Kent State finished last season with a 21-11 record and welcome back nine letterwinners, including five starters. Among those returning is preseason All-MAC selection Mike Scott. Scott was the only Golden Flash to start in all 32 games, averaging 9.4 ppg. He ranked seventh in the MAC in rebounding at 6.4 per game and was named to the All-MAC Honorable Mention squad after the season. Joining Scott is top reserve Haminn Quaintance. Quaintance averaged 8.2 points and 5.3 rebounds last season and was one of three Flashes to finish in the top 15 in the MAC in field goal percentage. Kent State is one of just nine Division I programs to win at least 20 games in each of the last nine seasons. KSU is also one of just seven teams to post at least 10 conference victories during that same span. The Golden Flashes received 10 first place votes and seven votes to win the FirstEnergy MAC Tournament.
Miami was picked to finish second in the East Division after posting an 18-15 record and received five votes to win the FirstEnergy MAC Tournament. After winning the Mid-American Conference Tournament title by defeating the No. 5, No. 1 and No. 2 seeds last season, the No. 4 seed RedHawks earned an automatic bid for the program's 17th NCAA Tournament appearance. Miami was the No. 14 seed in the Midwest Region in Spokane, Wash., and was edged by the No. 3 seed Oregon Ducks, 58-56. The RedHawks will return three starters from that squad, including two-time All-MAC selection Tim Pollitz. Pollitz finished MAC play ranked third in scoring (18.1 ppg.) and second in field goal percentage (.629) and was the only MAC player to be ranked among the top five in both categories.
Ohio was picked to finish third in the East and received five votes to win the FirstEnergy MAC Tournament. The Bobcats will have to replace two starters and 40-percent of their scoring from last year's 19-13 squad, but will have All-MAC performers Jerome Tillman and Leon Williams to lean on in 2007-08. Tillman averaged 14.6 ppg and 8.2 rpg. last season, while Williams contributed 14.4 ppg. and 8.8 rpg.
Akron was selected to finish fourth after claiming its first Mid-American Conference East Division championship since 1998 last season. Buffalo was picked to finish fifth and will look to rebound from a 12-19 record last season, while Bowling Green and new Head Coach Louis Orr rounded out the East Division in sixth place.
Western Michigan received 23 first place votes to win the West Division and returns 13 letterwinners, including every player who started a game a season ago, led by ESPN the Magazine First Team Academic All-America and Second Team All-MAC center Joe Reitz (13.9 ppg., 8.6 rpg.), Honorable Mention All-MAC guard Shawntes Gary (10.2 ppg., 3.6 rpg.) and MAC Freshman of the Year guard David Kool (11.4 ppg., 3.0 rpg.). Reitz has a chance to become the all-time leading scorer in Western Michigan history during the upcoming season. He is currently ninth with 1,234 points and in striking distance of Manny Newsome's 1,786 points. The Broncos also recevied six votes to win this year's FirstEnergy MAC Tournament.
The Rockets were selected to finish second in the West Division and have two starters and six letterwinners returning from its MAC championship squad. Junior Kashif Payne will lead UT from his point guard position, and the 2006-07 MAC Defensive Player of the Year is the team's leading returning scorer at 7.6 points per per game. He also averaged 4.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game and has started 63 straight contests. Sophomore guards Jonathan Amos (6.1 ppg), Ridley Johnson (3.9 ppg) and Tyrone Kent (5.7 ppg) also return in the backcourt.
Under the direction of first-year coach Ernie Zeigler, Central Michigan tied for the nation's 17th best turnaround last season and was picked to finish third in the West Division. The Chippewas went 13-18 overall in 2007 after going 4-24 the previous year. It marked a seven-and-a-half game improvement. First team All-MAC guard Giordan Watson finished second in the league in scoring (18.8) and sixth in assists (4.16) last season. In all, he ranked in seven categories among the MAC leaders.
Eastern Michigan was selected to finish fourth, while Northern Illinois and new head coach Ricardo Patton were picked to finish fifth. Ball State and new head coach Billy Taylor rounded out the West Division in sixth.
The MAC regular season gets underway on Wednesday, November 8 as Buffalo faces Ohio Valley State in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Conference action begins on Saturday, January 5 as all teams will start to fight for position in the FirstEnergy Men's Basketball Tournament that will take place on March 12-15 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
2007-2008 Preseason Poll
|
East Division
|
Points
|
|
1. Kent State (10)
|
147
|
|
2. Miami (9)
|
146
|
|
3. Ohio (8)
|
131
|
|
4. Akron (5)
|
128
|
|
5. Buffalo
|
52
|
|
6. Bowling Green
|
47
|
|
West Division
|
Points
|
|
1. Western Michigan (23)
|
173
|
|
2. Toledo (6)
|
144
|
|
3. Central Michigan (3)
|
131
|
|
4. Eastern Michigan
|
92
|
|
5. Northern Illinois
|
58
|
|
6. Ball State
|
53
|
First place votes in parentheses ( )
Tournament Votes: Kent State (7), Western Michigan (6), Ohio (5), Miami (5), Akron (4), Toledo (3), Bowling Green (1).
