Other MAC musings....
After the first week of conference play BG & Ball State sit alone of their divisions. I can assure that nobody on God's green earth predicted that. Also, the fact that EMU is off to an 0-2 record with a terrible loss at Miami is equally surprising.
Miami @ CMU (-11'/ 139')
Miami is coming off a big home win and goes up against Keno's fast paced offense. The Redhawks usually will play to the other teams temps and is not opposed to running. This one could go over the number. No play
Toledo -2' @ Ohio (143)
Strange that OU has caught action off the opening number. Talent wise, Ohio does not seem to have the overall quality of Toledo who can score from all 5 spots. However, Toledo does get lazy on defense and at times plays down to their opponents level. No play
BG @ Akron ( -3' 123)
BG is truly the surprise of the conference after replacing Louie Orr with ex Shocker asst Chris Jans. It would appear that he brought some of Wichita's winning ways with him because nobody envisioned the Falcons doing so well. They are led by 6'8" forward Holmes who is a beast with few weaknesses in his game. He's a potential large match up problem tonight for Akron.
With the Zips it all comes down to their shooting. They are far too reliant on the 3 ball. It's great when they fall at 40% but far too often they don't. Two pretty good defenses at it tonight ranking 1 and 4 in the MAC but BG does one thing very well and that is defend the 3 ball allowing opponents to just 30%. To be honest, the more I think ( not always a good thing) the more I like BG tonight in a very close grind it out style game. Fact is though, Akron has won something like 19 of the last 20 games between the two so at home tonight the Zips are a mighty tough fade
EMU @ Kent State (-4 129)
Huge early game for EMU as they have fallen behind the 8 ball early on. I like them in this spot. They are big and physical and that is the type that can give KSU problems. They also employ a stout zone defense so Kent will be forced to hit from the outside. That may be tough though because EMU is the leagues best defensive team in allowed FG% and also 3 pt FG %. Kent St is also lousy from the FT stripe hitting at just 61%. I like EMU tonight.
NIU @ Buffalo ( -9' 131)
I would have liked NIU quite a bit catching close to ten but the word is that Bowie will be out for one or two more games. Buffalo has guard Skeete back after a 3 week absence and they are a much better team for it. He got some minutes back in their last and should be good to go tonight. No play
Cleve State @ Wright St -2
Like Wright to defend their home floor against CSU in the Horizon tonight. The Vikes are off of a very tough loss 2 pt loss at Valpo and just have not been getting it done on the road. The Raiders are always a tough out at home. I'll lay the deuce in another game between two very sound defensive teams.
So to recap....
Akron -1' (5) Played and posted last night
BG FH +2 (2)
BG +3' (2)
EMU +4 (1)
EMU / Kent State under 129 -105 (1)
Wright St -2 (1)
