By:
Staff Writer - StatFox
Published: 1/27/2006 at 12:00:00 AM
Starting this weekend, StatFox will showcase a different conference you are familiar with by name, possibly just not in depth because of where you live or your preferences. Each week we will look at what their current records are, how they are performing against the all important spread numbers and whom they are matching up with this weekend. Additionally, if any unusual scheduling quirks appear, we will keep you informed.
To start off, we take a look at the Mid-American Conference. Not unlike its football brethren, this underrated conference plays excellent basketball and regularly pulls off a few upsets in the pre-season and historically its teams do well in the NCAA Tournament. Here is a look at basic information related to records, both SU and against the spread, point differentials and home and away.
WEST Division | | All | ATS | Scoring | Home/Away | | Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | P | PCT | PF | PA | Home | Away | | | 10 | 7 | 0.588 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 37.5% | 68.1 | 66.4 | 6-3 | 4-4 | | | 10 | 7 | 0.588 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 35.7% | 69.0 | 65.6 | 8-2 | 2-5 | | | 8 | 10 | 0.444 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 69.2% | 67.4 | 67.1 | 4-3 | 4-7 | | | 7 | 11 | 0.389 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 33.3% | 65.1 | 70.1 | 5-2 | 2-9 | | | 6 | 10 | 0.375 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 33.3% | 62.1 | 62.6 | 4-4 | 2-6 | | | 3 | 13 | 0.188 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 30.8% | 64.9 | 73.9 | 3-5 | 0-8 | | | 3 | 14 | 0.176 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 42.9% | 56.1 | 65.8 | 2-5 | 1-9 | |
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EAST Division | | All | ATS | Scoring | Home/Away | | Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | P | PCT | PF | PA | Home | Away | | | 15 | 4 | 0.789 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 73.3% | 71.9 | 65.6 | 9-1 | 6-3 | | | 14 | 4 | 0.778 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 70.6% | 74.7 | 64.3 | 8-0 | 6-4 | | | 12 | 4 | 0.750 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 50.0% | 69.0 | 62.1 | 8-0 | 4-4 | | | 13 | 6 | 0.684 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 57.1% | 72.1 | 65.2 | 7-2 | 6-4 | | | 9 | 8 | 0.529 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 50.0% | 60.3 | 59.1 | 5-2 | 4-6 | |
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Normally these schools play over a weekend, with games on Saturday and Sunday, however this week all twelve teams play on Sunday. The power of the conference is in the Eastern Division. The East is an overwhelming 28-8 vs. the Western Division and an even more impressive 27-9-1ATS. Here is a closer look at this Sunday’s games.
In an Eastern Division battle, Miami-O visits Ohio U. Both of these teams trail the division leaders and do not want to fall any further behind in the race. The Redhawks started 6-0 in league play, before losing last three games and failing to cover any of them. Shooting below 40% and failing to make 20% from beyond the arc has been the issue. Despite dropping the last two games, Miami-O is still 4-2 ATS. Ohio is 8-0 at home, with a 2-2-1 ATS record. The Bobcats need a win here and have a big game with Kent State up next. With Miami’s recent struggles shooting the deep ball, those numbers will unlikely improve against the MAC’s top 3-point defense.
Akron travels to meet fellow Eastern partner Bowling Green. The Zips are tied for the Division lead with a 7-1 record and 14-4 overall. All of Akron’s losses have come away from home; however they are 7-1 ATS in MAC games. The Zips lead the conference in scoring margin at +9.6 per game and move it up and down the floor effectively to be the league’s top scoring team at 74.7 PPG. The Eagles are .500 in MAC play and in last place in the East. Bowling Green just handed Kent State their first conference loss and is 7-2 ATS after covering the number.
In the final Eastern showdown, Kent State looks to bounce back with a home game against dangerous Buffalo. The Golden Flashes will be out to make amends after shocking five point loss as 13.5-point home favorites. Kent State has balanced team scoring, led by Jay Youngblood at 15.5 PPG. Kent State is second in the league in scoring at 72.1 PPG. The Golden Flashes outscore the opposition by 11.2 points a game at home. Buffalo has terrific 15-4 record, yet has lost three league games, all to the Western Division. Despite leading the conference in rebounding, defense has been the problem for the Bulls, currently 10th overall. Buffalo is still trouble for opponents with 3-1 ATS record as road dog.
West Division leader Northern Illinois pays a visit to last place Eastern Michigan. The Huskies have a winning record in conference play at 5-4, yet a yelping scared puppy against the spread having failed to cover 9 of last 10. EMU Eagles have arguably the league’s best player in John Bowler, who leads in rebounding and scoring. Unfortunately, he is flying solo with this club. Eastern Michigan is 1-7 ATS in MAC action, losing by 13 points a game. This is the first of three winnable games for NIU.
In a game featuring directional Michigan’s, West travels to Central. The Broncos are near the bottom in virtually every MAC stat, thankfully for them, they have the conference’s top point guard in Brian Snider. He is top in assists at 5.5 per game and second in steals. WMU has been streaky in conference play, having now won three straight after losing the same number previously. Improved defense has been the catalyst, limiting the opponents to a smidge of 40%. The Chippewas are plain awful, last in scoring, last in field goal percentage and 10th in 3-point shooting. Since CMU loses by over 13 points per game in league play, they have proven not to be a bad wager at 5-4.
The middle of the Western standings is where you will find Toledo and Ball State. In spite of a 10-7 record the Rockets are only 3-6 in league play. Five of the defeats have come against the other division. Toledo will be after third straight win and are only 2-4 ATS with 3 or more days rest. Ball State’s Skip Mills is giving his all for the Cardinals, being the second leading scorer at 19 PPG. Ball State has been out-scored on the year by less then a single point on the season, as terrible free throw shooting being a big reason why. The Cards are 12th in a twelve team league from the charity stripe. Ball State has a .500 home record with a 1-5 ATS at Muncie, Ind.
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