Mid-Season Awards
With the MAC season having reached the halfway mark, we thought we would take a look at some of the top individual performers to date. Those who are familiar with MAC Report Online know that at the end of each season we hand out our own awards, separate from the MAC's official year end honors. Below are the performers that we see as the leaders at this point for our year-end awards.

Player of the Year
Leon Williams, Ohio
The senior forward is having another stellar season and is a primary reason that Ohio (15-6, 6-2) currently finds itself in the middle of a three-way tie with Akron and Kent State for the top spot in the MAC East and with a solid shot at an at-large NCAA bid if the cards fall just right for the Bobcats, especially if they prevail in their Bracketbuster contest against George Mason.

Williams is currently third in the MAC in scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game, tops the conference in rebounding with an average of 10.1 boards per game and is second in the MAC in field goal percentage (.608). Williams is also the only player in the conference averaging double figures in both scoring and rebounding and if those numbers hold up would be the first player in the MAC to average a double-double since Eastern Michigan's John Bowler averaged 20.1 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in 2005-2006.

Combining with Jerome Tillman, Williams and the Bobcats present the MAC's most formidable frontcourt duo and with the emergence of talented perimeter performers like Bert Whittington and Justin Orr and the strong point play of Michael Allen, opposing defenses cannot afford to focus on Williams which has certainly helped Williams' numbers to this point.

Through 21 games, Williams has topped the Bobcats in scoring nine times, including averaging over 20 points in each of Ohio's last three games and has topped Ohio in rebounding in 18 contests, including snaring a game-high 15 boards in Ohio's 61-55 win at Maryland.

Keeping an eye on: Giordan Watson, Central Michigan; Joe Reitz, Western Michigan; Tim Pollitz, Miami

Defensive Player of the Year
Haminn Quaintance, Kent State
When he is on his game, there is no more tenacious defender in the MAC this season than senior forward Haminn Quaintance who has the ability to change the flow of a game and interrupt opposing offenses.

Quaintance has picked up from where he left off last season, and then some, as the MAC's top shot blocking threat. Quaintance currently leads the MAC in blocked shots with 49 rejections (2.23 per game), already surpassing his total of 48 blocked shots from last season and has harassed opposing players with his quickness and defensive presence, recording 41 steals (2nd in the MAC) in 22 games.

There are several milestone benchmarks within Quaintance's grasp. With just three more blocks and two steals Quaintance will become the only active player in the NCAA to reach career marks of 1,200 points, 800 rebounds, 250 blocks, 250 assists and 200 steals.

'Q' has also been getting it done on the defensive glass, hauling in 104 defensive rebounds (3rd in the conference) so far this season. But the 6-8 senior forward is not a one-dimensional player as evidenced by the fact that Quaintance tops the MAC in field goal percentage, averaging 61.9% from the field which also makes him an outside threat for Player of the Year honors.

Keeping an eye on: Tyrone Kent, Toledo; Jonathan Amos, Toledo; Chris Knight, Bowling Green; Jeremiah Wood; Akron

6th Man of the Year
Calvin Betts, Buffalo
Each year this award is harder to quantify with coaches going away from a traditional, standard five-man starting rotation. Often the sixth man in today' s game plays more minutes than many starters. This season there are several strong candidates for sixth man of the year but at the halfway point we are impressed by Buffalo swingman Calvin Betts.

Betts, a sophomore, has appeared in all 20 games for the Bulls this season, coming off the bench in each contest, and is averaging 23.1 minutes per contest, fourth highest on the team. Betts leads the Bulls with an average of 6.7 rebounds per game and is averaging 8.3 points per contest. He ranks eighth in the MAC in rebounding, including sixth in defensive rebounding, while pacing the Bulls on the glass in each of their last nine games.

Despite his "part time" status, Betts appears in the top fifteen in the MAC in four individual categories (field goal percentage, rebounding, offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding).

Keeping an eye on: Steve McNees, Akron; Brian Moten, Bowling Green; Andre Ricks, Western Michigan.

Newcomer of the Year
Kenny Hayes, Miami
We will be introducing a new award this season, "Newcomer of the Year," and retiring our "Freshman of the Year" award. Freshman and other players in the first year of participation in a program will be eligible and right out of the gate, our leading contender is a JUCO transfer performer.

Miami guard Kenny Hayes, a junior transfer out of Cincinnati State, came into the season with a lot of expectations riding on his shoulders with head coach Charlie Coles pegging Hayes in the preseason as the RedHawks' starting point guard. Hayes started strongly, scoring 18 points in his first game for the RedHawks in Miami's victory over Xavier and after a rough stretch, regained his scoring touch.

Hayes has registered double-figures in scoring twelve times in 20 games this season and has started in all but one contest. Providing backcourt stability for a squad that was searching for consistency at both the point and shooting guard positions, Hayes has hit double-figures in each of the RedHawks' last seven games and recorded career highs in back-to-back games recently against Northern Illinois (25 points) and Ball State (27 points).

