Will this finally be the year a program other than Toledo wins the MAC regular-season title?
The Rockets have been the outright regular-season champions for the last four seasons and have had at least a share of the title in six of the last seven years. Tod Kowalczyk’s squad has been tough to beat in the regular season, but none of those campaigns have resulted in a MAC tournament championship or an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Perhaps he’d exchange a couple of those regular-season championships for a chance to play in the NCAA tourney? Perhaps not.
Regardless, college basketball betting odds don’t favor the Rockets to five-peat as regular-season champs. Instead, three of the other MAC teams from Ohio have shorter odds to win the conference.
Odds as of Jan. 8
MAC Basketball Odds (Regular-Season Champion)
| Team | BetMGM Odds |
| Akron | +175 |
| Ohio | +250 |
| Kent State | +500 |
| Toledo | +700 |
| Miami (Ohio) | +800 |
| Central Michigan | +1400 |
| Ball State | +2000 |
| Bowling Green | +4000 |
| Western Michigan | +15000 |
| Eastern Michigan | +25000 |
| Northern Illinois | +25000 |
| Buffalo | +25000 |
MAC Basketball Predictions
Let’s start with the current favorite to win the league — the Akron Zips.
The Zips were tied with Kent State as the third favorite at +400 entering the season. I’m a bit surprised to see them as the current favorite, despite the fact that they’ve played well.
Behind James Okonkwo, the Zips have a strong, physical presence on the inside but still play a fast pace of basketball. According to KenPom, Akron ranks tied for 31st in the country in adjusted tempo, and first in the MAC.
This hasn’t exactly led to efficiency, however, as the Zips are shooting just 42% from the field. They’ve proved they’re able to grind out games as well, though, as they did against Bowling Green last week.
Akron forces turnovers (14.4 a game) and gets out in transition. It moves the ball well and leads the MAC in assists per game (17.5). I like that the Zips are consistently turning defense into offense. It’s hard to beat a team that does that.
Ohio hasn’t been all that impressive this season and has yet to pick up a quality win, but they have one of the best trio of guards in the league in Jackson Paveletzke, AJ Brown, and Shereef Mitchell. Senior forward AJ Clayton is making his early case for conference player of the year and could very easily carry the Bobcats to a MAC title. They’ll just need their surrounding cast to continue to be consistent on both sides of the ball.
It hasn’t been pretty for Kent State, but the Golden Flashes have had a good start to the season, mainly behind their defense. They have struggled to put points on the board, but their defense has been the best in the MAC, allowing just 63.4 points per game. The lack of shooters could hurt them down the stretch, especially if they try to keep pace with high-scoring teams like Akron and Ohio. Expect Kent State to continue grinding out wins if they want a shot at a conference title.
Miami’s odds to win the title have been cut in half since the preseason and there’s a good reason why. The RedHawks have been scoring at a ridiculous clip and have a pair of transfers in Peter Suder and Kam Craft that could be All-Conference selections. Miami is shooting at a 49% mark as a team and 40% from deep, which is the best in the MAC.
Those numbers may regress, but the RedHawks play good inside-out ball and are getting quality looks from everywhere.
At 8/1 odds, I think taking Miami to win the MAC regular-season title is the best bet to make right now. I like what the RedHawks have done so far this season and they have both a backcourt and frontcourt that can compete with the rest of the league.
The RedHawks made a leap from Years 1 to 2 under Travis Steele, and it looks like they’ll make another leap from Years 2 and 3.
