With the Pac-12 way, way down and the fortunes of upper-Division I leagues like the Atlantic 10, Missouri Valley and Mountain West all slumping, there is room for upward mobility for more than a couple conferences this season. The West Coast Conference and Southern Conference are two that have taken advantage, and the Mid-American Conference is another.
In fact, while the WCC has received a fair share of notice for its improvement speared by upstarts like San Francisco and Loyola Marymount, the Mid-American is right on its coattails. The MAC as of Friday was ninth in a number of conference power rankings, including in the NCAA’s new NET metric and in the old RPI, and it only takes a quick scan of the standings to see why: 10 of its 12 teams have winning non-conference records, and no team entered the night with a worse record than 6-7.
It was fortuitous, then, that the MAC had a small showcase of sorts Friday night, with a doubleheader on CBS Sports Network. Playing on a night of the week known more for high school sports or just about anything but TV is hardly the equivalent of Big Monday, but MAC contests were just two of four games on the night matching two NCAA Division I teams. For hoops junkies, it was most definitely something, and with maybe the conference’s four most touted teams entering the season (and definitely its two biggest stories of November and December) in action, the evening had the potential to be the MAC’s coming-out party.
It was unfortunate, then, but perhaps fitting for the conference’s luck over the last 20 years-the time span since its last at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament-that Friday night was a dud. First, Ball State went on the road and wiped out Toledo 79-64 in a game not as close as the final score. Then, nationally ranked Buffalo calmly handled business at Eastern Michigan, the Bulls’ 74-58 victory also not indicative of their dominance.
The evening was probably anticipated most as a chance to see Toledo, which entered on a 10-game winning streak and at 12-1 overall and has started to receive votes in the national top 25 polls. The Rockets earned some buzz with wins over league favorites UC Irvine and Marshall and most recently a 32-point blowout of the same Pennsylvania team that recently beat Villanova. They’re a team we’ve also personally been watching since before the season, a squad with depth (five scoring in double figures), great shooting, good work on the glass and improved defense.
Instead, Ball State was in control from the start with the poised performance of a team that itself has now won nine of 10 and is battle tested this season from playing the likes of Purdue, Virginia Tech, Alabama and Loyola (Ill.). The shorthanded Cardinals-who dressed just nine players-shot 48.4% and also shut down the Rockets’ balanced attack, holding them to 36.2% shooting on their home court.
Call it great defense, call it a bad shooting night or some of both, but it was clear which team deserved this one. And while Toledo had worked its way into a favorite’s role in the MAC West with its strong start, a talented Ball State club-which was led Friday by the venerable Tayler Persons with 21 and Tahjai Teague with 20 points plus 12 boards-could certainly soon take that baton.
The result of the second game in the MAC’s double-dip was less surprising, for Buffalo has proven its road credentials as well as almost any team in the country so far this year. Sure enough, the Bulls picked up their sixth true road win of the season, playing at Eastern Michigan’s preferred slower pace and still shooting 50% while holding the Eagles to 33.3% marksmanship.
Buffalo is the real deal, and it made a tricky road trip against extra-long EMU and its rangy 2-3 zone look almost easy. The Bulls have ample weapons who can beat an opponent, and on this night it was 6-foot-10 Montell McRae making 8 of 9 shots and scoring 18 points. It says a lot when studs like C.J. Massinburg and Jeremy Harris can combine for a rather ho-hum 21 points and UB doesn’t even have to sweat it.
On the other side, Eastern Michigan has been the closest thing to a disappointment in the MAC, a team expected to contend for the league title now just 6-8, in part due to a brutal non-conference slate that included trips to Duke, Kansas and TCU. The Eagles have struggled to score all year and did so again here, making just 21 of 63 shots and even 9 of 19 from the foul line. A team with three excellent seniors in slick guard Paul Jackson, versatile Elijah Minnie and double-double machine James Thompson needs to play better, or EMU could get left behind quickly in the much-improved MAC.
Side Dishes:
- Among the few other games of the night, SMU won again, defeating Tulane 74-65 on the road. Coach Tim Jankovich had a Larry Brown-like seven-man rotation, but Jahmal McMurray’s 25 points were plenty. SMU could wind up a top-3 team in the American yet.
- IUPUI earned a big road win in the Horizon League, toppling Illinois-Chicago 66-64 behind Cameron Justice’s career-high 30 points. It’s not always pretty in this league, which is still recovering from some massive coaching turnover in recent years, but it’s sure looking like a fun season, with all sorts of close games early on.
