The MAC adjusted their tournament last year away from the stupid divisional format to the more trendy (and completely warranted and smart) multiple-bye format, rewarding regular season success. The top two seeds will get triple-byes, followed by double-byes for the 3- and 4-seeds. This year, because of the academic ineligibility of Toledo (which is a big loss because the Rockets were pretty good this year), the 5-seed will get a single bye, and there will be three opening round games on campus sites on Monday.
With all due respect to the top two teams in the MAC – this year has been a real down year in the conference. Though, the disappointments may have found their strides late in the season, so we could have a really good tournament this year. Kent St. and Buffalo, in particular, have been playing their best ball of the year. Last year’s NCAA Tournament darlings, Ohio, finished behind one of my favorite mid-majors all year, the Akron Zips. Unfortunately, my pet mid-major here just took an incredible blow with the suspension of point guard Alex Abreu for drug trafficking. That is HUGE because Abreu, while not the best player (that would be 7-foot NBA prospect Zeke Marshall – who I hate as a player, by the way), I think Abreu was the most important for a Zips team that had a 19-game winning streak before losing to Kent without him. Western Michigan has been under-the-radar all year, as they are young, but talented. Also, Ball St., after a dreadful start to the season, has won 5 straight and looks like they could be poised to make a run.
CHAMPIONSHIP (March 16th – 36 points)
#1 Akron vs #2 Ohio
These two teams have been on a collision course for March 16th all season long. The Alex Abreu situation looked like it might derail this showdown, but it didn’t, as Carmelo Betancourt played well at the point, and the Zips took care of Kent St. in the semis. Ohio held off a big comeback attempt by Western Michigan to get to this matchup. This one should be really good.
Alexi, Gersh, GrossSr, and J are the only four with Akron here. Caleb, Lohse, Lynch, PapaCim, and Primm have already lost this game with either WMU or Kent St. The other 15 all have Ohio winning this tournament. If Akron wins this game, J will take the MAC title in 2013. If Ohio wins, Cheryl will lock up the title.
SEMIFINALS (March 15th – 24 points each)
#1 Akron vs #4 Kent St.
All year long, the Zips have been the best team in this league. They had a 19-game winning streak and were pushing for a possible at-large bid even if they didn’t win this tournament. In fact, they were one of my favorite mid-major teams for a while, and now that this team is senior-laden, it was “the year.” But, then the bomb dropped. Playmaking junior point guard, Alex Abreu was busted with enough marijuana to be charged with drug trafficking. Needless to say, his season (and probably career at Akron) are over. It still remains to be seen if they can rally without him and just who will take over the point, as PG is the one position where they have very little depth. Will they slide Xavier transfer 2-guard, Brian Walsh to the 1, or will the inexperienced backup PG, Carmelo Betancourt step into first-string responsibilities. They do, however, have a ton of good, athletic wings (Demetrius Treadwell, Chauncey Gilliam, etc.) and they have the one thing most mid-majors (and, most high-majors, for that matter) do not – a legit 7-footer who will probably play at the next level. Zeke Marshall is a shot-blocking extraordinaire and a serviceable low-post threat on the offensive end. I am not a fan of his sulky, aloof demeanor, but I’ve never been 7-feet in a 6-footers world, so it’s hard for me to criticize. Here in the semis, they will face a red-hot Kent St. team that beat them in their only game without Abreu at the end of the regular season and then survived a gutsy Buffalo team in the quarters on Thursday. The Zips have made the MAC finals for a ridiculous four years in a row and are one game from a fifth straight.
Everyone has skin in this game, as 15 people have Akron and 9 (Bry, Caleb, Dave, GrossJr, Lohse, PapaCim, Rikey, Scoot, and Waters) have Kent. Caleb, Lohse, and PapaCim all have Kent St. winning this tournament, while Alexi, Gersh, GrossSr, and J have the Zips.
#2 Ohio vs #3 Western Michigan
Last year’s tournament darlings, Ohio, are two games from going back again – with pretty much the whole lineup back from the Sweet Sixteen team of a year ago. That, by the way, shows you how good Akron was, to beat out this Ohio team with everyone back. Walter Offutt, the Ohio St. transfer, is excellent, as is Clark Kellogg’s son, Nick. But, this team starts and stops with a guy who has had one of the greatest unknown careers anywhere in past couple of decades. D.J. Cooper is a stud. Get these numbers: 2,000+ points, 900+ assists, 600+ rebounds, 250+ three-pointers, and, unbelievably, 300+ steals against barely 400 turnovers. Which means, that he erases 3/4 of his turnovers (as a point guard) with a STEAL. Throw in the ridiculous offensive numbers and you’ve got yourself one of the best players in a generation. I just hope we get to see one more run in the tournament. They will have to beat WMU in the semis to do that, though, after the Broncos convincing win over rival Eastern Michigan in the quarters.
21 people have Ohio here, with only Lynch, PapaCim, and Primm took WMU. Lynch and Primm have the Broncos winning this tournament. Ohio is the championship pick of 15 people here.
