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	Wednesday, November 8 MAC Breakdown
	ESPN.com HOW THEY'LL STACK UP EAST DIVISION MARSHALL: Time to overshawdown the football team. KENT: News Flash: They're still very good, even without proven center. OHIO: Technically a rebuilding year, but Bobcats won't struggle. BOWLING GREEN: Life without all-time scoring leader Stacey begins. MIAMI (OHIO): Streak of 5 straight years in MAC tourney final figures to end. AKRON: 100th season of hoops; Zip for 3 in last three MAC tourneys. BUFFALO: Note to HS seniors: Plenty of PT and all-you-can-eat wings. WEST DIVISION TOLEDO: A healthy Greg Stempin should replace academic loss of Hall. BALL STATE: May still wind up sharing West title with Toledo. CENTRAL MICHIGAN: 2000 MAC tourney a glimpse of what to expect. NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Won't have Lux-ury of "Mr. Double-Double". E. MICHIGAN: Not much for new coach Boone to work with in the East ... W. MICHIGAN: ... but first-year coach McCullum has less out West. Tuesday, Nov. 7 Marshall is the class of the league this season with Tamar Slay and J.R. VanHoose, two of the best unknown players in the nation. If the Thundering Herd can get decent guard play then they have a shot to go deeper in the tournament. Marshall must have a decent showing in its few marquee non-conference games at Cincinnati and Dayton. The rest of the schedule is dominated by mid-major games. Mid-American teams usually need a few power-rating games to ensure a second berth. The Herd will be challenged by Ball State out of the West. Toledo and Kent have a legitimate shot to make a run at the championship, too. ESPN.com All-MAC Guard: Trevor Huffman Junior, 6-1, Kent Guard: Tamar Slay Junior, 6-9, Marshall Forward: Greg Stempin Senior, 6-8, Toledo Forward: Theron Smith Sophomore, 6-8, Ball State Center: J. R. VanHoose Junior, 6-10, Marshall Player of Year ... J.R. VanHoose, C, Marshall Pick your poison at Marshall, really. VanHoose does his damage inside, while fellow player of the year candidate Tamar Slay moves inside and outside. VanHoose scored 17.6 points and grabbed 8.6 rebounds a game despite a troublesome knee that never really was 100 percent last season. He should be fully healthy this season. The 6-9 Slay, for the record, led the MAC in scoring last season (20.1 ppg.). In any case, the Player of the Year will wear Marshall colors. Introducing ... Julius Johnson, G, Miami (Ohio) He's already being compared to Ron Harper, as far as incoming freshman go at Miami. A top-100 recruit out of Warrensville Heights (Ohio), the 6-5, 210-pounder averaged 25.6 points and 14 rebounds in leading his team to the Ohio Division II title. In four years, or less, he could follow Harper into the NBA. Best backcourt ... Marshall: Tamar Slay, Cornelius Jackson and Travis Young. As we pointed out above, Slay could easily be the player of the year after leading the conference in scoring last season. The lanky Slay towers over most MAC guards at 6-9, but doesn't give up anything with his quickness and ability to slash to the basket at a moment's notice. He can play the 3, and may leave for the NBA after this, his junior year. Jackson's primary job is to get the ball to Slay (7.2 apg), but he did add 10.6 points a game to the scoreboard as a junior last season. His 218 assists last season were seventh in the nation. With Slay's ability to move around the lineup, the 6-foot Young gets plenty of minutes and averaged 11 points a game last season. Best frontcourt ... Ball State: Lonnie Jones, Theron Smith and Josh Murray. All three started a year ago, with Jones (136 blocks) providing the defensive presence and Smith showed the ability to score as a freshman (12.2 ppg.). Murray shot 51 percent and was 10th in MAC rebounding (6.9 rpg.). The Cardinals will also use 6-7 freshman Robert Owens on the wing. Team on way up ... Marshall: The Thundering Herd has steadily improved since joining the MAC in 1998, winning 11 games in their debut campaign and then 21 last season. With four returning starters, including two player of the year candidates, Marshall won't only improve its win totals once again, but dominate the MAC. Team on way down ... Ball State: The talent up front just won't be enough to sustain the success of recent seasons. Then again, the Cardinals can never be totally counted out, so the NIT is well within reach. As for 22 wins and another West title? Those will be tough to duplicate. Tournament tough ... NCAA: Marshall. NIT: Kent, Ball State.		ALSO SEE ESPN.com Preseason Top 25