Thought I would start a thread on this.
Predictions:
Regular season:
1) Toledo
2) Akron
3) Buffalo
Tournament: Zips over Bulls

Toledo has quite a few talented players. Playing in the West and them having to play the East teams only once is why I give them the regular season edge. I think the Zips have the most complete team in the MAC, as well as two of the top 5 players in Treadwell and Diggs (back after being suspended all of last season. Former 6th man of the year). I think Kent is going to drop off some. OU is a wildcard. It will be interesting to see them without Cooper. Won't feel the same, honestly. The loss of that Kansas transfer hurts them.

Here is a link to latest piece of Hustlebelt's top 25 MAC players. http://www.hustlebelt.com/2013/11/3/5060174/mac-basketball-top-25-4-demetrius-treadwell-akron-forward . I assume the last 3 will be McRea (1), Pearson (2), and Whittington (3).

All MAC predictions: McRea, Treadwell, Pearson, Diggs, and Whittington.

I look for Rian Pearson to have a huge year for Toledo and as you said, lead them to the #1 overall seed. From there, who knows? For my sake I hope that Toledo makes the NCAAs cause it would be awesome to have CBS call and ask to use a bunch of our footage from this year lol.

wow Toledo. They beat Hillsdale 85-84 on a buzzer beater in OT tonight.

Will definitely be following the MAC this year. So excited to see what Bobby Hurley can do with a program of his own. He and his brother did incredible things at Wagner before moving on to Rhode Island, where his brother Dan has the Rams on the road back to their '90s success during the days of Lamar Odom and Cuttino Mobley. With four starters returning, including arguably the league's best player in Javon McCrea, the Bulls are primed for a run at an NCAA bid.

Over the summer, Hurley landed the 22nd ranked point guard in the class of 2014, 4-star recruit Lamonte Bearden, who chose Buffalo over Oregon State and Saint Louis. A very strong start for the first-year coach.

Pick6;1528774 wrote:wow Toledo. They beat Hillsdale 85-84 on a buzzer beater in OT tonight.

Division II school. Apparently Hillsdale is pretty good but - holy crap - for a MAC front-runner, it doesn't look good to have to struggle at home to beat a Division II team in an exhibition.

believer;1528943 wrote:Division II school. Apparently Hillsdale is pretty good but - holy crap - for a MAC front-runner, it doesn't look good to have to struggle at home to beat a Division II team in an exhibition.

Agree that it's not a favorable start to the season, but it does happen from time to time. If you'll recall, D-II Grand Valley State beat No. 8 Michigan State at the Breslin Center in an exhibition contest in 2007, and two years later Le Moyne, also D-II, knocked off Syracuse in the Carrier Dome in the pre-season. Despite the loss, the Orange went on to secure a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament that season. Mountain West Conference co-favorite UNLV lost at home to Dixie on Friday in the Runnin' Rebels' exhibition.

Toledo can recover.

We will find out more about Hillsdale, Toledo and Indiana as thr Hoosiers play host to Hillsdale tonight.

BGSU will be terrible probably, that is all

Bowling Green needs to bring back Howard Chambers, the 5-6 point guard extraordinaire and my BGSU Junior Falcon coach (Brown Division Champions). Jim Larranaga had some very competitive teams while in town. It's a shame that the program has slipped as far as it has, but that's been discussed here ad nauseum. Laley hit it on the head. Louis Orr is complacent with where and what he is. The Falcons need a young up-and-comer with something to prove and get the program back on track.

I dont really see how they can keep Orr around much longer. Probably get rid of him after his son is done, because if they didn't im sure they would lose him as well...same situation at WMU last year.

Ball St getting smacked by some team named Marian

reclegend22;1529341 wrote:Bowling Green needs to bring back Howard Chambers, the 5-6 point guard extraordinaire and my BGSU Junior Falcon coach (Brown Division Champions). Jim Larranaga had some very competitive teams while in town. It's a shame that the program has slipped as far as it has, but that's been discussed here ad nauseum. Laley hit it on the head. Louis Orr is complacent with where and what he is. The Falcons need a young up-and-comer with something to prove and get the program back on track.

So did Dakich. The only reason he didn't make the tourney was because Kent State was insanely good

nice win by kent state over temple

woo..lets go zips!

Zips got murdered by St. Mary's. Who apparently is pretty good again, joining Gonzaga as that smaller mid-major West Coast team that's always pretty damn solid.

