MAC SPRING Meetings

[Zippy87]

3 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Did the format accomplish that goal or did the teams? 

 

The 2 seed hasn't missed a Championship Game yet in the current format. See my previous post for who the 1 seeds were that missed. 

 

Both. But winning three games when everyone has equal rest vs winning two games with one or two less games than your opponent is a pretty clear advantage for the higher seed. 

[RoyalBlu]

If the conference tournament is designed to make money ... the current format accomplishes that.

 

If the MAC wants to reward the regular-season Champion, either don't have a tournament ... or seed the regular-season champion direct to the MAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP game.

 

No in between bullshit.

 

The rest of the league fights to play the champion. For the well-rested champion, it's one game, win or go home.

 

Think of the crowd - both in the arena and on TV - on Saturday night to see if a rested undefeated Miami could finish the job, no matter what MAC team they played.

 

[ZippyRulz]

Or give all the Wagon Wheel points and trophies to the regular season champs and just let the MAC tourneys be for advancing to the NCAA tourneys.

 

[GP1]

I think the MAC BB tournament is a really good event for Cleveland. I wouldn't want to see it go away. 

 

I would like to see the better regular season teams rewarded. 

 

I'll throw this idea out. I'm not even sure how I feel about it. What if instead of a tournament in Cleveland, the MAC had a best of three championship series in Cleveland between the first and second place regular season teams?  Potentially three straight days? Winner goes to March Madness. 

[RoyalBlu]

3 hours ago, GP1 said:

I think the MAC BB tournament is a really good event for Cleveland. I wouldn't want to see it go away. 

 

I would like to see the better regular season teams rewarded. 

 

I'll throw this idea out. I'm not even sure how I feel about it. What if instead of a tournament in Cleveland, the MAC had a best of three championship series in Cleveland between the first and second place regular season teams?  Potentially three straight days? Winner goes to March Madness. 

 

The problem with this scenario above ... it does not take into effect injuries have on a season - overall or in part. I remember one season Sczerbiak injuried his wrist and missed 4-6 games with Miami going .500 in that stretch, enough to cost them the regular season title even though they were clearly the best team. In other years teams have lost players for the season, and did not become 'dangerous' until late in the season with a new lineup.

 

In short, while the MAC is indeed a 1-bid league, it is not a 1-team conference. Most seasons anywhere from three to five teams would be solid NCAA Tournament representatives, even though all of them are likely-probably-definitely losers in the first round of the tournament.

 

On Cleveland's neutral court, one of those 3-5 teams is 90-percent going to win the tournament. I'm good with that.

 

The MAC Tournament, in my mind, celebrates the season. Guarantee the regular season champ a NIT bid, no matter what its NET/Kenpom ranking is. Give that team a financial reward for winning the regular season title. That, plus the No. 1 seed should be a viable reward.

 

But don't fuk with the tournament. 

 

Again, I would love to have/hear Dustin publicly stand up for this. As a former MAC player and now head coach I would be shocked if he wants a double-bye or any other gimmick messing with the current tournament format.

 

[Let'sGoZips94]

Odd.

 

MAC/Sun Belt Extend Challenge Through 2028-29 Season

[NWAkron]

3 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Odd.

 

MAC/Sun Belt Extend Challenge Through 2028-29 Season

downright perplexing.

[exit322]

4 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Odd.

 

MAC/Sun Belt Extend Challenge Through 2028-29 Season

 

Eh, it adds decent games in the mid-major world and probably gets a couple on the television.  I see the reason to do it.

 

It's not life-changing, but it's not that bad.

Edited 6 hours ago by exit322

[kreed5120]

I actually like the series TBH. I know some expressed they would prefer to pair with a different conference or have a multi-conference event, but that's not happening. At least not in the immediate future.

 

The SunBelt and MAC are two relatively comparable conferences and in fact the SunBelt has more wins than the MAC in the series so we're not in a position to look down on them.

Edited 5 hours ago by kreed5120