kreed5120 Posted October 20 Report Posted October 20 I know @Zippy87 shared a link elsewhere, but I felt it deserved it's own thread. 2026-27 MAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll First Place Votes (x) 1. Miami – 130 (9) 2. Toledo – 117 (2) 3. Akron – 110 4. Kent State – 108 (1) 5. Ohio – 82 6. UMass – 79 7. Bowling Green – 63 8. Western Michigan – 58 9. Eastern Michigan – 56 10. Buffalo – 47 11. Ball State – 40 12. Central Michigan – 25 Tournament Champions: Miami (5), Toledo (4), UMass (2), Kent State (1) Preseason All-MAC First Team Mohammad Habhab, Eastern Michigan, Forward, R-So. Evan Ipsaro, Miami, Guard, Sr. Javan Simmons, Ohio, Forward, R-Sr. Luke Skaljac, Miami, Guard, Jr., Chansey Willis Jr., Kent State, Guard, Sr. Preseason All-MAC Second Team Sean Jones, Toledo, Guard, R-Sr. Evan Mahaffey, Akron, Wing, 5th-Sr. Austin Parks, Toledo, Center, Sr. Jackson Paveletzke, Ohio, Guard, 5th-Sr. Tahj Staveskie, Akron, Guard, R-Sr. 1 Quote
kreed5120 Posted October 20 Author Report Posted October 20 (edited) The field of 68 is hosting media day. You can find the link here. Women's coverage began at 10AM. I watched Ryan Gensler earlier, but I didn't really have any takeaways to share other than it sounds like we have less roster turnover compared to previous years. Jon Steinbrecher will join at 1PM EST. They will be interviewing MAC men's coaches afterwards. Edited October 20 by kreed5120 Quote
Let'sGoZips94 Posted October 20 Report Posted October 20 No regular season 1st place votes or tournament champion votes. No 1st Team All MAC predictions. I understand we have a new coach and a decent amount of roster turnover, but my goodness - please continue to doubt the only ever 3-straight MAC champs. Bulletin board material. 2 Quote
kreed5120 Posted October 20 Author Report Posted October 20 Dustin and Tahj are the ones who interviewed for Akron. Below is a short clip. I watched the 15 minute interview, but I didn't really have anything specific worth sharing. For those wishing to go back and view Akron's interview is between Toledo and Kent. https://x.com/MACSports/status/2112620341608751437 Quote
kreed5120 Posted October 20 Author Report Posted October 20 45 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: No regular season 1st place votes or tournament champion votes. No 1st Team All MAC predictions. I understand we have a new coach and a decent amount of roster turnover, but my goodness - please continue to doubt the only ever 3-straight MAC champs. Bulletin board material. TBF Sendy openly admitted with the state of college basketball he was throwing darts. Said half the guys he put on All-MAC teams he's not even certain if they will be eligible given the lawsuits. Preseason ratings have never been good indicators of success, but they're especially bad this day and age. 1 Quote
Let'sGoZips94 Posted October 20 Report Posted October 20 2 hours ago, kreed5120 said: TBF Sendy openly admitted with the state of college basketball he was throwing darts. Said half the guys he put on All-MAC teams he's not even certain if they will be eligible given the lawsuits. Preseason ratings have never been good indicators of success, but they're especially bad this day and age. I'd imagine Sendy had at least Mahaffey as 1st team, and I'm not saying there is any legitimacy with the preseason rankings when it comes to reality. However, shouldn't someone have voted the Zips to be champs to at least not leave the complete list of bulletin board material for the most successful program since COVID to use as motivation? Even if there isn't a belief that Akron is going to be the class of the MAC, the reverse psychology would've been a decent play instead of this. Quote
kreed5120 Posted October 20 Author Report Posted October 20 Miami and Toledo probably have the most returning talent. I imagine that played a major part in coaches picking them 1 & 2. That would be my guess. I like the guys Akron brought in, but MAC coaches aren't going to be familiar with them. Especially for guys like Colin White who they have little tape on. 1 Quote
ZippyRulz Posted October 20 Report Posted October 20 3 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: No regular season 1st place votes or tournament champion votes. No 1st Team All MAC predictions. I understand we have a new coach and a decent amount of roster turnover, but my goodness - please continue to doubt the only ever 3-straight MAC champs. Bulletin board material. Usually when people diss you it's out of envy. 1 Quote
