Conference Tournament Previews 3/05/06-(MAC)

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Mid American:

FIRST ROUND

At higher seeds

Monday, March 6
Game 1: No. 7 Toledo vs. No. 10 Bowling Green, 7 p.m.
Game 2: No. 6 Western Michigan vs. No. 11 Eastern Michigan, 7 p.m.
Game 3: No. 8 Buffalo vs. No. 9 Ball State, 7 p.m.
Game 4: No. 5 Ohio vs. No. 12 Central Michigan, 7 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS

At Quicken Loans Arena
Cleveland

Thursday, March 9
Game 5: No. 2 Northern Illinois vs. Game 1 winner, 12 p.m.
Game 6: No. 3 Akron vs. Game 2 winner, 2:30 p.m.
Game 7: No. 1 Kent State vs. Game 3 winner, 7 p.m.
Game 8: No. 4 Miami vs. Game 4 winner, 9:30 p.m.

SEMIFINALS

Friday, March 10
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 9:30 p.m.
Game 10: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 7 p.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Saturday, March 11
Game 11: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)


Recap: The Mid American Conference was a league comprised of imbalance this season. The top three teams in the Eastern Division finished conference play with 14 or more wins, led by conference champion Kent State. In addition, Akron and Miami of Ohio tied for second place with 14 wins each. The top three teams in the Eastern Division finished the conference campaign 22-2 against teams from the Western Division. All six teams from the Eastern Division were a combined 36-12 against their counterparts from the west. In addition, there were five teams from the Eastern Division with at least 16 overall wins while only two teams from the Western Division could muster at most 16 wins. In the West, two teams struggled all season to find the winning formula as Eastern Michigan only won three games and Eastern Michigan only won once. This year the conference tournament includes all 12 teams, one less than last year after former MAC member Marshall bolted to Conference USA.

Favorite: Kent State dominated the conference schedule, outlasting the second and third place teams, Akron and Miami (Ohio). The Golden Flash won seven road games in the MAC, tops amongst all member schools. Kent State did not win a single game by less than four points and won their seven road games by an average of nine points per game. Kent State will be challenged Akron, despite the Zips' slump down the stretch which saw them lose three of their last five games. Akron does get the benefit of playing on the side of a bracket that is populated almost entirely of Western Division teams. Despite their late season struggles, look for the Zips to advance to the title game where they will likely face the winner of Kent State and Miami (Ohio). Miami (Ohio) fashioned a 6-0 start to conference play and a 9-1 finish around an 0-3 stretch in late January that ultimately cost them the conference title. The RedHawks lost twice to Kent State and once to Akron and Western Michigan. Northern Illinois gets the 2 seed because of their first place finish in the Western Division. The Huskies played well against their own division, finishing with a 9-1 mark against their fellow Western Division teams. Unfortunately, Northern Illinois only managed three wins against teams from the East (none of those coming against the top three teams in the East).

Darkhorse: Toledo enters league play with six wins in their last seven games. The Rockets are the ONLY Western Division team to have defeated Kent State (demolishing the Golden Flash 60-44 in early February). Toledo gets a favorable 7 seed and draws the worst team from the East, Bowling Green. The Rockets will be tested by the Falcons, given Bowling Green already beat Toledo once this season (59-52 at Bowling Green). If the Toledo gets past the Falcons, they face 2 seed Northern Illinois. It is unlikely that any team from the West can get very far in this tournament, unless it is through another Western Division team.