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"Voluntary" workouts started today.... I was told over half the team was there this morning which is very exciting to me, considering last year I was told were this week of "Voluntary" workouts they had something like 12 players there... Next Monday is the first day of mandatory conditioning for the returning and transfer players... I hope they build a lot of momentum. Right now the Zips are tied for first in the MAC so things are looking GREAT !!!!!!

MLS changed their roster rules a few years ago. A player can be drafted and return to college for 1 additional season. If the player were to remain in college for a 2nd season after being drafted, then the player would re-enter the draft is my understanding. Remi has the collegiate eligibility, but I don't expect he would return for a second season after being drafted by San Diego. As I recall, Dyson Clapier and Malik Henry returned for the Fall 2024 season after being drafted by Sporting KC and CF Montreal, respectively, in December 2023 (MLS 2024 Superdraft). Malik ended up at Toronto FC through a trade, not by re-entering the draft, https://en.cfmontreal.com/news/cf-montreal-acquires-up-to-75-000-in-general-allocation-money-and-third-round-pick-from-toronto-fc)

The problem with this scenario above ... it does not take into effect injuries have on a season - overall or in part. I remember one season Sczerbiak injuried his wrist and missed 4-6 games with Miami going .500 in that stretch, enough to cost them the regular season title even though they were clearly the best team. In other years teams have lost players for the season, and did not become 'dangerous' until late in the season with a new lineup. In short, while the MAC is indeed a 1-bid league, it is not a 1-team conference. Most seasons anywhere from three to five teams would be solid NCAA Tournament representatives, even though all of them are likely-probably-definitely losers in the first round of the tournament. On Cleveland's neutral court, one of those 3-5 teams is 90-percent going to win the tournament. I'm good with that. The MAC Tournament, in my mind, celebrates the season. Guarantee the regular season champ a NIT bid, no matter what its NET/Kenpom ranking is. Give that team a financial reward for winning the regular season title. That, plus the No. 1 seed should be a viable reward. But don't fuk with the tournament. Again, I would love to have/hear Dustin publicly stand up for this. As a former MAC player and now head coach I would be shocked if he wants a double-bye or any other gimmick messing with the current tournament format.

Incredible achievement in a time where distance running is rapidly improving this generation and into the next

I would say the one restricting item is it's in NCAAs basketball interest to keep March Madness in the calendar spot that it is currently. They fill a clear void in the sports calendar. Pushing it later would start making it interfere with other sports, like the Masters, start of MLB season, NHL/NBA playoffs. That would hurt ratings and diminish their cash cow. I do think there is room to add another 7-10 games though. Usually 1-2 times a year there are stretches where the Zips don't play for 7-10 days. They can also play in a 3rd game a few weeks.

How many games are played now vs 10 years ago? Since the players are professionals now, shouldn't we expect them to play many more games? Class AA baseball plays roughly 20% fewer games than MLB and many minor league baseball players at that level are the same age as CBB players. I don't think asking a low paid professional basketball player to play 50-55 games a year is out of the question. Start the season earlier and end it later. Want more money flowing into your program? Load up on big conference teams on the road. 10-15 games sounds about right. The MAC is a one bid league regardless of the regular season results. All the Zips need to do is win the Championship.

