The Zips suffered their first MAC loss of the season on Saturday, when Ohio jumped to a big early lead at Athens and cruised to an 84-67 win. Ball State, however, already played the Zips pretty tough in Akron on February 4, hitting 55% from the floor and staying well within the 13.5 spread in an 81-73 loss. The Cards are capable, having won four of five and three straight in Muncie, with a balanced offense and a legit paint presence in 6-10 boomerang transfer Payton Sparks, who spent last year at Indiana but has returned to the Cards and held down the middle quite well, including 18 points in a handy 80-66 win and cover on Saturday vs. Buffalo. Play Ball State

One of the toughest spots in college basketball is bouncing back after a long streak ends. Akron had their 13-0 MAC conference streak snapped in a bad way losing by seventeen points to Ohio. This was seen coming as Akron had a couple of shaky performances prior. Look for the Zips to use that loss as a wake up call to avoid a downfall, as the MAC conference will be a one-bid conference tourney league winner only. Lay it here with Akron.