I happen to think that a first round bye is a bit overrated, especially now that the first rounds are playeon on Campus. With the weakness in the west this typically means another home game, a playoff one at that, for the lower seeded teams in the East.
Last year as the five seed UB drew Toledo. The warm-up did the team little good as the Hawks bounced us once we made it to Cleveland but a home game for fans, and the revenue for the department off sets a bit of rest that the team might get.
This years tournament is stacking up the same way, with four western teams going on the road to face the bottom three in the east. But unlike last year two teams in the East (Buffalo and Bowling Green) are clinging to their home games. Since the Falcons and the Bulls play each other there is a really good chance one of these two will end up playing round one in front of a hostile crowd.
The Current pairings for the MACC are
MAC Tourney If Today (Post-02/27/11 games):
First Round (Campus Sites): Tuesday, March 8, 2011
GM 1: 12. Toledo (1-13) @ 5. WMU (9-5)
GM 2: 11. EMU (4-10) @ 6. Ohio (8-6)
GM 3: 10. NIU (4-10) @ 7. BG (7-7)
GM 4: 9. CMU (6-8) @ 8. UB (7-7)
Quarterfinals (Cleveland): Thursday, March 10, 2011
GM 5: 1. Miami (10-4) – East Champ vs. Winner GM 4
GM 6: 2. BSU (9-5) – West Champ vs. Winner GM 3
GM 7: 3. Kent (10-4) vs. Winner GM 2
GM 8: 4. Akron (9-5) vs. Winner GM 1Courtesy of mollautt, MAC Hoops know it all from NCAABBS.com
CMU plays Toledo and WMU. While Western Michigan is a pretty decent team this year they have to travel to mount pleasant to play the chips. If the Chips drop either of these the Bulls should be ok because of their win over Central Michigan earlier this season.
Bowling Green faces Buffalo and Kent, both at home.
If UB beats the Falcons they get a home game, Eight wins will win out over CMU and Bowling Green in a tie breaker. If the Bulls lose they still can guarantee a home game with a win over Miami.
If the Bulls drop both games and CMU sweeps UB will:
- Go to Bowling Green if the Flashes beat the Falcons (CMU wins a head to haed with BGSU)
- Go to CMU if the Falcons beat the Flashes.