Hayes ranks third on the RedHawks (and 17th in the MAC), averaging 11.9 points per game and shares the team lead with Michael Bramos in free throw percentage at .776 which is good for tenth overall in the MAC.

Keeping an eye on: Chris Knight, Bowling Green; Darion Anderson, Northern Illinois; Malik Perry, Ball State; Bert Whittington IV, Ohio; Steve McNees, Akron; Al Fisher, Kent State. 

Coach of the Year
Louis Orr, Bowling Green
Coming off a 13-18 season that included winning only three of sixteen conference games in 2006-2007, not much was expected out of Bowling Green coming into this season under new head coach Louis Orr who took over the reigns of the Bowling Green program following the resignation of former head coach Dan Dakich.

Orr, a prolific NBA and collegiate player, came over to Bowling Green after previous coaching stops at Seton Hall and Siena College and made an immediate impression as one of the more affable and thoughtful coaches, the near opposite of his predecessor who was more akin to being a veritable mini-me version of Bobby Knight.

Orr's squad has been short-handed from early on with a season-ending injury to junior forward Erik Marschall; the departure of junior forward Dusan Radivojevic before the season started and the dismissal of senior guard Ryne Hamblet. All were players expected to make significant contributions this season. But Orr didn't flinch and the Falcons have responded.

The Falcons have already surpassed last season's conference victory total and at 5-3 are only one game behind the leaders in the MAC East. Orr's teaching has also taken hold as the team has embraced his philosophy, especially taking care of business on the defensive end.

Bowling Green tops the MAC in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to 40.5% from the field and three point field goal defense, with opponents only hitting 30.2% against the Falcons from downtown. The Falcons are also averaging a league-best 4.65 blocked shots per game. All are statistics that reflect Orr's workmanlike style of play.

With quality wins this season in non-conference play over Belmont, Furman and Cincinnati, Orr has turned around the Bowling Green program in lightning quick fashion while dealing with a seriously reduced roster. Halfway through the season, Orr is the clear leader for Coach of the Year honors in the MAC.

Keeping an eye on: Keith Dambrot, Akron; Jim Christian, Kent State;

This week we ask how many Bracketbuster games the MAC will win in this year's edition of the O'Reilly Auto Parts ESPNU Bracketbuster event. For background and a list of games, see our story here. To vote in this week's poll, just scroll to the top right portion of this page.

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

For games played through February 4, 2008, the MAC has two schools (Kent State and Ohio) currently ranked within the Top 65 in RPI. Miami currently has the MAC's highest rated strength of schedule, coming in at 33rd nationally.

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

The Latest Polls
Akron remained at number ten in the latest Mid-Major Top 25 Coaches Poll after sweeping Toledo and Eastern Michigan this past week while Kent State fell four spots from seventh to eleventh after splitting its games against Eastern Michigan (won) and Toledo (lost). Ohio made the biggest leap this week in the weekly poll, jumping seven spots up to 14th after sweeping its conference matchups against Central Michigan and Northern Illinois.

Also be sure to check out MAC Report Online's Jeffrey Fitzwater as he checks in with his weekly power rankings.

Players of the Week
The MAC announced its choices for players of the week for games played between January 29 and February 3, 2008:

MAC East Player of the Week:
Kenny Hayes, G, Miami
Hayes earned MAC East Player of the Week honors after averaging 26 points this past week, scoring a then career-high 25 points against Northern Illinois and then following that up by setting another career high with 27 points against Ball State. For the week Hayes shot 64% from the field, which included knocking down 60% of his three-point efforts (6-10). Hayes also was 92.3% from the free throw line (12-13) and averaged 35.5 minutes of game time.

MAC West Player of the Week:
Joe Reitz, F, Western Michigan
Reitz scored MAC West Player of the Week honors for the third time this season after a week that saw him average 25 points and nine rebounds per game in Western Michigan's victories over Buffalo and Bowling Green. Reitz shot 63.6% from the field and registered 29 points in double overtime duty against Buffalo, hitting 8-12 from the field and going 13-17 from the charity stripe. Reitz followed up with 21 points against Bowling Green and a game high nine rebounds.

MAC Individual Statistical Leaders (through February 2, 2008)

This Week's MAC Schedule

Tuesday, February 5
Buffalo at Northern Illinois, 7:00 pm

Wednesday, February 6
Akron at Western Michigan, 7:00 pm
Ball State at Kent State, 7:00 pm
Central Michigan at Bowling Green, 7:00 pm
Ohio at Eastern Michigan, 7:00 pm
Toledo at Miami, 7:30 pm

Saturday, February 9
Northern Illinois at Kent State, 2:00 pm
Central Michigan at Miami, 4:00 pm
Akron at Ball State, 7:00 pm
Western Michigan at Ohio, 7:00 pm

Sunday, February 10
Eastern Michigan at Buffalo, 4:00 pm
Toledo at Bowling Green, 4:00 pm

Note: All times local