The Mid-American Conference is gearing up for a battle to the finish in the East Division.
Ideally, the battle would be for the division crown. Kent State ended that fantasy by running away with the MAC regular season championship. Now, the charge is for the No. 3 seed in the MAC Tournament. While there is no trophy or banner that comes with a third seed, the number three squad receives a solid consolation prize – a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament.
Bowling Green is one of three teams fighting for the No. 3 seed, vying for position with Ohio and Miami. The winner will automatically advance to Cleveland for a quarter-final contest. The losers will host first-round games beginning March 5.
Ohio (10-5) holds a half-game lead over the Falcons (9-5) in the East Division, while the RedHawks (8-6) are 1.5 games back. BG owns its destiny. The Falcons play both Miami and Ohio before the regular season finishes out. If they win out, the three seed is theirs.
“This makes us work for it now,” BG center Len Matela said. “We could have got it coasting, but now it’s in our hands. If we have a letdown, we’ll lose the three seed and maybe the four and five seed.”
The outlook will become even clearer as the week goes on. BG starts the positioning battle with a 7 p.m. battle with Miami in Oxford tonight. A win would bump the Falcons back up into a tie with Ohio. The Bobcats play their next regular season game against Kent State Saturday while the Falcons host Akron at home.
BG won an earlier contest against Miami 64-61, but like the Falcons found out in their loss to Toledo Monday, the RedHawks are tougher to beat on their home floor. In fact, Miami hasn’t loss a MAC game at Millett Hall since the Falcons beat them in overtime there last season. The RedHawks have won 10 MAC games in a row since that point. Miami struggled against the Falcons during the regular season, with BG capturing wins in the last six meetings between the two teams.
The Falcons were on a three game winning streak before the overtime setback to Toledo. Tonight’s game marks the third time this season that the Falcons are riding only a day’s rest.
“This is a tough league,” BG coach Dan Dakich said. “It’s for men to play. We’ll see how we bounce back.”
West Wrap Up
Ball State could wrap up the West Division and claim the No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament with a win over Western Michigan at home tonight. It would be the Cardinals’ first outright title since the league went to divisional play for the 1997-98 season. Toledo and Western Michigan are the closest teams to Ball State in the West with 7-7 records.
Assist man
Falcon senior guard Brandon Pardon is closing the MAC regular season eyeing his second consecutive assist crown. He leads the conference averaging 6.6 assist per game and is also ranked 13th in the country in that department.
