Bowling Green thrives in the cozy confines of Anderson Arena

Lovin' That Home Cookin'
From knowing the sweet spot on the backboard to being comfortable with the lighting, or lack thereof in some cases, to knowing where the sunlight glares and reflects off the floor and of course the enthusiasm of the fans, home court has its advantages. Maybe more so in basketball than any other sport and Mid-American Conference squads have taken full advantage of the home court so far this season.

The first week of conference play certainly seemed to re-enforce the benefits of some home cooking.

All six home teams won their opening games this past weekend in the MAC, including Bowling Green which upset Ohio 52-49. The Falcons, playing in outdated, cramped Anderson Arena may hold the MAC's top home court advantage. Playing in a gym that is smaller and older than most high school gyms, Bowling Green's fans, when the team is going well, play as big of a role in their team's game as the players themselves with the stands suffocatingly close to the players.

It's a unique environment and something that Ohio coach Tim O'Shea recently noted when discussing the Bobcats' loss to Bowling Green.

"I really think a good part of our problem was that some of our players had not played at Anderson Arena before," said O'Shea. "It's a difficult place to play and the backgrounds are difficult when shooting the ball."

With a 6-0 mark in the opening week of conference play, home teams in the MAC have compiled a 46-17 mark, including a 40-17 record in non-conference games to date, winning their games at home at a rate of .730.

The road to the MAC championship lies within whatever team or teams can get it done on the road, not just at home.

Among the notable home and road streaks in the MAC:

Akron has won 18 straight games at home, the seventh longest such streak in the nation. The Zips have also posted wins in 39 of their last 40 home games, including an active 21-game regular season home wining streak. The Zips' last home loss a 73-71 setback to 25th-ranked Nevada on December 22, 2006. Their last conference loss at home was a 57-54 decision to Kent State on February 9, 2005.

Bowling Green has won seven straight MAC conference home openers and 13 of their last 14 overall.

Buffalo has lost 15 straight road games. The Bulls' last road victory was at Temple when Buffalo downed the Owls 64-62 on November 27, 2006.

Toledo is 50-6 at home since the start of the 2003-2004 season.

Breaking It Down
One final time, with the majority of the MAC's non-conference games now concluded with the exception of February's still to be determined Bracketbuster games and a smattering of non-conference games here and there, is the breakdown of the MAC's record against other conferences:

Tracking the RPI and SOS
Checking in on the latest numbers...

For games played through January 6, 2008, the MAC has four schools currently ranked in the Top 100 in RPI and three in the Top 65. Miami and Toledo both have non-conference schedules rated as being in top ten in terms of strength of schedule. Miami currently has the nation's fourth toughest schedule while Toledo owns the eighth toughest.

Below is the breakdown of each MAC squad's RPI and Strength of Schedule (SOS):

Players of the Week
The MAC announced its choices for players of the week for games played between January 1-7, 2008:

MAC East Player of the Week:
Haminn Quaintance, F, Kent State
Quaintance scored a career high 20 points in the Golden Flashes' recent clash with top-ranked North Carolina. Quaintance connected on his first seven shots and went 10-12 from the field in the contest in addition to pulling down a team-high six rebounds to go along with five assists, five steals and three blocked shots. Quaintance, who leads the MAC in both field goal percentage and blocks, followed that game by recording the third double-double of his career, recording 14 points and 12 rebounds in Kent State's 68-63 win over Buffalo. For the week, Quaintance averaged 17 points and 9 rebounds and shot 70% from the field.

MAC West Player of the Week:
Peyton Stovall, G, Ball State
Cardinals' senior guard Peyton Stovall averaged 27.5 points in two games this past week which included a career-high 37 point performance in Ball State's first win of the season against IPFW. Stovall went 10-16 from the field against IPFW and was 3-4 from beyond the three point arc and 14-17 from the charity stripe and also pulled down a game-high nine boards and added four assists. In Ball State's conference opener at Toledo, Stovall recorded 18 points and four rebounds. In addition to averaging 27.5 points for the week, Stovall also averaged 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

Short Jumpers...
**Central Michigan senior guard Giordan Watson recently joined some exclusive company. Watson became only the second player in Chippewas history, joining Tim Kisner, to accumulate 400 career assists and more than 1,000 career points.

**Akron is off to an 11-3 start, matching its best start under fourth-year head coach Keith Dambrot. The Zips also started out 11-3 in its first 14 games in the 2005-2006 season when Akron sprinted out to a 13-3 mark that season through its first 16 games.

**Stuck at 199. The next victory by Miami will be head coach Charlie Coles' 200th win as head coach of the RedHawks. Miami however has lost its last three games and has not recorded a victory since defeating Illinois 61-58 in overtime on December 20.

**The MAC has two squads in the top ten in the latest Mid-Major Top 25 Poll with Kent State coming in number eight and Akron at number nine. Ohio and Miami also received votes in the latest poll.

**Rocketing through the West. Toledo is 18-0 in its last 18 games against MAC West competition and 24-2 in its last 26 MAC regular-season games.

**Tough out East: Akron and Kent State currently own the MAC's top home records so far this season with both squads at 8-0. Buffalo and Ohio are also undefeated at home, at 4-0.

**With Kent State's conference opening 68-63 win over Buffalo, the Golden Flashes are now 10-1 in conference openers since the 1997-1998 season.

This Week's MAC Schedule

Wednesday, January 9
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Kent State, 7:00 pm

Saturday, January 12
Miami at Ohio, 2:00 pm
Western Michigan at Eastern Michigan, 4:00 pm
Kent State at Bowling Green, 7:00 pm
Akron at Buffalo, 7:00 pm ET

Sunday, January 13

Central Michigan at Ball State, 2:00 pm
Toledo at Northern Illinois, 2:00 pm

Note: All times local