Under the Radar Game of the Day – Wednesday, January 21, 2015: Buffalo at Central Michigan

Buffalo at Central Michigan, 7:00 PM Eastern, espn3

Last evening, President Obama reported on the State of the Union.  Tonight, the UTR Game of the Day is reporting on the State of the Mid-American Conference, which hopefully will not be as divisive an issue.  We started this season in the MAC looking at two top cobtenders for the conference title, Toledo in the West and Akron in the East.  Both teams proceeded to struggle during non-conference play and teams such as Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Buffalo and Bowling Green began to rise in the standings.  As we moved into conference play, Western Michigan rose in the West along with Toledo beginning to bounce back, while Kent State joined Akron in moving up in the East Division.  As of right now, we have a four way tie on top of the East between Buffalo, Bowling Green, Kent State and Akron.  Western Michigan has moved to the lead in the West Division, but only a game ahead of Toledo, Central Michigan, and a surprising Ball State team.  In other words, the standings in the MAC are such a complete mess and almost everyone is still alive for the regular season title.  Winning the regular season title (or coming in second) is especially important in the MAC as the top two teams, regardless of division, bye into the the conference tournament semifinals.  The third and fourth best teams bye into the quarterfinal round, while the teams that finish 5th-12th would have to win five games to capture the automatic bid.

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day comes from Mount Pleasant, Michigan where the CMU Chippewas host Bobby Hurley and his Buffalo Bulls (or as they are now attempting to be know, the New York Bulls).  Buffalo, as we will continue to address them, enters the game at 3-1 in MAC play and 12-4 overall.  Their RPI (47), BPI (74) and KenPom (77) are all the best in the conference.  While they failed to score any major wins in non-conference play, their losses were at Kentucky, at Wisconsin, at West Division leader Western Michigan, and at local “Big Four” rival St. Bonaventure.  Receiving an at-large bid would still be a longshot for the Bulls, though with the relative top-to-bottom strength of the MAC this season, a very strong conference record could possibly have them in the discussion.  If the Bulls do make the Big Dance, either by at-large or automatic bid, it will be their first ever trip to the NCAAs.  The job that Bobby Hurley has done with this program in just two seasons at the helm cannot be understated.  The biggest question surrounding him may be just how long he stays at Buffalo before a power conference program comes calling.

Central Michigan enters tonight’s game with a 2-2 record in MAC play and 12-3 overall.  After having lost 20 or more games each of the past four seasons, we seriously questioned CMU’s 10-1 non-conference start, which featured its only notable win as a victory at Northwestern.  The Chippewas then stunned us by starting out MAC play with a win at West Division favorite Toledo.  They have come back to earth since then, losing at Ball State and at Akron.  However, a win over Buffalo tonight will have the Chippewas right back up there in the conversation for who is the best team inn the MAC.  Regardless of how tonight’s game goes, or even how the rest of the season turns out, CMU certainly appears to be on its way to turning a perennial MAC doormat program into a contender, especially with only one senior on the roster this year.