- Penn State announced on Friday that it has suspended head coach Pat Chambers for the Nittany Lions’ game on Sunday against Wisconsin, as discipline following his shove of player Myles Dread. Video of the shove during a PSU timeout Thursday against Michigan can be seen here. Perhaps Chambers has already been disciplined internally in the past at the school for actions that we don’t know about. If this is a suspension based on a one-time incident, then it’s ridiculous. A simple reprimand would’ve done just fine, especially after Chambers apologized unprompted after the game.
- Drake has been one of the most pleasant surprises of the season, but the Bulldogs have suffered a huge loss as the school announced point guard Nick Norton is done for the season after he tore the ACL in his left knee in the team’s eventual double-overtime loss at Evansville on Wednesday. A graduate transfer from UAB, Norton was an early contender for Missouri Valley Conference top player honors, averaging 14.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game as Drake got off to an 11-2 start before losing its Valley opener to the Purple Aces.
- Former Kentucky All-American Bob Burrow passed away on Thursday at the age of 84. Burrow played two years under Adolph Rupp after transferring from junior college and still scored 1,000 points in his career while also being a ferocious rebounder, averaging 20.1 points and 16.1 boards per game. He was a two-time All-American.
Today’s Menu: The first Saturday of January is predictably loaded with conference action.
- Start the day with a juicy top 15 clash, with Michigan State on the road at Ohio State (Noon Eastern, FOX).
- A dangerous early ACC trip for North Carolina, as it goes to young-but-talented Pittsburgh.
- Ditto for Kentucky, which is on the road at Alabama, which has the size, toughness and defense to make the Wildcats miserable (1 p.m., ESPN).
- Classic Big East battle between St. John’s and Georgetown, and maybe one of their most meaningful matchups in years (1 p.m., CBS). The Johnnies are riding the high of drilling Marquette, but the Hoyas also just won at Butler and-pssst-are a lot more entertaining than many know, too.
- An important early Patriot League matchup has perennial power Bucknell at perennially dangerous Boston University.
- Horizon League unbeaten Detroit Mercy looks to move to 4-0 but to do so must beat league heavy Northern Kentucky, which already has one loss in league.
- Kansas State already feels like a team reaching a crossroads early in Big 12 play; the Wildcats have struggled to score and now face stingy Texas Tech (2 p.m., ESPNU). Also in the Big 12, rivals clash with Oklahoma State at Oklahoma.
- Fresh off a win at Arizona State, Utah could turn some heads in the Pac-12 if it can complete the Arizona trip when it faces the Wildcats today.
- Big top 10 tilt in the ACC, where No. 9 Florida State with one loss takes on unbeaten No. 4 Virginia (3 p.m., ESPN2). Fast, athletic, deep FSU meets deliberate UVA.
- Loyola Chicago is at Drake. The Ramblers may have found themselves in their destruction of Indiana State on Wednesday, while it bears watching how the Bulldogs move on now without Nick Norton.
- Longwood-yes, Longwood-had one of the best non-conference showings in the Big South with a 10-5 record, and we’ll see where the Lancers measure up in conference early when they go to Radford. Also in the Big South, Gardner-Webb and its eight-game win streak, including conquests of ACC foes Georgia Tech and Wake Forest, now faces Chris Clemons and Campbell.
- Another potential heavyweight game: Kansas goes to Iowa State (5 p.m., ESPN2). We think the Cyclones have received a relatively large amount of hype with little accomplishment early on, but that can change in a jiffy with a win here.
- An early season showdown in the Sun Belt, where league favorite Georgia State faces Texas State, which is off to a 12-2 start.
- More conference titans: perennial Ivy League contenders Pennsylvania and Princeton meet in New Jersey.
- Arguably the two favorites in the Northeast Conference square off early as St. Francis (Pa.) hosts Fairleigh Dickinson.
- Huge game in Conference USA, with Western Kentucky at Old Dominion. The Monarchs will be clawing desperately to avoid a 0-2 start at home in conference.
- Clemson is at Duke (8 p.m., ESPN), and while the Tigers have had a rather NIT look to them so far, they do have experience to lean on here.
- More rivalry games in the Pac-12: Oregon State heads south to face Oregon, and Washington State faces Washington.
- West Virginia tries to get on track in the Big 12, and travels to face a Texas team that has been plenty getable when at home.
- The night concludes with BYU at Saint Mary’s (11 p.m., ESPN2). Another big one early as the Cougars try for their second WCC road win of the weekend, while the Gaels try to avoid a 0-2 conference start.
Enjoy your Saturday and the 12th day of Christmas.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
