Captain Kangaroo Posted February 6, 2009 Report Posted February 6, 2009 Highly Scientific, Undeniably Accurate Lunchtime Analysis:#1 - Buffalo (15-5) Previous Rank #1Tight wins vs. WMU (74-71) and CMU (56-55) plus a 13-point victory over Toledo mean 3-0 over the past week, and allows the Bulls to maintain their season-long command of the coveted #1 slot. Do the close wins vs. WMU and CMU signal a chink in their armor? We shall see…. #2 – Akron (14-8)Previous Rank #3The Zips went 4-0 since the last Power Poll, with three road wins (@ YSU, @ Toledo and @ EMU) to go with their thorough dismantling of CMU at the JAR. Let me be the first to mention the Zips Chris McKnight has decided to step up and challenge OU’s Tillman for MAC POTY. Will the media take notice, or has the award already been forfeited to the increasingly mortal OU star? Did the Zips lose to #6 OU? Yes. Does that mean anything, ranking-wise, on February 6th? No. The Zips are playing better ball. Simple as that.#3 – Miami (13-7)Previous Rank #3 Redhawks are red hot. Beat NIU by 28…EMU by 15 and the surprisingly respectable Ball State by 18. Redhawk fans have been emailing me incessantly to move them to the #2 slot, but it just ain’t happening. Miami stays at #3 this week. #4 – Bowling Green (12-9)Previous Rank # 5Won @ Athens, then reeled off another 3-in-a-row vs the MAC West’s Ball State, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan. But then again…who doesn’t get a big win streak when they play MAC West teams?#5 BSU (10-10)Previous Rank #6Now 5-3 in the MAC West. Nice wins vs. Toledo and OU. But you can’t overlook the 4-point loss to BG and a butt-whuppin’ 18-point loss to Miami. Ball State appears to have a really good coach on their hands, because they certainly are not dripping with experience or talent. Look out for these guys in 2009-10…but not this year.#6 – OU (11-10)Previous Rank #2“Who doesn’t get a big win streak when they play MAC West teams?” The OU Bobcats, that’s who. After 5 consecutive wins the Bobcats have apparently hit a wall. They’ve lost 4-of-6, including an inexplicable 7-point loss to CMU and a sorry 44-point offensive effort in their 51-44 loss to Ball State. Yes, they curb-stomped NIU by 30 last night, but that’s not enough to impress the pollsters. Jerome Tillman poured in 24 in the NIU win, but his POTY candidacy is taking on water as his team hovers around .500.#7 – K.e.n.t. (11-11)Previous Rank #7 The Golden F.lashes may finally be starting to right their ship? A 22-point win vs. EMU, and 18-point win vs. WMU and a 29-point win vs. Toledo show that the ice water the Zips tossed down their backs 2 weeks ago may very well have awoken a sleeping giant? Then again…they’re stomping the D-II MAC West. The F.lashes don’t move up, but at least their fall has been broken.#8 WMU (7-14)Previous Rank #8They’ve lost 4-in-a row. But that’s pretty much the case for all MAC West schools as they play the east “beasts.” They were competitive (by MAC West standards) in their 4-point loss to Buffalo and 7-point loss to BG. But also chalked up a 17-point loss to K.e.n.t. along the way.#9 NIU (6-14)Previous Rank #9Lost to Miami by 28…BG by 7…and OU by 30. How many Huskie fans will make the trip from DeKalb to Cleveland for the MAC Tourney’s opening Tuesday game? I’m guessing the number is somewhere between Blutarski’s GPA and Niki McCoy’s BAC.#10 Akron Women’s Team (8-13)Previous Rank #11A nice win vs Toledo boosts the Lady Zips up a notch!#11 Toledo (4-18)Previous Rank #13The carnage continues for the Rockets basketball team. Losses by 13, 9 and 29 this past week. But the utter disgrace of EMU and CMU pull them out of the MAC basement for the first time this season!#12 EMU (3-19)Previous Rank #11I’ve lost track of how many consecutive games these clowns have lost? The only team they could beat right now is one coached by Dan Hipsher in the MAC tourney (always a mortal lock for any Zips opponent).#13 CMU (6-14) Previous Rank #10Yeah they beat OU. And yeah they played Buffalo tough. But these SOB’s are banished to the basement for the remainder of 2009 in response to their pathetic “effort” against the Zips January 31st. Taking the air out of the ball in the 1st half, down by double digits!! How much money did their coach make taking Akron and the points in that game??!! Some bookie got fleeced! Quote
skip-zip Posted February 6, 2009 Report Posted February 6, 2009 This makes me want to start to look ahead to the end of the regular season, and start to think of the scenarios....So....who will get those #3 and #4 spots in the MAC tourney????Assuming that Ball State wins the West and gets that #2 spot, that leaves 6 teams that currently sit within 2 game of each other battling for the last 2 spots...Miami at 6-2Akron and BG at 5-3Can't State, OU and Western Michigan at 4-4As much as I want to count WMU out of the equation, remember, they'll close their season playing 5 games against the much weaker side of the conference. And those of us in the East all have to play each other one more time.This should be interesting. Quote
ZachTheZip Posted February 6, 2009 Report Posted February 6, 2009 Akron currently owns the tie-breaker for the 4th seed, which means as of right now we have a bye. Quote
Captain Kangaroo Posted February 10, 2009 Author Report Posted February 10, 2009 #2 – Akron (14-8)Previous Rank #3The Zips went 4-0 since the last Power Poll, with three road wins (@ YSU, @ Toledo and @ EMU) to go with their thorough dismantling of CMU at the JAR. Let me be the first to mention the Zips Chris McKnight has decided to step up and challenge OU’s Tillman for MAC POTY. Will the media take notice, or has the award already been forfeited to the increasingly mortal OU star? #6 – OU (11-10)Previous Rank #2“Who doesn’t get a big win streak when they play MAC West teams?” The OU Bobcats, that’s who. After 5 consecutive wins the Bobcats have apparently hit a wall. They’ve lost 4-of-6, including an inexplicable 7-point loss to CMU and a sorry 44-point offensive effort in their 51-44 loss to Ball State. Yes, they curb-stomped NIU by 30 last night, but that’s not enough to impress the pollsters. Jerome Tillman poured in 24 in the NIU win, but his POTY candidacy is taking on water as his team hovers around .500.The PD's Elton Alexander is obviously lurking on the "Akron Fan Message Board" (God forbid he mention the name, even though he uses it for material). His latest column discusses Tillman's loosening grip on the MAC POTY award. Just to make the "idea borrowing" a little less obvious, he's omitted Chris McKnight from the POTY competition. It is also interesting that the MAC FOTY is apparently locked up by a center from Ball State? I hope Cventinovic takes that as a challenge tomorrow. Quote
skip-zip Posted February 10, 2009 Report Posted February 10, 2009 I'd love to make an argument for Chris to be POTY. As I anticipated in the off-season, he has emerged as the best player on our team. So, he's obviously very valuable to us. But, I'm guessing his numbers will prevent him from getting much notice from the voters. Quote
Captain Kangaroo Posted February 10, 2009 Author Report Posted February 10, 2009 If Tillman gets on-track and OU finishes the season strong, it is Tillman's to lose. If not, and the Zips continue to roll, C McKnight should get it. Wins over Buffalo and Miami would be pretty much mandatory for it to happen. Quote
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