The MAC Women’s Basketball Picture Gets a Little Clearer

If I had to rank the sports that I follow, I would put college football number 1. Number 2 is college basketball, men’s and women’s. After that, probably pro football and the NBA, with just about everything else after that.

I bring this up because when I have college basketball at number 2, I should have mentioned it’s a tie. I like the men’s and women’s games equally. Maybe it’s also telling that I can’t decide between mid-major or power conference.

Back on point, so tonight the biggest game for me was the men’s Ohio State Buckeyes taking on Purdue for the Big Ten lead. In a rarity, I chose to watch this game on the TV and mostly block out what was going on in the rest of the sports world. I was rewarded with a fantastic game that my team won. You can read the recap here. As soon as the game was over I rushed over to check the scores of the MAC women’s action tonight.

That’s probably the point of that little preamble. While I checked out the scores, I haven’t watched any of the games tonight, so bear with me. I do think the scores reflect what I thought of the games going in, so I am optimistic that my analysis will be spot on.

Ball State 91, Eastern Michigan 85

I thought the Cardinals would be solid, but not spectacular. I was wrong. They are the third best team in a loaded league. EMU might be even more shocking. Vastly improved. So losing here in close fashion is another testament to just how close to competitive they have become.

Miami 67, Toledo 58

Toledo isn’t quite what I thought they were. They are still in a similar position as when they rallied to win the MAC tournament last season.

Miami 15-8 and 7-5 in the MAC. What an impressive first year under Megan Duffy.

NIU 84, Akron 61

The Huskies moved to 4-8 and Akron has 1 conference win on the season. I do believe both teams are better than their records in a bit of a cliche’

CMU 74, Ohio 72

CMU is a great team, but if they struggle to score, it leaves a door. An Ohio team with loads of potential for the future almost opened that door.

Buffalo 80, Kent 42

Kent is struggling but this blowout has more to do with Buffalo being that good. The Golden Flashes are 4-8 in a competitive conference. The Bulls are 9-2 and would be tops if not for a fantastic CMU squad.

WMU 81, BGSU 67

WMU moved to 7-5 in the MAC in the log jam for third place.

The evening’s results tell me what I figured going into the day. CMU is Fantastic. Buffalo is awesome. There are a slew of great teams slightly below them, and a few stragglers that are still not terrible.