This past Tuesday, the Toledo Rockets men’s basketball team laid a 70-46 whooping on Northern Illinois in the final home game of the regular season. At that same time, the Western Michigan Broncos suffered a tough loss to the Ball State Cardinals, 89-85. This sent the two teams into the weekend with identical 9-6 conference records, tied at the top of the MAC West division. It’s anybody’s game.

Just don’t tell that to the Mid-American Conference, which happily congratulated WMU on winning the West on Twitter.

Of course, it goes back to those dastardly NCAA sanctions. See, the grades of the athletes in the program were not so hot under former coach Gene Cross (and, frankly, neither was the basketball). Cross was shown the door, Tod Kowalcyk comes in, and the difference was nearly immediate. But the NCAA doesn’t deal in immediates, they deal in 4 year averages. Those grades under the old regime affect the new. Last season, it was reduced scholarships. This year, they changed the punishment to postseason bans. Toledo, still suffering under the sins of the past, are not allowed in the MAC Tournament, the NCAA Tournament, the NIT, or any of the other tournaments out there. So it goes.

The Mid-American Conference, though, decided it wasn’t enough. The conference has decided that they will not recognize Toledo as a division champion if they were to win. Even though Toledo was on the ballot in the preseason poll (and, in fact, was picked to win the West), apparently they’ll be denied official recognition.

I’m not ragging on the initial punishment of the postseason ban. It’s a little contentious, sure: Toledo had bad grades, but they fixed the problem. The NCAA doesn’t view it as punishing the players — they’re punishing the program. I get that logic. I don’t have to like it, but I understand. What I don’t understand is why the MAC is piling on the Rockets instead of holding them up as a program that has succeeded in spite of the setbacks.

Is it an NCAA rule? Not that I can tell. The Academic Progress Rates rules say that failing to meet the APR scores affects only postseason access. Is it an unspoken rule across conferences? Doubtful: after the football season, the Big Ten proudly proclaimed Ohio State as their Leaders Division Champions after they finished the season 12-0. Their postseason ban only meant Wisconsin would represent the division in the championship game.

So why the hate, MAC? You’ve had no problems honoring the individuals on the team: Rian Pearson has been named MAC West Player of the Week five times this year. All the conference has offered is a blurb in their March 5th Men’s Basketball Daily press release: “Toledo is ineligible for this year’s Tournament and cannot win the MAC Regular Season title or West Division title due to APR sanctions passed down by the NCAA.” That release, by the way, is no longer easily located on the mac-sports.com website. I hope that it’s because they’re reconsidering.

By the time you read this article, it could all be a moot point. Toledo wraps up the season in Ypsilanti against Eastern Michigan this Saturday at noon, while Western Michigan hosts Central Michigan. If the Rockets fall to the Eagles and the Broncos win, then it’s their title, fair and square. If Toledo wins against EMU, however, then lets see the conference try and stop them from raising a banner at Savage Arena.

Coach Tod Kowalcyk has turned around the Rockets basketball program, both on the court and in the classroom. I’m not asking for the Mid-American Conference to sneak Toledo in the back door at Quicken Loans Arena to play in the tournament. That punishment has been laid out, and the team has not only played under those punishments, they’ve succeeded in spite of them. There’s no need to rub salt in the wound. If Toledo earns the MAC West title, the conference needs to honor it.

Tags: Mid-American Conference, Shaggy Matt Culbreath, Tod Kowalcyk, University of Toledo

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 7th, 2013 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Rocket Basketball, Shag on Sports, Sports.
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With a second-straight Mid-American Conference victory in his team’s collective grasp, there was no doubt who Toledo head coach Tod Kowalczyk wanted to have the ball with the game on the line: sophomore point guard Julius “Juice” Brown.

And in a game that saw 18 lead changes and the score tied seven times, it turns out that Brown was the right choice. After not attempting any free throws in the first half, Brown went six-for-six from the charity stripe the rest of the way and hit a big, long-range jumper in overtime that put the Rockets up for good as they defeated Central Michigan by a final of 76-72.

“He makes shots when it matters, and point guards want the ball in their hands,” Kowalczyk said of Brown, who finished with a team-high 21 points.

