MAC Tournament Preview
By Great Lakes Sports
Welcome to another exciting Conference Tournament this year, and we here at Great Lakes Sports will give you of preview of the contenders in the MAC Conference Tournament, and as always Great Lakes Sports would like to wish you good luck this upcoming conference tournament season.
Kent State - The Kent State Golden Flashes are loaded with experience this year. With six seniors, on a team that has had an outstanding 22-8 season, they will be playing for the number one seed against their cross-town rivals the Akron Zips in the last game of the regular season. The Golden Flashes are led by 6 ' 8" Sophomore Justin Greene who has a 14.1ppg scoring average this season. We look for the experience of the Golden Flashes, along with their solid defense, to hold their opponents to only 64.1 points per game. We believe this will be the difference and call for them to win the Mac Conference Title this year.
Akron - With their last game at home vs the Kent State Golden Flashes, the Akron Zips, like the Kent State Golden Flashes, are a stellar 22-8 this season and will be playing for all the marbles. The Zips are led by 6 ' 6" Junior Forward Brett McKnight who is averaging 10.5ppg and 6 ' 5" Senior Forward Jimmy Conyers who has a whopping 35 steals this season. We look for the Akron Zips to go to the MAC Championship game only to lose to the Kent State Gold Flashes in a real barn-burner at the "Q", as they lack consistency on the defensive side of the ball.
Ball State - The Ball State Cardinals are tied for 1st and, as of this writing, are 15-13 with an 8-7 record in the weak MAC Conference West Division. The Cardinals are a very young team with thirteen underclassman and are led by 6 ' 9" Sophomore Jarrod Jones with a 12.4ppg average. The Ball State Cardinals have a very solid defense, allowing their opponents to only 61.4 points per game but have really struggled on the offensive side of the ball this season, scoring a dismal 60.3 points per game. We look for the Ball State Cardinals to make it to the semi-finals before being knocked out. We here at Great Lakes Sports look for the Ball State Cardinals to be the third best team in the MAC Conference Tournament this year.
Central Michigan - The Central Michigan Chippewas are only 14-14 this season but are tied for 1st place in the weak MAC West Division with an 8-7 conference record. The Chippewas are also loaded with upperclassman (9) and experience should not be a problem here. They are led by 6 ' 3" Senior Guard Jordan Bitzer (14.8ppg) and 6 ' 1" Senior Guard Robbie Harman (14.8ppg). The problem, as we see it, will be with the Chippewas controlling the paint and their lack of depth. We look for the Central Michigan Chippewas to be the darkhorse and forecast them to be the fourth best team in the MAC Conference tournament.