It’s time for this week’s power rankings, and there’s a lot of shake-ups in this edition as some teams surged, some fell of the face of the earth, and one stayed put (guess which one?). Without further ado, here’s the best MAC basketball power rankings you will ever see, until next week.

#12 Bowling Green Falcons (8-12, 2-5 MAC)

(Average vote: 11.8, highest vote: 11, lowest vote: 12, last week: 11)

Winning the battle at the bottom of the league this week are the Falcons as they have lost five of their last seven games, despite sweeping a really good Ball State team for some inexplicable reason.

#11 Miami RedHawks (9-11, 2-5 MAC)

(Average vote: 11, highest vote: 10, lowest vote: 12, last week: 12)

Following a complete and total humiliation Saturday against Central Michigan (20 triples allowed, Marcus Keene dropping 50 points), Miami responded Tuesday with a tough win over defending MAC champion Buffalo on Tuesday night. It might not be the jolt that’ll salvage the season, but it’s a start.

#10 Western Michigan Broncos (6-13, 2-5 MAC)

(Average vote: 10, highest vote: 9, lowest vote: 11, last week: T-9 )

Sure, the Broncos have dropped three straight but those losses have come against EMU, Buffalo, and Akron. Their record may not be indicative of the kind of team they can be, but we’ll have to see what they do once they get out of this rough stretch of their schedule.

#9 Buffalo Bulls (9-11, 3-4 MAC)

(Average vote: 9.2, highest vote: 9, lowest vote: 10, last week: T-4)

The Bulls have been a hard team to figure out all season long as they’re capable of beating good teams (like EMU) but are also capable of some perplexing losses (like Miami). If UB doesn’t get it together soon, the chance of a repeat could slip away.

#8 Northern Illinois Huskies (12-8, 4-3 MAC)

(Average vote: 7.8, highest vote: 7, lowest vote: 8, last week: 6)

NIU was as hot as any team in the MAC before the last couple of games as it fell at home to both Kent State and Ohio. A large chunk of its MAC West schedule is still on deck, so there’s plenty of opportunities for the Huskies to regain their momentum.

#7 Ohio Bobcats (12-6, 4-3 MAC)

(Average vote: 6.4, highest vote: 5, lowest vote: 8, last week: 3)

The Bobcats have fallen on hard times with the loss of Antonio Campell for the season and losing three of their last four games. Ohio still has a number of tough games left, so it has to do some soul searching and find a way to save its season before it’s too late.

#6 Kent State Golden Flashes (11-9, 3-4 MAC)

(Average vote: 6, highest vote: 5, lowest vote: 7, last week: 8)

After dropping four games in a row, Kent State responded with very good wins against Toledo and at NIU. The Flashes let the MAC world know that you can’t count them out, and they have the potential to be very dangerous in the East.

#5 Central Michigan Chippewas (13-7, 3-4 MAC)

(Average vote: 5.6, highest vote: 4, lowest vote: 7, last week: T-9)

The Fighting Marcus Keenes are picking up steam as CMU dropped BG and Miami this week with Keene scoring 78 points across the two games. The path gets tougher for the Chips in the coming weeks, so we’ll see if they’re for real or not.

#4 Toledo Rockets (11-9, 4-3 MAC)

(Average vote: 4, highest vote: 3, lowest vote: 5, last week: T-4)

Toledo is a complicated team, as it has some bad road losses to WMU and Kent State but it was able to go into Athens and take down a good (but depleted) Ohio team. We’ll know what kind of team the Rockets are this week after match-ups against NIU and at Ball State.

#3 Eastern Michigan Eagles (12-8, 4-3 MAC)

(Average vote: 3.2, highest vote: 3, lowest vote: 4, last week: 2)

Having a tough week? Try having EMU’s week where you go on the road at Akron and return home to invite Ball State to Ypsilanti. Despite the losses, the Eagles were very competitive and have shown they belong near the top of our power rankings.

#2 Ball State Cardinals (13-7, 4-3 MAC)

(Average vote: 2, highest vote: 2, lowest vote: 2, last week: 7)

Ball State has been on a roll as they have won four of their last five games with victories at Buffalo and EMU as well as a home triumph over CMU. The two mind-boggling losses to BG are really the only thing preventing BSU from really challenging for first in the rankings, but the Cards of Muncie should be feared.

#1 Akron Zips (17-3, 7-0 MAC)

(Average vote: 1, highest vote: 1, lowest vote: 1, first place votes: 5, last week: 1)

Another week, another power ranking with Akron at the top. The Zips keep passing every test, but a rough stretch is coming down the pike and we’ll see if UA can maintain control of the conference.