MAC Power Rankings: Bloody Sunday Edition

The world doesn’t make sense anymore! Miami loses at Central, Buffalo loses at Ball State, Akron loses at Northern Illinois and Bowling Green gets walloped at home to Eastern Michigan?!? Geez. Someone’s going to have to win this conference, right?

And am I crazy, or is this the least exciting BracketBusters weekend ever? Yeah, there’s Butler/Davidson and all that, but… well, we’re talking MAC here. And there ain’t a single intriguing matchup on the slate for Saturday. We reap what we sow, folks.

Either way, things are wide open in the East. Buffalo has the advantage coming into the final turn, but who knows if they have the finishing power.

1. Buffalo (17-6, 9-2) (1): The Bulls got their margin of error back with all other contenders suffering a loss this week as well. Their shooting has turned inconsistent; UB’s effective field goal percentage has ranged from the 30s to the 50s in the West Division portion of the schedule. The defense, though, has gone up a notch. Buffalo has kept their opposition below 1 point per defensive possession more often than not lately. What has kept them on top is their balance. Six different men have led Buffalo in scoring and five men have led them in rebounding in the 11 conference games. That balance makes it difficult for teams to key on any one man.
And yes, I noticed the Junkie’s objection to naming Jerome Tillman the midseason Player of the Year. Yes, Pierce is the best player on the best team, but that’s a terrible mindset for picking who the winner is. He’s not the best player in the conference, OK? If you were picking guys on the playground, who would you pick first? Tillman. It’s not even close. We’re trying to identify who the best player in the conference is. It happens to not be wearing a Buffalo uniform. It’s not Tillman’s fault Ohio has no bench and cannot find a consistent second producer.
This week: Bowling Green (Wednesday), @Vermont (Saturday)

2. Miami (15-8, 8-3) (2): Like Buffalo, the RedHawks are breathing easier after Sunday’s games. Someone who might want to not relax, however, is Michael Bramos. An early favorite for Player of the Year, Bramos has struggled mightily, shooting 37.4% from the field in MAC play, only 25% from three-point land. As someone Miami depends on to ignite the offense, Bramos must raise his level of play. Ironically enough, his best performance in some time came against Central Michigan, a game Miami lost.
This week: @Akron (Wednesday), @Evansville (Saturday)

3. Kent State (14-11, 7-4) (6): It’s been a long, hard road for the Golden Flashes, but they’ve clawed and scraped their way back up the rankings. As always, they’re doing it with defense, smothering their opposition. They’re shooting the ball better recently as well, sporting effective goal percentages better than 50% in four of the last five contests. Tyree Evans is settling in, shooting 53% from the field and 54% from three in those same five games.
This week: Ohio (Tuesday), Morehead State (Saturday)

4. Ball State (11-12, 6-5) (4): The Cardinals managed the upset of Buffalo despite yet another poor offensive performance. Ball State would be a very dangerous team if they were equipped with more offensive weapons. Still, they are well-positioned to win the West Division.
This week: @Toledo (Wednesday), Tennessee Tech (Saturday)

5. Akron (16-9, 7-4) (3): Zips fans would probably be fine not seeing a Northern Illinois uniform for a while. While he has no business shooting as many three-point attempts (2.44 per game) as he does, Chris McKnight has been burning the net lately, shooting 55.8% in two-point attempts since a 2/7 performance against Youngstown State.
This week: Miami (Wednesday), @Valparaiso (Saturday)

6. Bowling Green (14-10, 7-4) (5): Losing to Eastern Michigan at home was baffling. That is the kind of loss that will take the wind out of the sails of a team that had previously won six straight, especially after winning getting a win at rival Toledo. If the Falcons are playing on Tuesday in Cleveland, they’re going to look at this loss long and hard.
This week: @Buffalo (Wednesday), Canisius (Saturday)

7. Western Michigan (8-16, 5-6) (8): Inserting LaMarcus Lowe into the starting lineup didn’t yield much in the way of direct results. It’s unlikely there’s much Steve Hawkins can do but to ride the season out. Just a miserable performance for the Broncos at Millett Hall Sunday. Each of WMU’s last six opponents have had no problem scoring; limiting Ohio to 1.021 D-PPP was the best they could manage during that stretch.
This week: Eastern Michigan (Wednesday), Eastern Illinois (Saturday)

8. Ohio (13-11, 6-5) (7): The Bobcats retreat into the relatively safe shelter of East play, where they fared somewhat better (3-2) than they did against the West (3-3). 1.50 points per weighted shot against Toledo is an eye-popping number. It has become clear Ohio likes the game played at a faster pace; they are 3-0 in games in which they have at least 70 possessions and 2-4 in which they get less than 65.
This week: @Kent (Tuesday), @Eastern Kentucky (Saturday)

9. Central Michigan (7-16, 4-7) (9): The Chippewas have suddenly turned into a tough out. Since getting blasted in Akron, CMU beat Miami and has been close in three losses. Marcus Van found another level in his game, shooting 60.7% from the field, 77.7% from the free throw line and pulling down four offensive rebounds in each of the last three games. The Chips are poised to make some noise in the stretch and may give a higher seed fits in Cleveland.
This week: Northern Illinois (Wednesday), Fairleigh Dickinson (Saturday)

10. Northern Illinois (7-16, 3-8) (10): The same team previously called out as the worst foul shooting squad in the country was able to hit the charity tosses down the stretch to slay Akron for a second straight time. The gutsy win was all the more surprising after they handed Kent State the game on a silver platter last Tuesday. NIU is the fastest team in the conference (68.2. possessions per 40 minutes in conference play and 71.4 overall), a fact which they showed last week. They’re not the most efficient team by any means, but keeping the throttle at full is a better strategy than allowing themselves to get slowed down.
This week: @Central Michigan (Wednesday), @Southeast Missouri (Saturday)

11. Eastern Michigan (4-21, 2-9) (12): A hand for the Eagles, who have managed to crawl out of the basement at last. If only they could shoot 53% from three on the road every time, right?
This week: @Western Michigan (Wednesday), Georgia State (Saturday)

12. Toledo (4-21, 2-9) (11): Perhaps it was inevitable, given the Rockets’ complete lack of anything resembling competitiveness lately, save for the Bowling Green game. Tyrone Kent has turned into a non-entity and was seen arguing with coach Gene Cross during Saturday’s loss at Ohio. Jonathan Amos, on the other hand, had himself a very fine week (53 points, 17 rebounds).
This week: Ball State (Wednesday), @Indiana State (Saturday)

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