As each team now has 4 conference games under their belt, the race is shaping up to what most thought it would be, with one exception. A muddled mess with Buffalo clearly on top of a bunch of solid, but not spectacular teams.

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#12 Miami RedHawks

(8-9 overall, 0-4 conference)

The RedHawks showed some flashes of life earlier this season, but have flat lined recently. The talent is there, but they just can’t put it together. I wont be shocked if this team plays some competitive basketball soon.

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#11 Western Michigan Broncos

(6-11 overall, 0-4 conference)

“They are who we thought they were, but we let them off the hook!” I can’t help put picture coach Hawkins screaming those words in the locker room after the losses to Buffalo and Toledo. The injury plagued Broncos are playing better as of late, and it’s only a matter of time before they get their first conference win.

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#10 Ohio Bobcats

(9-7 overall, 1-3 conference)

The Bobcats are a young team finding their way. At times they are fun to watch on offense, other times they are just flat out painful to watch. As they mature, they will be more fun, less pain.

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#9 Eastern Michigan Eagles

(8-9 overall, 2-2 conference)

When the Eagles are hitting their outside shots, they are nearly unbeatable. When James Thompson IV has room in the middle, he is one of the best in the league. However, the Eagles went back to brick city, hitting only 3 of 15 from downtown, and 2 of 5 from the charity stripe against Akron. Thompson finished with only 5 shot attempts, and the Eagles failed to score 50.

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#8 Akron Zips

(10-7 overall, 2-2 conference)

When the Zips are off, they are off. However, their defense is something to behold on most nights. The consistency on that end puts them at number 8 in our rankings.

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#7 Ball State Cardinals

(10-7 overall, 1-3 conference)

The Cardinals have lost 3 in a row. An awful shooting first half against the Bobcats sandwiched by close losses to Bowling Green and a hot shooting Eastern Michigan have the Cardinals record a lot worse than the actual team is. I think. They keep losing, they will start falling fast.

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#6 Kent State Golden Flashes

(13-4 overall, 2-2 conference)

A gaudy non-conference record put the Flashes at 6. In reality, it was really hard ranking teams 4 through 10.

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#5 Northern Illinois Huskies

(10-7 overall, 3-1 conference)

The Huskies are a solid team all the way around. They have talent in key spots and might turn a corner into a really good team.

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#4 Toledo Rockets

(14-3 overall, 2-2 conference)

It would be easy to write off the first conference loss to Ball State as a bad shooting night. Then their loss to Buffalo was to Buffalo, and now they have 2 wins in a row. I will need to see more out of the Rockets before I am back on their bandwagon, however.

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#3 Central Michigan Chippewas

(14-3 overall, 3-1 conference)

The Chippewas’ only loss is to a surprisingly good Bowling Green team, a game which Central Michigan could have easily won with a little better play down the stretch. I am not going to lie, I kind of expected the Chippewas to fold a bit once we hit conference play, but they keep on rolling.

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#2 Bowling Green Falcons

(12-5 overall, 4-0 conference)

The Falcons hold the conference’s longest current winning streak, at 8 games. Bowling Green has some nice talent on their roster, but what separates them, at least early in this conference season, is Justin Turner’s ability to help the team pull out close wins down the stretch. I haven’t given MAC PotY much thought, but he is certainly on the list.

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#1 Buffalo Bulls

(16-1 overall, 4-0 conference)

That number 16 national ranking is a bit of a fluke. Really the Bulls should be higher. Their only loss was to a ranked team, that has one of the best player in the nation, who put on one of the most amazing second half performances ever. This team is impressive.