Now that we are halfway through the MAC schedule, time to look at the standings and trends.

We sit at 5-4 which puts us in a three-way tie with WMU and Miami for fifth. What's nice considering our season thus far is we have a two game cushion on not making Cleveland. Beat Miami and Ball State beats WMU and we are alone in fifth after this weekend.

What you want is to stay sixth or better. I think Akron and Toledo are running away with the 1 and 2 seeds, BGSU looks good enough to stay a top four, and I think WMU and CMU are going to come down to Earth. Would have been nice if NIU could have finished off CMU tonight. Find a way to climb above the core of Miami, WMU and CMU and we'll position ourselves for workable path in Cleveland.

Ideal scenario: we and BG finish in the top four.

I figure that we need three wins in these last eight MAC games to get a spot in Cleveland. The last two seasons, nine wins made the #7 spot and the #8 team had only six. But anything less than nine is a crapshoot, so nine is more certain. That said, we likely have a tough row to hoe. Five of the last eight are on the road, which hasn't been kind this season. NIU and Buffalo have been struggling (combined 2-16), and are the best chances at wins, but the rest are BSU, Toledo, and MOFO. Not a gimme in the bunch. The home games are Akron, Kent and BG, all traditionally tough games. We'll need to keep up the intensity we've had over the last three games. I think we can get to 10+ wins and top four seed, but it's likely to be a struggle.