By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

Miami coach Charlie Coles isn't making any predictions about how the Mid-American Conference season will play out.

"The league this year is bizarre," Coles said Thursday. "In all my years, I've never seen more balance. The only thing that's certain is nothing is certain."

After six days off, Coles' RedHawks resume play at 3p.m. today against Marshall (11-10, 7-6) at Millett Hall. The game is scheduled to be televised on Channel 64.

Miami (9-11, 7-4) is in second place in the MAC East Division and is fourth in the overall conference standings, which are used to determine the tournament seeds.

MAC Tournament first-round byes go to the division champions and the team with the next-best overall record. If the season ended today, East Division leader Kent State, West Division leader Northern Illinois and Central Michigan would receive byes, and Miami would host a first-round game against the team with the league's worst record, Buffalo (4-16, 1-10), March10.

Miami's hold on its current position could be considered precarious, but the games ahead for its competitors are equally challenging.

The RedHawks have seven games remaining, including two with Marshall and home matchups with Northern Illinois and Ohio.

Central Michigan (15-5, 8-3), which has won three straight games and eight of its last 10, still must play Northern Illinois and Ball State twice.

Then there's Ball State (11-11, 6-6), which is sixth in the overall standings. BSU beat Kent State on Wednesday and has won five of its last seven games.

The Cardinals have the tiebreaker advantage over Miami. If two or more teams finish with the same league record, head-to-head records are the first tiebreaker, and the teams' records against the top competition are the second. The RedHawks and Ball State split their two games this season, but Miami has lost twice to Kent State and Ball State won its only matchup with the projected top seed.

"Ball State is hot, and Marshall is playing pretty good right now," Coles said. "Any coach will tell you that everybody's good, and you don't know who's going to get hot."

Coles feels good about the RedHawks' tournament prospects.

"If we take care of business, we'll be OK," he said. "I was just sitting here thinking of what I'm going to tell them at practice. Here it is: Life's hard by the yard, but inch by inch, its a cinch. You can't take yard steps."

Marshall has won its last two games after losing four in a row and seven of its previous eight.

Six of the Thundering Herd's 10 losses have been by single digits, including five by fewer than five points and two in overtime.

Marshall has won three of its last five games against Miami, including an 82-74 decision at Huntington, W.Va., last season. The Herd's leading scorer this season, junior guard Ronald Blackshear, scored 29 points in that game.

Blackshear is averaging 22 points this season, third-best in the MAC.

The Herd's A.W. Hamilton tops the MAC in assists, averaging 5.88 a game.

Marshall also gets quality minutes from sophomore guard Ronny Dawn, a Newport Central Catholic graduate who is averaging 5.7 points a game.

MARSHALL	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
R.Blackshear	Jr.	6-5	22.0
Marvin Black	Jr.	6-7	12.1
Monty Wright	Sr.	6-4	10.0
Ardo Armpalu	Jr.	6-10	9.1
A.W. Hamilton	So.	6-3	3.9

Coach: Greg White (112-79, sixth season; 231-233 overall).

MIAMI	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Juby Johnson	Jr.	6-5	15.3
Danny Horace	So.	6-5	11.7
Chet Mason	Jr.	6-3	9.6
Josh Hausfeld	Fr.	6-3	7.0
Bryan Reed	Sr.	6-6	2.8

Coach: Charlie Coles (116-89, seventh season; 208-173).