QUARTERFINALS (March 14th – 12 points each)
#4 Kent St. vs #8 Buffalo
And, enter the next two MAC teams to the tournament – one of which is the 4th-seeded Golden Flashes of Kent St. Kent is red hot entering this tournament, as they closed the regular season on an impressive 5-game winning streak that began with an OT win over this Buffalo team and ended with a 4-point win at 1st-place Akron. Now, they get a Buffalo team that needed OT to beat Central Michigan in a play-in game on Monday just to get to Cleveland, but they knocked off Ball St. on Wednesday. The winner here will take on #1 Akron.
Alexi, Lynch, and Teddy all have the big Buffalo upset pick here. Primm, LohseJr, and Stumpf have already lost this game, having picked Ball St. here. Caleb, PapaCim, and Lohse all have KSU winning this tournament. Bry, Dave, GrossJr, Rikey, Scoot, and Waters all have them going to the finals.
#3 Western Michigan vs #7 Eastern Michigan
The second quarterfinal welcomes 3rd-seeded WMU to take on their bitter rival from the Eastern part of the state. EMU beat NIU on Monday by a point to get to Cleveland, then took care of Miami (OH) when they got here. WMU enters the tournament as one of the surprise teams this year in the MAC. Last year, they had what was supposed to be their best team – possibly – in program history. But, injuries and distractions led them to a disastrous season and then they all graduated. This year, they were supposed to struggle to rebuild, but they found new life and played a lot harded than their more-talented predecessors, and, in turn, won a lot more games. Now, they will take that energy to the MAC tournament. The winner of this one will get #2 Ohio in the semis.
Caleb and Teddy have the big EMU upset here. Lynch and Primm have WMU winning this tournament. PapaCim has them reaching the finals.
SECOND ROUND (March 13th – 6 points each)
#5 Ball St. vs #8 Buffalo
Ball St. enters this tournament as one of the hottest teams in the MAC – winners of five straight to earn themselves a bye to Cleveland. They will open their tournament tonight against a good, but underachieving Buffalo team that had to scrape and claw its way to a first round OT win over Central Michigan. BSU is led by senior, 1000-point scorer, Jauwan Scaife, who is averaging 25 points per game during the winning streak. Buffalo will have to contain Scaife and get their own star, Javon McCrea, off if they are to advance. The winner here takes on #4 Kent St. in the quarters.
Buffalo is a pretty popular upset pick here, as nine people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Caleb, Cheryl, GrossJr, Lazarow, Lynch, and Teddy) have the Bulls in this one. Alexi, Lynch, and Teddy have them winning again on Thursday and going to the semis. LohseJr, Primm, and Stumpf have the most at stake with Ball St., as they all have them beating Kent St. tomorrow after a win today.
#7 Eastern Michigan vs #11 Miami (OH)
Did Miami (OH) figure something out on Monday night in a big road upset of Bowling Green? Possibly. And, if so, they could be tough. Here in Cleveland, they will take on EMU in the second round, with the winner to face 3rd-seeded Western Michigan in the quarters. EMU won an ugly 45-44 game at home against Northern Illinois to get themselves to Cleveland for the matchup.
Cheryl is the only one with a really nice upset pick here with Miami (OH), so she’s due for 36 quick points if they can pull it off. 13 people (Bry, Caleb, Dave, GrossSr, J, Lazarow, Lynch, PapaCim, Primm, Rikey, RDoc, Teddy, and Waters) have what amounts to being a mild upset, actually, with EMU here. (NOTE: since #6 Bowling Green was supposed to be in this spot, #7 EMU counts as a mild upset, even though they would be beating #11 Miami (OH))
FIRST ROUND (March 11th – 3 points each)
#6 Bowling Green vs #11 Miami (OH)
Miami (OH) looked for a while like they might be a mid-conference team, but something happened and the wheels fell off around the middle of January. They enter the MAC Tournament losers of 9 straight, though, as we’ve seen with LMU and Furman – teams with 9+-game losing streaks are not to be messed with. Bowling Green will welcome the Redskins into town for an opening round game. BG has played a lot better than they did in the beginning of the year, but they really haven’t lived up to their talent level. They have never really looked like a true contender, even though they probably have top 3 or 4 talent in a really down year for the conference, as a whole. The Falcons do have a couple of guys who can really fill it up, though in Jordan Crawford and Austin Calhoun, so they might not be an easy out in this tournament.
Seven people (Bry, Caleb, Cheryl, GrossSr, J, Lynch, and PapaCim) took Miami (OH) in this pretty decent upset pick. Most of the field has Bowling Green winning in each of the first two rounds, while Alex, GrossJr, Lohse, and LohseJr all have them upsetting Western Michigan in the quarters to reach the semis.
Miami (OH) 63 – Bowling Green 52
A disappointing year for Bowling Green ends at home in an 11-point loss to a team that had lost 12 or their last 13. Miami (OH) kept the Falcons at arm’s length for most of the game and will advance to the second round in Cleveland on Wednesday.
