The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Basketball Favored in MAC Preseason Media Poll
October 28 | Men's Basketball
- The University of Akron men's basketball team was picked to finished first in the Mid-American Conference's East Division and was also selected as the overall preseason favorite as well as the predicted conference tournament winner in a poll released on Wednesday by the league office.
A 24-member panel of the MAC News Media Association voted in the poll, which was released in conjunction with Wednesday's MAC preseason media teleconference with the league's head coaches.
The Zips received 190 overall points in the poll, including 19 first-place tallies, and also earned 19 votes as the favorite to win the league tournament in March at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland. Following UA in the East Division preseason predictions were Kent State and Buffalo, respectively. Miami (Ohio) was tabbed to finish fourth, while Bowling Green and Ohio rounded out the selections.
Central Michigan was picked as the favorite in the West Division, earning 113 points and 10 first-place votes. Northern Illinois followed CMU in the preseason rankings, while Eastern Michigan was selected to finish third. Ball State was picked to place fourth, while Western Michigan and Toledo closed out the group.
The league office also announced its all-preseason teams and UA players junior Brett McKnight and sophomore Anthony "Humpty" Hitchens were named to the East Division Team. McKnight led the Zips in scoring last season (11.2 ppg) and was also the league's sixth man of the year, an All-MAC Second Team choice and named to the conference's all-tournament team. Hitchens led UA in assists (2.2 apg) and was on the league's all-freshman team a season ago.
The 2009-10 season is one of the most anticipated in the history of the Akron program, as the team returns four starters and 13 letterwinners from last year's squad that went 23-13 (10-6 in MAC play) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, after winning its first-ever MAC Tournament championship. The Zips earned a No. 13 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament and fell to Gonzaga in the first round, 77-64.
Akron plays host to Mount Union in exhibition play on Nov. 10 at
7 p.m. ET at Rhodes Arena and opens the regular season at home as
well, facing Austin Peay on Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.
2009-10 Mid-American Conference News Media Association
Preseason Poll
East Division
1. Akron - 190 points (19 first-place votes)
2. Kent State - 108 points (3)
3. Buffalo - 97 points (1)
4. Miami - 78 points
5. Bowling Green - 54 points (1)
6. Ohio - 32 points
West Division
1. Central Michigan - 113 points (10)
2. Northern Illinois - 102 points (4)
3. Eastern Michigan - 94 points (3)
4. Ball State - 87 points (3)
5. Western Michigan - 79 points (4)
6. Toledo - 29 points
Tournament Winner: Akron (19), Buffalo (2), Northern Illinois (1), Kent State (1), Bowling Green (1)
East Division All-MAC Preseason Team
Kenny Hayes, G, Miami
Brett McKnight, F, Akron
Rodney Pierce, G, Buffalo
Chris Singletary, G, Kent State
Anthony "Humpty" Hitchens,
G, Akron
West Division All-MAC Preseason Team
David Kool, G, Western Michigan
Jarrod Jones, F/C, Ball State
Brandon Bowdry, F, Eastern Michigan
Darion "Jake" Anderson, G, Northern Illinois
Carlos Medlock, G, Eastern Michigan
