[Dave in Green]

It will be interesting to see where the Zips end up in the College Sports Madness preseason rankings as they are slowly rolled out from bottom to top over the coming weeks and months. Following are the teams (including Cleveland State) that have already been ranked below the Zips for the 2012-2013 season in the Top 144 Previews:

#129 Jacksonville State
#130 Cleveland State
#131 Penn State
#132 Boston University
#133 Sam Houston State
#134 Cal State Fullerton
#135 Charleston Southern
#136 Princeton
#137 George Washington
#138 Manhattan
#139 Savannah State
#140 Indiana State
#141 LSU
#142 Denver
#143 Texas Southern
#144 St. John's

[lilroodude]

I am guessing O-Who will be top 50 and the Zips will be top 70. No other MAC school will be above either team. Can't State might be top 80 or 90, but that's the next closest. I think by the end of the season, though, the Zips will be the best MAC team, finishing probably around the 40 or 50 mark. I'm expecting a big season.

[Dr Z]

I really don't care where someone that doesn't know the team or the league "ranks" us. I want to know what KD and the team's expectations for the year are. That is how I judge a successful, or failing year. KD is pretty open about his expectations, and ill be interested in reading them.

Personally I want to be in the top 32 or 16 when it's all said and done. This is the year that some of us diehards circled when Zeke committed, and it hasn't changed for me. This is the year it must happen.

[skip-zip]

I really don't care where someone that doesn't know the team or the league "ranks" us. I want to know what KD and the team's expectations for the year are. That is how I judge a successful, or failing year. KD is pretty open about his expectations, and ill be interested in reading them.

Personally I want to be in the top 32 or 16 when it's all said and done. This is the year that some of us diehards circled when Zeke committed, and it hasn't changed for me. This is the year it must happen.

I do too. But, I have to ask if you are willing to do what an old friend of ours on this board did last year, and come right out and say that we are a Top-16 team.

[Dave in Green]

@skip-zip, if you're referring to the old rumor that GoZips predicted here that the Zips would be a Sweet 16 team in basketball, I thought we killed that one a long time ago.

Try a search for all of GoZips' old posts where he used the word "sweet." GoZips predicted that the Zips men's soccer team would make the Sweet 16, and he mentioned that the goal of the men's basketball team was to make it to the Sweet 16. He never predicted that the men's basketball team would make it to the Sweet 16, nor did anyone else on ZN.o that I'm aware of.

[akzipper]

I am guessing O-Who will be top 50 and the Zips will be top 70. No other MAC school will be above either team. Can't State might be top 80 or 90, but that's the next closest. I think by the end of the season, though, the Zips will be the best MAC team, finishing probably around the 40 or 50 mark. I'm expecting a big season.

Didn't everyone say the same thing last year? and the year before...

We may be the best team in the MAC, but we play to the level of our competition.

[skip-zip]

@skip-zip, if you're referring to the old rumor that GoZips predicted here that the Zips would be a Sweet 16 team in basketball, I thought we killed that one a long time ago.

Try a search for all of GoZips' old posts where he used the word "sweet." GoZips predicted that the Zips men's soccer team would make the Sweet 16, and he mentioned that the goal of the men's basketball team was to make it to the Sweet 16. He never predicted that the men's basketball team would make it to the Sweet 16, nor did anyone else on ZN.o that I'm aware of.

You can spend your time debating and researching the semantics of what was said. I won't. I was simply referencing it in a comment to another poster who was throwing that "16" number out there again in the middle of the summer.

But, since you asked, my recollection is that there were other posters who were willing to join him.

[Zipmeister]

You can spend your time debating and researching the semantics of what was said. I won't. I was simply referencing it in a comment to another poster who was throwing that "16" number out there again in the middle of the summer.

But, since you asked, my recollection is that there were other posters who were willing to join him.

Hey, if you attend the Zips practices, but not a true top 16 team practice, the Zips look pretty darn good.

[Zipmeister]

You can spend your time debating and researching the semantics of what was said. I won't. I was simply referencing it in a comment to another poster who was throwing that "16" number out there again in the middle of the summer.

But, since you asked, my recollection is that there were other posters who were willing to join him.

Hey, if you attend the Zips practices, but not a true top 16 team practice, the Zips look pretty darn good.

[Dave in Green]

Yeah, no question that not everyone believes researching facts is time well spent. As for "semantics," there's really no debate about the meaning of GoZips' exact words:

..... It is going to be a banner year for the talented and deep Zips. Anything less than the Sweet Sixteen will be a couple of yards short of their goals.

..... NIT? That is not the goal of these kids. Sweet sixteen or better is the goal. .....

[RootforRoo44]

Didn't everyone say the same thing last year? and the year before...

We may be the best team in the MAC, but we play to the level of our competition.

And that has been our biggest problem during the Keith Dambrot years.

I'm thinking we are due to shake that problem this coming season however.

[akzipper]

And that has been our biggest problem during the Keith Dambrot years.

I'm thinking we are due to shake that problem this coming season however.

Playing to the level of competition and starting the season slow. While the two are probably one in the same, it just seems like we're hovering around .500 when we get to MAC play. Without being on the inside, we'll never know why it happens. But I sure hope they can find a way to shake the trend...

[taxpayer]

The potential for a "slow start" will be present again with the Zips participating in the Puerto Rico tournament with some strong competition there as well as a prior game versus North Carolina State on their home court. I believe KD is assembling a very difficult out of conference schedule in an attempt to challenge this team and preparing for the MAC. If the Zips can pull off some big wins heading into the MAC conference, their profile (RPI) will be higher than previous years and set up a scenerio where winning the MAC tournament would be a feather in their hats as opposed to another win it or forget about the NCAA tournament.

[Captain Kangaroo]

We may be the best team in the MAC, but we play to the level of our competition.

Unless we're in Athens Ohio.

[taxpayer]

So far, I believe the following teams will be on our schedule this year:

#131 Penn State - PR Tournament??
#130 Cleveland State @ the JAR this year
#106 Toledo - definite away game...home and home this year?
#105 Tennesee State @ the JAR in return for playing them last year?