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Women's basketball 2017-18 - cschierh - 12-28-2017 11:19 AM
The MAC is having about as good a women's season as it ever has. The league's RPI ranks eighth among 31 Division I conferences.
Ball State (22) and Buffalo (30) are in the top 30 in team RPI. Five teams are in the latest Mid-Major Top 25.
The league hasn't had two NCAA bids in 20 years. There's a good chance this season.
Here's a quick look at the conference. There are detailed capsules on each team at http://wbbflashes.com, a blog I do on the Kent State women's team.
BALL STATE (11-0, RPI 22). The Cardinals have had as impressive a non-conference season as we've seen in the MAC since Bowling Green's glory days. They've have beaten two top 50 RPI schools and two more in the second 50. Last season the entire MAC beat one team in the top 50.
BUFFALO (9-2, RPI 30). Bulls are clear favorites in the Mac East. At this point last year, they were, too, but finished third. They have four starters back.
TOLEDO (9-3, RPI 66). Defending tournament champs have lost to No. 3 Louisville and top mid-major programs Duquesne and Western Kentucky.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (8-3, RPI 167). Good record but worst strength of schedule in the conference. Still scoring (and giving up) a lot of points.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN (9-3, RPI 104). Preseason favorites have lost only to three teams in the top 100 RPI.
BOWLING GREEN (8-3, RPI 101). Falcons have best non-conference record in four years but not a strong schedule.
MIAMI (8-3, RPI 115). Redhawks have new coach and conference's leading scorer.
KENT STATE (7-5, RPI 165). Flashes have beaten seven teams with RPIs of more than 200 and lost to five with RPIs in the top 100.
WESTERN MICHIGAN (7-5, RPI 75). Record belies the toughest preseason schedule in the MAC. But three wins were against non-Division I competition.
AKRON (6-5, RPI 253). Zips keep playing weak non-conference schdules and fading in MAC. We'll see if this year is any different.
OHIO (5-5, RPI 127). Team that dominated the MAC from 2014-16 leads league in turnover margin by far but otherwise has terrible offensive numbers.
EASTERN MICHIGAN (4-7, RPI 288). Eagles were at bottom of conference last year and, despite good freshman class, are still there.
RE: Women's basketball 2017-18 - T4C8 - 12-28-2017 11:29 AM
Best chance we've had in a while. That Buffalo loss to a crappy Niagara could bite us.
RE: Women's basketball 2017-18 - Lord Stanley - 12-28-2017 12:10 PM
(12-28-2017 11:19 AM)cschierh Wrote: NORTHERN ILLINOIS (8-3, RPI 167). Good record but worst strength of schedule in the conference. Still scoring (and giving up) a lot of points.
You only gotta win by one, baby!
RE: Women's basketball 2017-18 - Rocket_Fanatic - 12-28-2017 01:38 PM
Only way the conference gets an at-large is if Ball St loses in championship game and finishes 33-1 or 32-2. If it still doesn’t happen then I would pray the commissioner would make threats against the selection committee
RE: Women's basketball 2017-18 - pono - 12-28-2017 03:43 PM
Buffalo and Ball St potentially have the wins for an at large depending on how those teams do. For example, if Purdue, Butler and Western Kentucky are all NCAA teams (ball st beat them) the cardinals could get an at large with a strong MAC season. Buffalo beat a bunch of P5 teams that are expected to be average in their league so it looks good at a glance but again depends on whether those teams step up and have NCAA caliber seasons. MAC is famous for NCAA at-large snubs, so even as the 8th best league it could happen again.
RE: Women's basketball 2017-18 - cschierh - 12-29-2017 12:10 AM
Don't count out Central Michigan. I still think Chipps could be the best team in the league. We'll see quickly. They open at Ball State Saturday.
RE: Women's basketball 2017-18 - Dwight - 12-29-2017 03:11 PM
(12-28-2017 01:38 PM)Rocket_Fanatic Wrote: Only way the conference gets an at-large is if Ball St loses in championship game and finishes 33-1 or 32-2. If it still doesn’t happen then I would pray the commissioner would make threats against the selection committee
pono's warning that we could get snubbed is more accurate than this over-the-top cynicism. No, this is not the only way the conference gets an at large bid. You seriously think that Buffalo could go undefeated in league play, lose the conference final to Ball State, and not get a bid? Ball State could lose three in the regular season plus a fourth in the tournament and still be in contention. Remember, Toledo lost six MAC games last year and still got a 10 seed. Some Rocket fans are unrealistically cynical because Naama's three-loss team didn't get an invite several years back. That team, though, didn't have a single high quality win, either in or out of conference. The conference wasn't as strong then as it is now.
The problem is that the MAC is likely to beat up on each other. Central, which didn't do great in the non-conference portion, could be the league champ with four losses. Then we have a problem getting an at-large bid.
RE: Women's basketball 2017-18 - emu steve - 12-30-2017 04:09 PM
(12-29-2017 12:10 AM)cschierh Wrote: Don't count out Central Michigan. I still think Chipps could be the best team in the league. We'll see quickly. They open at Ball State Saturday.
They upset BSU in the league opener.
RE: Women's basketball 2017-18 - T-Town - 01-01-2018 06:25 PM
The MAC is ALWAYS going to have a problem getting an at-large bid because there will always be enough 17-13 type major conference schools with one or two "good wins" and a ton of "good losses" that the selection committee will automatically pick over any mid-major team that did not win its conference tournament every time. The way the Majors stuff the tourney with the at-large teams is almost incestuous.