The MAC Tournament format ONLY includes the top-8 schools. That means that the bottom-4 will finish their respective season by March 4, 2022.
Currently Miami is in 9th place and 1/2 a game behind Bowling Green. This Saturday’s game might go a long way in determining whether or not Miami’s season continues after March 4th.
REMAINING SCHEDULES OF TEAMS AHEAD OF MIAMI:
(6) 5-4 CMU (9 games remaining): vs. Ohio, @ WMU, vs EMU, @ Toledo, @ Ohio, @ Miami, vs. Kent, vs Miami, @ Akron
(7) 6-6 BALL STATE (7): @ Buffalo, vs. NIU, @ BGSU, @ Kent, vs EMU, vs. Akron, @WMU
(8) 5-8 BOWLING GREEN (7): @ Miami, vs. Buffalo, vs Ball, @ Akron, vs WMU, vs Ohio, @ Toledo
(9) 4-8 MIAMI (8): vs BGSU, @ Ohio, @NIU, vs. Buffalo, vs CMU, @ Toledo, @ CMU, vs. EMU
The 7th or 8th seed isn’t an exciting place to be imo. You’re probably going to be drilled by one of the two best teams in the conference. If you manage to pull an upset, you’ll probably do the MAC a terrible disservice by ensuring it is absolutely a one-bid league. The odds of making a deep run from the 7/8 is negligible. You’re either a conference home wrecker or road kill. Go to Cleveland when you’re in the top 6. Then make some noise.
They are unknown to an extent…EMU has already beaten us…either way season is essentially over, Dalonte’s health avail/dictates if we have upset potential.
Bouncing one of the top two teams out of the dance and then crapping the bed in the next game doesn’t help our recruiting. Harder to sell recruits on playing in a one bid lead than playing in a two or multiple bid league. All that glitters isn’t gold.
The MAC getting multiple teams in the tourney 1 time in 2 decades isn’t going to help. It would need to be a consistent occurrence and it isn’t going to be.
Exactly. It would be great if the MAC were a 2-bid league, but it’s not. Toledo has an outside shot at an at-large, but it’s unlikely Ohio does. They’re currently #84 in the NET Rankings. No bad losses, but only one good win (Belmont). They’d pretty much have to run the table to the MACC. And if they did, I only see that helping their recruiting, not Miami’s.
I think you meant to say away at Toledo. I believe we will beat CMU and EMU at home, and split NIU/CMU on the road. Can we get more than 3 wins? Is 8-12 enough for the top 8? Can’t believe I’m even having to ask these questions.
Also important to note that BSU holds the tie-breaker over us, so we have to finish ahead of them to be seeded above them. I certainly think we can jump CMU, though the 7 seed is not really any better than the 8 seed. I could also see us not even making the top 8.
In my mind, 3 teams are competing for 2 spots: Miami, Central, Eastern. BG is 5-12 with Western, OU, and Toledo left, likely leaving them at 6-14. NIU has a home and home with Buffalo (Thurs/Sat) before finishing at home with Kent and OU. They did win at Kent earlier in the year but Kent’s been on a tear, so I see them at 6-14 at best.
Central will only play 18 conference games. In addition to the 2 against us, they have Kent at home and Akron at the JAR. Eastern is at Ball St. and home against Western before coming to Oxford to end the regular season. If we sweep Central and lose the others, that would be enough to get in the top 8, even if Eastern wins out. We’d finish 8th. Obviously, if someone bucks the trend, then it gets more complicated.