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29 minutes ago, ub2019 said:

UB has to be pretty big favorites to win the conference next year now

Obviously you guys know I'm biased given my attachment to Ohio and Buffalo but I don't see that being the case.

I thought BOTH the Bobcats and Bulls were the favorites going into the offseason and still believe that. Look at Mark Sears numbers when Jason Preston missed games due to Covid protocols last year. He's going to be a force. Averaged 8.5 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes per game for the season and averaged 14 points, 7.5 assists and 5 rebounds in five starts. Sears is a more than capable starter and will be on an All-MAC team within a few years.

Losing Preston is definitely a HUGE loss for OU but more-so from a depth perspective. Both teams should be co-favorites. Especially with the Bobcats returning Dwight Wilison, Ben Vander Plas and Jason Carter transferring back from Xavier.

UB is probably the most talented team in the MAC but they need to put it all together under Whitesell. Last years tourney run was encouraging but they haven't had a complete season since Nate Oats left.

Edited by Big 4 Hoops Blogger
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1 hour ago, Bill said:

Preston will remain in the draft and sign with an agent. 

Obviously big MAC news. Ohio does have the depth and returning experience to move on from Preston. But still will be significant. I think this makes us the preseason favorites but not by much. Still think tier one is us and Ohio. With our squad as constituted, my expectations are conference championship game or bust. I’d go tourney or bust but we are in a one bid league so I’ll temper expectations. 

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1 hour ago, DooleyBull06 said:

Obviously big MAC news. Ohio does have the depth and returning experience to move on from Preston. But still will be significant. I think this makes us the preseason favorites but not by much. Still think tier one is us and Ohio. With our squad as constituted, my expectations are conference championship game or bust. I’d go tourney or bust but we are in a one bid league so I’ll temper expectations. 

My assessment is the same for top 2 in MAC with a slight edge to UB. Our goal should be tourney or bust even if this is one bid league.  It is definitely not going to be easy.    Akron and Kent are likely to not be far behind.  Here is a summary of what I see for Buffalo and Ohio:

image.png.5757a954eadd3854427e0a71696300a1.png

Note estimates / ranks for 21-22 are from barttorvik.com.

Edited by DocCas86
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  • 2 weeks later...

Ohio landed their first commit from class of 2022, Elmore James IV is a 6'3" shooting guard out of Cleveland, OH.  Several other MAC teams (Kent, Toledo and Miami) were also interested in him.  North Texas was the highest ranked team along with Cleveland St and Bryant.  

Jason Whitens will be transferring from W. Michigan to Michigan State as a walk-on.   The 6'4" guard averaged roughly 5 points per game in 23 minutes last year.

 

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24 minutes ago, UB05 said:

Not sure if it’s been posted, but Preston was drafted 33rd overall in the draft last night. Congrats to him will not miss playing against him 

He may be good in the NBA, but I’m not seeing it. Hopefully for the MAC I’m wrong.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Wasn't quite sure where this belonged - but I did a bit more work on defensive performance of two years under Whitesell.  As a reminder, last year was a better season in terms of MAC results (12-5 vs 11-7).  The following charts show how our defense performed vs opponent average by comparing opponent Points Per Possession to what we allowed in each of our games with them.

image.png.58e79362b3c0b93b1d49414b4d0ac59f.png

When I look at the two charts, I can clearly see that there are a lot more instances where our defense made our opponent underperform offensively.  Further, only once vs Bowling Green (a loss), did our opponent score well above their average.  If the team continues defensive intensity in 2021-22, I expect continued success.

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  • 2 weeks later...
18 hours ago, DocCas86 said:

So top 3 MAC team per collegesportsmadness.com are

1. Toledo (#65)

2. Ohio (#73)

3.  Buffalo (#87)

I think losing Jackson and Littleson will probably knock Toledo down a bit more, but I agree Rollins will be a handful.  I put my money on Ohio or UB to win the MAC.

I like our chances. I feel like it’s all coming together, great core, some solid role players and an exciting young group coming in. Could be special. 

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On 9/6/2021 at 4:55 PM, DocCas86 said:

So top 3 MAC team per collegesportsmadness.com are

1. Toledo (#65)

2. Ohio (#73)

3.  Buffalo (#87)

I think losing Jackson and Littleson will probably knock Toledo down a bit more, but I agree Rollins will be a handful.  I put my money on Ohio or UB to win the MAC.

Lol Toledo…the team that annually is predicted to win the MAC and always fail. Comical. IMO it’s UB and Ohio. If we don’t make the the MAC finals I will be highly disappointed. This is the year. 

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40 minutes ago, DooleyBull06 said:

Lol Toledo…the team that annually is predicted to win the MAC and always fail. Comical. IMO it’s UB and Ohio. If we don’t make the the MAC finals I will be highly disappointed. This is the year. 

I am in agreement with you that Ohio and UB should be competing for MAC championship again.  Here is BT current MAC rankings (FWIW - they agree on top 2 as well):

image.png.3c9cd9da8a8a36b8fdeb3b947181e64c.png

I generally agree with this with following caveats

  • I do think UB / Ohio will be top two teams.  I  don't think the gap between us and Ohio is as big.  The key for UB, which I said before, will be improving on the ADJDE of 97.4. 
  • Kent, Akron, Toledo and Bowling Green will be bunched together in 3-6 with rankings in 100- 140 range.
  • I would move Miami OH back to #7.  They are essentially the same team as last year.  Perhaps they surprise me a bit and move up a little.

 

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4 hours ago, DocCas86 said:

High expectations as next LCJ. 

Here is vc recruiting profile.  

https://www.verbalcommits.com/players/tavari-johnson

Did not see a profile on 247sports.  In addition to Akron, he held several MAC offers along with offers from other mid-major teams.

A 2 star but Top 10 in the state? That doesn't seem to jive with the talent in that state. Some of these rankings are seriously flawed or just weirdly presented. Not sure exactly. Devin Ceasar still doesn't show up as anything on 247, but VC shows him as a 2 star. In any case, get guys with talent and high upside and cultivate it with the right system. I'm not enamored with rankings. I see lots of 4 and 5 star guys that go to P5 school and are complete duds, so nobody really knows what a kid will be when he's 16 and 17 to project him at 21 and 22 years old.

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