Why does this league stink?

[Sergeant Zip]

Pat Forde:

The MAC currently is rated the No. 18 league in the land by Jeff Sagarin's computer (and 21st in the RPI). That's a fairly precipitous fall from even the modest position the Midwestern collection of colleges once held.

From 2000 to '05, the MAC average was No. 11 in Sagarin's ratings. From 2006 to the present, that rank is No. 16. And this season, it's all the way down to 18 -- just behind the Summit League and just ahead of the Big West (not to be confused in the slightest with the Big East).

Sagarin does not rank a single MAC school in his top 100 -- there simply isn't a single entity in the 12-team league to get overly excited about. As recently as 2007-08, the MAC had five in the Sagarin top 100.

In 2002, Can't State reached the Elite Eight with Antonio Gates playing power forward. In 1999, Miami (Ohio) made the Sweet 16 behind Wally Szczerbiak. In 1990, Ball State advanced to the Sweet 16, where the Cardinals nearly upset eventual national champion UNLV. The next season, Eastern Michigan made it to that round.

So this is a league with some history. But it now has become a mystery.

Maybe the general population decline in the industrial centers of the upper Midwest has had an impact on recruiting. Maybe schools have felt the budgetary crunch of playing football at the highest classification and it has affected the basketball bottom line. Maybe there are too many aging facilities, mismanaged athletic departments and uninspiring coaches.

Whatever the root cause, MAC basketball is floundering. And there's no reason to believe that will change anytime soon.

Wow, do I have rose colored glasses on or is this over the top? Uninspring coaches? Floudering? Does Forde think Can't State spends too much cash on football? Think Forde will be in Cleveland watching any games because he probably hasn't seen a game this year? It seems to me he looked at some computer's numbers and put down a bunch of words to fill an article?

[zip37]

Noola the heck outta ne.