RoyalBlu

MAC basketball 2024-25 is pathetic ... Central Michigan and Bowling Green look like the class of the league to date, after Toledo, which is not saying much at all. If Zips can't steamroll this league this year there will be very little to say.

Falcons up 72-68 with 7-plus to play at Michigan State ... and don't score again. Turnovers and jacking up 3-pointers. Didn't seem to try to keep the game close down the stretch. Strange. (But the Falcons do have a ton of talent).

Bobcats got their clocks cleaned again at Memphis.... this league is a mess. Ohio, Kent, Akron have all been dusted by 20-points by quality competition. Toledo looks decent, but haven't played a P5 yet. We'll see.

Kent State goes down hard at Auburn ...

11/13 ... Central Michigan ...14-point dogs on the road, win at the buzzer 70-69 at George Mason. They have two of the best wins in the MAC so far.

The two ways you run successfully is to (1) rebound, which is the easiest. (2) You have to win between the free throw lines with defense/steals/turnovers, which is harder to do over the course of a 30-game season. We'll see how it looks after 5-10 more games.

Upon further review (St. Mary's 20-point loss) .... never mind.

Ugh!! The Bobcats are terrible. (Lost at Illinois State and game was never really close). If that's the best the MAC has to offer, then the Zips should have little resistence getting to the top of this league ... no matter what happens at St. Mary's. Toledo is Toledo, and guessing Kent is Kent. Zips roster talent tops all of those teams ... and depth too.

More and more 'fairness' is becoming a very lost element in our moral fiber. And sadly I'm just not talking about sports.

Since Mike Bobinski or Mike Thomas when has an Akron AD gone on to bigger and better things ...

Hey ... I get it. If you can legitimately claim it, then claim it. I think you can raise a banner either way. I'm just too old school, and I understand that. But I actually ache when teams (Akron in the past) do so much to win a regular season championship to somehow have it 'dismissed' for not winning 3 games in March.

Another pet peeve (and I know I'm losing this one before I even start ... but) The MAC CHAMPIONS are the Toledo Rockets The MAC Tournament winner/Champions are the Akron Zips The fact the 'reward' for winning the tournament is greater than the 'reward' for winning the regular season title, in my mind, does not negate the greater accomplishment (18-games vs. 3 games). But that's just me.

May not compete at the highest level .... but ... Zips/MAC can compete against high level teams. And should do it consistently.

Dennison was not a bad AD ... he had ill-advised presidents operating behind his back. He NEVER would have hired Faust.

I hear you ... but the object of the game is put the ball through the hoop!!!

Obvious takeaway ... even vs. lesser opponent ... this team has mad depth.

Absolutely right! FB plays those games for $$$ to bolster the entire athletic department and really not expected to be competitive. It's the cost of doing business as a FB mid-major. A BB mid-major on the other hand - along with solid recruiting/coaching - can not just be competitive in many of those games P5, but pull realistic upsets occasionally which bolster the team and the league. As an aside, why the MAC doesn't mandate these $$$ FB contracts must include a basketball game within a 3-year window as well is beyond me. That would solve a lot of the BB P5 schedule problem. And unlike BB, the ADs usually negotiate the FB deals, not the coaches.

Several games tonight ... but the big one last night was Stoney Brook (Geno Ford) pulling a 1-point win out of their arse on the road a Central Michigan. CMU lead the whole game ... was up 10 near the 5-minute mark, then pissed down their leg. Let the same kid drive for layups down the stretch, including for the game-winner. Davidson at BG is the big one tonight. The rest of the MAC, including Zips, play a bunch of get-well games.

