 The East has been as dominant as ever, posting a 10-2 record against the West. Those two West victories, however, had a seismic effect on the East race and on these rankings. The three East leaders need to avoid a stumble the next four games to stay on top of division and a wide-open conference championship race.
1. Kent State (14-7, 5-2) (LW: 1)
The Golden Flashes played their best half of the season to throw the hammer down on Ball State and recapture the top spot in the power rankings. Randal Holt continued his improved play in Muncie before cooling off in the romp against Toledo. The weird thing about Kent is that they are among the league leaders only in offensive rebound percentage (second), opponent turnover rate (second), and assist-to-turnover ratio (second) but among the league cellar-dwellers in fouls per game (eleventh) and defensive rebounding percentage (last). In other words, they’re not particularly great at much or particularly weak at much. This is a team whose sum is greater than its parts.
This week: @Western Michigan (Wednesday), Central Michigan (Saturday)
2. Buffalo (13-6, 5-2) (LW: 5)
It’s safe to say that I was completely wrong about Buffalo. Margin of victory matters, and the Bulls don’t just have their best margin since moving up to D-I (+9), they’re nearly tripling the previous high (+3.6, three times). They’re near the top in many statistical categories, including effective field goal percentage (second), offensive points per possession (first), defensive points per possession (third), and defensive rebounding percentage (third). The Achilles heel is turnovers. They’re coughing up the ball on 23.1% of possessions, 10th in the conference. This weakness is countered by another strength: They’re turning opponents over 25% of the time, tops in the MAC.
This week: Toledo (Wednesday), @Ball State (Saturday)
3. Bowling Green (10-11, 5-2) (LW: 3)
The Falcons lead the MAC with 180 field goals made. I don’t know if it’s a useful stat, but it’s interesting. A definitely useful stat: They also lead the MAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.170). A close affair at rival Toledo wasn’t surprising, but they couldn’t quite put away Eastern Michigan at home until the very end. Still, they have a chance to get above water, something that didn’t seem possible after losing at Milwaukee to drop to 2-9.
This week: @Northern Illinois (Wednesday), Western Michigan (Saturday)
4. Ball State (13-7, 5-2)
A nightmarish week for the Cardinals, dropping three at Worthern Arena. The obvious question here: Did Ball State just feast on a vastly inferior West? After losing to last-place Ohio, they have a lot of doubters. They still own the conference’s best defensive efficiency (.904 points per defensive possession), but the offense abandoned them last week. They are last the MAC in field goal attempts (323), which is kind of baffling considering they are fifth in pace (66.8 possessions per 40 minutes). The 23.5% turnover rate isn’t helping.
This week: @Miami (Tuesday), Buffalo (Saturday )
5. Western Michigan (11-9, 4-3) (LW: 7)
A bit fortunate to walk out of Millett Hall with a win, but it’s better to be lucky than good, right? The Bronco offense isn’t pretty. They are 9th in two-point field goal percentage (45.9%) and last in three-point percentage (33%). They get to the line a lot (22 attempts per game), but aren’t successful there (68.2%). But they continue to get their misses back (41% offensive rebounding rate) and given enough chances, poor shooting teams will score.
This week: Kent State (Wednesday), @Bowling Green (Saturday)
6. Miami (9-12, 4-3) (LW: 4)
This seems harsh, but it’s hard to imagine the RedHawks as anything but middling after losing Antonio Ballard for the rest of the season and Quinten Rollins for a month. Charlie Coles played a tight rotation to begin with, and his unwillingness to turn to his bench cost him the Western Michigan game. You can’t have five guys playing 35+ minutes (especially if one is Allen Roberts) and expect to win. You just can’t. Drew McGhee, at the very least, deserves a real shot to show what he can do.
This week: Ball State (Tuesday), @Eastern Michigan (Saturday)
7. Ohio (10-11, 3-4) (LW: 9)
The Bobcats are that curious team with a losing record at home and a winning record on the road. They’re nearly as successful outside the arc (43%) as inside it (48.9%). Devaughn Washington appears to have woken up, scoring 36 points and pulling down 14 rebounds last week. He has scored in double figures 9 of the last 10 games. Nick Kellogg is punching his ticket to the All-MAC Freshman Team, shooting a blistering 63.3% from three in conference play. He is third in the conference in makes while only ranking 15th in attempts. John Groce has to be sighing in relief after the conference decided not to suspend anyone in the wake of Saturday’s scuffle.
This week: @Central Michigan (Wednesday), Northern Illinois (Saturday)
8. Akron (12-9, 3-4) (LW: 6)
The Zips got blitzed in DeKalb. They only attempted 12 free throws, putting more of a burden on a team that doesn’t shoot the ball very well (49.6% effective field goal percentage). Slamming the door on the Chippewas, though, is more encouraging. Akron is now the fastest team in the MAC (70.6 possessions/40), the best way to counteract the mediocre shooting and offensive rebounding (27.7%). Zeke Marshall finally woke up against Central Michigan, but can he do it against a team that has players within a half foot of him?
This week: @Eastern Michigan (Wednesday), @Toledo (Saturday)
9. Northern Illinois (7-12, 3-4) (LW: 10)
Huskie fans are starting to have a serious discussion about Xavier Silas’ draft prospects. The impending NBA lockout is likely going to submarine his chances, but he is at least impressing the scouts that come to see him play. Silas now stands 16th nationally in free throw attempts (161) and fifth in makes (139). He got to the line another 33 times last week, but Buffalo was able to limit the damage he caused from the field (4-15), while Akron was not (9-17). Not coincidentally, NIU beat Akron and lost to Buffalo.
This week: Bowling Green (Wednesday), @Ohio (Saturday)
10. Eastern Michigan (5-15, 2-5) (LW: 8)
This is not good: The Eagles have hoisted more three-point attempts than anyone else (151), but are only 10th in success (34.4%). EMU is a miserable team at putting the ball in the hoop, shooting 37.6% from the field. They don’t hold onto the ball well, either (20.7% turnover rate). Their saving grace (such as it is) has been the defense, which can mildly be described as “physical.” The Eagles are allowing .946 D-PPP.
This week: Akron (Wednesday), @Miami (Saturday)
11. Central Michigan (5-15, 2-5) (LW: 11)
Andre Coimbra is the first Chippewa other than Trey Zeigler to do something noteworthy this season, ending Antonio Ballard’s career with an intentional foul. The heat is continuing to increase on Ernie Zeigler; his team shows zero sign of improvement and there is a lot of unrest around the departure of Amir Rashid. Oh, and Trey went 10-34 from the floor and 7-12 at the line with 9 turnovers last week. He has shot the ball fewer than 10 times once all season.
This week: Ohio (Wednesday), @Kent State (Saturday)
12. Toledo (4-17, 1-6) (LW: 12)
Based on his last two trips to the M.A.C. Center, Tod Kowalczyk is not endearing himself to Kent fans. After that heartening win over Western Michigan, the Rockets have seen their margin of defeat grow in each successive game. Sophomore guard Malcom Griffin has proven to be a building block, shooting 42.3% from deep.
This week: @Buffalo (Wednesday), Akron (Saturday)
J. Scott Fitzwater is a regular contributor to MAC Report Online. You can email him at
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