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#2 Ball State vs. #7 Central Michigan

A far better match up on the gridiron than it is on the hardwood this battle between 2 of the 3 West division champs promises to be an ugly, poorly attended, slugfest. Ohio based MAC fans have little respect for the quality of  basketball played in the West Division, and will not be watching with great interest as they would expect either of these teams to be dispatched rather quickly in the next round by Buffalo who lead the stronger half of the MAC for most of the year. Despite the indifference of many MAC fans these two sub .500 squads will bring pride and intensity into this game, as both are in the midst of modest turnarounds for their once pitiful programs.

Ball State was on their way to a nice little season inching above the .500 mark and walking away with the West. Their last 3 games were a nightmare though and they lost to Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, and Eastern Michigan by the thinnest of margins, leaving them with a losing record and in a log jam at the top of the West division. It is hard to know what effect those kind of outcomes can have on a teams confidence. I look for them to bonce back emotionally and play a solid game in large part because of the leadership provided by G Brandon Lampley, and the spark they get from freshman F Jarrod Jones . I really like the way Brandon Lampley plays the game, he has is the quintessential MAC player; tough, undersized (6′ even), without a natural position, and always where he needs to be. Plus you have to admire any senior at Ball State who could survive the three coaching changes and bitter feuds in that program.

Central Michigan is playing well at the right time of year, and Marcus Vann is just so good when he wants to be that I am tempted to pick an upset here. The rumor that Vann has a stomach flue makes me reluctant to go through with that, as well as the memory of Central’s 44 point offensive output in Muncie just a few weeks ago (Ball State’s last win and Central’s last loss). I like the resiliency of Ball State alot more than I like a flue infected one man show that is Marcus Vann.

My Pick: Ball State

#3 Buffalo vs. #6 Kent State
I have not now nor have I ever been a part of the Buffalo Bull’s bandwagon. A hot start and the only decent non conference showing by a MAC team turned this traditional also ran into the conferences front runner for the better part of the season. They didn’t respond well giving up a sizable lead that cost them an outright title and the #1 seed to Bowling Green. Included in that mini collapse was a loss to the Golden Flashes just one short week ago. In that game Kent State’s experienced backcourt duo of Chris Singeltary, and Al Fischer both had big games with 19 and 15 points respectively.

The experience of the Flashes and the home court advantage they get by playing at the Q is invaluable. While Buffalo has overachieved all season, the Golden Flashes are just beginning to adjust to new coach Geno Ford and starting to regain their old form. Kent State has alot of pride and a MAC record long 20 win season streak that they are looking to extend. Al Fischer leads the way to another MAC tournament win for this group.

My pick:  Kent State

#1 Bowling Green vs. #9 Ohio

The 2008-2009 Bowling Green Falcons are without question the worst team ever seeded #1 in the Mid American Conference Tournament. It isn’t even close. They have lost games this year to: Savannah State, Central Arkansas, and Eastern Michigan. I find it very hard to praise this team, but they have  more  MAC wins than all but one other team in this conference including two wins over Ohio the last of which was a 75-41 beat down on the last day of the regular season.  They have senior leadership with all conference players G Brian Moten and F Nate Miller and a couple extra days off under their belt.  So as skeptical as I am of Bowling Green’s championship credentials I cant deny that they are clearly superior to Ohio.

My Pick: Bowling Green

#4 Miami vs. #5 Akron

A rematch of the of the classic championship game from two years ago this clash of styles promises to be the game of the day. The crafty veteran strategist Charlie Coles will try and teach yet another lesson in basketball to Akron’s semi retarded Keith Dambrot. Dambrot is of course famous for “coaching,” LeBron James in High school but he is also known around the MAC for having some of the conferences most talented teams and an empty trophy case.  Charlie Coles is famous for both leading Wally Szerbeack and company to the Sweet Sixteen in 1999 and having a massive heart attack in Kalamazoo a year earlier where he lay legally dead for two minutes before being revived. So if Coles doesn’t keel over between now and then, and if Dambrot doesn’t get lost on his way to the arena this will be a very intreguing coaching match up.

