GUND ARENA MAC tournament has no favorite

This season, the league has been tighter than usual.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Forget where teams are seeded -- there is no favorite in this year's Mid-American Conference tournament.
Miami may be the No. 1 seed and Western Michigan is back looking to repeat, but the always competitive MAC is even tighter than in past years.
"All eight teams think they have a shot to win this tournament," Kent State coach Jim Christian said. "More than any other year there's not one team coming in on such a roll. I think any one of the eight teams can walk away with this championship."
As the top seed, Miami would appear to be the favorite heading into the tournament, but the RedHawks have lost three of their last four games, including a one-point loss to quarterfinal opponent Bowling Green.
Coach Charlie Coles, who was named MAC coach of the year Wednesday, said he has seen two different Miami teams this season and doesn't know what to expect this week.
"We're just trying to get our guys to remember the good," Coles said. "We're down around the time of year now where you have to do it."
Defensive stalwarts
The RedHawks have won with defense, allowing a league low 61.1 points per game, but also were at the bottom in scoring with 65.6 points per game. Danny Horace has carried the scoring load, averaging 15.2 points.
Miami won the league title with a 12-6 conference record, just one win better than six other teams in the tournament and two wins better than Bowling Green.
"I don't think you can be more balanced than this league was this year," Bowling Green coach Dan Dakich said. "When six losses wins the league, that tells you something."
Western Michigan has experience on its side as the reigning champ, but coach Steve Hawkins discounted any advantage his team might have. He said every team in the conference has played it's share of big games this season.
The Broncos have two of the league's top scorers in Ben Reed and Levi Rost, both shooting better than 45 percent from the floor.
Surprising Zips
Sophomore Romeo Travis has emerged to help Akron become a surprise team, but two losses to end the regular season dropped the Zips from a potential No. 1 seed to a tough matchup against Western Michigan.
"The way I view things, it really doesn't matter who we play," Akron coach Keith Dambrot said.
"The league is so equal. There's so many good teams, so many well-coached teams, so many good players."
Buffalo could be the hottest team in the tournament, winning seven of eight, including a first-round win Monday over Northern Illinois.
Led by player of the year Turner Battle, the Bulls have one of the most experienced tournament rosters, but they face No. 2 Toledo, the preseason favorite to win both the conference and the tournament.
Toledo fell short of winning the conference, but narrowly won the West Division. Like seemingly every coach in the MAC, Stan Joplin is looking for some consistency from his team.
"It's just part of basketball in our conference," Joplin said. "The teams who can handle it the best -- the ups and downs -- are the teams that are going to play the next game."