Like most recent years in the Mid-American Conference, the 2002-03 men’s basketball season has been highly competitive and predictably unpredictable. Almost halfway through the conference schedule, the MAC post-season picture remains very hazy, with every team appearing vulnerable.
BG’s roller coaster season has been fairly representative of the streaky nature of most MAC teams thus far.
After a 2-4 start, the Falcons ran off six straight wins, then dropped three of their next four to conference opponents. After a disappointing loss to Northern Illinois at home on Saturday, BG stands at 5-3 in the MAC and 9-7 overall.
With 10 conference games and the ESPN Bracket Busters still on the regular season schedule, head coach Dan Dakich’s club will have a tough road toward staying in the Western Division race. However, a team’s regular season record rewards them merely with a better seeding in the MAC tournament, and in the tournament, a seven-day hot streak could land a squad in the Big Dance.
With that opportunity in mind, nearly every MAC team still has its sights set on March Madness. Here’s a breakdown of the Falcons’ foes and where they stand as of now.
MAC EAST
Kent State: 6-1 (13-2). The Golden Flashes, coming off consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament, remain the team to beat in the MAC. Despite losing several key players from last season and head coach Stan Heath, Kent State has maintained their position atop the East Division. However, this is not the dominant ball club of the past. Kent squeaked by a terrible Buffalo team and got handed a rare home defeat at the hands of the Falcons, their lone MAC loss.
Marshall: 5-2 (9-6). Junior guard Ronald Blackshear is averaging nearly 21 points for the Thundering Herd, but two of those conference wins came against lowly Buffalo. Marshall is another streaky team, following three straight January wins with three straight losses, including games with Central Michigan and Kent.
Miami: 5-2 (7-9). Running their usual slow-down offense, the Redhawks have managed to overcome a very bad start. Three straight wins over Ohio, Akron and Ball State have them back in the race.
Ohio: 2-4 (5-9). The Bobcats have a star in forward Brandon Hunter, but they followed a four overtime win over Akron with three straight losses.
Akron: 2-5 (7-9). The Zips have the MAC’s leading scorer in Derek Tarver, and they showed some promise early on, but four consecutive MAC defeats (thanks in part to four games in eight days) have them in a hole.
Buffalo: 0-7 (3-13). Nine losses in a row and counting.
MAC WEST
Central Michigan: 5-2 (12-4). Led by seven-footer Chris Kaman, CMU was on a major roll before falling flat against Eastern Michigan on Saturday. Still, Central may be the biggest blockade in BG’s path to a division crown.
Northern Illinois: 5-2 (9-8). Anyone in Anderson Arena on Saturday knows that this team is tough. Dakich praised NIU’s considerable improvement from earlier in the year, saying that they have clearly “found a way to be successful.” A suffocating defense has helped Northern win five in a row.
Western Michigan: 4-3 (12-4). The Broncos beat some hefty non-conference opponents early in the year, but started 0-3 in the MAC. All of the sudden, four straight convincing wins have Western creeping up on BG.
Eastern Michigan: 2-4 (8-7). Eastern rebounded from a one-point loss to Ball State by upsetting Central on Saturday. They also had a convincing win over the Falcons on January 14.
Toledo: 2-5 (8-9). The Rockets had a five-game winning streak earlier in the year, but have since lost six of eight. Keith Triplett and Nick Moore have played well, but Toledo needs to gain some momentum before heading into Bowling Green on February 11.
Ball State: 2-5 (6-10). Guard Chris Williams is averaging 23 points per game, but Ball State is still trying to recover from a very tough early schedule that saw them lose seven straight.
As for BG, they will try to right the ship this week with a Tuesday game at Ohio University and a Saturday game at Central Michigan.