Seven people (Bry, Caleb, Cheryl, GrossSr, J, Lynch, and PapaCim) hit this big upset pick, while Alex, GrossJr, Lohse, and LohseJr all lost semifinalists in this one.
#7 Eastern Michigan vs #10 Northern Illinois
Oftentimes in these conference tournaments, you can get rematches of amazingly memorable regular season games. This is one of them, but not really for the reasons you might think. When EMU faced off against NIU earlier this year, the halftime score was 18-4. Yes, Eighteen to Four. NIU shot 3% from the field in the first half (1-for-31). They scored a fastbreak layup in the opening minute and then missed their next TWENTY-NINE shots from the field. The game finished up 42-25 in one of the ugliest games ever played. NIU’s first-year head coach Mark Montgomery was a light-scoring, incredible play-making point guard for Tom Izzo in the early 90’s. Well, it seems that the team is taking after him in scoring, but not really in playmaking. The good news for NIU fans is that the team is very, very young and Montgomery looks like he might be a program-builder in a school that I’ve often called a “sleeping giant” because of their proximity to the great basketball city of Chicago that doesn’t really have any school that dominates Chicago recruiting (except, of course, Duke…). As for EMU, they aren’t good, but they took advantage of a weak MAC and grabbed enough wins in conference play to be a middle-of-the-road team this year.
GrossJr and Stumpf are the only two to take NIU in this upset pick. A decent number of people have EMU winning again in the second round, but only Caleb and Teddy have them reaching the semifinals.
Eastern Michigan 45 – Northern Illinois 44
Another ugly game between these two was, at least, exciting down the stretch. EMU was up 11 with just over 7 minutes left, when NIU went on a spirited 15-2, possibly season-saving run to take a 44-42 lead with less than a minute to go. But, a 3-pointer by Jalen Ross (no, not that Jalen) put the Eagles back up by a point with :32 seconds left. NIU then had three shots for the win, but none of them fell, and EMU survives and advances to Cleveland for a second round game against Miami (OH) in Cleveland on Wednesday.
GrossJr and Stumpf just missed a nice upset pick here. Caleb and Teddy barely keep their semifinalist alive.
#8 Buffalo vs #9 Central Michigan
CMU was picked to finish in 11th place in the MAC – ahead of only NIU – but came around in the end and actually look pretty solid in the advanced metrics. Buffalo, on the other hand, has had a very disappointing, injury-riddled season, but they look relatively healthy now and might be a sleeper in this tournament. The Bulls have upper-league talent, so if they can get it together, they could be a tough out. The winner of this game will play 5th-seeded Ball St.
Eight people (Dave, Gersh, GrossJr, Lohse, PapaCim, Scoot, Stumpf, and Waters) went with CMU in the upset pick here, with only Lohse having them win again next round over Ball St. However, the Bulls are a very popular pick to go somewhat far in this tournament, so brackets could be busted here in the first round. Seven people (Alex, Alexi, Bry, Caleb, GrossJr, Lazarow, and Teddy) have the Bulls going to the quarters, while Alexi and Teddy have them going to the semis.
Buffalo 74 – Central Michigan 72 (OT)
What an incredible game. 18 lead changes and no lead greater than 6 points all game ended in a thrilling Buffalo overtime victory at home. Javon McCrea went 8-10 from the floor, scoring 21 points (6 in overtime) along with filling up the stat sheet with 8 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 4 blocks. After dropping 31 in regulation, CMU’s Kyle Randall went 0-for-5 in the overtime session, including missing a potential game-winning three at the buzzer. It is a tough way to end the season for the Chippewas, but they look like they are improving.
Eight people missed this minor upset, while seven others keep alive a quarterfinalist, including Alexi and Teddy, who keep their semifinalist.
CTC UPDATE
Championship Picks
- #1 Akron (4)
- #2 Ohio (15)
- #3 Western Michigan (2)
- #4 Kent St. (3)
Biggest Upsets
- R1 – #11 Miami (OH) (Bry, Caleb, Cheryl, GrossSr, Lynch & PapaCim)
- R2 – #11 Miami (OH) (Cheryl)
- QF – #8 Buffalo (Alexi & Teddy)
- SF – #4 Kent St. (many)
- Champ – #4 Kent St. (Caleb, Lohse, PapaCim)
Previous CTC Champions
- 2008 – Doogan
- 2009 – Doogan
- 2010 – Teddy (perfect – probably the single greatest performance in CTC history – check out the tournament results that he aced)
- 2011 – Doogan & J
- 2012 – Mac
2013 Scores
1). 24 (perfect) – Bry, Caleb, Cheryl, J, Lynch
6). 21 – GrossSr, PapaCim
8). 6 – Alex, Alexi, Doogan, Lazarow, LohseJr, Mac, Primm, RDoc, Rikey, Teddy
18). 3 – Dave, Gersh, GrossJr, Lohse, Scoot, Waters
24). 0 – Stumpf
