Today is my forty second birthday. Spent the day off and took in a movie with my wife. Saw "Juno". Really good movie, recommend it highly. I am heading out to Vegas early tomorrow morning for a fun filled weekend and yes I am bringing the laptop (and the golf clubs).
Been exchanging some e-mails back and forth with Tom Kemp, who is very familiar with the MAC. The gist of the conversation is that I haven’t been giving the MAC the proper respect it deserves, and in part, Tom is correct. There are two reasons why I might not give the MAC its proper respect. Unless you have Full Court, which I didn’t until recently, you don’t see the MAC much on ESPN. ESPN2 has the weekly Monday night West Coast Conference game. ESPNU seems to now have a weekly CAA game, a weekly Horizon game (thanks to Butler), and lots of coverage of the Missouri Valley. I have been able to watch a couple of MAC games recently thanks to ESPN Full Court. My second problem is that every time I watch the best team in the MAC (with apologies to Ohio and Akron), Kent State, they don’t play well. Right now, the Golden Flashes have an 0-3 record when yours truly watches them on TV. But Tom is right, I will pay more attention to the MAC, especially since Kent State gets to play on national TV at Saint Mary’s next weekend.
After conversing with Tom and seeing how knowledgeable he is about the MAC, I am also happy to say that Tom will be a contributor to this site now. He’ll give some insight on the MAC and that can only make this site more comprehensive on mid major basketball analysis.
Drexel (10-16, 3-11 CAA) had a chance Thursday night to have that one shining moment on their season. Playing on the road at the always difficult Constant Convocation Center, home of Old Dominion, the Dragons fell behind by 15 points, 42-27 with 13:22 left in the game. Staring at another loss in a long season, Drexel then went on a 27-7 run to go ahead 54-49 with 1:10 left. But after a Gerald Lee layup for the Monarchs, a missed jumper by the Dragons’ Scott Rodgers (why was the ball in the hands of someone shooting 33 percent on the season..he shot 5 of 18 from the field that night) setup the heartbreak that has typified Drexel’s season. Brandon Johnson hit a three point jumper with 2 seconds left in regulation to tie the game for ODU. Then after slugging to a second overtime, Frank Elegar, Drexel’s leading scorer on the season, picked up his fifth foul and ODU(13-13, 8-6 CAA) pulled away from there with a 75-71 double overtime win.
I watched a lot of the Tuesday night game between Butler and Wisconsin Milwaukee. I think it may be safe to say that there haven’t been too many better overtime performances by a single player this season besides Bulldog guard Mike Green. The senior scored 10 of the sixteen Bulldog points in the overtime period to lead Butler to a 83-75 win over the Panthers. He also scored or assisted on the last seven Butler points in regulation. Overall, Green had 24 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists and shot 10 of 10 from the free throw line.
Ok, time for the Mid Major Baker’s Dozen and the Bulldogs are still at the top, but a different Bulldog this time.
1) Butler 22-2 #18 RPI - Yes, the Top Ten Bulldogs are now #1 in the poll after surviving Wisconsin Milwaukee and beating Youngstown State. They beat the Panthers despite AJ Graves shooting 2 of 14 from the field. Imagine if he starts getting it going. Graves is shooting an unseemly (for him) 36.8 percent from the field.
2) Drake 20-2 #11 RPI - Sooner or later, the magical run through the Missouri Valley had to end and thankfully for them it wasn’t during the tournament. Losing at Carbondale to an improving Salukis squad is nothing to be ashamed of (look out for Southern Illinois come MVC tournament time..I have a feeling..). Still, the committee is going to watch the game vs. Butler closely to see how good Drake really is.
3) St Mary’s 20-3 #21 RPI - Tough win at Santa Clara. Schedule gets a more tough now with two road games (albeit vs bottom feeders Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount) followed by big matchups at home vs. Kent State for the Bracketbuster game and vs. San Diego, the only team to beat the Gaels in the WCC this season. Then the rematch at Gonzaga on March 1. If they win all five of those games, I’ll make them first in my rankings, I kid you not!
