MAC Basketball Power Rankings: Mid-December

by Matt Sussman on Dec 16, 2011 9:00 AM CST in MAC Basketball (M)

They're not knocking off teams left and right, but the number of inexcusable losses has somewhat declined. We're a couple weeks away from the MAC action, so let's see where all the teams stand after slogging through nonconference schedules of various difficulties and mileage.

This poll consists of me and five others. Oddly enough it's VERY similar to what I picked myself at the beginning of the month.

Rank	Team	W-L	Poll Pts	SOS (Nat'l)	Rationale
1.	Kent St. Golden Flashes	7-1	68.5	187	Kent State and Ohio are neck and neck. Kent has the better win (at West Virginia vs. at Marshall) but Ohio has the "best loss" (at Louisville vs. home against Cleveland State). They are clearly playing at a level above anyone else right now. — Brandon Hickey, who split his first-place vote between both
2.	Ohio Bobcats	8-1	67.5	77	I'm sure Bobcats fans are looking at this team and saying "FINALLY." And it does feel that way, a bit. D.J Cooper has been taking better shots and everybody down to the ninth man is playing very well. Some are talking about them as being an at-large team if KSU wins the conference. — Matt Sussman
3.	Buffalo Bulls	6-2	61	234	So far the Bulls choked away a big 4 sweep at home against Saint Bonaventure and slept through the first half against Princeton. Aside from that the Bulls are playing at a level not seen since the middle of last decade. — Tim Riordan, who ranked them third The Bulls find themselves in a familiar spot, strong non-conference record paired with a fairly easy schedule. Games at BYU and at Temple will help shape their legitimacy. — Brandon Harris, who ranked them fourth
4	Ball St. Cardinals	6-2	53	309	Randy Davis, not DJ Cooper, currently leads the MAC in assists per game with 7.9, which is also fourth in the country. — Suss
5.	Akron Zips	4-5	46	9	I'm wondering if those World University Games drained the stamina of Nikola Cvetinovic, who has only managed to score 10+ points once this year. And who knows when Nick Harney comes back from suspension, but at least Zeke Marshall has developed into a scorer. — Suss
6.	Bowling Green Falcons	5-4	43	243	It's saddening that I'm not terribly excited about this team yet and yet holy mother they beat Temple. It's been a general lack of any momentum in this nonconference swing, perhaps. Then I saw a sad finish at Valpo and thought ... maybe not yet. — Suss, who ranked them seventh
7.	Toledo Rockets	6-3	31	330	Like I've said before, they picked the correct year to have an easy OOC schedule. Inflate the record, prove to them that they can beat other humans at basketball, and establish confidence. Plus they've been lighting up the scoreboard more regularly, in more ways than one. — Suss, who ranked them eighth
8.	Central Michigan Chippewas	4-5	29	191	What a brutal, BRUTAL road trip they've had. Their last home game was exactly one month ago. UIC on Saturday changes all that. And it's not the main reason they're losing, but shooting 61.7 percent from the free throw line certainly doesn't help. — Suss
9.	Miami RedHawks	2-5	23	135	Sad to say but it's looking like The Least in the East hails from Oxford. But if you like one-man shows, this is your team to watch. — Suss
T-10.	Eastern Michigan Eagles	4-6	20	181	They're not a very good shooting team at all, but at least they have a fortitude to hang with big teams in the first half. It's all I got. — Suss
T-10.	Western Michigan Broncos	2-7	20	86	I know they've had a rough schedule, and haven't looked good, but I think its mostly to blame for flat starts in half the losses. They are still deadly and have played tough competition — Brown And Gold, who ranked them seventh
12.	Northern Illinois Huskies	0-9	6	162	Yeah...they're bad. — Hickey, who voted them last along with everyone else because duh

Pollsters:
Matt Sussman
Brown And Gold
Brandon Hickey
Ben Miraski (using his MRI Sports computer rankings)
Tim Riordan, Bull Run
Brandon Harris, Bull Run

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