Unlike the Postal Service, snow and ice can stop the Power Rankings. No matter, we’re back at it this week. Since we last talked, Kent ran their winning streak to 8 before Buffalo stopped them, Akron regained a share of the East lead, and Ball State joined Central Michigan atop the West. Just four games remain in the conference season, and there a lot of musical chairs to be played.
1. Kent State (18-8, 9-3) (1): A truly awful shooting performance at Buffalo killed the Flashes’ margin for error. That brickfest aside, the offense had been humming along to accompany the defense Kent fans have come to expect. Chris Singletary is only playing 25.8 minutes a game- whistles seem to be magnetically attracted to him- but he’s making the most of those limited minutes, making key contributions on both sides of the court. This week: Ohio (Wednesday), Western Carolina (Saturday, ESPNU)
2. Akron (19-7, 9-3) (4): Looks like the Zips have finally found some consistent offense, and they’ve made their move to secure the top seed in Cleveland. A two overtime war against Ohio (they managed a rare win with a negative efficiency margin) was almost as impressive as sweeping the West leaders on the road. This team is tough as nails mentally. Wednesday’s affair with Miami will give one team the inside track to challenging Kent. This week: @Miami (Wednesday), @Virginia Commonwealth (Saturday, ESPNU)
3. Miami (11-14, 8-4) (3): Nobody’s really talking about them, but the RedHawks are lurking. What’s more, they finally started winning on the road. One ardent Miami fan pointed out MU started the season with Kenny Hayes, Antonio Ballard, and Julian Mavunga recovering from injuries. Point well taken, but they’re also playing a lot more home games: They only played four in the pre-conference schedule and had an entire month away from Millett before hosting Kent last month. This week: Akron (Wednesday), Southeast Missouri (Saturday)
4. Central Michigan (12-12, 7-5) (2): The East was not kind to the Chips, as CMU dropped three straight to fall back to the West pack. Robbie Harman has had the hot hand, shooting 16-27 from the field, including 12-21 from deep, in the last two games. This week: @Ball State (Wednesday), Tennessee State (Saturday)
5. Ball State (13-11, 7-5) (5): Wow, how tough was that loss to Akron? Still, that showed as much as everything else that the Cardinals aren’t going away, even though Kent swallowed them up the next game. A home win over CMU sets Ball State up well down the stretch to secure a second straight West crown. This week: Central Michigan (Wednesday), Tennessee-Martin (Saturday)
6. Buffalo (14-9, 7-5) (7): The Bulls eased nobody’s anxiety after barely holding on against Toledo. Then they shoot an effective field goal percentage of 71.9%(!) against Eastern Michigan and vaporize Kent State. So is UB turning it around? Skepticism prevails. The Bulls benefited from a once-in-a-season shooting performance against EMU and Kent’s worst shooting of the season. The lack of consistency indicates UB will continue to struggle. This week: Bowling Green (Wednesday), @Saint Peter’s (Saturday)
7. Bowling Green (13-11, 6-6) (8): Scott Thomas is leading the team in scoring, but he’s taking a lot of shots to do it. Thomas has launched 143 shots from the field and has only scored 134 points from them. He simply must stop shooting threes. Someone connecting on 24.1% of attempts should not be shooting 4.8 a game. The bright side is that he’s getting to the line 5 times a game and is making a solid 72.1%. This week: @Buffalo (Wednesday), Valparaiso (Saturday)
8. Eastern Michigan (13-12, 5-7) (9): Officially the Team You Don’t Want to See in the Quarterfinals. The team has zero depth, but Carlos Medlock, Justin Dobbins (who is playing inspired ball before Cleveland for once), and Brandon Bowdry is as good a nucleus as any in the MAC. When Medlock is getting to the line and heating up from distance, the Eagles are a tough out. This week: @Toledo (Wednesday), @Detroit (Saturday)
9. Ohio (14-12, 5-7) (10): Just give DJ Cooper the Freshman of the Year award now. It wasn’t just his superhuman effort at Akron (33 points, 7 board, 5 assists, 3 steals), but his overall excellence all year that highlights Cooper. The point guard from Chicago has a sterling 2.52 assist to turnover ratio, pulls down 5.5 rebounds a game (huge number for someone so small), and has played less than 35 minutes exactly once. Reggie Keely has also improved markedly, so the future looks bright in Athens. More immediately, the short bench could lead to sputtering down the stretch. This week: @Kent State (Wednesday), Wright State (Saturday)
