Zippy87

Wilson is now 6-24 (25%) from deep over the last 5 games. We really need him to start hitting again.

I really think the 6 team format would make some sense. If you're the 7th best (or worse) team in - let's be honest - a mediocre conference - do you really deserve a chance to go to March Madness? Cut the 7/8 teams, which gives the top 2 seeds a small advantage of a bye, and you eliminate the early Thursday games, which aren't well-attended. Thursday 5 PM - 4 vs 5 8 PM - 3 vs 6 Friday 5 PM - 1 vs 4/5 winner 8 PM - 2 vs 3/6 winner Saturday 7:30 PM - Chanpionship

I'm curious if the MAC will revisit their format at some point. Dropping to the current 8-team format was allegedly in response to the pandemic. I do think there needs to be some additional advantage built in for the top 2 or 4 seeds. Option 1: 2016-2020 Format The top four seeds received byes into the quarterfinals; seeds 5-12 played first-round games at the campus of the higher seed. Winners of the first-round games advanced to face the top four seeds in the quarterfinal round in Cleveland. Option 2: 2012-2015 Format The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds received byes straight to the semifinals, with the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds beginning tournament play in the quarterfinals. Teams seeded 5–12 played an additional two rounds. Option 3: Brand New Format Could they adopt an SBC-Style tournament? I'm guessing this would be too much. My preferred idea would be to cut the number of teams to 6 and award two first round byes. This cuts out your teams who, quite frankly, don't deserve a shot, awards an advantage to your top 2 seeds, and still maintains three nights of good basketball. How it'd look today: Thursday #4 Ohio vs #5 Kent #3 Toledo vs #6 Ball State Friday #1 Akron vs Ohio/Kent winner #2 Miami vs Toledo/Ball State winner Saturday Championship

3-point shooting over the last three games: vs CMU: 5-18 (27.7%) vs NIU: 5-21 (23.8%) vs OU: 4-18 (22.2%) Overall: 14-57 (24.6%)

Boals is going to be insufferable.

Hardman looks lost.

We had a clunker against NIU but thankfully they're terrible, and scratched out a win against a mediocre CMU team before that. This isn't a one-off bad game IMO, they haven't been playing well.

Gray looks awful.

OU has 9 points off of turnovers. Aside from that, they're not doing anything special, we just can't score right now.

It was absolutely used during intros.

OU is not that good. Damn guys let's go.

We used a spotlight Tuesday

To add to this, Da'Sean Nelson (3) and AJ Clayton (2) are the only players who have been awarded the MAC Player of the Week more than once this season. It's wide open. 2024-25 MAC Men’s Basketball Players of the Week Nov. 11 -- Tyson Dunn, Guard, Buffalo Nov. 18 -- Sonny Wilson, Guard, Toledo Nov. 25 -- AJ Clayton, F, Ohio // Nate Johnson, G, Akron Dec. 2 -- Jermahri Hill, G, Ball State // Da'Sean Nelson, F, Eastern Michigan Dec. 9 -- Derrick Butler, G, Bowling Green // Peter Suder, G, Miami Dec. 16 -- Juanse Gorosito, Guard, Ball State Dec. 23 -- Da'Sean Nelson, Forward, Eastern Michigan Dec. 30 -- Javontae Campbell, Guard, Bowling Green Jan. 6 -- Da'Sean Nelson, Forward, Eastern Michigan Jan. 13 -- AJ Clayton, Forward, Ohio Jan. 20 -- Amani Lyles, Forward, Akron Jan. 28 -- Tavari Johnson, Guard, Akron Feb. 3 -- Payton Sparks, Center, Ball State Feb. 10 -- Sam Lewis, Guard, Toledo

Who is going to win MAC POY? The top five scorers right now are all on mediocre teams. There's no Enrique-type this year. Does Nate have a shot if he finishes strong?

Dawson is having a nice bounceback year for Marshall. He's shooting 34.8% from deep, closer to the guy he was in 21-22. And he's shooting a TON of threes. He has 210 attempts in 28 games this season...he shot 170 in 35 games for us last year. Baker hasn't played for SIU since December 8th - appears he suffered an injury of some kind. Prather Jr. cooled down considerably after his hot start but is contributing as a rotation player. Bandaogo has been a solid starter for a pretty average Cincinnati team.

Something to watch...

Came here to say Athletics did a fantastic job yesterday. Great giveaway, ceremony was awesome, the video they put together was really cool, we had a spotlight for intros - seriously, I don't know who is behind the renewed energy or if it's a collective effort, but they're doing a hell of a job this season.

We've struggled from distance over the last two games: vs CMU: 5-18, 27.8% vs NIU: 5-21, 23.8% Wilson was was 2-9 in those games and is 3-14 over his last 3. Not to pin it all on him, of course, but the offense seems to operate so much more efficiently when he's on target from deep.

Only 5 games left, I updated the original post.

They just showed Red Panda on TNT performing at All-Star Weekend!

The life of a student-athlete is very busy and the "student" part of that equation should come before anything. Forcing them to stay til the end of a game they are not a part of doesn't make much sense to me. And what are you going to do, block the doors? Athletics, Groce, and the players are doing a good job of connecting with students to try to draw more to games. Hopefully we'll draw a few more each game.

I'll update this post as we continue forward to the tournament. Final Bracket: 1-Akron 8-Bowling Green 4-Toledo 5-Ohio 3-Kent State 6-Western Michigan 2-Miami 7-Eastern Michigan

I've heard there will be a cool giveaway to fans that night.

Kent has 7 seniors and returned the large majority of their team that was a few plays away from a MAC Championship last season. Sendy blaming NIL for this is WEAK.

Ftom UA: "Enrique Freeman Night at James A. Rhodes Arena ceremony will be held prior to the game. All fans will receive 25% off tickets for Enrique Freeman Night." Promo Link: https://tinyurl.com/26hptqj2