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Topic: MAC parity?

Topic: MAC parity?

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Mike Johnson
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MAC parity?

Posted: 2/16/2012 11:22:33 PM

Some bobcatattackers are wont to assert that winning the MAC is more difficult than in other conferences because of greater parity.

Perhaps. But one could make a case that there is less parity in the MAC than in other conferences - at least this season.

What prompts this post was my perusing conference standings that appear in today's USA Today.

In the MAC Akron stands at 11-1 and holds a two-game lead over Kent and Buffalo. Akron has appeared in the last 5 MAC title games and who would be surprised if the Zips make it 6 straight?

In the ACC Duke, North Carolina and Florida State all stand at 8-2 with NC State just a game behind.

In the Big 12 Kansas stands at 11-2 with Mizzou just a half game behind at 10-2.

In the Big 10 OSU stands at 10-3 with MSU just a half game behind and Michigan only 1 game back.

In Conference USA Memphis and Southern Miss both stand at 8-2 with Tulsa only a half game back at 8-3.

Pac 12 fans can really make a strong case for parity. Cal and Washington both stand at 10-3 with Oregon, Arizona and Colorado all just one game back at 9-4.

Dambrot is enjoying huge success at Akron, and Whomever-Happens-To-Be-Coaching at Kent just keeps on winning.

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Jeff McKinney
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RE: MAC parity?

Posted: 2/17/2012 8:44:32 AM

Usually there is more parity in the MAC, at least the East. This season there is less parity with Akron separating themselves from the pack.

Mike Johnson
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RE: MAC parity?

Posted: 2/17/2012 10:56:43 AM

Jeff, do you have stats handy that confirm that, in seasons past, the MAC had more parity than other conferences?

I wonder how many other leagues have had one team appear in 5 straight conference title games as Akron has in the MAC...

Add Kent to the discussion, toss in Ohio's two conference titles in '05 and '10 and the MAC seems like a conference with the "big 2.5 and the little 9.5."

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OUVan
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RE: MAC parity?

Posted: 2/17/2012 11:58:22 AM

Jeff McKinney wrote:

Usually there is more parity in the MAC, at least the East. This season there is less parity with Akron separating themselves from the pack.

I wouldn't say Akron has separated themselves from the pack as much as this thread claims. What they have done is beat the lesser teams more consistently. There are four "good" teams in the MAC. Those four teams are now 13-0 against the other three good teams at home this year. Akron still has two games on the road (Kent St & Ohio) against teams that gave them all they could handle in the JAR. They prevailed and that is the mark of a good team but they were hardly dominant. In their only road game they were spanked by Buffalo. Kent has each of the other three at home this sweep around the East so we may be looking at a different story in a couple of week. Akron have been consistently good and that is why they are where they are but if the top four teams show up and each plays their best I'm not sure who comes out on top.

Jeff McKinney
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RE: MAC parity?

Posted: 2/17/2012 12:48:29 PM

Over the past 10 years, I wouldn't say the MAC has had more parity than the average conference, but there certainly has been a logjam in the standings most seasons.

Sorry, Mike, I don't have the time to pull together the data.

JSF
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RE: MAC parity?

Posted: 2/17/2012 1:19:02 PM

Mike, you have to differentiate between the regular season and the tournament.

"Loyalty to a hometown or city is fleeting and interchangeable, but college is a stamp of identity."- Kyle Whelliston, One Beautiful Season.

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Mike Johnson
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RE: MAC parity?

Posted: 2/18/2012 8:20:07 PM

JSF wrote:

Mike, you have to differentiate between the regular season and the tournament.

Okay, but then instead of making a case for a MAC Big 2.5 and a Little 9.5, facts could make a case for a Big 2 and a Little 10.

This morning's Beacon Journal provides facts that support such a case:

* Kent is on the cusp of 20 or more wins for the 13th time in the last 14 seasons. (It won 19 the season it missed 20.) It is one of only 7 Div. 1 programs to do so.

* Kent has won at least 10 MAC games in 13 straight seasons.

* Akron is on the cusp of its 7th straight season of 20 or more wins.

No other MAC school has been able to sniff that kind of success.

My only point has been that, to me anyway, the MAC seems to have no more parity than most other conferences. Or in other words, the facts suggest that it is no harder for MAC teams to win on the road than it is for teams in most other leagues.

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anorris
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RE: MAC parity?

Posted: 2/19/2012 1:44:56 AM

Mike Johnson wrote:

...in other words, the facts suggest that it is no harder for MAC teams to win on the road than it is for teams in most other leagues.

Ken Pomeroy believes otherwise.

JSF
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RE: MAC parity?

Posted: 2/19/2012 10:49:50 AM

I still think you're doing it wrong, Mike. You can only look at conference results here. Part of the reason Akron has a string of successful seasons is the absolutely marshmallowy-soft OOC schedule. Compare that to Miami with its brutal OOC schedule but success in conference play.

Just in Groce's four years, four East teams have had at least a share of the division crown. If Eastern Michigan wins the West, that will be the fourth team in four years over there.

Since 1994, only three teams have had two or fewer losses in conference.

Mike Johnson
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RE: MAC parity?

Posted: 2/19/2012 11:34:04 AM

JSF wrote:

Perhaps, JSF. But I tend to think that whereas I am seeing an absence of parity or, more precisely, no more parity than in other conferences, you are seeing an absence of total domination.

It seems as though you see parity because now and then a team other than Kent or Akron enjoys a regular season or tournament title. I see an absence of more parity than in other conferences because Kent and Akron have consistently enjoyed success - both in regular season and the post-season.

BTW, yesterday the MAC took a bruising. Ouch!

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