Call it a surprise or call it nostalgia. You could say it was a bit of both. Wally Szczerbiak was in the building, and for some that's all that mattered. Even though they had good teams (and tournament teams) since then, the defining moment for Miami basketball had to be Wally World's trek into the Sweet 16, beating Washington and Utah. There have been remarkable MAC moments in the NCAAs, but that team was unknowingly the last team in a while to make it to the tournament as an at-large team. Since then it has been a one-bid league.

Julian Mavunga may not be at the same level as Szczerbiak, but he might be the only player since that 1999 team who has shown incredible bursts and ability to make plays when needed. Exhibit A (through Z): With the game tied, the play call was essentially a Mavunga iso. Maybe they've done that before, but I never saw that.

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Is it me or does it seem like the MAC this year has seen a HUGE dropoff in freshman production? Perhaps it was that the league was so down that freshmen had chances to make large impacts. Last year we saw the likes of Trey Zeigler, Javon McCrea, Matt Stainbrook, Reese Holliday, Alex Abreu and Juwan Howard, Jr (before his departure). This year … not so much. There are some good ones but nobody that I think we're going to be discussing as top-five players next year.

Nonetheless the MAC does name an all-freshman team, but while that won't be for about a month we can still get a good idea of who is on it. The list is subject to change any given Wednesday/Saturday but for now here's my five:

5. Stevie Taylor, OHIO — 12.7 mpg, 5.4 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 1.2 apg, 49.3 eFG%

I know what you're thinking: why include a freshman that's playing just a handful of minutes per game? I think we all know why Taylor isn't getting a bunch of reps with the Bobcats: it's because they're rather skilled and have the depth to prove it. If Taylor played for a weaker team he might play more. Let's not count that against him. Additionally there aren't many efficient freshmen who are playing several minutes, so we can afford to be lenient here.

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Notes from the evening games of the MAC-involved BracketBusters. Here's the seven from the afternoon. It never got better.

Beyond all other outcomes, this was the most surprising. Yes, they played without Justin Greene, but the other team only played seven and KSU is still deeper than them. And it's not that Charleston is terrible, but they were middling their way through the SoCon and I guess they turned a corner at some point and nearly ran away with this. Nice job by KSU to try and come back from what seemed like miserable odds, chopping a 19-point lead down to two but never quite getting past the C of C.

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We'll do this in shifts. The first seven games of the MAC BracketBusters:

This went from "obvious loss" to "decisive thrashing" in quite a hurry. At no point were the Bulls able to get any sort of decent run back into the game, or if they did, they were already far out of reach. Javon McCrea was limited to 24 minutes of action, not really factoring into either side before fouling out, and the SDSU guards of Nate Wolters and Griffan Callahan combined for 43 points. For Buffalo, Mitchell Watt led with 15 points but swatted nary a shot, Zach Filzen was decent from the 3-point line to finish with 13 points and Tony Watson II had some nice minutes to end up with 11.

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11 MACketBusters game on Saturday and one on Sunday for some reason. No real need to harp on the meaning of BracketBusters as they are in 2012. The MAC is a one-big league again, so these aren't busting anybody's brackets that we know of, but they are compelling basketball games against similarly-performing teams. It's a little midterm exam two weeks before the final. They're fun — provided you can find a feed of the game somewhere.

SATURDAY

1:00 p.m. — Buffalo (16-7, 9-3 MAC) at South Dakota State (21-7, 13-3 Summit) (ESPNU)

What to know about SDSU: The Jackrabbits began the season with a narrow/exciting victory over Western Michigan. Led by the indefatigable Nate Wolters, SDSU has already hit a Division I program record in season wins with three left go play. They've yet to lose in their home Frost Arena, winning by an average of 23 points. They're also the third least prone to turnovers (15.2 TO% behind Purdue and Wisconsin).

It won't be easy for Buffalo. They'll need to bring that trademark defense (not the one seen in Kent State) and keep Wolters and company from getting easy short shots. I don't think they'll win this, but they can. They destroyed Dayton, so they can do this.

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Notes from a two-thirds night in basketball, featuring means and extremes:

This is the sound of the Zips pulling away. One more victory and they are guaranteed a single-bye. Nobody is playing better than them and true to form they pulled away from an undermatched RedHawks team. And it was a complete group effort. Chauncey Gilliam led with 14 points and Demetrius Treadwell added 13 points, but three others scored nine points, including Alex Abreu who led with six assists.

It really seems like Keith Dambrot is doing a tremendous job of not putting the pressure to win on any one of his players, because he has no clear above-and-beyond talent. But if I had to place a finger on it, Abreu is what makes this offense click and Zeke Marshall makes the defense better.

For Miami, Brian Sullivan led with 19 points and Jon Harris ground for 14 points and six rebounds. They're not in good shape, nor in a position to contend in this division. But they might spoil somebody's chances, given the opportunity.

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It's not that Kent State ever really left. Beginning MAC play 2-3 did sort of push them out of the forefront for a while, but after waltzing through the MAC West (with a couple bumps), they survived a game of runs where it was never clear who had the advantage. It took until the final minute, when Justin Greene acted like a MAC Player of the Year and sank free throws to end this one-possession game madness.

There was no singular moment like last year's game when Michael Porrini dunked on the Bulls to seal the victory. But in a second half where they had to overcome an eight-point deficit, Porrini scored 14 points and went 3-of-5 shooting from three. His finishing line: 19 points, nine assists, six rebounds.

KSU looked to pull away in the second half once they climbed up 58-47. It was going to be one of those games, we thought, especially with Javon McCrea sitting on the bench with his fourth foul. Newp. That's when UB keyed a 13-0 run to go back into the lead. Game back on. Momentum quickly shifted back when Porrini hit consecutive three-pointers, and it's rather difficult to win when the other team goes 11-for-18 from the triple line.

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What to watch if your lonely, need companionship or have a really, REALLY cool significant other:

7 p.m. — Buffalo (16-6, 9-2 MAC) at Kent State 18-6, 8-3 MAC) (SportsTime Ohio/ESPN3) (MAC-Sports Video Feed)

Tonight in the entire country there are five games that feature top-100 RPI matches. Two are in the SEC (Mississippi State-LSU, Florida-Alabama). One is in the Big Ten (Ohio State-Minnesota). One is a CAA tilt (VCU-George Mason). The fifth is this one between the Bulls and Golden Flashes.

So this is big. Buffalo is the outright No. 2 team in the MAC while KSU is the No. 3 team. A win for Kent State is vital for seeding purposes because UB already beat Kent State once this year in a 66-65 thriller. So getting the season split will help them leverage a potential tiebreaker. And it's going to be a classic offense-vs-defense matchup. Here we have KSU and their 74.8 points per game, topping the conference with 1.092 points per possession. Their defense has been hit-or-miss. They've been able to shut down the lower-end teams, but against guys like Akron, UB, OHIO — basically the rest of the East — and even Eastern Michigan they've had trouble defensively and as a result they were a middle-of-the-division team, but maybe the clean sweep of the West cured them of this.

Meanwhile, Buffalo has gone the entire conference without a team going better than 1 PPP. The best anyone did was Kent State (0.990). So it's no secret why the Bulls have the top winning streak in the MAC right now (eight games). Of course, Kent State's is at six, so something shall crumble. I have a feeling that Kent will right the ship and pull even with the Bulls, but should it go the other way then Buffalo needs to finally be considered a double-bye favorite.

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