The final week of January has six teams in the Mid-American Conference scheduled to play their 10th league game — officially the midpoint of the conference season.
In a league known for parity, the MAC has fairly clear tiers this season. There is a group of four or five clear contenders, four teams that are non-factors, and three in middle jostling with hopes to join the group at the top.
But there's no doubt as to which team deserves to be No. 1 in the power rankings.
1. Toledo (13-4, 8-1)
Previously: 1
Nobody in the MAC has been consistently better than the Rockets. Toledo is off to its best MAC start in 41 years behind a group whose best asset is its unselfishness. Everyone on the floor can shoot, handle the ball, and guard the 3-point line, but the Rockets are assisting on nearly 61 percent of their field goals — which is indicative of how well the pieces fit. During a season when winning the regular season matters more than usual, Toledo is setting itself up nicely.
2. Akron (8-3, 6-2)
Previously: 5
Credit goes to the Zips, who overcame a miserable road trip on which they lost at Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois. Akron returned to defeat Toledo, which was followed by sweeping a week with three games in six days for a four-game winning streak. Loren Cristian Jackson already was a star, but Akron is seeing good minutes the rest of its rotation and creating tons of layups. The Zips look like the biggest threat to Toledo.
3. Kent State (7-4, 4-3)
Previously: 3
The Golden Flashes are better than their league record suggests and have been a bit unlucky to win only one of their four MAC games decided by four or fewer points. Advanced stats favor Kent's brand of basketball, and don't be surprised if the Flashes make a run — they should be favored in at least eight of their next 10 games.
4. Bowling Green (10-5, 6-3)
Previously: 2
The Falcons are all out of whack right now. After starting 5-0 in the conference, Bowling Green has been beaten comfortably three of the past four games, twice at home, free fallen in NET rankings, and had coach Michael Huger openly saying the Falcons are not playing hard enough to win games. The Falcons will have eight full days of rest to figure this out before welcoming rival Toledo on Jan. 30.
5. Buffalo (6-5, 4-3)
Previously: 4
If UB finishes in the five or six range instead of the top three, it's a good bet that free-throw shooting will be the culprit. Buffalo opponents have made nearly as many free throws (202) as the Bulls have attempts (213), and UB is shooting just 65 percent from the line. In MAC losses by eight, seven, and three points, free throws add up.
6. Ohio (8-6, 4-4)
Previously: 7
Great offensively, Ohio is going to sink or swim based on whether its defense improves. The Bobcats can outscore anyone, but it's difficult to do so every night, and OU has the worst record against the contenders right now. The 'Cats are 0-4 against Toledo, Akron, BG, and Kent, and their defense (271st nationally in KenPom’s efficiency rankings) needs to better to get back into the top four again.
7. Miami (7-4, 4-2)
Previously: 8
The biggest surprise in the MAC so far is Miami, which has shown significant improvement on offense. The RedHawks shoot the 3 (38.1 percent), rank among the top mid-major teams in turnover rate, consistently help themselves at the free-throw line (73.7 percent), and have arguably the MAC's best sophomore in Dae Dae Grant. Early in the MAC season, Miami has found an identity.
8. Ball State (6-7, 4-4)
Previously: 6
Despite having pretty solid efficiency numbers across the board, Ball State has been hot and cold. The Cardinals won their first two MAC games, went 0-2 the first full week of January, 2-0 the next, and 0-2 the one after that. If guard Jarron Coleman returns, Ball State's ceiling is a bit higher. Until then, the Cardinals seem destined to land somewhere around .500.
9. Western Michigan (2-9, 1-5)
Previously: 11
WMU finally returned to the court Saturday after a third round of schedule disruptions, but saw more of the same. The Broncos haven't played a game decided by fewer than 10 points since their season opener, haven't won at all since Dec. 18 … and still moved up because the bottom of this year's MAC is just that bad.
10. Central Michigan (6-9, 2-6)
Previously: 9
CMU still has yet to play a competitive MAC game against anyone other than Eastern Michigan. The Chippewas beat the Eagles twice and have lost every other league game by an average of 17.3 points. Routinely a good shooting team, the Chippewas' shooting acumen just hasn't been there this year.
11. Northern Illinois (2-10, 1-6)
Previously: 12
The Huskies are on the coronavirus DL and didn't play at all the past week. They're on the shelf through Feb. 2, at least.
12. Eastern Michigan (4-7, 1-6)
Previously: 10
Eastern surprisingly knocked off Akron on Jan. 9 for its lone Division I win. Since then: four MAC losses by 33, 11, 15, and 22 points during which the Eagles have become the second-worst D-I defense in terms of effective field-goal percentage and their shooting troubles haven't improved at all. They came for the 12th spot with vengeance.
First Published January 25, 2021, 12:00 p.m.
