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Now that a D1 champion has been crowned, many reporters, bloggers, etc. are throwing together some way-too-early rankings to keep the conversation going a little longer before the long, warm summer offseason for college basketball begins. I like the idea, get people talking. And I like keeping the conversation of Zips basketball alive as long as possible before fully shifting my focus over to football. So, with many many months before any rosters are officially set, here is what I think the MAC will look like in 2023-2024. There's still a lot of movement with rosters, but I still feel that I, along with plenty of other regular posters, can already put together some decent hypotheses as to how this will all shake out. 1. Akron Zips: A homerific start to this post, I know. The MAC is losing a ton of its talent at the top, and considering how things have begun to shape up for next season , I feel this is a no-brainer. I'm normally cautious about giving the Zips too much credit for fear of getting my hopes up, but Akron currently has the most put-together roster in the league and I have no doubt that Groce is the best coach in the league. This could be a special year, I'm hoping the gel together a lot earlier in the season than Team 122 (2022-2023) did. I see the best big in the league, a dangerous stretch 4 that really came on at the end of the season, tremendously experienced and elite defensive guards in Tribble & Thornton, and young, promising PGs in Scott & Tavari. Throw in another offseason of development for Nate Johnson and a healthy Mikal Dawson, and the Zips may have something cookin'... 2. Ohio Bobcats: The Jeff Boals era has been fascinating, to say the least. He did wonderfully with Saul Phillips' players and then looked to have the next great guard in Mark Sears before he allegedly lied to Boals and boalted for Bama. Dwight Wilson departs, leaving a decent sized hole in their overall talent. With that said, I think the top 2 are pretty comfortably set--at least as of April 4. Jaylin Hunter came on as a stud of a guard, absolutely torching the Zips down in Athens. AJ Brown and Elmore James could be some of the great MAC guards of the future if they wind up sticking around for a while. If Boals can work the portal well, I expect the Kittens to be back in the MAC title conversation. 3. Kent State Golden Flashes: This is where things start to get a little muddy. The defending champs lose a tremendous amount of production from Carry, Jacobs, and Thomas. More importantly, they lose the two most important players that run the offense, and probably their two best defenders. They do return Santiago, Payton, and Sullinger along with some nice young guys in Julius Rollins and Delrecco Gillespie--assuming they don't go portaling. Pinky is a great MAC recruiter, though, which is why I'd put them up here instead of some of the other more promising teams. 4. Ball State Cardinals: The Michael Lewis era got off to a strong start, but sputtered out toward the end, as they were banged up and wound up losing to a few great teams to end the year. Payton Sparks is now a Hoosier, and familiar face, albeit not a big contributor, Luke Bumbalough is gone. Jalen Windham had a huge game at Akron, but was fairly average outside of that game. He's gone as well. Lewis has kept around a solid group of guards with Jaylin Sellers, Jarron Coleman, possibly Demarius Jacobs depending on eligibility, and he's added JUCO transfer Davion Bailey so far. A sophomore slump could be in the cards for Lewis, but that program had some energy it had been lacking for decades. They beat Toledo, Akron, and Kent in the regular season--no small feat. 5. Toledo Rockets: Ohhh poor Tod Kowalczyk. I may have them a little too low on this ranking, but losing Millner and Shumate was already a big blow, then you throw the loss of Dennis on top of that, and I think that really knocks them down a few notches on the ladder. Dante Maddox is still around, as well as Tyler Cochran and a few other nice pieces, but they lack a true leader that Dennis and Rollins have provided the last couple of years. Sonny Wilson, an incoming Fr. from the Detroit area, is a very highly touted recruit and could make this a quicker rebound than expected. For me, though, too many question marks going forward for now. 6. Northern Illinois Huskies: To be quite honest, I probably could have stopped after 5, because the rest of the league is shaping up to be a total crap shoot. A couple new coaches, a few teams gutted by the portal. Lots and lots of question marks. With that said, I think Rashon Burno is doing a fine job at NIU, all things considered. That was already a hard enough job before the days of the portal. They lose Thornton and a few other decent contributors, but as of April 4, they bring back enough pieces where I think they could be in okay shape. David Coit, Zarique Nutter, and Keshawn Williams--if they all return--make up a decent core of guards. They did beat Kent last year, and won enough to make it into the tournament. That isn't saying much, but after their first week of MAC play, I would have picked them to finish in the bottom 2 of the league. 7. Miami RedHawks: I see Travis Steele as more of a fit to return Miami to relevance than either of the last two clowns on that bench. How he got that program to Cleveland this year is above my comprehension. Morgan Safford and Ryan Mabrey are solid pieces that return. Outside of that, anyone's best guess. I'm moreso banking on my belief in Steele than anything else putting them here. We'll see what he can do. Man, this league is going to be baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. 8. Western Michigan Broncos: Stephens made quite the ambitious move to leave a comfy spot at Michigan State to coach men's basketball at a directional Michigan. And I feel they underachieved in his first season. Lamar Norman is far too good a basketball player for them to have the level of success they did. But I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. If B. Artis White is back and healthy, they could be a dark horse once again. JaVaughn Hanna, Seth Hubbard, and Jefferson Monengro made up a decent freshman class. Titus Wright may be hanging around too. They could be a few pieces away from getting somewhere. Maybe. 9. Eastern Michigan Eagles: I expect Acuff and Farrakhan to return. As for Mr. Bates, it's been radio silence on what he's doing. I thought by now he would have declared for something other than returning to be miserable in Ypsi again. Anyway, I don't have high hopes even if that core does remain intact. I would be more bullish on them if Bates left, to be honest. I think that whole situation that follows him around is a disaster for the college level. I should have so much more to say for a roster with this amount of talent, but 2022-2023 was so awful, I really don't know what more to say. This is a program that should make it to Cleveland. If they don't, Heath must be fired. 10. Bowling Green Falcons: I love the hire their new AD made. Simon is a great coach that put Southern Utah on the map, whether other MAC fans are aware of that or not. They were a good program in a good league, and rallied from 23-down to beat Aziz Bandaogo's Utah Valley Wolverines in the conference tournament. With that said, this roster is a barren wasteland. I don't know for sure who is returning as of right now. Samari Curtis, if he's back, is a decent little piece to build around. BG basketball has a substantive endowment that saves if from the rest of the school's financial struggles. Perhaps that propels them a little higher. I am eager to see what Simon does here. 11. Buffalo Bulls: How the mighty have fallen. Groce killed Buffalo in that he ended any hope they had of making a run to save Whitesell's rear end a couple years in a row. They took a shot at getting rid of him after a pretty awful year, and they had a whale of a time finding a replacement. With that said, George Halcovage could be a surprise splash hire. But much like BGSU, the cupboard is bare. If there is even a cupboard there at all. Most of their players from a poorly constructed roster have gone into the portal. I would be surprised if it didn't take UB at least a couple of season to claw their way back into the top half of the league, even as the league is not deep anymore. 12. Central Michigan Chippewas: Barbee did a great job in 2021-2022, getting that group to Cleveland and a bucket away from the semifinals. However, he did it mostly with old grad transfers. Fools gold, if you will. I was not surprised to see them take a step back this past season, but I was surprised to see them take a giant leap backward. An already flawed roster was hit with the injury bug. Yet somehow they were the only one of Ohio, EMU, Toledo, and CMU to come out on top at Michigan. They lose Bass Zarzuela, Miller, Pavrette, and a few names I've never even heard of. Hell, I wouldn't be shocked if Chris Fowler and Braylon Rayson re-enrolled just so they could transfer out. That's how bad things are in Mt. P. It has become a basketball wasteland, and I would be absolutely floored and embarrassed if this program finds its way to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in March of 2024. Stranger things have happened, that is for sure, but this is a really bad situation. Barbee came in with a solid resume that included plenty of HC experience. And he came from Calipari's bench. Only to be miserable in northern Michigan. Yikes... What say you, ZN? The ranking is far less important than the general thoughts on how each program is trending as we go into the offseason. I'm sure we'll have plenty of surprises from now until November. Hopefully they're surprises that benefit the Zips.