And let's face it. Playing Ohio, Toledo, Kent or Akron - to a P5 school - are all about the same. Not arguing, just explaining. Please indulge my pet peeve one last time. Taking the above as the baseline. FIRST, I WAS WRONG ABOUT A COUPLE OF THINGS. First - based on Today's KENPOM St. Mary's is 41, Princeton 81, Yale 102 and Ark State 120 - and that's after defeating the Zips in the opener. So there is some strength in the Zips non-con mid-major schedule. Still, how many of those teams are going to rise through the Top 100 ranks once their league play begins. (BTW, no surprise Akron and Kent are top MAC teams in KENPOM at 129 and 131). Second - Among the four teams above in terms of scheduling P-5 and A-10 teams, using Groce's timeline (2018-2019 season through 2023-2024) the Zips are not the worst. Toledo is clearly the worst with just nine such games, including 4 A-10 games with one win (Richmond, '22). Take away the 4 A 10s, and that's just 5 P-5 non-con games in the last six years. For the multi-time MAC Champs, that's really pathetic. Akron, however, is next with 11 games since 18-19, also with 4 A-10 games and 2 wins, both A-10 (St. Bona, '18, UMass, '20). I also included a game vs. then No. 6 Nevada in '19. Otherwise, it would be just 10 P-5 games with four of them A-10. That's really poor IMO for a proven multi NCAA Tournament head coach. Ohio is next with 12 games, including 2 A-10s and 1 win A-10 (St. Bona, '19). But I will also add that same non-conference season the Bobcats also played Villanova, Baylor, Utah and Purdue. That's a Charlie Coles schedule - for those with a little MAC history. None of the four top MAC teams have played a non-con schedule close to that since. The it's Kent with 13 P-5 games, there's just one A-10 team on that list but I'm counting games with Gonzaga and St. Mary's instead. Kent has 3 wins (Vanderbilt '18), (Oregon State '18), (George Washington '21). That's SEC, PAC-12, A-10. Frankly over the last six years, only Ohio and Kent even average 2 such games a season, which is atrocious in my mind. We're talking about all four coaches comfortably safe in their jobs, all established winners, 3 w/NCAA Tournament credentials and none close to being on the hot seat. Kowalczk and Groce in particular should really be looking in the mirror. Scheduling P-5 games are about relationships. These four well established, winning, coaches should have no problem getting 2 or 3 such games a season. Yes, 9 out of 10 will be on the road. But man up. You can still get Walsh at home.

I stand on the opinion -- you can get one or two of those games a year if you really want them. It's up to Groce, not Ford, to get those games. He's got the relationships.

Sorry, this is a pet peeve of mine. I still don't buy this scheduling 'difficulties' mantra. A lot of this is about relationships, and I can't believe Groce has so few coaching relationships that he can't get a Big 10 game or a few A-10 games or others. AND HE'S COACHED IN THE BIG 10. I haven't looked, but other than St. Mary's I'm doubtful any of the rest above are in Kenpoms Top 100. Toledo has games with Purdue and I think Houston. Kent has games with Alabama and Auburn. Those come off the top of my head. Say what you want about Pinky, It would be interesting to compare quality (power conference) non-conference games between he and Groce. Yes, you have to play the bulk of these games on the road. But the reward is worth it, when you can get it. And let's face it. Playing Ohio, Toledo, Kent or Akron - to a P5 school - are all about the same.

Not make grades??? ... So what you're saying is: He was academically ineligible when he left Kent, went for a semester of summer school at Furman. Still not eligible, so returned to Kent ... and is now suddenly eligible. Doesn't add up ... even for Kent. (But I give the kid credit getting 15K in the process. I'd take that deal).

I thought Miami and Central Michigan winning their games on the road were pretty solid signs for the MAC. Don't forget, CMU finished 3rd last season and was in the title chase before a couple players got hurt ... and they are supposedly better/deeper this year. Miami is still pretty young, but starting to look like the Miami program of old under Sendek and Charlie. Very solid roster with more good recruits in the pipeline. Both of these teams will be Top Half MAC, also likely contenders and tough outs in the MAC Tournament.

Overall, the MAC won 4 games on the road and coulda-shouda won 5. Challenge more competitive this year. Don't sleep on Miami and Central, both will be tough outs this season in the MAC. Buffalo getting a road win was huge for them and MAC. Of MAC's projected Top 4 only Kent won, but Zips ...., Ohio and Toledo have to regroup a bit. Still, not a bad opening road night for the MAC overall.

Article also mentioned Toledo's Justin Ingram was perhaps the best recruiting assistant coach in the league. Surely this is debatable, but considering how TK was running through assistant coaches there for awhile, the fact Ingram has stayed and obviously delivered is a big plus. On another note, these are the kind of articles the ABJ and PD used to trot out several times a season. But nothing close to this right now. In Groce and others used to say NE Ohio had the best 'MAC' media coverage in the league. But that is far from the case these days.