No respect from the MAC
Oct 23, 2005 21:06:11 GMT -5
Post by Big D on Oct 23, 2005 21:06:11 GMT -5
MAC Rankings of Non-League Schedules
With Midnight Madness and the official kickoff of the college hoops season but a few days away, now’s as good a time as any to take at look at who the teams in The MAC will be playing during the non-league part of their schedules. More importantly, tonight’s the perfect time to do this for me it because I finally have a night with no schoolwork thanks to Yom Kippur and I can spend tomorrow goofing off at work since my manager has contracted some sort of scurvy and is going to be out sick. Not that his presence makes a difference one way or the other, as he usually spends a lot of the day napping in his cube. But I digress.
Scheduling is an imprecise science at the mid-major level and that’s really reflected in the non-conference schedules most MAC teams are playing this year. There are the usual not-so-winnable road trips to power conference arenas coupled with the very winnable games against squads from the lower rungs of the mid and low-major hoopsdom. This balancing act is likely to be more difficult next season when The MAC goes to a 16-game league schedule, which will force teams to play 10 non-league games rather than eight but let’s not worry about that right now. Let’s just get to it.
1. Miami: I don’t know what Charlie Coles was thinking but the Redhawks schedule is tougher than a pair of Doc Martens. From the pre-season NIT game @ ‘Bama to road games against the likes Cinci, Michigan, and Wichita State to home scraps versus Dayton and Xavier, the William Hatcher led ‘Hawks will be battle ready when league play rolls around.
Fatten Up On: Wright State and Oakland.
Will Beat: Dayton in Oxford on November 21.
2. Ohio: The Bobcats are one of the most talented MAC squads in, well, longer than I’ve been alive (my birthday’s January 2, 1973) and they’re playing a schedule suitable to a team with their pedigree. They play at Cinci twice, once against the Bearcats and against Kentucky in what is supposed to be a home game for Jeremy Fears & Co. but is really a home game for the squad from the SEC. A home scrap with Horizon League power Detroit and a visit to Rhode Island are the two other games of note.
Fatten Up On: American, Marist, and St. Francis (Pa.)
Will Beat: Cinci on December 14th.
3. Kent State: Road trips to Syracuse and Southern Illinois and Shamrock Classic scrap with St. Mary’s of the West Coast Conference in Moraga makes the Golden Flashes schedule pretty damn tough for a team that no one seems to be sure what to make of. Throw in a possible South Padre Island Tourney scrap with Illinois and Jim Christian’s squad should be more than prepared for MAC play.
Fatten Up On: Youngstown State from the Horizon League and D-I indy IP-Fort Wayne.
Will Beat: The Salukis in Carbondale on December 10th.
4. Akron: The ascending Zips are a trendy choice to vie with Ohio for The MAC championship this season. Romeo Travis & Co. will have their mettle tested in road games at Louisville and Cal as well as possible San Juan Shootout scraps with Clemson, Holy Cross, or Mississippi State.
Fatten Up On: Something called Denison and the poor Penguins of Youngstown State, who will vie with the Wright State Raiders to be the official MAC doormat this season.
Will Beat: The Zips will beat whichever power conference automaton they get in San Juan.
5. Western Michigan: This will be tough sledding for a team that lost two of my fave MAC players to graduation, guard Ben Reed and forward Levi Roost. Road games at Detroit and USC and a trip to Honolulu for the Rainbow Classic, which will include the likes of Iowa State, Hawaii, Colorado State, and South Florida should help the Broncos keep from completely fading away once conference play starts.
Fatten Up On: Northwood and IUPUI.
Will Beat: The Titans in Detroit on December 3rd.
6. Central Michigan: My memory’s a bit hazy but I think I went drinking with Chippewas’ coach Jay Smith the night he was putting together his squad’s 2005-06 schedule because there’s no other way to explain why he would schedule three road games — Michigan, UMKC, and Clevo State — in a row to open the season. Throw in a home game against Southern Illinois and road trips to Dayton and East Tennessee State and last year’s 10-18 finish is going to seem like a happy memory.
Fatten Up On: Rochester College.
Will Beat: Two of the teams with college hoops’ most unlikely nicknames: the ‘Roos of UMKC and the Clevo State Vikings.
7. Bowling Green: The Falcons non-league slate should go down like a hefeweizen on a summer day, nice-n-easy. If not for two three-game road trips — one to Blacksburg, Va. for the BCA Classic and a late December swing through the Red states to play UALR, Florida State, and Troy — coach Dan Dakich would roll into MAC play knowing very little about how this anonymous crew will fare in the league.
Fatten Up On: Urbana and Oakland (Yes, the Mid-Con is The MAC’s bitch this season).