Makes a person wish that 1-2 MAC schools could join that class to give the conference something resembling respect, but considering the saga of Ohio, that won't happen. They get a good coach like Groce, he bolts to a bigger job the minute his star gets high as a head coach. So, they get a guy like Christian whose peak is "good mid-major guy" and immediately take a big step back despite returning all of Groce's players.

http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2013/11/28625/ohio-state-basketball-preview-ohio-at-no-10-ohio-state#more

Ohio University has enjoyed a rich basketball tradition through the years. But the level of play dipped in the mid-2000s before John Groce and Jim Christian returned the Bobcats to prominence.
Christian’s first year back in the MAC last season was filled with riches as a senior-leaden OU team won a division title and played in the NIT.

That's just fucking trolling, lol. Jim Christian did nothing but underachieve with a team returning everyone from the Sweet 16 and leading them to a first-round elimination in the NIT.

The Zips got murdered on the scoreboard, but the game was a lot closer. It was a one possession game until about 10 minutes left and the wheels fall off. They are really hurting at PG, which is stunting the offense. I think KD needs to go with the JUCO guard Nyles Evans, because he at least has potential unlike Betancourt. He started our SF (Harney) against OU last year in the MAC finals. That tells you all you need to know about Betancourt.

With that said, I'm okay with the lopsided loss. Hopefully it opened his eyes up and makes some changes, that IMO, are apparent. I don't think the Zips played anywhere near their best game, and they were playing at 3am local time..so I'm still expecting a good season. Cannot believe I stayed up for that lol

OU had a nice win against Northern Iowa in their opener. I do not know how they are this year, but know that they are usually a good mid-major. It'll be watching to see how they stack up against OSU tonight.

I'd prefer the Zips get out of the MAC in basketball, honestly..or somehow force UMASS to join.

Pick6;1534506 wrote:The Zips got murdered on the scoreboard, but the game was a lot closer. It was a one possession game until about 10 minutes left and the wheels fall off. They are really hurting at PG, which is stunting the offense. I think KD needs to go with the JUCO guard Nyles Evans, because he at least has potential unlike Betancourt. He started our SF (Harney) against OU last year in the MAC finals. That tells you all you need to know about Betancourt.

With that said, I'm okay with the lopsided loss. Hopefully it opened his eyes up and makes some changes, that IMO, are apparent. I don't think the Zips played anywhere near their best game, and they were playing at 3am local time..so I'm still expecting a good season. Cannot believe I stayed up for that lol

OU had a nice win against Northern Iowa in their opener. I do not know how they are this year, but know that they are usually a good mid-major. It'll be watching to see how they stack up against OSU tonight.

I'd prefer the Zips get out of the MAC in basketball, honestly..or somehow force UMASS to join.

Yeah, when your PG went down last year for the MAC finals, I figured it'd be about in the bag for OU because of Betancourt. But then Dambrot went in a different direction and you guys kicked some ass. Good coaching and out-of-the-box thinking goes a long ways in this sport.

4-1 OU might have a decent non-conference test against Mercer tonight. They've played solidly against a couple major conference teams and obliterated a few nobodies.

At the very least, it's a more entertaining opponent than Heidelberg.

Heretic;1543557 wrote:4-1 OU might have a decent non-conference test against Mercer tonight. They've played solidly against a couple major conference teams and obliterated a few nobodies.

At the very least, it's a more entertaining opponent than Heidelberg.

At least they didn't lose to their d3 opponent unlike Miami. Lulz

Pick6;1543569 wrote:At least they didn't lose to their d3 opponent unlike Miami. Lulz

As an OU grad, I think I'm supposed to hate Miami. But man, I feel bad for them, like they're a little, starving orphan child getting their ribs kicked in by muggers or something.

Worst football team in D-1 and their basketball team can't even beat a D3 school. From the "cradle of coaches" to "the place careers die".

BG beat a school that plays D1 basketball! Gonna be a long year in the Stroh, but hey a lot of seats to pick from then

Two local Ohio kids getting some early playing time for Toledo. Jordan Lauf and Zach Garber, from Napoleon and Vanlue.

The Toledo Blade had a really nice write up on Lauf http://www.toledoblade.com/UT/2013/11/19/Lauf-sparks-Rockets-Copy.html

birddog23;1544049 wrote:Two local Ohio kids getting some early playing time for Toledo. Jordan Lauf and Zach Garber, from Napoleon and Vanlue.

Love watching Lauf play...he reminds me of Craft as a freshman...100% balls-to-the-wall all the time.