BracketBuster Review: A Dash of Flash
It was a nice week for the MAC, but even more so for the Kent State Golden Flashes who made their first-ever regular season appearance in the Top 25 polls this past week and catapulted into the Top 30 RPI. Barring a total late-season collapse the Golden Flashes have likely secured a spot in the Big Dance without having to win the MAC Tournament in Cleveland.

The Golden Flashes (23-5, 11-2 MAC) solidified their post-season posture with an upset 65-57 victory over the St. Mary's Gaels late Saturday night on the West Coast. The Gaels, who were ranked as high as number twenty in the polls, were previously undefeated at home before encountering head coach Jim Christian's crew, led by JUCO transfer Al Fisher who has probably secured our Newcomer of the Year award with his recent performances.

Fisher, a JUCO player that was signed sight-unseen by Christian (talk about catching a break) prior to this season, matched his career high with 28 points and took over the last ten minutes of the contest, willing the Golden Flashes to victory. The win propelled Kent State into the Top 25 in both major polls, scoring the 23rd spot in the AP Writers Poll and 24th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.

The Golden Flashes have three games remaining; at Bowling Green Saturday; vs. Miami on Mach 4 (on ESPN2) and then a season-ending rematch at rival Akron on March 9 so the Flashes cannot relax. But by winning at least two of their final games, the Flashes will likely secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament regardless of how far they advance in the MAC Tournament.

Elsewhere, in the wake of BracketBuster Saturday, the Ohio Bobcats likely helped themselves the most of the MAC teams looking to get the attention of the Tournament committee by defeating George Mason 69-57 at home. The Bobcats (18-9, 8-5 MAC) now own an RPI of 59 with quality wins over Maryland and George Mason. While the Bobcats, like the rest of the MAC (excluding Kent State), will still likely need to score a MAC Tournament title to get an NCAA bid they may have also positioned themselves for potential consideration for an NIT bid or invitation to the newest postseason tournament, the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).

In the MAC's other two televised BrackeBusters contests, Akron fell 57-52 at home to VCU despite the return of Jeremiah Wood from MCL repair, and Miami dropped a hard fought double overtime affair at Valparaiso, 99-94.

The MAC is now 12-14 all-time in televised BracketBusters contests.

MAC West leader Western Michigan also took care of business in the BracketBusters with a come from behind 74-67 road win over Wisconsin Green-Bay.

Looking Ahead
Each week leading up to the MAC Tournament we will take a look at where teams would be seeded heading into MAC Madness in Cleveland.

The MAC West title was settled this past Tuesday night when the Western Michigan Broncos (17-10, 10-3 MAC) sewed up first place by virtue of their 56-49 win over Northern Illinois. The win gave the Broncos a four game cushion with three games remaining. The Broncos have now claimed a MAC West title three times in the past five seasons. Currently the Broncos hold the number two seed heading into the MAC Tournament.

Kent State remains the top-seed overall and maintains a two-game lead in the MAC East over second-place Akron.

Here is the current breakdown of how the teams would matchup in the first two rounds if the MAC Tournament started today (February 29):

Opening Round (Seed):
(8) Bowling Green vs. (9) Toledo
(5) Miami vs. (12) Buffalo
(7) Central Michigan vs. (10) Ball State
(6) Eastern Michigan vs. (11) Northern Illinois

Quarterfinals (Seed):
(1) Kent State vs. Bowling Green/Toledo
(2) Western Michigan vs. Central Michigan/Ball State
(3) Akron vs. Eastern Michigan/Northern Illinois
(4) Ohio vs. Miami/Buffalo

Fans Like Kent State, Ohio
This past week we asked our readers which MAC team, if any, has the best shot at securing an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. Nor surprisingly, Kent State was the overwhelming choice of the fans followed by Ohio.

Here is the final tally:

This week we ask who is the frontrunner for coach of the year honors in the MAC. We selected the coaches from the teams that would be seeded among the top eight if the MAC Tournament started today. To vote, click the box labeled "polls" in the top right corner of this page.

Northern Illinois Resumes Play
In the wake of the tragic shootings that claimed the lives of five students at Northern Illinois on February 14, the Huskies had cancelled all athletic events through February 24 but recently resumed play.

The Huskies' game against Western Michigan that was originally scheduled for February 17 was made up on February 26 with the Broncos defeating the Huskies, 56-49.

Soaring Eagles?
Flying well under the radar this season have been the Eastern Michigan Eagles. But the Eagles have themselves potentially positioned for their best regular season finish in several years.

Currently in a second-place tie with Central Michigan in the MAC West (but holding the tie-breaker over CMU), the Eagles finish the 2007-2008 campaign with three games against teams (vs Ball State, at Toledo and vs Northern Illinois) with a cumulative record of 19-56. Two of their three remaining games are at home where the Eagles have been tough this season, recording wins over Illinois State, Ohio and Western Michigan.

