Ohio will attempt to finish the regular season off with five Mid-American Conference wins for the second straight season when it faces against conference foe Old Dominion on Friday and against Gardner Webb on Sunday.
If the Bobcats (7-5, 4-3 MAC) can secure five conference wins it sets the team up for somewhat of an interesting regular season finish. According to conference statistics, as of Feb. 9, Ohio is ranked fourth out of nine teams in the MAC standings with a few possible scenarios to end the season on a positive or negative note.
Ahead of the Bobcats lies Central Michigan. Each of the teams has four conference wins. However, Ohio only has one remaining conference meet, while Central Michigan has two and if the Chippewas were to lose both of them, it’s possible for Ohio to finish third in the regular season standings.
On the other side of the coin, if Ohio fails to achieve its fifth conference win, it will end the season with a conference record at .500. That even record could potentially keep the Bobcats in that fourth place spot or drop them to the fifth, currently held by Buffalo.
One of the things that would be different between the two consecutive five-conference-win seasons are the numbers.
In Ohio's 2015-16 season, the average points per match differential (regardless of win/loss) was exactly 10. In duals that Ohio won, the average PPM was 11.4 and in duals it lost, the average was just by 7.6.
However, this year is a different story. In the seven conference duals they’ve been in, regardless of win or loss, the average points per match differential between the Bobcats and their opponent has been a staggering 18 points.
The numbers also rose in the specific categories of wins (19.25 PPM) and losses (16.3 PPM). Granted, those are the numbers through only seven conference duals compared to the full eight of last year but if anything, the numbers will only go up.
In part of those numbers and mainly on seeking the five conference wins in consecutive seasons, coach Joel Greenlee spoke on the challenge that is getting five wins.
“Missouri is always good. Northern Iowa is much improved. Central Michigan is much improved,” Greenlee said. “Our baseline (of competition) is getting higher and higher.”
Currently, all three of the teams that Greenlee mentioned are first, second or third place in MAC standings, respectively. The top three teams in the conference standings have records well above .500 with Missouri and Northern Iowa heading into this weekend to face each other with undefeated conference records at 7-0, 6-0 respectively. Central Michigan sits at 4-2.
If history is any indication on the present, Ohio will look to celebrate. Last season the Bobcats defeated Old Dominion 25-13 — the win that gave them their fifth conference victory.
“I would definitely like to get that fifth win and I think our guys would to,” Greenlee said.
Ohio has a chance at securing its fifth conference win this Friday at Old Dominion with an expected start time at 7 p.m.
