB has lost a few steps from last year ... but they're still very good.

That's the unfortunate. The East is a behemoth compared the the football version of the division. Ohio is really going to be lucky if they can go 4-6 against those 5 teams. I think 3-7 is more realistic?

As far as the west ... they get CMU, Ball, NIU and Toledo once ... and two with EMU and WMU. I think 4-4 is attainable ... but 3-5 is more likely.

The MAC might not have any at-large worthy type teams this year ... but from top to bottom, the league is as competitive as it has been in quite some time.

I love ... I repeat LOVE ... what I've seen from Boals and his team thus far. I just don't know if they can get to .500 in the league. I think 6-12 or 7-11 is probably realistic at this point.

That would get them to around 16 wins ... which is far more than I thought they'd have going into the year.

16-16 would be a pretty impressive showing in year one.

I think if this team can just get to Cleveland that would be a major accomplishment.

Who knows ... maybe once they get healthy (Roderick, Brown, Murrell) and the rotation expands out and some guys get back into playing shape, maybe the can make a charge for 9-9 in the MAC.

Either way ... the future looks promising. And they won't lay down for anyone.

One thing that worries me going into conference season is that we haven't been in a single close game. Every game has been double digits. Would be a nice learning experience for a young team to have a few games go down to the wire.

I'd call it a success. 16-15 in the regular season with a home game in the MAC Tournament. Worst case scenario is .500. Well done, Coach Boals. The future appears bright right now.