akron at drake (-8)
new era for akron basketball under dambrot. have heard nothing but good things about him, and the guy has a great rep for getting the most out of the guys he's coached (including some lebron kid). that being said, its gonna take some time. zips are y-o-u-n-g, starting two juniors, two sophs, and a freshman. the loss of derrick tarver to graduation is a killer. tarver averaged 22+ a game last year and took pretty much every big shot. not a single zip averaged double figures to complement him. wood has the potential to be a damn good player, but hes not a true scorer. hes a bad-ass dude inside, but not a guy thats gonna take over games offensively. former lebron running mates (travis and joyce) really need to elevate their games. travis will be great one night, and a no-show the next. theyre both sophs, so can knock em too much, but they shouldnt be intimidated after all the big games they played in. theyre the future of the team along with wood. lots of talent and athleticism in akron, but its gonna take till at least january before akron gets any consistency. ill steer clear of them until then and let dambrot mold these guys into a team in the meantime. might be some ugly outcomes early on.
marshall at unc-wilmington (-7.5)
put me down for marshall being a darkhorse in the mac this year. everyone is kind of sleepin' on em -- and rightfully so -- because of the way theyve underachieved the last couple years. theyre bringing back 6 of their top 7 scorers from last year. to me, theyve got some good pieces: size on the frontline, a couple good shooters on the perimeter, and a senior floorleader who has a ton of experience. nc-wilmington always puts a solid team on the floor, but they were down last year and dont bring back anyone that makes you say 'wow'. marshall is a perennial mac enigma, but im giving em a shot out of the gate
playing: marshall (+7.5)
purdue at miami,ohio (-3)
no value at all in playing miami, even though on paper, they should win by a few baskets. if this game was played 2 months from now, id be all over the redhawks. but as many mac guys could attest, a charlie coles-coached team will always struggle out of the gate and then be the one team you absolutely do not want to play come late in the season and in the mac tournament. theyve got some studs on this team, but they have been, and will always be, a far better team after christmas than before. miami should challenge buffalo for the mac east title, but they could burn some money early in the season. purdue doesnt excite me as a dog so ill pass
central mich at evansville (-11)
line is a little wacky, but central michigan is abysmal. chips were bad news last year and lost a lot from that group. maybe thats a good thing. but theyre bad. not sure why evansville is laying 11 points, because theyre no prize, but dont see central hanging in here. these two met in a bracket buster game last year and cmu somehow won 90-73. a truly ugly game that i want no part of.
toledo at vanderbilt (-6.5)
this one is definitely the crown jewel of the friday night mac card. two solid teams going at it. vanderbilt off their mini-ncaa run from last year; toledo brings back all five starters from a team that went to the nit last year. rockets are absolutely loaded on offense. its like im doing a writeup on their football team. toledo should be the highest scoring team in the mac this year, and theyve got scorers galore. triplett is back (again) and villegas and ingram came on strong to close the year last season. my main concern with them is their interior defense. pinson's 6-10, but other than that, theyre not real tall on the inside. vanderbilt is just that: a big team. toledo might be as good as anyone in the nation on the perimeter. but theyll only go as far as their inside guys take them. hopefully toledo's hoops guys learned something from their football counterparts about going into the non-conf season with overall high expectations. gridiron guys got smashed by minny and kansas before waking up and playing to their potential and preseason ranking. gonna make a small play on the rockets to score their way to a cover.
playing: toledo (+6.5)
new mex st vs. western michigan (in alaska) (-10.5)
broncos football team might be a joke this year, but the wmu basketball team is pretty solid. williams (mac player of year) is gone, as is kahn on the inside, but their other three starters from last years mac championship team are back, and ben reed is a stud. media has them 3rd in the west. i think they can finish as high as 2nd or as low as 4th. its basically toledo followed by wmu/ball state/emich in the west. emich could surprise some people, but thats neither here nor there right now. not in a rush to lay double-digits on a neutral court in alaska, but nmsu is overmatched. i want to see how wmu adjusts to losing williams before i throw money on or against em.
