Overall MAC record to be used.

[ZachTheZip]

http://www.ay-ziggy-zoomba.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19815

I contacted the MAC Office today to ask a question concerning the format that will be used to determine the MAC Divisional Champions this year. After noticing that BG will not play all the MAC East (won’t face Temple) and that a few other schools won’t play all divisional foes, coupled with the unbalanced league and number of teams in each division, I figured it would be changing. It is. The overall MAC record will be used to determine the East and West Champion. This was the exact response I got from the conference office today: “Overall MAC record will be used. No more standings with the division-only record will be kept.” Funny enough, if this was the format used last year (based on the actual MAC games played which differed for some teams), BG would have been MAC East Champions as we finished 6-2 (overall in the MAC) ahead of Miami (5-2) and Buffalo (5-3). All three teams were 4-2 in the MAC East. Obviously the format was different last year and not everyone played the same number of MAC games so its sort of like comparing apples to oranges. But it goes to show the difference of how if conference vs. divisional games count, it can changes the picture in the standings. I like this format a lot. It makes all MAC games important again no matter who you play. In the old format, a cross-divisional game was essentially a non-conference game unless of a tie-break. This way, all eight MAC games "really" count as opposed to the five (MAC West) or six (MAC East) games that you played in your division. I like the change.

This was posted on the BG boards.

[ZachTheZip]

This means that MAC West teams count the same as East teams.Every MAC team plays eight games this year, making a three-way tie impossible to resolve.

[UADavid]

This means that MAC West teams count the same as East teams.Every MAC team plays eight games this year, making a three-way tie impossible to resolve.

I would think head to head is still relevant.

[Zip Watcher]

It'll have to go to something like hoops, right?So first tie-breaker is head to head. In a 3way tie, that's 1-1 for all teams.Then it would go to best record against the top teams in the league, going down the list.Unless three teams tie with 1 conference loss each (against one of the other 2), that would solve the issue, since they'd all have lost at least 1 other game. .. but then if they all lose to the 4th place team .. hmmm.Maybe overall record has to be factored in?

[you am i]

That change was overdue. IMO, that was one stupid rule. Did any other conference have a similar rule?

[ZachTheZip]

It's actually against NCAA rules, but the MAC got a waiver. In order to have a championship game, all teams in a division must play eachother, which means that only the division record needs to be used to get a divisional champ. They did this because of the unbalanced schedule.