I’d be excited if we landed Kabbash. Watch his JUCO film and judge for yourself.

Banes back to Houston

... and bring it down to a 1-bid league. FIFY.

Freeman's a great kid and a great player for us, but I don't see how his current display of skills at 6'7" transfers to the NBA. At his size he would be a small forward and although he is a great rebounder, he is not a wide body like Fortson (or Barkley). His game is a lot like Trayce Jackson Davis of Indiana, who is 6'9". TJD stayed a fourth season to get better and still hasn't really shown a shot range facing the basket. Hopefully Freeman will learn a few things as he tests the NBA waters and come back and lead the Zips to another big season.

#2

I counted one A-10 team in the tourney this year? Even 25-8 Fordham, and 22-win Dayton were passed-over by the Big Dance committee. When Groce considers departing the Rubber City one day, how much weight will be placed on the fact that it's easier to win the MAC than is it to finish 3rd or 4th in many larger conferences? $600k+ per season, and a 30%+ chance to go dancing at season's end (he's perennially playing on Friday's and/or Saturday's in the MAC Tourney every year)? That's a pretty good gig.

Don’t like any talk of Groce leaving, for whatever reason. After the next season might look like a “rebuild” and it might not. Nobody knows the type of leap Tavari will make, Baker is pretty highly touted. Dawson would technically have another year of eligibility with a medical redshirt. Not to mention the ability to reload with the transfer portal. positivity guys!

Can I start a debate? 😄 To completely overlook the team Groce assembled in the COVID cancellation year because the didn’t make the NCAA tournament unfairly skews the coaching success comparison. That team would have lapped the field at Rocket Mortgage, and had the Zips best chance at a tourney win that we may ever see.

I look at next season as sort of "The Last Dance". Obviously Akron/Groce can reload and rebuild rather quickly, but next season we will likely have a starting lineup of 5 seniors and the last season having a player like Enrique Freeman for who knows how long. Not sure how much immediate success this program can have after this senior class departs.

Really awesome post, @LoyalZIP At the moment, I incredibly admire how Groce has kept this team together. I wonder if it's harder to keep a team together after winning the conference as opposed to coming close? I think you nailed the top 3 teams. It's been a little too quiet over in Ravenna, I can only imagine what Pinky and Christian are up to during this "don't recruit" week. As for Ohio, I didn't realize Wilson was a grad transfer. That's a big, pun intended, loss for them. Toledo. Can Groce get them off his regular season back? I've had my fill of Shumate and Milner that's for sure. Are we sure they won't be coming back? Miami is the team I think can step all over the garbage bottom 8 and re-assert themselves with Groce's brother as coach. Because the MAC is so bad, the Zips must schedule and WIN some tough out of conference games. This "Groce has them ready for March" meme is getting tired. We saw from our friends in Brimfield that a MAC team can schedule tough opponents and play tough in those games. Groce needs some marquee wins. Now is the time.

Fun Fact about Paul Brown. As coach for the Massillon Tigers, In 1940 they played Kent State in a scrimmage. Paul Brown's Tigers beat the Flashes 47-0.