Heading into its MAC West Division matchup with CMU (8-7, 1-1 MAC), five of UT’s seven losses were by six points or less. Though the Rockets trailed by as many as 10 in the first half, Toledo was able to disrupt the Chippewas’ offensive rhythm down the stretch, reeling off 10 fast break points and 16 points off Central Michigan’s 14 turnovers.

“Their transition offense is the best I’ve seen in college basketball in the last five years,” Kowalczyk said of CMU, who was led by Kyle Randall’s game-high 24 points. “They play that fast, and we took them out of that and that’s why we won the game. They get the ball inbounds and shoot quicker than any team I’ve ever seen.”

Though the Rockets (6-7, 2-0 MAC) got off to a slow start offensively, a 14-10 run to close out the first half sent UT into halftime down 29-26.

“I think we were trying to get back in transition first off, then get high hands to their shooters and get out on [three-pointers],” said junior guard Rian Pearson, who registered a career-best 12th consecutive game with double figures in scoring after pouring in 20 points. “The whole first half, they were just hitting threes and that’s why the game was so close.”

After scoring just six points in the first half, Pearson was on the attack to start the second half, scoring eight points in under six minutes to make it 39-38 Rockets with 14:37 remaining. Toledo extended its lead to as many as seven after a steal and dish from freshman guard Josh Lemons set up an open court slam by junior forward Matt Smith to make it 47-40 UT at the 11:30 mark.

The Chippewas, however, countered with a 12-3 run to take back the lead after a bucket from Olivier Mbaigoto made it 52-50 with 5:50 left.

The game continued to go back-and-forth until Pearson stole the ball from John Simons on a dump down pass and took it the length of the floor, getting fouled as he made his layup to put UT back up 59-57 with under two minutes left. However, he missed his free throw following the timeout to keep it a two-point lead for Toledo.

After freshman center Nathan Boothe split his free throws with 26 seconds left to make it 60-58 UT, Randall made a driving layup with 15 seconds on the clock to tie the game at 60. Brown then pushed the ball up the court, got some space from his defender and missed a pull-up three-pointer to send the game into overtime.

“I just tried to take what the defense gave me,” said Brown, who also tied for a game-high nine assists. “I felt he kind of backed up a little bit, so I felt that he was not playing the shot. So I just tried to raise up and hit it.”

Brown made up for that miss in OT, separating from his defender on the left side and hitting a long-range jumper to put the Rockets up 71-70, a lead they never relinquished to pick up their second-straight MAC win.

“Good players make big plays,” Kowalczyk said. “I thought Juice’s shot in overtime was huge for us; huge. And then getting to the foul line was important, too. I thought we really executed coming out of timeouts—except for the one time where we couldn’t get the ball inbounds—but other than that, out of timeout situations we got the right shots for the right guys.

“Didn’t make some of them, but I thought tonight we made some plays when we had to.”

Toledo will be in action again on Jan. 16 when it faces Western Michigan (8-7, 0-2 MAC) in Kalamazoo at 7 p.m.

Tags: Mid-American Conference, Rockets basketball, Toledo, Toledo Rockets, University of Toledo

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 13th, 2013 at 2:50 am and is filed under College sports, Rocket Basketball, Sports.
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Heading into 2011, it was clear as to why the Rockets were tabbed as the favorites to capture the Mid-American Conference title in the league’s preseason poll. Toledo had nine starters returning on offense and eight on defense after finishing 8-5 in 2010 and reaching its first bowl game since 2005.

Prior to UT’s 2011 season opener, however, that number of returning defensive starters dropped to seven following a torn labrum suffered by senior free safety Mark Singer, which cost him the entire season. Singer was a top-five tackler for Toledo in 2010, also registering two interceptions.

By week two, the Rockets’ defense was down to six returning starters after junior linebacker Dan Molls suffered a lower leg injury during practice. By week seven, only four returning defensive starters from 2010 remained following injuries to junior defensive end T.J. Fatinikun and junior strong safety Jermaine Robinson against Eastern Michigan, with Fatinikun’s dislocated elbow sidelining him for the remainder of the season.

2012 Toledo helmet, courtesy of UT Athletics

Despite the injuries, multiple defensive lineups and departure of its head coach prior to facing Air Force in the Military Bowl, the Toledo defense persevered. UT finished the 2011 season as the No. 3 team in the country and No. 1 team in the MAC in turnover margin, helping the Rockets capture their first bowl victory since 2005 with a 42-41 win over the Falcons in the Military Bowl.

