How important is winning the MAC East???
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 11:17 am
VERY IMPORTANT!
We can talk about the importance of all MAC games since the cross-divisional games essentially carry the same weight as divisional ones do, but make no mistake about it, the reason BG has been able to finally play for and win a MAC Championship is because we've finally been able to win the MAC East. Winning the East is huge. Do it and you're off to Detroit. Don't do it, you're staying at home.
I read yesterday from MAC media days that BG has gone 16-1 vs the East the last three years, including going undefeated against the East the last two years (2013 and 2014). I knew we did well vs the East the last several years but I didn't know it was that well. Which got me thinking, it's no coincidence that in the last two years we've also gone to Detroit because of it. Yes the West dominated the East last year. There was no question about it. But in the two years prior when it wasn't as unbalanced like that (2012 and 2013), even after being dealt our annual loss to Toledo, what we did vs the East was the difference in our season. In 2013 we swept the East and edged Buffalo (who we obviously beat head-to-head) and went to the MACC. What was BG's only MAC East loss in the last three years??? It came in 2012 to Kent State by 7 points and cost us a trip to the MACC. KSU finished 8-0 and BG finished 6-2. Had we beaten KSU, we'd have finished tied at 7-1 and BG would have won the head-to-head tiebreaker. Kent State still could have lost a game to a MAC team that year and it still wouldn't have mattered even if BG beat Toledo as they'd have still won the tiebreaker. The BG-KSU game at that Doyt that day essentially came down to it all that day.
Ever since the MAC has gone to divisions, it's made winning your division critical. The importance of what you do in divisional play is increased since teams do not face equal competition in the crossover games. For example, some East teams have to play teams like UT, WMU or NIU out of the West (BG plays two of these) and some are lucky enough to get EMU. What's more, a team like BG misses out on Miami again (expected to finish near the bottom of the East again) even within its own division. When you have divisions, teams are facing different strength of schedules even within a conference, thus increase the importance of winning a division.
This is why ultimately what we do vs the East matters most. What we do vs Ohio, Akron and UMass is likely going to matter more at the end of the year than what we did vs Toledo, because we aren't competing vs UT for the East, but we are vs OU, UA and UMass. This is also why when the West plays the East, I always pull for the West to win (yes, even when it's Tokedo) with the obvious exception of when BG plays because those kind of games can help in the standings - especially if you suffer a loss to a divisional foe. Because when you lose to a divisional foe, it's almost like losing twice because not only do you need to finish ahead of them, you can't finish tied with them because of head-to-head tiebreakers. This is where getting help from cross-divisional teams can play a part in helping. But when you beat your divisional foes yourself, it's huge because you also gain those tiebreakers.
BG going 16-1 vs the East the last three years is remarkable! But think about this for a second, that lone loss was the reason BG has gone to two and not three MACC games. Because even if BG had beaten Toledo in 2012 (UT was our other MAC loss that year), KSU still would have finished in front of us by winning the East. Every MAC game matters, some just more than others. But our goal of becoming MAC Champions can't be done without winning the East first. Even if a team finishes tied for a divisional title, nine times out of ten that tiebreaker is gonna come down to some form of a divisional win/loss outcome over a cross-divisional result. It's simply. Win the East - go to Detroit! I sure hope we get back there again this season! GO BG!!!
We can talk about the importance of all MAC games since the cross-divisional games essentially carry the same weight as divisional ones do, but make no mistake about it, the reason BG has been able to finally play for and win a MAC Championship is because we've finally been able to win the MAC East. Winning the East is huge. Do it and you're off to Detroit. Don't do it, you're staying at home.
I read yesterday from MAC media days that BG has gone 16-1 vs the East the last three years, including going undefeated against the East the last two years (2013 and 2014). I knew we did well vs the East the last several years but I didn't know it was that well. Which got me thinking, it's no coincidence that in the last two years we've also gone to Detroit because of it. Yes the West dominated the East last year. There was no question about it. But in the two years prior when it wasn't as unbalanced like that (2012 and 2013), even after being dealt our annual loss to Toledo, what we did vs the East was the difference in our season. In 2013 we swept the East and edged Buffalo (who we obviously beat head-to-head) and went to the MACC. What was BG's only MAC East loss in the last three years??? It came in 2012 to Kent State by 7 points and cost us a trip to the MACC. KSU finished 8-0 and BG finished 6-2. Had we beaten KSU, we'd have finished tied at 7-1 and BG would have won the head-to-head tiebreaker. Kent State still could have lost a game to a MAC team that year and it still wouldn't have mattered even if BG beat Toledo as they'd have still won the tiebreaker. The BG-KSU game at that Doyt that day essentially came down to it all that day.
Ever since the MAC has gone to divisions, it's made winning your division critical. The importance of what you do in divisional play is increased since teams do not face equal competition in the crossover games. For example, some East teams have to play teams like UT, WMU or NIU out of the West (BG plays two of these) and some are lucky enough to get EMU. What's more, a team like BG misses out on Miami again (expected to finish near the bottom of the East again) even within its own division. When you have divisions, teams are facing different strength of schedules even within a conference, thus increase the importance of winning a division.
This is why ultimately what we do vs the East matters most. What we do vs Ohio, Akron and UMass is likely going to matter more at the end of the year than what we did vs Toledo, because we aren't competing vs UT for the East, but we are vs OU, UA and UMass. This is also why when the West plays the East, I always pull for the West to win (yes, even when it's Tokedo) with the obvious exception of when BG plays because those kind of games can help in the standings - especially if you suffer a loss to a divisional foe. Because when you lose to a divisional foe, it's almost like losing twice because not only do you need to finish ahead of them, you can't finish tied with them because of head-to-head tiebreakers. This is where getting help from cross-divisional teams can play a part in helping. But when you beat your divisional foes yourself, it's huge because you also gain those tiebreakers.
BG going 16-1 vs the East the last three years is remarkable! But think about this for a second, that lone loss was the reason BG has gone to two and not three MACC games. Because even if BG had beaten Toledo in 2012 (UT was our other MAC loss that year), KSU still would have finished in front of us by winning the East. Every MAC game matters, some just more than others. But our goal of becoming MAC Champions can't be done without winning the East first. Even if a team finishes tied for a divisional title, nine times out of ten that tiebreaker is gonna come down to some form of a divisional win/loss outcome over a cross-divisional result. It's simply. Win the East - go to Detroit! I sure hope we get back there again this season! GO BG!!!