MAC West standings (RPI ranking)
Central Michigan, 17-8, 11-3 MAC (83)
Ball State, 18-7, 10-4 MAC (73)
Toledo, 15-10, 10-4 MAC (98)
Eastern Michigan, 17-8, 8-6 MAC (96)
Western Michigan, 15-11, 7-7 MAC (118)
Northern Illinois 10-15, 3-11 MAC (258)
The Cardinals fell behind in the first quarter against the Broncos and didn’t regain the lead until less than two minutes remained in the game. Head coach Brady Sallee said to expect more close games in the race for the MAC title.
“Every night’s gonna be this,” he said. “And the team that has the most fight, toughness, can execute when it counts – they’re gonna be the ones that end this thing on the top of the West.”
Ball State is tied with Toledo (15-10, 10-4 MAC) for second in the division, behind only Central Michigan (17-8, 11-3 MAC). Fourth-place Eastern Michigan (17-8, 8-6 MAC) also has an outside chance at the division title.
The Eagles have games left against all three teams ahead of it in the standings.
Though the Cardinals are currently behind Central Michigan in the standings, the Cardinals are 73rd in the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s RPI rankings – 9 spots ahead of the Chippewas.
The only team in the MAC ranked higher than Ball State is No. 27 Ohio University (21-4, 13-1 MAC). Ohio has already clinched the East Division title with a six-game lead and only four regular season games remaining.
The race on top of the West, however, has major conference tournament implications. The top two teams in the MAC, regardless of division, receive byes to the semifinals in Cleveland, Ohio, while the third and fourth seeds get byes to the quarterfinals.
With Akron (13-12, 7-7 MAC) in second place in the East and mathematically eliminated from the chase for a top-two seed (though it could, theoretically, still tie the MAC West Division leaders, it would still lose the 5-way head-to-head tiebreaker), one of the top two seeds will go to the MAC West champion.
Ball State has now won two straight games after dropping the previous two against Central Michigan at home and on the road against Kent State (5-19, 2-11 MAC).
Sallee said he thought the team's struggles weren’t as bad as he initially thought.
“I don’t know that the corner was maybe what we all made that to be, including ourselves,” he said. “I think over the course of the season you go through some lulls sometimes. At the beginning of February, end of January, it’s tough. It’s hard to see the end; the freshness of the beginning is gone, and it’s a grind.”
Sallee said the win against Western Michigan was an important step for the Cardinals.
“We wanna be the last team standing in Cleveland, and I thought tonight was a great step towards that,” he said.
The Cardinals will take on division leader Central Michigan on Wednesday, Feb. 24, and Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 27, and will close the regular season at Toledo on Saturday, March 5.
All three games will be on the road, with the Cardinals’ final home game of the season scheduled for Wednesday, March 2 against Northern Illinois.
Read More
Center for Peace offers academic opportunities
By Meghan Braddy and Grayson Joslin / 20 hours agoOver the years, the center has offered a peace studies minor, conflict resolution training and grant funding.
AP: New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction
By Staff Reports / 21 hours agoNew York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case, according to the Associated Press (AP).
AP: Hamas willing to enact ceasefire if an independent Palestinian state is established
By Staff Reports / 21 hours agoWednesday, April 24th, a top Hamas political official said the group is willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel and that it would lay down its weapons and convert into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders, according to the Associated Press (AP).
