And now the MAC....Helloooo Zips

So, the MAC season begins on Saturday with the Falcons heading the JAR to take on the Akron Zips.  When last we saw the Zips and the Falcons, the scene was the Gund and Akron had punched out the Falcons on their way to the MAC tournament title and a first round defeat to Gonzaga.

This year, they had almost everyone back, and brought in 7-foot OMFG recruit Zeke Marshall, and they have a proven coach and look to be a favorite to make their way back to the Big Dance.

They are off to a good start, with a 10-4 record, although they don't have any huge wins to brag on.  Their biggest win is at home against Niagara (RPI 112).  Their losses, however, are pretty substantial, including NC State,  @Texas A&M and Rhode Island at the JAR.

They have always been pretty hard to beat at home, and are 7-2 this season and were 11-3 last year (one of those losses coming to the Falcons.)

This year's time is pretty strong.  They don't have any true starts, but at the same time, they have a huge amount of depth.  They have 9 players averaging 10 minutes a game, and the most by any player is 28 minutes.  Their leading offensive player is only scoring 10 points per game.  (By contrast, BG's 9th player is Danny McElroy at 7.5 minutes per game and BG has three players getting more than 28 minutes a game).

Akron plays at BG's tempo, and leads the MAC in tempo-free offense and tempo-free defense.  Similarly, they are first in the MAC in FG% and second in FG% against.

They are good if not great rebounding team and take care of the ball really well.

Thanks to Big Zeke, they lead the MAC in blocked shots.

They lead the MAC in assists, but without any one player having a bunch of them.

There is no doubt, this team was good enough to win the tourney last year, and brings most of those guys back.  They are deep, and play well on both sides of the ball.  They are playing on their floor.  The main question is that Akron has beaten the teams they are supposed to beat and lose to the teams they were supposed to lose to, so there is not a good read on this team.

On paper, they are clearly stronger than BG at the JAR.  I will say this, if BG brings a defense like it did against St. Louis, they will be tough to beat in any MAC game.  As with all of our games, BG will need to establish its defense and get the ball inside on offense.  If they can keep Akron off the scoreboard and get into a defensive struggle, they will be playing the way they need to to win.