Last season, I was really excited for the start of the women’s basketball season. Then Miami had a huge turn around and Ball State played great basketball, and I was enraptured. End story was that two MAC teams not only made the NCAA tournament, but two made the sweet 16. I am equally excited about this women’s basketball season. The men are catching up.

On the first day of the men’s college basketball season, the MAC ran the table. That isn’t particularly notable, as most games were shoulda wons. However, what is notable is how they won. Here is a breakdown of each game.

Buffalo Bulls 82, Saint Francis 67

This game was a repeat of last season for the Bulls. They started slow, chucking up jumpers and looking lazy on offense, but keeping everything close because of good defense. Then, they took better shots, worked the ball inside, and won quite easily.

Nick Perkins finished with 16 points and 9 rebounds. The most telling stat was the 22 team assists, in spite of the chuck and duck offense in the first half. This team is going to be really really good.

Eastern Michigan Eagles 77, Rochester College 67

Eastern Michigan probably struggled against a team they should have slaughtered. That’s their MO, or the MO of the 2-3 zone if you really want to get into it. However, Paul Jackson had a huge game, scoring 27. He missed all of this threes. Why is this news? This guy is a talent, he needs to take better shots. He did that in this game.

Akron Zips 70, Cedarville 50

I don’t know much about this game, other than Akron continues to look good on defense and rely on deep shots. Transfer Loren Cristian Jackson led the team with 14, which tells me this team’s season will go exactly along the lines of how well they are shooting that particular night.

Western Michigan Broncos 89, Detroit Mercy Titans 76

I said Seth Dugan could shine as the sole center on this team. It was dicey since leader Thomas Wilder graduated. 32 points, 22 rebounds, 6 assists. Nuff said.

Central Michigan Chippewas 93, Concordia Cardinals 68

Didn’t watch this game.

I didn’t watch the Northern Illinois Huskies beat Rockford, Either

All is well

Bowling Green Falcons 91, Tiffin 52

Another game I didn’t watch, because.

So after exactly one night of college basketball, I am confident in my prediction that the MAC could be a two bid league. I am also confident that the MAC is loaded. I am a little weary of my prediction that Seth Dugan was second or third team All-MAC, as he looked like a POY candidate. Buffalo looked really good, and that rattled my “Ball State will win the MAC” attention grabbing pick. However, Ball State did look good, with KJ Walton struggling early and Trey Moses on limited minutes. Equally “however” Buffalo looked darn near unbeatable when they started rolling in the second half.

We are one day in, and I can already tell you that we are in for a GREAT season.