As we approach the final two weeks of the Mid-American Conference women’s basketball season, these power rankings need to reflect how things are shaping up for the MAC tournament..

If you remember, last week I predicted how I felt the MAC tournament “should” be ranked in terms of seedings. And at no extra change, I looked at the favorites for the league’s post-season awards.

But this week I’m going to keep it simple. My focus will be on the potential MAC tournament seedings for each team, looking at how high  and how low each team can go.

So, without further delay, here are the latest MAC power rankings for women’s basketball this season.

MAC East

1) Buffalo (21-4, 12-2 MAC) – The Bulls home win over Central Michigan has virtually made a first-round tournament bye a lock and an East Division title a foregone conclusion. UB will need help to catch CMU for the top seed, but I would guess this team already has booked its hotel for Cleveland (Last week: 1).

2) Ohio (14-11, 8-6 MAC) – The Bobcats currently are tied with Miami for the fourth seed in the tournament – and would lose that bye because of a loss to the RedHawks. Ohio will have a chance to make amends when the rematch comes to the Convo on Feb. 28, but another potential loss looms when the Bobcats travel to Buffalo Saturday. Good news: Thanks to a win over NIU, one more victory guarantees at least a first-round home game (Last week: 2).

3) Miami (16-9, 8-6 MAC) – After claiming another important win at Kent State, the RedHawks are tied with Ohio for fourth – and currently would be the tournament’s No. 4 seed thanks to a win over the Bobcats. That makes their Feb. 28 rematch with OU important, but if Miami just keeps winning it will give itself a great chance at fourth. And one more win means the RedHawks also would avoid a first-round road game (Last week: 3).

4) Kent State (11-15, 4-10 MAC) – While a first-round bye is mathematically possible for the Golden Flashes, there are too many “ifs” that are out of their control to count on it. And even if KSU finishes on a winning streak, it needs two West teams to fall behind them to get a first-round home game (KSU does win a tie with EMU but loses one with NIU). And road games at Ohio and Miami are must-win if the Flashes want to avoid going on the road for the tournament (Last week: 5).

5) Bowling Green (10-15, 2-12 MAC) – If the Falcons want to avoid a 12th-place finish, a win over Akron on Wednesday is necessary. And BG loses tiebreakers with everyone above them in the standings at this point, so a first-round road trip will require replacing an eight-game losing streak with a four-game winning streak, for starters (Last week: 5).

6) Akron (8-17, 2-12 MAC) – The Zips are in the same boat as Bowling Green in that a win Wednesday is required and a strong finish necessary to move up the charts. The road win at Eastern Michigan does provide a glimmer of hope, at least (Last week: 6).

MAC West

1) Central Michigan (21-4, 13-1 MAC) – The Chippewas lost their unbeaten season with the setback at Buffalo last week, but the home win over EMU Saturday gives them a guaranteed bye to Cleveland and Wednesday’s quarterfinals. One more win guarantees at least a share of the West Division title, and CMU would have to lose at least one more game to lose the top seed (Last week: 1).

2) Ball State (21-4, 10-4 MAC) – The Cardinals have won three in a row, and that gives them a chance to virtually sew up a first-round bye this week thanks to two home games against West Division pursuers Western Michigan and Toledo. Two wins there, combined with the sure loss of the Ohio-Miami contest, would lock up the bye (Last week: 2).

3) Toledo (16-10, 7-7 MAC) – The Rockets have at least given themselves a chance at a bye, but the road will be uphill as they must try to pass both Ohio and Miami (and UT would lose a head-to-head tiebreaker with the RedHawks). Beating EMU at home Wednesday is necessary if Toledo wishes to earn an upper-division spot in the tournament (Last week: 3).

4) Western Michigan (14-12, 7-7 MAC) – Two losses to Toledo will make the Broncos work for a first-round tournament bye extremely difficult, since it means that have to surpass three teams to earn it. And that “road” is a difficult one, beginning with games this week at Ball State and home against CMU. The good news is WMU has a leg up on a first-round home game thanks to its head-to-head win over NIU (Last week: 4).

5) Northern Illinois (13-12, 5-9 MAC) – This is one of the few rankings left that runs counter to the standings. And the Huskies will either prove me right or make me look silly on Saturday when they play at Eastern Michigan. If NIU loses that contest, leapfrogging the Eagles will be nearly impossible because the Huskies lose the head-to-head tiebreaker. And a contest at Central Michigan this Wednesday does not help that push (Last week: 5).

6) Eastern Michigan (10-15, 6-8 MAC) – As things stand right now the Eagles claim the final first-round home game. EMU will need to win at least once this week to keep that spot, and two wins may be necessary since the Eagles play at sixth seed Toledo Wednesday before hosting Northern Illinois Saturday. Since NIU has a head-to-head win over Buffalo, losing this week’s games may drop EMU into a first-round tournament road game, a predicament from which they might not escape (Last week: 6).

Contact John Wagner at jwagner@theblade.com, 419-724-6481, or on Twitter @jwagnerblade.

First Published February 20, 2018, 3:00 p.m.