There once was a magnificent time in our sports history wherein the Mid-American Conference was comfortably seeded somewhere in the 9-to-13 range — sometimes multiple times in the same bracket — setting them up nicely for a run to the Sweet 16. You could never count out the MAC team! That is, until they stopped winning games. And then that drought ended last year when OHIO, thought to be a fluky one-and-done team, remained torrid and throttled Georgetown, of all teams.
We don't know anything, and yet we continue to scribe as if we do.
This year? I can't say an upset over a ranked team will happen again, although what the hell do any of us know. From what a lot of national media men have been saying, much of the field is watered down and there aren't any "great" teams. Because only John Wooden can coach great teams, supposedly.
But we do know this: With an extra four teams into the tournament, that means that additional at-large teams will be slotted ahead of the likely MAC autobid, meaning that even a 14-seed will be ambitious to grab.
We have eight teams left in the MAC tournament. If each were to win out, here's where they'll likely be seeded:
| MACT Seed |
Team | W-L | Pomeroy Rating |
RPI | Sagarin Rating |
Best Wins | Worst Losses | Likely Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kent State | 20-10 | 127 | 86 | 107 | Iona South Florida |
OHIO at Miami |
14 |
| 2 | WMU | 18-11 | 165 | 172 | 165 | at Milwaukee South Dakota St. |
Troy at Toledo |
16 |
| 3 | Miami | 15-15 | 184 | 103 | 158 | Xavier Kent State |
Green Bay at Bowling Green |
15 |
| 4 | Ball State | 17-11 | 170 | 174 | 164 | Indiana State at DePaul |
Alaska-Anchorage at Bowling Green |
16 |
| 5 | OHIO | 18-14 | 158 | 158 | 157 | At Kent State Valparaiso |
Bowling Green at Central Michigan |
15 |
| 6 | Akron | 19-12 | 133 | 132 | 138 | at Detroit Kent State |
at Eastern Michigan at Northern Illinois |
15 |
| 7 | Bowling Green |
13-18 | 245 | 247 | 238 | at Buffalo at Saint Louis |
at Howard Niagara |
16 (play-in) |
| 8 | Buffalo | 17-12 | 108 | 160 | 130 | at Canisius Kent State |
Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan |
15 |
So, the logic dictates that Kent State will draw the most favorable matchup in the bunch. Although who knows: at their best, Miami can put together 40 minutes of infuriating basketball (for the opposition). Buffalo can play smart and create turnovers. Western Michigan has more balance than you think. And we saw what OHIO did. Perhaps a 15-seed is what you want, since it'll create a louder thud when a Big East team falls at the 2-spot.
Or! (Orr?) Root for BG and let them have a play-in game, held in nearby Dayton. That's truly our best shot at a MAC tournament win.