Wednesday’s loss at Toledo marked the first conference team NIU has faced twice, meaning the mid-way point of the MAC season is here. But what has been learned from the 79 conference games that have been played?

First of all, for Huskie fans, being named the preseason MAC title favorite was not a good thing. But NIU didn’t need to wait until the beginning of February to find that out; they could’ve just looked at the last two seasons in the MAC.

The last two preseason favorites in the MAC Media Polls – Ball State in 2002-’03 and Central Michigan in 2001-’02 – both finished with sub .500 records overall and conference, and neither made it past the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament.

“Coaches like to have their programs well thought of,” NIU coach Rob Judson said. “But you have to learn to deal with those expectations. And part of learning how to deal with those is having leadership on your team.”

Over the last two years, another team has surprised everyone to reign at the top of the MAC.

In 2001-’02, Kent State finished with 30-6 overall record and got to the NCAA’s Elite Eight where they lost to Indiana.

“Kent State was very good – 30 wins in a year and the best team in the history of this conference and they almost went to the Final Four,” said Gary Richter, director of media relations for the MAC. “Then, the next year with Central Michigan and Chris Kaman, an NBA Lottery Pick. Who would’ve predicted that?”

With the preseason MAC favorites the past three years, the star on each team decreased his point production from the previous year.

Central Michigan’s David Webber -the brother of the NBA’s Chris – dropped from 18.4 to 17.7 points per game in 2001-’02. Ball State’s Theron Smith fell from 19.6 to 15.3 ppg in 2002-’03, but only played in three games after suffering a season-ending injury. Smith eventually left Ball State to play professionally with one year of eligibility remaining.

This season, NIU’s Marcus Smallwood is down only slightly from 14.7 to 14.3 ppg. However, the 6-foot-6 power forward has missed the Huskies’ last two games because of a coaching decision.

Smallwood had been on a downward spiral before his missed games, averaging 8.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in the previous three games he played in.

“For one, the teams really concentrated on those players defensively,” Judson said.

As for this year, if the MAC were to get an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament, it looks to be a three-team race – at the midway point.

“Kent State and Western Michigan both this year are the teams to look at,” Richter said. “Kent, Western and you can’t count Toledo out either.”