Eastern Michigan (11-15, 6-7 MAC) has finished higher than third place on only two occasions since the MAC went to divisional play in 1997.

The Eagles finished with a 13-5 conference mark at the conclusion of the 1997-1998 campaign, one-game behind Western Michigan and Ball State which finished tied at the top of the MAC West standings. The Eagles went on to claim the MAC Tournament title that season behind tournament MVP Earl Boykins. The Eagles also claimed second place in the MAC West in 1999-2000 but have not finished above .500 in conference play since their title run in 1997-1998.

The Eagles have seemingly been getting it done lately with smoke and mirrors, propelled in part by two players plucked from the Eagles' football roster as wide receivers Tyler Jones and Travis Lewis have logged serious minutes in the Eagles' backcourt with Lewis potentially the MAC's second-toughest toughest defender behind Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner, Kent State's Haminn Quaintance.

EMU has not been shy either about taking long distance shots. The Eagles are second in the MAC in three point field goal conversions (behind Akron) and are averaging a league-high 23.4 three point attempts in league play.

Coming off an 86-82 BracketBusters win over SE Missouri State, the Eagles have won three of their last four games heading into the homestretch. EMU head coach Charles Ramsey is now 3-0 in BracketBusters games.

But before the Eagles get too far ahead of themselves, they still have a road tilt at Toledo on March 4. The Rockets have won 19 straight MAC games at Savage Hall although the Rockets did fall 77-69 to Delaware at home Saturday for only their second home loss of the season. The Eagles are 1-6 on the road in conference play.

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

For games played through February 24, 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, at 58th nationally.

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

Overall the MAC is currently ranked 13th in RPI and 4th in non-conference SOS out of 31 conferences.

The Latest Mid-Major Poll
The Kent State Golden Flashes jumped three spots up to number five in the latest Mid-Major Top 25 Coaches Poll following their victory over St Mary's while Ohio made the biggest jump this past week after falling out of the Mid-Major Top 25 coaches poll the preceding week, the Bobcats are currently ranked 23rd on the heels of their win over George Mason

Akron fell in the poll for the third straight week, dropping from 14th to 18th after falling 57-52 at home to VCU. The Zips were 4-3 in the month of February.

MAC coaches Charles Ramsey (Eastern Michigan) and Steve Hawkins (Western Michigan) each have a vote in the weekly survey of mid-major collegiate coaches.

Players of the Week
The MAC announced its choices for players of the week for games played from February 19-23, 2008:

MAC East Player of the Week:
Al Fisher, G, Kent State
Kent State junior guard Al Fisher made it two straight, and four this season, as he was named MAC East Player of the Week following a pair of games that saw him average 24 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4 assists per game. Fisher started his week by scoring 20 points, pulling down five boards and adding six assists and three steals in Kent State's 76-66 win over Buffalo but Fisher saved his best for St. Mary's when he matched his career high with 28 points, including 16 second-half points in leading the Golden Flashes to victory in their nationally televised BracketBusters matchup.

MAC West Player of the Week:
David Kool, G, Western Michigan
Western Michigan sharpshooter David Kool picked up his second MAC West Player of the Week honor this season after averaging 17 points and shooting 50% form three-point range this past week. Kool scored a game-high 19 points in leading Western Michigan's comeback victory over Wisconsin-Green Bay Saturday night in the Broncos' BracketBusters contest. Earlier Kool contributed 15 points and five rebounds in the Broncos' 70-52 win over Eastern Michigan as WMU clinched the MAC West title.

**Kent State head coach Jim Christian currently owns the best winning percentage (.702) of any head coach in MAC history. Christian currently has a record of 132-56.

**In losing to Northern Illinois and VCU, Akron was dealt back-to-back home court setbacks for the first time since the 2001-2002 season. 

**The Bulls have struggled this season in the MAC but have thrived at home against non-conference opponents. Their 95-82 BracketBusters win over Youngstown State gave the Bulls a 5-0 record at home this season in out of conference contests.

**Central Michigan senior point guard Giordan Watson has come off the bench in the last two contests after starting 22 of the Chips' first 24 games but that hasn't slowed down Watson's assault on the CMU record books. Watson now owns the top spot all-time at Central Michigan in assists and three-pointers and is two steals away from owning that mark as well.

**Interesting trend: Toledo is 0-8 this season when converting eight or more three-pointers in a game.

MAC Individual Statistical Leaders (through February 23, 2008)

This Week's MAC Schedule

Saturday, March 1
Kent State at Bowling Green, 12:30 pm
Ball State at Eastern Michigan, 2:00 pm
Central Michigan at Northern Illinois, 2:00 pm
Buffalo at Akron, 7:00 pm
Western Michigan at Toledo, 7:00 pm
Ohio at Miami, 7:30 pm

Note: All times local