kreed5120 Posted October 20 Author Report Posted October 20 I was misinformed. Steinbrecher was actually interviewed at the end, not in-between the men's and women's reviews. He's such a company man and was openly glazing the NCAA. It was pretty nauseating. I was hoping to hear something about a new MAC TV deal or something along those lines, but nothing was brought up. 1 Quote
NWAkron Posted October 22 Report Posted October 22 Certainly missing Oggie. He was easily 1st or 2nd team. Likely POY in the Metro Atlantic. 1 Quote
pdt1420 Posted October 24 Report Posted October 24 Every basketball player with a first name like Sincere sucks. Change my mind. 1 Quote
kreed5120 Posted October 24 Author Report Posted October 24 He logged 96 games in power conference. For a program like EMU who probably doesn't have a lot of depth this has to sting. Not that they would have been MAC contenders anyway. Quote
Let'sGoZips94 Posted Sunday at 01:41 AM Report Posted Sunday at 01:41 AM 43 minutes ago, csims0917 said: Definitely hurts the conference NET too EMU in general is a stain on the conference. This likely will have a minimal effect on the NET. Quote
Let'sGoZips94 Posted Monday at 03:59 AM Report Posted Monday at 03:59 AM 6 hours ago, Zippy87 said: Not sure what's funnier. NIU beating Toledo in men's basketball Or NIU tweeting like this game actually counted 1 3 Quote
kreed5120 Posted Monday at 04:22 AM Author Report Posted Monday at 04:22 AM (edited) 23 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: Not sure what's funnier. NIU beating Toledo in men's basketball Or NIU tweeting like this game actually counted I peaked at their board today. There were a few fans who stated they think they're going to be contenders in the Horizon League this year. It gave me a good laugh. Edited Monday at 04:22 AM by kreed5120 Quote
Let'sGoZips94 Posted Monday at 01:19 PM Report Posted Monday at 01:19 PM (edited) 8 hours ago, kreed5120 said: I peaked at their board today. There were a few fans who stated they think they're going to be contenders in the Horizon League this year. It gave me a good laugh. Toledo's board would seem to agree with their optimism. One poster said NIU looked like last year's Miami OH squad - shot the ball at a 40% rate with one guy making 30+ ft 3s, no easy shots inside, etc. It's not like the Horizon League is a known basketball powerhouse. That being said, I hope they fail tremendously as punishment for being an eye sore for the MAC for years. Toledo only had 19 pts at the half and it was 55-37 at one point in the game. NIU outrebounded Toledo 38-28. However, apparently Parks didn't play much and Toledo was missing James Jr., although I'm not sure what they were expecting from James Jr. considering he was a 3 ppg player last year for the Rockets. Interesting note. Toledo's roster only has 13 guys listed on ESPN. Edited Monday at 01:20 PM by Let'sGoZips94 Quote
kreed5120 Posted Monday at 01:32 PM Author Report Posted Monday at 01:32 PM 7 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: It's not like the Horizon League is a known basketball powerhouse. That's a fair point. The Horizon is not a powerhouse, but they usually have a couple mid-majors that are typically fairly good (by mid-major standards), namely Wright State or Northern Kentucky. It drops off quickly after that, hence why a team like Detroit Mercy last year was able to make a run as all it requires is 1 or 2 upsets to really open up the field for everyone else. Quote
csims0917 Posted Monday at 02:01 PM Report Posted Monday at 02:01 PM The 0-12 MW money is already trickling down Quote
Zippy87 Posted Wednesday at 02:23 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 02:23 PM They did rings for regular season? 3 Quote
Let'sGoZips94 Posted Wednesday at 02:26 PM Report Posted Wednesday at 02:26 PM 2 minutes ago, Zippy87 said: They did rings for regular season? Rumor has it they're putting Skaljac's jersey in the rafters to honor his Preseason 1st Team All MAC, too. 1 Quote
kreed5120 Posted Wednesday at 02:29 PM Author Report Posted Wednesday at 02:29 PM (edited) 6 minutes ago, Zippy87 said: They did rings for regular season? Just 1 step up from Toledo fans wanting to hang banners for regular season attendance. Edited Wednesday at 02:30 PM by kreed5120 1 Quote
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