new era for akron basketball under dambrot. have heard nothing but good things about him, and the guy has a great rep for getting the most out of the guys he's coached (including some lebron kid). that being said, its gonna take some time. zips are y-o-u-n-g, starting two juniors, two sophs, and a freshman. the loss of derrick tarver to graduation is a killer. tarver averaged 22+ a game last year and took pretty much every big shot. not a single zip averaged double figures to complement him. wood has the potential to be a damn good player, but hes not a true scorer. hes a bad-ass dude inside, but not a guy thats gonna take over games offensively. former lebron running mates (travis and joyce) really need to elevate their games. travis will be great one night, and a no-show the next. theyre both sophs, so can knock em too much, but they shouldnt be intimidated after all the big games they played in. theyre the future of the team along with wood. lots of talent and athleticism in akron, but its gonna take till at least january before akron gets any consistency. ill steer clear of them until then and let dambrot mold these guys into a team in the meantime. might be some ugly outcomes early on.
marshall at unc-wilmington (-7.5)
put me down for marshall being a darkhorse in the mac this year. everyone is kind of sleepin' on em -- and rightfully so -- because of the way theyve underachieved the last couple years. theyre bringing back 6 of their top 7 scorers from last year. to me, theyve got some good pieces: size on the frontline, a couple good shooters on the perimeter, and a senior floorleader who has a ton of experience. nc-wilmington always puts a solid team on the floor, but they were down last year and dont bring back anyone that makes you say 'wow'. marshall is a perennial mac enigma, but im giving em a shot out of the gate
playing: marshall (+7.5)
purdue at miami,ohio (-3)
no value at all in playing miami, even though on paper, they should win by a few baskets. if this game was played 2 months from now, id be all over the redhawks. but as many mac guys could attest, a charlie coles-coached team will always struggle out of the gate and then be the one team you absolutely do not want to play come late in the season and in the mac tournament. theyve got some studs on this team, but they have been, and will always be, a far better team after christmas than before. miami should challenge buffalo for the mac east title, but they could burn some money early in the season. purdue doesnt excite me as a dog so ill pass
central mich at evansville (-11)
line is a little wacky, but central michigan is abysmal. chips were bad news last year and lost a lot from that group. maybe thats a good thing. but theyre bad. not sure why evansville is laying 11 points, because theyre no prize, but dont see central hanging in here. these two met in a bracket buster game last year and cmu somehow won 90-73. a truly ugly game that i want no part of.
toledo at vanderbilt (-6.5)
this one is definitely the crown jewel of the friday night mac card. two solid teams going at it. vanderbilt off their mini-ncaa run from last year; toledo brings back all five starters from a team that went to the nit last year. rockets are absolutely loaded on offense. its like im doing a writeup on their football team. toledo should be the highest scoring team in the mac this year, and theyve got scorers galore. triplett is back (again) and villegas and ingram came on strong to close the year last season. my main concern with them is their interior defense. pinson's 6-10, but other than that, theyre not real tall on the inside. vanderbilt is just that: a big team. toledo might be as good as anyone in the nation on the perimeter. but theyll only go as far as their inside guys take them. hopefully toledo's hoops guys learned something from their football counterparts about going into the non-conf season with overall high expectations. gridiron guys got smashed by minny and kansas before waking up and playing to their potential and preseason ranking. gonna make a small play on the rockets to score their way to a cover.
playing: toledo (+6.5)
new mex st vs. western michigan (in alaska) (-10.5)
broncos football team might be a joke this year, but the wmu basketball team is pretty solid. williams (mac player of year) is gone, as is kahn on the inside, but their other three starters from last years mac championship team are back, and ben reed is a stud. media has them 3rd in the west. i think they can finish as high as 2nd or as low as 4th. its basically toledo followed by wmu/ball state/emich in the west. emich could surprise some people, but thats neither here nor there right now. not in a rush to lay double-digits on a neutral court in alaska, but nmsu is overmatched. i want to see how wmu adjusts to losing williams before i throw money on or against em.
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