COLUMN: What’s at stake in the final two weeks of the basketball season
The weekend didn’t go swimmingly for the Central Michigan men’s and women’s basketball teams.
With March nearing, the outlook for both teams is still uncertain. They’ve shown championship-level promise at times and looked out of sequence at other times.
The only certainty is this: The final four games of the regular season hold a lot of weight for both teams. Here’s where each team stands, what they can accomplish in the final two weeks and their chances of going to Cleveland and succeeding in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Men’s basketball (14-13, 7-7 MAC)
This team has a lot of similarities with the 2015 Detroit Tigers. Both were preseason favorites. Both would follow up a show of strength with a bewildering performance.
The Chippewas lost to the supposedly inferior Western Michigan Broncos (11-16, 5-9 MAC) on Saturday after a key win over Toledo earlier in the week.
If the regular season ended today: CMU would finish sixth
CMU is tied for sixth in the MAC and would host Western Michigan in the first round of the tournament in the season ended today. The Chippewas are three games out of first place and four games in front of last place with four games to play.
Who to root against: Ohio, Kent State, Ball State, Buffalo
The top four seeded teams earn a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament. Ohio, Kent State and Ball State are all tied at 9-5, taking the second, third and fourth spots as of today.
CMU controls its own destiny with the other two 7-7 teams — Toledo and Northern Illinois — since the Chippewas have one more meeting with both teams. To have any hope to move up and potentially clinch a first-round bye, the Chippewas will need the three 9-5 teams and the 8-6 Buffalo Bulls to lose a few games.
Strength of remaining opponents: 63-45 (28-28 in the MAC)
The final four games for CMU are NIU (home), Toledo (away), Ball State (away) and WMU (home). The Chippewas have faced all four teams once this year, with the only win coming against Toledo.
They won’t be able to hit the 12-6 conference mark they accomplished last season. Yet, if the team can win its final four games, it has a strong shot at a first-round bye and will be heating up at the right time. With four losses, CMU won’t even be in a position to get itself to Cleveland.
Women’s basketball (17-8, 11-3 MAC)
The team made another comeback on Saturday, erasing a late six-point deficit and hitting a buzzer beater to force overtime against Toledo. The luck ran out in the extra period, ending the team’s eight-game winning streak.
If the regular season ended today: CMU would finish second
CMU sits two games out of first and can’t mathematically fall below seventh in the MAC standings with four games to go. The team holds a three-game lead over fifth place in the conference, virtually guaranteeing CMU an first-round bye in the tournament.
With Ohio (21-4, 13-1 MAC) being the class of the MAC, the Chippewas would be best served by finishing second or third in the conference. In this case, they wouldn’t have to face the Bobcats until the MAC Tournament Championship.
Who to root against: Ohio, Ball State, Toledo, Eastern Michigan
It’s unlikely CMU can win the MAC Regular Season Championship. But if Ohio starts to lose, the Chippewas are next in line to capitalize.
Ball State and Toledo sit one game behind CMU and both have one more game against the maroon and gold. CMU controls its own destiny, but would be in better shape if the Cardinals and Rockets don’t win out.
If CMU wins once more and EMU loses once more, the Chippewas will clinch a first-round bye. The two teams play in the regular season finale, but the Chippewas hope to know their fate by then.
Strength of remaining opponents: 65-36 (35-21 MAC)
The final four games are against Ball State (home), Western Michigan (away), Toledo (away) and Eastern Michigan (home). CMU is 3-1 against these teams this season.
It’s not an easy schedule to end the season, with the third, fourth, fifth and sixth-best teams in the MAC on the docket. The end of the regular season will be a challenge, but it could position the team to be at the top of its game come tournament time.
