Pity the promotion staff at Northern Illinois and Marshall University.
The NIU Huskies and Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball teams are taking their race for a home playoff game in the first round of the MAC Tournament to the final day of the regular season.
Thanks to NIU's stunning road win over Ball State, and the Herd's lopsided home triumph over Central Michigan, travel plans - or lack thereof - cannot be finalized until late Saturday night after each team plays their last regular season game.
Wednesday night, the Huskies' Eugene Bates hit two free throws with six seconds left, giving NIU a 69-68 victory over the BSU Cardinals, who lost their first conference home game of the season. A few hours to the east, Marshall's Tamar Slay racked up 22 points to lead his team to an 82-57 win over the Chippewas of Central Michigan.
NIU controls their own destiny, a win Saturday at Western Michigan would clinch the team a home game to be played Monday, March 4.
A Huskies' loss, however, would open the door for Marshall, who would need a win at Akron to tie NIU in the standings. The Herd holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Northern due to their 79-76 win on Dec. 8. Marshall will know if they have a chance by the time they step on the court in Akron as NIU's game starts two hours prior.
MAC fans in the Buffalo area (except those who live on campus at UB) can watch Marshall's game with Akron on the Empire Sports Network. Tip-off is at 4 p.m.
Toledo's Terry Reynolds nailed a fadeaway jumper from the top of the key with 27 seconds left, propelling the Rockets to a one point win over the Ohio Bobcats, 69-68 Wednesday night in Athens, Ohio.
The loss eliminated the Bobcats from contention for a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament. Bowling Green earns the first-round bye thanks to their win over UB Wednesday coupled with Ohio's loss.
Toledo won at Ohio for the first time since 1981.
Both Ohio and Toledo will host first-round home games in the MAC Tournament on Monday, March 4.
Things were not going well for the Western Michigan Broncos at the start of the 2001-02 MAC basketball season.
A lot can change in February.
WMU's 71-52 win over Eastern Michigan gave them six wins in their last seven games, earning the Broncos a home game in the first round of the MAC Tournament. The team opened their conference schedule with a 3-7 record before their February run.
Junior guard Robby Collum was one of four Broncos to score in double figures. He led all scorers with 23 points.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