“Adversity’s going to make everyone stronger, and it definitely played a role into some of the guys coming back for this season,” said Molls, who finished third on the team with 70 tackles in 2011 despite missing six games due to injury. “It really kind of created that spark for our defense.”

This year, Molls will be one of seven seniors starting on UT’s defense and one of five returning starters from 2011. The other seniors slated to join him in the starting lineup are the aforementioned Fatinikun, Robinson and Singer — the last received a medical redshirt to come back and play this year — cornerback Byron Best, linebacker Robert Bell and defensive tackle Danny Farr.

“We’re just hungry,” Molls said. “It’s our senior season, and we really want to make a statement this season.”

Even though he only played the first six games of 2011, Fatinikun showed the league enough in those contests to garner Third-Team All-MAC honors. At the time of his injury, the Perrysburg grad was leading Toledo and tied for third in the MAC with 7.5 tackles for loss to go with a team-high 2.5 sacks.

“It’s a lot of playmakers out on our field now on that defensive side of the ball,” Fatinikun said. “We’ve got a lot of speed and a lot of strength, and I think that’s one thing we’re going to be able to showcase a little more with our schemes now.”

This year’s unit is led by new defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Tom Matukewicz. Known to the players as “Coach Tuke,” Matukewicz comes to UT after spending the last four seasons at MAC West Division rival Northern Illinois, where his most recent position was linebackers coach.

At NIU, Matukewicz helped the Huskies earn a MAC West title in 2010 and a MAC Championship in 2011. In each of his first two seasons at Northern Illinois, the Huskies also ranked No. 1 in the MAC in total defense.

“One of the things that was really important for us once the season got over [with] is putting our kids in the best position to have the right leadership around it, and I was able to keep so many of our staff members that have helped us be successful,” Toledo head coach Matt Campbell said. “But one of the great opportunities was the opportunity to go get somebody to lead this defense, and there’s no question we found the right guy.”

Bell, who finished second on the team with 78 tackles last season in his first year as a starter for UT, echoed Campbell’s sentiments.

“You might get a couple laughs, but he’s all about his business and he likes to have fun when he’s doing it,” Bell said of Matukewicz. “He always says, ‘If you don’t have fun today, it’s your fault.’ ”

With new leadership, experience and a MAC Championship as the goal, fun is just what the Rockets’ seniors expect to have on defense this season.

“The main thing I can tell you is just ‘Watch out’ because everybody’s flying to the ball,” Bell said. “That’s all I can say.”

Tags: Byron Best, Dan Molls, Danny Farr, defense, Jermaine Robinson, Mark Singer, Matt Campbell, Mid-American Conference, Mike Bauman, Robert Bell, Rocket football, T.J. Fatinikun, Tom Matukewicz

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2012 at 12:18 am and is filed under College Football, College sports, Rocket Football, Sports.
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When the Toledo women’s soccer team kicks off its 2012 campaign at 1 p.m. Aug. 17 in West Lafayette, Ind., against Purdue, they will be beginning yet another season full of expectations.

The Rockets were chosen as the clear-cut favorites this week to win their third-straight Mid-American Conference tournament title.

“I’m not sure really what it means other than the fact that some names got put down on a piece of paper in August,” UT head coach Brad Evans said. “There’s a lot of work to get done and we will see how it plays out in November.”

Toledo was nearly the unanimous decision in the coaches’ poll, receiving 69 votes as the preseason pick in the MAC West Division, one short of the maximum. The Rockets finished ahead of Central Michigan (59) and Western Michigan (47) for the division lead.

UT was also chosen as the favorite to win the league tournament championship game with five votes. If the team won the title, it would claim a conference-record fifth championship.

Tags: Brad Evans, Mid-American Conference, Purdue, Rockets soccer, Zach Davis

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2012 at 11:57 pm and is filed under College sports, Soccer, Sports.
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The Toledo football team will begin its season by giving back to its fans as it holds its Fan Appreciation Day at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 18 at the Glass Bowl.

The event, which is free, will allow fans to watch the final 30 minutes of practice before an autograph session with the players and coaches and a photo with a Rocket or a UT mascot. The first 500 fans will receive a free Rockets poster.