Will Beat: The Trojans twice since both UALR and Troy share that nickname so there’s a 50-50 chance the Falcons will win one of those games.
8. Buffalo: Since I’ve already discussed the Bulls’ schedule, I’m not going to say anything here other than to reiterate the fact that coach ‘Spoon and the rest of the Bulls hoops staff did a good job.
Fatten Up On: There’s so many cupcakes on this schedule that it’s like the Bulls are eating their way through a Hostess factory.
Will Beat: Boston College on November 22nd.
9. Northern Illinois: The youthful Huskies are my pick to win The MAC West this season. Should they falter, their cushy non-league slate may very well be to blame. Visits by Northern Iowa and Kansas State are as tough as it gets for Rod Judson’s crew before MAC play.
Fatten Up On: Aurora, whatever that is, and Wright State.
Will Beat: DePaul on November 28th in DeKalb.
10. Eastern Michigan: This relatively undemanding slate suits a team with a new coach, Charles Ramsey, and is coming off a 12-18 season. A trip to Bloomington to play the Hoosiers and visits by Cal, Detroit, and Tulsa will challenge the youthful Eagles. Losses to those very same teams should also serve to prepare them for a season of taking their lumps in The MAC.
Fatten Up On: North Dakota State and, who else, the Youngstown State Penguins.
Will Beat: the Golden Hurricane on December 22nd in Tulsa.
11. Toledo: The Rockets non-MAC slate is thinner than that emaciated beanpole from Desperate Housewives, Teri Hatcher. Trips to South Carolina and Dallas to play Bush crony and Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers’ alma mater, Southern Methodist University, are as tough as it gets for Stan Joplin’s squad.
Fatten Up On: Oakland, Wright State, IP-Fort Wayne, and something called Ferris State, which, sadly, has nothing to do with the classic film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Will Beat: South Carolina on November 20th in Columbia.
12. Ball State: This is weirder than a 30-year old guy that still plays Dungeons-n-Dragons. The Cardinal used to be one of The MAC’s flagship hoops programs, a designation that was earned by playing a top-flight schedule each season. Well, that ain’t the case anymore, as high-scoring guard Peyton Stovall & Co. will prep for MAC play by taking on no teams worth mentioning, with the exception of Butler and Indiana.
Fatten Up On: Anderson and, of course, Wright State.
Will Beat: Butler in Hinkle Fieldhouse on December 3rd.
www.hoopsjunkie.net/blog718/index.php/2005/10/12/on-the-mac-ranking-the-non-league-schedules/
With Midnight Madness and the official kickoff of the college hoops season but a few days away, now’s as good a time as any to take at look at who the teams in The MAC will be playing during the non-league part of their schedules. More importantly, tonight’s the perfect time to do this for me it because I finally have a night with no schoolwork thanks to Yom Kippur and I can spend tomorrow goofing off at work since my manager has contracted some sort of scurvy and is going to be out sick. Not that his presence makes a difference one way or the other, as he usually spends a lot of the day napping in his cube. But I digress.
Scheduling is an imprecise science at the mid-major level and that’s really reflected in the non-conference schedules most MAC teams are playing this year. There are the usual not-so-winnable road trips to power conference arenas coupled with the very winnable games against squads from the lower rungs of the mid and low-major hoopsdom. This balancing act is likely to be more difficult next season when The MAC goes to a 16-game league schedule, which will force teams to play 10 non-league games rather than eight but let’s not worry about that right now. Let’s just get to it.
1. Miami: I don’t know what Charlie Coles was thinking but the Redhawks schedule is tougher than a pair of Doc Martens. From the pre-season NIT game @ ‘Bama to road games against the likes Cinci, Michigan, and Wichita State to home scraps versus Dayton and Xavier, the William Hatcher led ‘Hawks will be battle ready when league play rolls around.
Fatten Up On: Wright State and Oakland.
Will Beat: Dayton in Oxford on November 21.
2. Ohio: The Bobcats are one of the most talented MAC squads in, well, longer than I’ve been alive (my birthday’s January 2, 1973) and they’re playing a schedule suitable to a team with their pedigree. They play at Cinci twice, once against the Bearcats and against Kentucky in what is supposed to be a home game for Jeremy Fears & Co. but is really a home game for the squad from the SEC. A home scrap with Horizon League power Detroit and a visit to Rhode Island are the two other games of note.
Fatten Up On: American, Marist, and St. Francis (Pa.)
Will Beat: Cinci on December 14th.
3. Kent State: Road trips to Syracuse and Southern Illinois and Shamrock Classic scrap with St. Mary’s of the West Coast Conference in Moraga makes the Golden Flashes schedule pretty damn tough for a team that no one seems to be sure what to make of. Throw in a possible South Padre Island Tourney scrap with Illinois and Jim Christian’s squad should be more than prepared for MAC play.
