Mid-American Conference: Title race muddies at midway point

While the Mid-American Conference doesn’t have the national notoriety of the Big 12, its conference race is shaping up to be every bit as interesting. Wednesday night’s games marked the midway point of conference play, and did very little to clear up the race for the regular season crown. Kent State and Akron entered the night tied atop the conference at 6-2, but both lost to create a five-way tie for first place. Here’s a rundown of the action at the top of the MAC:

Halfway through Mid-American Conference play, five teams are tied atop the standings. Preseason favorites Akron and Toledo are joined by Buffalo, Kent State and Bowling Green at 6-3 in the conference.

Western Michigan tops Kent State 67-66

In the first game to go final, defending regular season co-champion and NCAA Tournament representative Western Michigan moved within a game of the cluster at the top of the conference by knocking off Eastern Division leader Kent State 67-66. The Broncos erased an eight point deficit with 8:44 to play, taking the lead for good on a Connor Tava layup with 10 seconds to play.

Kent State entered the season picked for a distant third place finish in the Eastern Division and played a soft non-conference schedule, but is showing itself capable of competing so far this year. A relatively favorable upcoming schedule combined with a league that’s not letting any one team pull away from the pack should allow one of the bigger surprises to continue to contend as we move closer to March.

Toledo tied for first, EMU likely out of the running

Toledo, the MAC’s other defending regular season co-champion, moved into a tie for first place by downing Eastern Michigan 84-60. The Rockets now have four consecutive victories after starting MAC play 2-3. Toledo returned much of its talent from last year’s 27-7 squad, including defending Player of the Year Julius “Juice” Brown, and entered the year as heavy favorites to win the league. After its early struggles, the team looks to be on track and is likely the favorite to win the regular season crown.

Eastern Michigan looked like one of the teams to beat at the end of non-conference play, but now finds itself reduced to playing spoiler. The Eagles jumped out to a 11-2 record with a victory over Michigan, but fell flat in the MAC. After tonight’s loss, Eastern Michigan is 3-6 in the conference and likely out of the title chase for good.

Akron’s comeback falls just short at Ohio

Akron became the second MAC title contender to fall victim to Ohio, losing 83-82 despite a furious last minute rally. The Zips trailed by 10 with just over two minutes to go before three straight 3-pointers closed the gap to one. Sloppy ballhandling and passing from Ohio gave Akron a shot to steal the victory at the buzzer, but Deji Ibitayo’s shot wouldn’t drop. Akron is now one of four teams tied at the top of the MAC East.

Buffalo survives 82-78 at Ball State

Buffalo’s lead hovered around 10 points for most of the second half, ballooning to 15 early in the second half, but the Bulls needed a pair of Lamonte Bearden free throws with nine seconds to play to keep Ball State out of reach. The Bulls join Akron, Kent State and Bowling Green in the tie at the top of the MAC East. Unlike some of the other title contenders, Buffalo’s success isn’t a surprise. During non-conference play, Bobby Hurley‘s squad made it through the first 20 minutes of road games against Kentucky and Wisconsin with the lead. The team’s only other loss prior to MAC competition came to St. Bonaventure.

Bowling Green tops Central Michigan 76-74 in Overtime

Bowling Green joined Toledo, Akron, Buffalo and Kent State at the top of the MAC standings by knocking off fellow contender Central Michigan. After the Falcons lost to Division II school Ferris State in December, the team’s inclusion at the top of the MAC comes as a big surprise, at least until you take a look at its schedule. Bowling Green is done playing the MAC East’s contenders for the season, with each appearing on the schedule only once. The Falcons get six games against the bottom of the MAC West, as well as four against its own division’s struggling opponents. Don’t be surprised to see Bowling Green in the hunt for the MAC East when the dust settles.

Central Michigan’s lackluster non-conference schedule made it difficult to judge how good the team was, but early in MAC play the Chippewas look to be capable of beating anybody. Given that the opening round of the MAC tournament pits top teams in the West against bottom teams in the East, Central Michigan is still in a great position to give itself a favorable matchup against one of the lackluster teams out east.

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