Toledo opens up the season at 10:30 p.m. Sept. 1 at Arizona on ESPNU. The Rockets will play their first home game in week three when they host archrival Bowling Green at 7 p.m. Sept. 15.

Tags: Fan Appreciation Day, Glass Bowl, Mid-American Conference, Rockets Football, Zach Davis

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2012 at 11:53 pm and is filed under College Football, College sports, Rocket Football, Sports.
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The UT football team began preparations for another season with lofty expectations as it opened up the 2012 training camp on Aug. 3.

“We split our team into two and it’s great to be back out here with these guys,” Toledo head coach Matt Campbell said. “It’s kind of fun to see the strides that a lot of these guys have made from the end of spring to the start of fall camp. I know our kids are really excited and from an attitude standpoint it was outstanding. Now we get a chance to really grow as a football team.”

The Rockets held two half-squad practices to begin the camp. The first started at 8:30 a.m. before the rest of the team took the field at 4. The players will continue with this practice format through the weekend until they begin full-squad practices on Aug. 6.

Campbell, who will be entering his first full season at the helm of the UT program, separated the two teams to make them “as even as possible” to attempt to make the players “feel like starters.”

In 2012, Toledo has been projected as the preseason favorite to win the Mid-American Conference West Division by a vote of the 17 members of the league’s media contingent. They still have some major holes to fill, especially on offense, but Campbell thinks those replacements may already exist on their young roster.

The Rockets lost playmakers Eric Page and Adonis Thomas from last year’s squad but appear to have experienced replacements in David Fluellen at running back and Bernard Reedy at wide receiver. The offensive line, however, lost three members from last season’s unit, which finished sixth in the nation, allowing only 10 sacks on the year.

The team still returns talent up front, however, in Rimington candidate Zac Kerin in the middle alongside second-year guard Greg Mancz, who was named to the Freshman All-American Team for Yahoo! Sports in 2011.

“It’s a situation right now where we have some youth in some key spots and some guys that will be challenging for some spots on offense,” Campbell said. “Of course, our offensive line, we have to replace a couple veteran football players, and I’m really proud of what those guys looked like.”

Toledo’s already suspect secondary, which ranked 105th in the country in pass defense last year, giving up over 268 yards per game, took a big blow as well at the cornerback position losing its two most solid starters in Desmond Marrow and Taikwon Paige. Among the candidates to replace them this season are senior Byron Best, sophomores Keith Suggs, Kishon Wilcher and Jordan Haden and redshirt freshman Chris Dukes.

“We lost two guys who played a lot at corner,” Campbell said. “We have a lot of talent there and we have got three or four guys that will come into the football game and play consistently for us.”

Toledo returns 12 starters from last season’s unit, which went 9-4 with a 7-1 record in conference play. Among those returning are three All-MAC performers including Reedy and quarterback duo of senior Austin Dantin and junior Terrance Owens.

Tags: Austin Dantin, Bernard Reedy, Byron Best, Chris Dukes, David Fluellen, Greg Mancz, Jordan Haden, Keith Suggs, Kishon Wilcher, Matt Campbell, Mid-American Conference, Rocket football, Terrance Owens, Zac Kerin, Zach Davis

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 4th, 2012 at 11:03 am and is filed under College Football, College sports, Rocket Football, Sports.
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The University of Toledo baseball team’s success in 2012 has continued even after the season.

Following the program’s first Mid-American Conference West Division Championship, the Rockets set a school record with five players being named to the Academic All-MAC Team this week. The team consists of 21 players this season.

The academic honor, which is voted by faculty athletic representatives from the MAC institutions, was given to senior Joe Corfman, juniors Matt Delewski and Ben Hammer and sophomores James Miglin and Ryan Wilkinson. Each student must have a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have played in at least half of their team’s games to qualify.

The recognition is especially significant for Corfman, who became the school’s first player to make the team three times. Hammer and Delewski can each attempt that feat next year, with each being chosen to the Academic All-MAC Team for the second time.

Tags: Academic All-MAC Team, Ben Hammer, James Miglin, Joe Corfman, Matt Delewski, Mid-American Conference, Rockets baseball, Ryan Wilkinson, Zach Davis

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 28th, 2012 at 12:12 pm and is filed under Baseball, College sports, Sports.
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At the Mid-American Conference Media Day on July 24, Toledo unveiled its new helmets for the upcoming season — and that’s just the beginning.