Fatten Up On: Youngstown State from the Horizon League and D-I indy IP-Fort Wayne.
Will Beat: The Salukis in Carbondale on December 10th.
4. Akron: The ascending Zips are a trendy choice to vie with Ohio for The MAC championship this season. Romeo Travis & Co. will have their mettle tested in road games at Louisville and Cal as well as possible San Juan Shootout scraps with Clemson, Holy Cross, or Mississippi State.
Fatten Up On: Something called Denison and the poor Penguins of Youngstown State, who will vie with the Wright State Raiders to be the official MAC doormat this season.
Will Beat: The Zips will beat whichever power conference automaton they get in San Juan.
5. Western Michigan: This will be tough sledding for a team that lost two of my fave MAC players to graduation, guard Ben Reed and forward Levi Roost. Road games at Detroit and USC and a trip to Honolulu for the Rainbow Classic, which will include the likes of Iowa State, Hawaii, Colorado State, and South Florida should help the Broncos keep from completely fading away once conference play starts.
Fatten Up On: Northwood and IUPUI.
Will Beat: The Titans in Detroit on December 3rd.
6. Central Michigan: My memory’s a bit hazy but I think I went drinking with Chippewas’ coach Jay Smith the night he was putting together his squad’s 2005-06 schedule because there’s no other way to explain why he would schedule three road games — Michigan, UMKC, and Clevo State — in a row to open the season. Throw in a home game against Southern Illinois and road trips to Dayton and East Tennessee State and last year’s 10-18 finish is going to seem like a happy memory.
Fatten Up On: Rochester College.
Will Beat: Two of the teams with college hoops’ most unlikely nicknames: the ‘Roos of UMKC and the Clevo State Vikings.
7. Bowling Green: The Falcons non-league slate should go down like a hefeweizen on a summer day, nice-n-easy. If not for two three-game road trips — one to Blacksburg, Va. for the BCA Classic and a late December swing through the Red states to play UALR, Florida State, and Troy — coach Dan Dakich would roll into MAC play knowing very little about how this anonymous crew will fare in the league.
Fatten Up On: Urbana and Oakland (Yes, the Mid-Con is The MAC’s bitch this season).
Will Beat: The Trojans twice since both UALR and Troy share that nickname so there’s a 50-50 chance the Falcons will win one of those games.
8. Buffalo: Since I’ve already discussed the Bulls’ schedule, I’m not going to say anything here other than to reiterate the fact that coach ‘Spoon and the rest of the Bulls hoops staff did a good job.
Fatten Up On: There’s so many cupcakes on this schedule that it’s like the Bulls are eating their way through a Hostess factory.
Will Beat: Boston College on November 22nd.
9. Northern Illinois: The youthful Huskies are my pick to win The MAC West this season. Should they falter, their cushy non-league slate may very well be to blame. Visits by Northern Iowa and Kansas State are as tough as it gets for Rod Judson’s crew before MAC play.
Fatten Up On: Aurora, whatever that is, and Wright State.
Will Beat: DePaul on November 28th in DeKalb.
10. Eastern Michigan: This relatively undemanding slate suits a team with a new coach, Charles Ramsey, and is coming off a 12-18 season. A trip to Bloomington to play the Hoosiers and visits by Cal, Detroit, and Tulsa will challenge the youthful Eagles. Losses to those very same teams should also serve to prepare them for a season of taking their lumps in The MAC.
Fatten Up On: North Dakota State and, who else, the Youngstown State Penguins.
Will Beat: the Golden Hurricane on December 22nd in Tulsa.
11. Toledo: The Rockets non-MAC slate is thinner than that emaciated beanpole from Desperate Housewives, Teri Hatcher. Trips to South Carolina and Dallas to play Bush crony and Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers’ alma mater, Southern Methodist University, are as tough as it gets for Stan Joplin’s squad.
Fatten Up On: Oakland, Wright State, IP-Fort Wayne, and something called Ferris State, which, sadly, has nothing to do with the classic film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Will Beat: South Carolina on November 20th in Columbia.
12. Ball State: This is weirder than a 30-year old guy that still plays Dungeons-n-Dragons. The Cardinal used to be one of The MAC’s flagship hoops programs, a designation that was earned by playing a top-flight schedule each season. Well, that ain’t the case anymore, as high-scoring guard Peyton Stovall & Co. will prep for MAC play by taking on no teams worth mentioning, with the exception of Butler and Indiana.
Fatten Up On: Anderson and, of course, Wright State.
Will Beat: Butler in Hinkle Fieldhouse on December 3rd.
www.hoopsjunkie.net/blog718/index.php/2005/10/12/on-the-mac-ranking-the-non-league-schedules/
