OK, here's my stab at MAC hoops predictions

[BleedOrange]

Here's how I think they'll finish and how many wins they'll have....

Kent 20 wins
Buf 17
Mia 16
Mar 9
Akr 9
OU 6

UT 23 (vomit)
EM 19
BS 18
BG 17
WM 13
NIU 6
CM 5


This isn't a particularly balanced year for the MAC, and the West again looks decidedly stronger than the East. NIU, Central, and OU seem very weak to me, and I wonder if they'll be facing Sagarin ratings in the neighborhood of 275.

There are a bunch of good young guards in the MAC this year, particurly in the West. The conference's collective recruiting class seems to be a bit stronger than in recent years.

Buffalo returns everybody, but their roster isn't that strong to begin with. I like Kent better. Haynes, Edwin, and Gerwig return, and Jay Youngblood will step right in. Kent has good depth, as well. Miami continues to wane, as Coles hasn't restocked his cupboard with the kind of talent that he's lost. They'll tread .500 with their D. Anyone care to take bets on whether OU's $250K man, Tim O'Shea is in his final year?

I hate to admit that UT looks damned strong. Pinson looks particularly talented, and I think that he could emerge as one of the MAC's top post players. Toledo has an great all-round perimeter game, and they have lots of veteran front line depth behind Pinson and Valencia. Nevertheless, they're still Toledo. Let's see if they find a way to shoot themselves in the foot. It'll be fun to watch.

EMU returns 4 good players: Ross, Bowler, Austin, and Jackson. They add four great recruits. Boone has proven nothing so far, so his seat is almost as hot as O'Shea's. This year will make him.

Ball State may have great young talent on the perimeter, but whatever talent they have up front is generally unproven and on the DL, including Howland, Kent, and Bass. I might have this team way overpicked.

At BG, I'm looking forward to Wright and Almanson emerging to have very nice years. I'm hoping Almanson gets 30 mpg and that Wright will be much more comfortable at the 2. Also, I expect Lefeld to be very solid and give us the best post D that we've had in long, long time. I've been reading terrific reviews of our two freshman. I have high hopes for Robinson, despite the fact that he signed in August (which might be due to any number of reasons). 21.9ppg, 6.2 rpg, 8apg, 6.4 STEALS per game -> that's an excellent stat line for anybody, but especially for a 5-9 guy from Chicago's city league. We'll start the year with 11 guys on scholarship, lack depth & experience at guard, and we'll have absolutely no room for injuries to anybody. BG could win 20 or win 10 - neither outcome surprise me. It's critical that we stay healthy.

The rags are picking WMU high, but I'm not sure why. They lost TONS to graduation. Yes, Ben Reed might be the MAC's best player. After him they have Willis and Snider, both of whom are solid but unspectacular. The rest of their roster is made up of guys that received minor playing time. They had an average recruiting class for the conference (but their fall signees sound great).

NIU graduated the only players having anything resembling talent, return almost nothing, but have added one good guard. CMU lost Brigitha, returns nothing and has added nothing. Jay Smith's good years were due to great individual performances from guys like Webber and Kaman. He hasn't recruited a lick. I'm seriously wondering if his job is on the line as well.

[Flipper]

I think that UT will figure out a way to screw things up this year. They have the talent, but Stan Joplin is just about my least favorite MAC coach. Give Charlie Coles their talent, and Miami would be in the final 16 this spring.
I think EMU will win the west.

I'm not predicting anything about our squad this year until I see them practice or play. There's just too many new pieces to the puzzle. We could be pretty solid or we could be ....not so solid