2012 Toledo helmet, courtesy of UT Athletics

The Rockets showcased the new helmets, which remain midnight blue, but feature a larger gold rocket logo and no longer feature “Toledo” on the sides. The helmets also feature a matte-finish paint job.

The helmet is far from the only uniform change to expect, however. The Rockets are expected to receive new jerseys this season and also are looking to possibly have multiple helmets. There is still no word when the rest of their pieces of their uniform will debut.

Former UT head coach Tim Beckman was instrumental in the design of Toledo’s latest jerseys, which the team wore for the past two seasons.

Tags: helmets, Media Day, Mid-American Conference, Rocket football, Zach Davis

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 25th, 2012 at 12:00 pm and is filed under College sports, Rocket Football, Sports.
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The University of Toledo football program lost its head coach and 13 starters, but they didn’t lose the respect of the rest of the league.

The Mid-American Conference chose the Rockets as the second-best team in the league’s preseason rankings on July 24 at MAC Media Day, as chosen by voting from the 17 members of the league’s media contingent. UT was also picked as the favorites in the MAC West Division.

“It says a lot about our program, but it’s just a preseason poll,” UT head coach Matt Campbell said. “Obviously, we hope to be there at the end of November.”

Toledo (87 points) edged out Northern Illinois (83) and Western Michigan (79) for the preseason top spot in the MAC West. Ball State (42), Eastern Michigan (34) and Central Michigan (32) rounded out the rest of the division.

In the East, Ohio (119 points) was the preseason pick to repeat as MAC Champions. They easily recorded more votes than Bowling Green (91), Miami (84) and Kent State (76). At the bottom of the division is Buffalo (52), Akron (31) and finally UMass (23), which is in its first MAC season.

The Bobcats also received five votes for the team picked to win the MAC Championship Game. Toledo finished second in the conference with three while Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and Central Michigan each received one vote.

Campbell will still have work to do in his first year as head coach if he wants to meet those lofty expectations. The nation’s youngest coach at 32 years old, Campbell will look to build on his young career which began with a 42-41 victory over Air Force in the Military Bowl last season.

“Coach Campbell has been the head coach for us on the offensive side of the ball for the last three years,” senior quarterback Austin Dantin said. “So with him being the official head coach for us it’s really no different, and we are happy to have him here.”

The Rockets return 12 players from last year’s squad: four on offense, five on defense and three special teams players. The offense is particularly a concern, losing star wide receiver Eric Page and running back Adonis Thomas along with three offensive linemen.

“We are feeling pretty good going into the season and are working hard in the summer,” junior Terrance Owens said. “We are working really hard buying into the program, just doing everything we can do to achieve our goal and that’s to win the MAC Championship.”

Toledo will have some weapons remaining, however — returning three All-MAC performers including their quarterback duo as well as the 2011 Military Bowl MVP in wide receiver Bernard Reedy.

The Rockets were the preseason pick to win the MAC Championship last year and finished 9-4 with a 7-1 record in conference. That was good enough for second in the West after losing a head-to-head tiebreaker to Northern Illinois (11-3, 7-1).

Tags: Austin Dantin, MAC West Division, Matt Campbell, Mid-American Conference, Rockets Football, Terrance Owens, Zach Davis

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 25th, 2012 at 7:24 am and is filed under College sports, Rocket Football, Sports.
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With 39 days remaining until the first game of the year, Toledo’s season gets underway on July 24 in Detroit when the team meets the rest of the league at Mid-American Conference Media Day at Ford Field.

The event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to noon and will be televised live on ESPN3. Each team’s coach will be interviewed along with his players in a certain time slot, with the Rockets slot beginning at 11:22 a.m. First-year head coach Matt Campbell will be joined in Detroit with his two quarterbacks, senior Austin Dantin and junior Terrance Owens.

The day will also feature the announcement of the preseason predictions for the upcoming season. Last year, Toledo was chosen as the league favorites but UT has lost some key talent for 2012, especially on offense, including wide receiver Eric Page and running back Adonis Thomas.

Tags: Austin Dantin, Ford Field, Media Day, Mid-American Conference, Rocket football, Terrance Owens, Zach Davis

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 24th, 2012 at 8:45 am and is filed under College sports, Rocket Football, Sports.
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