4) Gonzaga 19-6 #39 RPI - How does it feel to be the forgotten team in the West Coast Conference? Couldn’t resist. Zags only have one tough game, at San Diego before rematch vs. the Gaels.
5) South Alabama 18-4 #40 RPI - Dug themselves too big a whole in the first half to overcome third place Middle Tennessee State on the road. Still, though the Jags are now looking up at Western Kentucky in the Sun Belt, the Jags are ranked higher on here due to better RPI and their win over the Hilltoppers in their first game. Rematch at Hilltoppers next Thursday night. Lack of bracketbuster game hurts (as well as Western Kentucky).
6) Davidson 17-6 #64 RPI- Wildcats are on their way to an undefeated regular season and already have sown up #1 seed in the Southern Conference. An impressive bracketbuster win at Winthrop next Saturday would certainly help the chance at an at large bid. A loss might kill it.
7) VCU 19-5 #57 RPI- Looks like the Rams have the #1 seed in the CAA tournament all but clinched, up 2 games with 4 games left in the season. Next game is a home game vs. ODU, then two interesting road games at streaking Northeastern followed by big Bracketbuster game vs. Akron. How good is Jamal Shuler. Probably one of the most underrated guards in the mid majors. That’s how good.
8) Kent State 20-5 #49 RPI - As promised Tom, they’re back. Regained the mantle as the best team in the MAC after their wins these past two weeks along with Ohio and Akron stumbling. Huge rematch game at home vs. Ohio on Saturday. Then three straight road games including the big bracketbuster matchup at Saint Mary’s on February 24. Want to make a correction, the win vs. Illinois State was at a neutral site (not really, it was in Chicago, so you could say it was really a road game) so that helps the Golden Flashes cause. Still, a win over the Gaels on national TV would be huge.
9) Oral Roberts 16-5 #47 RPI - The Rodney Dangerfield of Mid Major College Basketball. No respect. Give a little love for the undefeated in Summit Conference play Golden Eagles. A win over Creighton will give a spotlight to a team already deserving of it.
10) Western Kentucky 18-5 #58 RPI - The Hilltoppers are first in the Sun Belt at 12-1, 20-5 overall. The Hilltoppers have a RPI of 58. The Hilltoppers are first in the Sun Belt at 12-1, 20-5 overall. The Hilltoppers have a RPI of 58. Yes, I am repeating myself. Why are they tenth in the rankings? They are a good team. But a loss to South Alabama in their only matchup so far, no major non conference win to speak of (beating #136 RPI Nebraska is not a major win) plus that SOS of 175 are the reasons why.
11) Illinois State 17-7 #48 RPI- The second best team in the Missouri Valley still has a RPI of 48 and ten wins in conference is impressive. However the Redbirds have split their last eight games. As a result, you have that sinking feeling that with games coming up vs Creighton and at Southern Illinois to end the regular season, the Redbirds might slip from the second spot in the MVC. Perhaps a nice win at home over Mid Majors Bakers Dozen newcomer Wright State will “wright” the ship. Sorry, bad pun.
12) George Mason 18-7 #56 RPI- Ah, the enigma of the Mid Majors Bakers Dozen. After working their way back into the good graces of Bracketology, the Patriots go out and lay a major egg at Old Dominion (cmon, down double digits most of the game, that’s just bad). GMU is basically the lemming that’s about to push itself off the cliff. The Patriots have to run the table, including winning at Ohio and must make the CAA tournament final to have any hope for an at large bid.
13) Tie - Ohio 16-8 #61 RPI and Wright State 17-6 #70 RPI - The Bobcats have lost two of their last three games on the road and again are on the road to face a Kent State team hellbent on revenge from their first matchup. Need to sweep the season series from the Golden Flashes tomorrow, then take care of business at home vs. Bowling Green before big matchup with George Mason. Win those three games and the at large looks better. Lose one and they are done unless they win the MAC tournament. Wright State is in the top 13 after vaulting themselves into second place in the Horizon. Brad Brownell continues to work wonders in Fairborn, Ohio.
Honorable Mention - Stephen F. Austin, IUPUI, Creighton, Siena, Utah State
Dropped Out - Utah State and UNC Asheville
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