A number of Mid-American Conference schools proved to be extra troubling for the Bobcats this year regardless of the sport being played.
Typically, athletic programs have top-notch teams in some sports and weaker teams in others. But, several MAC schools had Ohio’s number on the field, court, track and ball diamond.
The Bobcats frequently came up short when facing Kent State, Toledo and Western Michigan this year. Many of the “losses” against the Rockets and Broncos came in women’s golf tournaments and track and field meets, where finishing below an opponent was counted as a “loss,” according to The Post’s research.
For example, Ohio placed worse than Toledo five times each in women’s golf and track competitions, resulting in an 0-10 record that offset the other sports’ performances against the Rockets.
Playing the Golden Flashes proved to be the most thoroughly detrimental for the Bobcats. Of the sports in which the schools both compete, only Ohio’s women’s cross country and volleyball squads never lost to Kent State.
The Golden Flashes won the Reese and Jacoby Trophies for the 2009-10 school year for having the best overall performance in MAC men’s and women’s athletics, respectively. The school kept the Reese Trophy this season and placed fourth for the Jacoby, said Alan Ashby, assistant athletic director for Athletic Communications at Kent State.
“Our goal every year is to win the Reese and Jacoby trophies,” Ashby said.“Obviously, it’s important that we’re competitive with the other MAC schools, including Ohio. At the same time, for a number of our programs, we are also competing at the regional and national level.”
Ohio fared much better against Bowling Green and Buffalo. Multiple strong performances against the Falcons in men’s cross country and women’s golf competitions boosted the Bobcats’ statistics.
In the Battle of the Bricks, Miami won the advantage by outperforming Ohio in 17 their 31 meetings.
The Bobcats’ cumulative record for all MAC contests was 133-157-5.
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