The teams on the court are pretty evenly matched. I would give a slight edge to Akron for pure athletic talent especially in the front court where Brett and Chris McKnight are a formidable duo. Miami isn’t void of talent either as they sport the MACPOY Michael Bramos however he does his damage on the wing and not in the blocks. This game will come down to the decision making of the guards and the abilities of the coaches to adjust. Advantage to Miami in each case. Akron is also coming off of an overtime game played late into Tuesday evening. That short recovery time can’t help their bigs.

My Pick: Miami

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#7 Central Michigan vs. #10 Eastern Michigan:

This is really a tough game to figure out. Eastern is playing their best basketball all season right now winning 4 in a row (half of their win total) going in to this game. Central has been surging for the last month as well including a come from behind win over rival Western Michigan that earned them a share of the MAC West title. Having a share of the MAC West title is kind of like having a share of Citibank right now with the 3 co champions all well below .500 overall, but it still counts for something when your program has been down as long CMU’s.

Eastern won two very close games in the regular season this year against the Chips; one in double OT and the other with clutch free throw shooting in the last few seconds. It is difficult to see those two wins giving the Eagles an advantage in this one since the margin was so razor thin. If anything I feel like the emotional edge is with CMU since it is so difficult to beat a team 3 times in one season. I also like Marcus Vann CMU’s big PF a whole lot. This guy plays a very physical style in the post, one that Eagle forward Brandon Bowdry is often reluctant to play preferring to float on the perimeter and look for chances to fire up a three pointer which he rarely makes. Vann should dominate inside putting pressure on EMU’s inferior backcourt to score which should spell the end of Eastern’s season.  The only chance the Eagles have is if on again off again head case Justin Dobbins shows up and has a big game to counter Vann’s aggressiveness. I just don’t see it happening.

My Pick: Central Michigan

#6 Kent State vs. #11 Northern Illinois:

Kent State is another team that has been playing really well this last month of the season. The Golden Flashes are usually among the elite in this conference however thanks to a coaching change and slow start to the season they were passed up by most of their East division rivals early on and not quite able to recover in time falling one game out of a bye, and being forced to play an extra game this week. Kent also benefits from a sizeable home court advantage in this tournament. Most of their fans and alumni are in metropolitan Cleveland so they usually bring a nice contingent of folks to the Q.

Northern Illinois is just a plain lousy team. They do nothing particularly well, and have no sign of improvement from midnight madness through today. They are coached by Ricardo Patton a notorious hot head who provides the only drama in many of NIU’s games as anxious fans wonder if he will be ejected for lighting into an official. This game shouldn’t be close.

My Pick: Kent State

#8 Western Michigan vs. #9 Ohio

After chocking away a 14 point lead and the outright MAC West title (along with the #2 seed and bye into the quarterfinals)in the final 10 minutes of Sunday’s game against Central Michigan the Western Michigan Broncos now draw the only team from the East division that they were able to beat this season in cross divisional play and the only team in the conference playing as bad as they are. This is the only reason I would even entertain the notion of predicting a win for the worst rebounding and worst shooting team in the MAC.

David Kool has not been enough to carry this team this season despite some very impressive individual performances, and he won’t be able to carry them through this tournament.  Not with the horrific rebounding efforts they have been famous for this year. I don’t care who they are playing. I don’t care that Ohio got torched by BGSU on Sunday like a team that has quit on their season. I don’t care that WMU beat them by double digits at their place this season. I refuse to pick a team that is as poor on the glass as WMU. Rebounding is more about desire than talent. Western doesn’t have the desire, and that is why they lose.

My Pick: Ohio

#5 Akron vs. #12 Toledo

Along with Kent Akron brings the largest amount of fans into the Q every season which makes this a virtual home game for the Zips. They are going to need all the support they can get after a very emotional loss to Kent State that ended their regular season and cost them a share of the East division title and the #1 seed in this tournament.  They’ll square off against a Toledo team that has been overmatched for much of the season, competing with only a handful of scholarship players. Toledo doesn’t win much away from home either going 1–17 away from Savage Hall. Senior gurard Tyrone Kent can’t do everything although a big game from him might keep it close…for a while.

My Pick: Akron