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Great discussion on whether this may be Groce's best team but we will need to wait till the end of the season. I have been wrong on so many things. I never saw Lyles developing into a scorer after his first year. I also was not happy with Scott because he did not penetrate his first year and missed layups if somebody was close to him. The progress these guys made under Groce is amazing. I always thought Tavari would be a player but took a bunch of criticism for people on this board who wanted him to transfer. The point being is that it is impossible to predict how this team will do this year but everyone should be happy on what we have seen thus far. If we can improve our rebounding, (like yesterday), toughness, and defense, maybe that elucive first win in the ncaa tourney may be in our future.

I was kind of expecting UB to slide. Still a good year for them if they end up being the 4th or 5th best MAC team, but I never really thought they were better than Miami.

The MAC dropped on the higher end (except Akron), but gained on the lower end in NET. 41 Akron (2nd highest in Ohio now, 1 spot behind OSUcks) 89 BUGS 91 Miami OH 134 Buffalo 146 PCCC 159 Toledo 169 EMU 198 UMass 236 Ohio 254 WMU 312 CMU 319 NIU 340 Balls

Probably the most talented, definitely the deepest. One area they continue to get beat on defense is on the perimeter. They are dedicated to playing help defense which has the defenders on the off side of the ball sagging into or close in the lane when the ball is on the other side of the floor. When the opponent swings the ball quickly they're caught responding late leaving open threes. They're also getting occasionally beat by cutters to the basket.

To go along with that I also feel talent is more disbursed. Before programs like OSU, Alabama, Georgia, etc were hoarding all the talent before. Now a school like Texas A&M can come in and offer those kids who were 2nd or 3rd stringers at Alabama before both playing time and as much, if not more, money to start for them.

Strong cultures bring teams together to win. What the NIL era has ushured in is an era of bad culture at most schools. Those will strong cultures continue to win.

No man Joe is the only thing wrong with the program. Ignore the decades of ineptitude. Any other coach would have won 10+ games with this schedule. The administration doesn't matter, only the coach according to you. Good try though...

We don't have to be the SEC. @Captain Kangaroo shared how far we lagged behind other MAC programs in staffing. Being able to have just have enough money to fill out our coaching staffing to the level of our peers and having a little money to recruit with would be a good start.

Your significant other must love your selective hearing...

💯 It’s as good as the Cheese, Banks, Casteneda, Williams, LCJ line up, but deeper. And Barre could be the wild card that allows us to make some noise against the big boys. After the Purdue game Groce said “Purdue’s one of the best teams in the nation, but we’re one of the best teams in the nation too.” He knows this is a special group. It isn’t a taped-together group of 1-year mercenaries. It’s a seasoned group of talented guys who’ve been together for a while. Sprinkled with a nice mix of new ballers who’ve more than filled the 2024-25 departure gaps. Worst case this Zips edition should go 16-2 in the MAC. BG, EMU, Kent, Miami, Buffalo…they have nice teams. But they aren’t at our level.

I don’t know it is very hard to compete with that 19-20 team because you had an insane group of upperclassmen and very good freshmen. LCJ still is the most talented Akron guard I’ve ever seen

Anyone remember how the G5 playoff bid revenue is split offhand? Wondering if getting an extra team in will benefit Akron or the MAC in some way.

Most talented offensively for sure. I feel there is still a lot to be worked on defensively. We don't seem to be great defensively in the half-court when we face teams that don't turn the ball over. Tulane started something like 1-11 from 3, but at least 5-6 of those misses there wasn't a Zips defender within 8 feet. Those are shots a better team will knock down. We need to work better on being quicker on our defensive rotations and not being out of position. I'm not saying this to be nitpicky. The 3-point line is the great equalizer and if we don't correct it someone will capitalize.

And they won both of these games from missed 20-something yard FGs.

Definitely surpsising as I think Fran Brown is probably another bad season away from being fired.

Agreed on the red being a debatable decision, but Matt can't put himself and the team in that position as a captain. Everything the Zips did in the second half was dumb, his high boot being no exception. Also, never again to I want to see a stutter step PK. Very unfortunate loss that hurts even more considering we would've been the highest seed remaining with a legit shot at a second star. Gutwrenching to say the least. Saint Louis may just be a team of destiny. I hope they prove me right by winning it all for their 11th star and first in 50 years.

I think this is Groce’s most talented team yet at UA

Was thinking the same thing, but also, Iowa State is a wagon and got royally screwed in the Players Tournament or whatever it was called.

Well that result might devalue our game against them. Iowa State just hammered them by 23 at home.

I'm missing your point. Every one of those calls involved video review. The only call I question was the straight red against Matt Dreas. Was it reckless for him to go high with his foot?...yes. However, it could have been a yellow card caution and not red. It was borderline in my opinion, and I thought refs tended to not want to tip the balance with "big" calls. Unfortunately, in the exuberance of the game, Matt made a decision to go high with his foot and put himself in a position for the ref to make a judgement call. NCAA Tournament games go the way of the team that weathers the storm. SLU had a bad first half and benefitted from a series of unfortunate events by our Zips. I'm devastated by the loss, more so for our players, especially the seniors who have no next season for the Zips. In solace, it was a great season thanks to a group of outstanding student-athletes and coaches. I can't thank them enough for this season. There's so much of which to be proud. I try to focus on positives and will remember this season for qualifying for an exclusive 4-team BE Tournament by winning a tough final regular season road game and getting to the NCAAT Elite 8, playing all of our NCAAT games at home. The win at Xavier in the regular season was a personal highlight as a special friend attended that game with me and then he left for his drive/move to Salt Lake City that evening. These Zips made that "goodbye" special for both of us. We have a great memory and picture with the team and other Zips fans as we celebrated the program's 800th win. Toujours de premiere classe! (Always First Class) Thanks 2025 Zips Men's Soccer!!!

This is certainly one way to look at the conclusions of the season... We have been lucky to get three home games, but being up 2-0 at halftime with everything going our way and then to give the game away is the tough part to me. It is also tough knowing that one catastrophic half cost us an opportunity to just have to win two more games, against competition that is playing well but not better than us, to seize a second star. That Portland, Maryland, and Georgetown all also lost was a dream scenario for us. I really hope the NCAA finds a way to implement VAR. The outcomes of too many of these games is determined by controversial officiating decisions, and if a few go against the same team, it can feel insurmountable for one team to play against its usual competition and simultaneously against the handicap imposed by poor officiating.

After the Tulane game, I think that Akron's 2 losses to Purdue and Yale were probably 2 of our better played games. I thought we played OK against Tulane but we played much better against Purdue and Yale. In other words, this team can play ok basketball and win on the road against a decent team. It is very early in the season but this might be one of Groce's most talented teams. Time will tell.

Coaching matters. Cignetti is incredible.

Crazy that we took Indiana to 4 OT just two years ago and probably should have won.

And just like that, 2 G5s are in the Playoff. Nightmare scenario for the overlords.