Matt Norlander of CBS Sports ranks every team every year before the season.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/ranking... /

Here's a summary of the MAC:

93. Toledo: The class of the MAC's West division, it sure seems like the Rockets will win north of 20 games for a third straight season.

112. Central Michigan: Keno Davis is in his eight season with the Chippewas. He has a score-by-committee group that could be the top overachievers in the MAC.

119. Ball State: With nearly 70% of the team's minutes returning, hopes are as high for the Cardinals as they've been in a decade or more.

124. Bowling Green: Four-team chase in the MAC, alongside Ball State, CMU and Toledo. Guard Justin Turner emerges as a top player in the league.

143. Kent State: Prototypical balanced, if undersized, MAC team that will peel off a few wins it shouldn't and could be a tourney spoiler.

154. Buffalo: The most dominant season in program history -- by far; the Bulls were 32-4 last season! -- will lead to a huge comedown as Jim Whitesell takes over for outgoing Nate Oats. Buffalo still has some dudes, but winning the MAC will be a tussle.

155. Akron: Top-three defensive team in the MAC, but there are still plenty of questions on how the team can score enough to win 20 games.

166. Northern Illinois: Senior Eugene German (averages of 20.4 points, 5.2 rebounds) is among the most undervalued players in the country because he's on a team that needs him as much as almost any other team needs any other player.

176. Miami (Ohio): Remember, RedHawks is one word. Jack Owens' crew should see a blooming season from fully healthy Isaiah Coleman-Lands.

217. Western Michigan: Subpar team that lost a lot from last season. Broncos begin the cycle anew.

230. Eastern Michigan: Two interesting EMU facts. 1) Rob Murphy is recruiting Emoni Bates, the most talented player in high school basketball (EMU is located in Bates' hometown of Ypsilanti, Michigan); and 2) Murphy just published an autobiography, "Deep." He was the only mid-major college basketball coach to do so in the offseason.

282. Ohio: Jeff Boals left Stony Brook to return home and coach his alma mater, taking over an Ohio program that is proud but the youngest team (five freshmen) in the MAC.

Wow, not even within 50 of #11 in the MAC...and over 100 away from #5 in the East.

I don't put a ton a stock into these rankings- especially in a conference like the MAC and particularly at the bottom half. EMU is a mess- lost 9 players etc... but hey they have a coach who wrote a book and is also recruiting a guy he'll never get- so let's spot them 52 spots higher than Ohio.
Hey fine- keep the expectations super low- that will make having a solid rebuilding season all the much better.

Would you say the same if we were rated 75th? Kind of like OU administration and the Princeton rankings. Ignore and deny the bad ones but embrace and publicize the good ones.

Regardless, Jeff inherited a mess that we grossly overpaid for and he will need time to sort things out. He certainly has my support.

I can't say I'd be thrilled to have him at the helm of my program. On the other hand, he's made EMU consistently respectable and occasionally good. That in itself is remarkable given just how hard it must be to recruit to that moribund campus. A quick search shows he's in the bottom third of the league in terms of pay and it looks like he's on a year-to-year renewal. So not exactly firm ground, but if they let him go it could they really do better with similar money? I doubt it.