10. Western Michigan (13-12, 5-7) (6): The Broncos are getting worse, not better. We all know about David Kool, and Martelle McLemore shows up some nights, but what else is there? Not much. If someone, anyone, could give Kool some help, they’d be a darkhorse come tournament time. Steve Hawkins’ excuse making has grown tiresome: It’s your team, Hawk. You made this. This week: Northern Illinois (Wednesday), @Southern Illinois (Friday)
11. Northern Illinois (8-16, 4-8) (11): The collapse continues, as the Huskies have now lost seven straight. Xavier Silas, for his part, leads the conference in points per 40 minutes. He almost single-handedly carried NIU to a win over Ball State, but defenses know to key on Silas now. The way the Huskies defense has played (BSU game aside), Silas is going to have to score 40 a game to give them a chance. This week: @Western Michigan (Wednesday), @Eastern Illinois (Saturday)
12. Toledo (3-23, 0-12) (12): Excited for the possibility in a macabre way of a Toledo/NIU game with the Rockets on a 20-game losing streak and NIU on a 11-game skid. How in the world did they draw Cleveland State in the BracketBuster? This week: Eastern Michigan (Wednesday), @Cleveland State (Saturday)
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Miami (11-14, 8-4) (3): Nobody’s really talking about them, but the RedHawks are lurking. What’s more, they finally started winning on the road. One ardent Miami fan pointed out MU started the season with Kenny Hayes, Antonio Ballard, and Julian Mavunga recovering from injuries. Point well taken, but they’re also playing a lot more home games: They only played four in the pre-conference schedule and had an entire month away from Millett before hosting Kent last month.
Central Michigan (12-12, 7-5) (2): The East was not kind to the Chips, as CMU dropped three straight to fall back to the West pack. Robbie Harman has had the hot hand, shooting 16-27 from the field, including 12-21 from deep, in the last two games.
Ball State (13-11, 7-5) (5): Wow, how tough was that loss to Akron? Still, that showed as much as everything else that the Cardinals aren’t going away, even though Kent swallowed them up the next game. A home win over CMU sets Ball State up well down the stretch to secure a second straight West crown.
Buffalo (14-9, 7-5) (7): The Bulls eased nobody’s anxiety after barely holding on against Toledo. Then they shoot an effective field goal percentage of 71.9%(!) against Eastern Michigan and vaporize Kent State. So is UB turning it around? Skepticism prevails. The Bulls benefited from a once-in-a-season shooting performance against EMU and Kent’s worst shooting of the season. The lack of consistency indicates UB will continue to struggle.
Bowling Green (13-11, 6-6) (8): Scott Thomas is leading the team in scoring, but he’s taking a lot of shots to do it. Thomas has launched 143 shots from the field and has only scored 134 points from them. He simply must stop shooting threes. Someone connecting on 24.1% of attempts should not be shooting 4.8 a game. The bright side is that he’s getting to the line 5 times a game and is making a solid 72.1%.
Eastern Michigan (13-12, 5-7) (9): Officially the Team You Don’t Want to See in the Quarterfinals. The team has zero depth, but Carlos Medlock, Justin Dobbins (who is playing inspired ball before Cleveland for once), and Brandon Bowdry is as good a nucleus as any in the MAC. When Medlock is getting to the line and heating up from distance, the Eagles are a tough out.
Ohio (14-12, 5-7) (10): Just give DJ Cooper the Freshman of the Year award now. It wasn’t just his superhuman effort at Akron (33 points, 7 board, 5 assists, 3 steals), but his overall excellence all year that highlights Cooper. The point guard from Chicago has a sterling 2.52 assist to turnover ratio, pulls down 5.5 rebounds a game (huge number for someone so small), and has played less than 35 minutes exactly once. Reggie Keely has also improved markedly, so the future looks bright in Athens. More immediately, the short bench could lead to sputtering down the stretch.
Western Michigan (13-12, 5-7) (6): The Broncos are getting worse, not better. We all know about David Kool, and Martelle McLemore shows up some nights, but what else is there? Not much. If someone, anyone, could give Kool some help, they’d be a darkhorse come tournament time. Steve Hawkins’ excuse making has grown tiresome: It’s your team, Hawk. You made this.
Northern Illinois (8-16, 4-8) (11): The collapse continues, as the Huskies have now lost seven straight. Xavier Silas, for his part, leads the conference in points per 40 minutes. He almost single-handedly carried NIU to a win over Ball State, but defenses know to key on Silas now. The way the Huskies defense has played (BSU game aside), Silas is going to have to score 40 a game to give them a chance.
Toledo (3-23, 0-12) (12): Excited for the possibility in a macabre way of a Toledo/NIU game with the Rockets on a 20-game losing streak and NIU on a 11-game skid. How in the world did they draw Cleveland State in the BracketBuster?