Just when one team in the MAC seems to take control of the conference, another jumps in and stakes its claim.

This weekend was no different, as conference-leading Miami (Ohio) lost 51-48 at Bowling Green, which had been losers of its last six games. This then pulled Central Michigan ahead of the RedHawks for first overall after they beat Eastern Michigan 106-89.

NIU (15-11, 11-5 MAC), which beat Toledo 85-75 on Saturday, moved into third place after Kent State lost at home to Akron 85-70.

This means that with a week left in the regular season, the Huskies will at worst be the fourth seed in the conference tournament. The top three MAC records earn a first round bye and receive an automatic bid to Cleveland’s Gund Arena.

However, if they do earn the fourth seed they will host last place Buffalo at the Convocation Center on Monday, March 10.

“You just never know,” NIU guard Jay Bates said, about the MAC standings. “You wait to hear the scores and coach will be like Miami lost, Central [Michigan] won, or whoever it is in the race. The one team you want to lose, they’ll win and the team you want to win will lose. It just kinda goes back and forth, but for the most part it’s fun as long as we keep winning.”

Another instance as to just how wacky the conference has been this year is that Akron, who is 8-8 in the MAC, has only three road wins in the conference, with it coming against NIU 101-100, CMU 70-69, and Kent State. These three teams could end up being the top three seeds.

The top four seeds are all separated by no more than one game, and the next seven teams are all either 8-8 or 7-9.

Calling the conference even seems an understatement as 36 games have been “close,” decided by five points or less. CMU and Ball State have each had seven contests come down to the wire.

Beside Buffalo, every other team has had at least five “close” games. The Bulls have only had two, both coming against Miami and Kent State, who are battling for first place in the MAC East division.

While the pieces are starting to fall together, whoever has the best chance at winning the MAC is anyone’s call.

“Once you get on a neutral court anything can happen,” Toledo coach Stan Joplin said. “There’s some teams playing pretty well right now. Obviously Central’s playing well with Kaman, because he’s an unstoppable force. Northern’s playing very good team basketball. Miami’s playing well and Kent, as long as Gates is healthy, they’ll always have a shot. But then you got other teams; Marshall’s pretty talented and you never know what’s gonna happen on a neutral floor. If a team gets hot, anything can happen.”