What are the Ohio University Bobcats, the last place team in the MAC East, doing laying 4 points tonight into MAC West co-champs Western Michigan in that conference’s tournament this evening?  Have Vegas and offshore sportsbooks made a mistake?

Not hardly.  The pointspread is correct, it is the MAC that is wack.  Every team in the East is substantially better than every team in the West.  The Eastern teams are all rated 173rd or better in the country by both Sagarin and Pomeroy, while the clubs in the West are all ranked 238th or worse by both of those analysts.

While both teams are 7-9 in conference play, Ohio played the much tougher schedule, playing two games against everyone in the stronger division and only once against the weaklings in the West.  The reverse is true for the WMU Broncos, who despite a 10-20 overall record tied for the divisional crown with Central Michigan (11-18), and Ball State (13-16).

The “dual division” era of conference play started in 1992, when the SEC split into Eastern and Western divisions.  During that short history has their ever been a conference with a greater imbalance than 2009 MAC basketball?