I just pop in here every few weeks in the offseason, and when I saw how big this thread is, I was like, "Wow! The schedule must be coming together early, and/or there are some really interesting opponents!" But no, just Tulane and Bucknell so far, the rest is people arguing whether we should schedule Cleveland State and Youngstown State or not. I personally don't really care, with a slight lean towards "yeah, let's do it" for the following reasons, particularly with respect to Cleveland State: 1) Easy road game, and if Cleveland State's fan support is as bad as it apparently is, we can perhaps outnumber them in their own home, which is always great. 1a) As little interest as a CSU/Akron game or series might engender right now, I guarantee we play 3-4 OOC games each year that is even less interesting to both markets. At least. 2) Things change. 10 or 20 years from now, we might suck and CSU might be great. Especially with the fluidity you see in mid-major conferences. If you're not nice to people on the way up, they won't be nice to you on the way down. 2a) Cleveland State of course made an elite 8 appearance in the 80s, and wasn't it around that time that games against them and Mouse McFadden were breaking JAR attendance records for Zips MBK that still stand? (Fact check me on that). Maybe we can build that magic again, and it'd be helpful to lay the foundation for it now. 3) Some of you seem to be saying we should tell high majors to go to hell, while also espousing us to behave like mini high majors with respect to other mid and low majors. 3) Observations like "We can't give that CSU a home-and-home because that'd legitimize them" is way overthinking it IMO. It's highly unlikely our fates are gonna hinge on whether we scheduled the 2nd- or 5th-best Horizon League to a home-and-home, and it ain't all up to us anyway; these would all need to be two-party agreements, to state the obvious.

Bowden - who let the assistants coach on the field in the second half - starts 1-0 with a 44-34 win in Iowa. With everyone on their first game of the year, hard to tell who's any good or not, but better to start with a win than a loss. Offense was good downfield, but anything short or running was a little iffy. Pretty good defense, 3 or 4 interceptions. Stats a little lacking, hopefully the league at least gets them out there.

I really like Galloway Jr and definitely think he has the potential for it

We all knew it was coming but Richie Laryea has been named to the Canada roster for the World Cup!

Why wouldn't you reward the top seeds? Again, the MAC is the only conference - to my knowledge- that doesn't reward the #1 seed at all. Right now, the only thing that matters in the MAC regular season is finishing top 8. If a conference wants to make the regular season matter more and reward teams for playing well in the regular season, you should absolutely build your tournament that way. My preferred option would be to take the top 6 teams and give 1/2 a first round bye. It's not as extreme as the double-bye, but it makes earning the 1 or 2 valuable. Thursday 5 PM - #3 vs #6 7:30 PM - #4 vs #5 Friday 5 PM - 4/5 winner vs #1 7:30 PM - 3/6 winner vs #2 Saturday 7:30 - Championship

And to the surprise of no one, as soon as a couple teams weren't as competitive as they magically thought they would be sans Louisville, the EBC will be itself dead in a couple years.

We'll have at least one Zip heading to Eugene for the national championships. Still a couple more opportunities for another to qualify but it's tough competition.

Thank you. Am I understanding this correctly, that Akron isn't on the hook for any of Groce's bonuses from this past season? If that's the case, Akron essentially paid $500k for Groce last year after the buyout is taken out of the base salary. Wow. However, pertinent clauses in Groce's contract state the following: Payments of bonuses will be made in June, and if the coach were to terminate the contract (which Groce did a few months ago), the university's financial commitment to him would be limited to accrued but unpaid base salary and not include incentives. I like this. Not a very big bump, but it does place an emphasis on experience around Ford as he gets his feet wet as a HC. For three assistant coaches, Groce had a minimum base salary pool of $394,900. For three assistant coaches, Ford has a minimum base salary pool of $425,000 at his disposal.

Interesting, thank you. For some reason - probably because both ended up with different teams - I thought Dyson and Malik had both been drafted a second time. But turns out both had their rights traded between being drafted and beginning their pro careers.

Another great interview. Remi is so well spoken. He made the interview interesting with well thought out answers. It is obvious he and his teammates believe this will be an exceptional season. I also believe them.

Here's some scuttlebutt ... hearing the MAC ADs want to go back to a double-bye for MAC BB regular season champ and second place. Coaches, so far, are not on board. ADs spooked by Miami's first-round MAC Tournament loss to UMass, but, IMO, completely ignore the fact Miami needed at least 4-6 last possession wins during the regular season. Also, Akron's last-possession jump shot kept 4-seed Toledo from pulling an upset. All credit to Miami for its undefeated season. But let's recognize that was a unicorn. In this age of Portal/NIL the best MAC team may not emerge until February. The best thing the MAC has is the men's BB Tournament. The ADs should figure out FB revenue, and not F+CK with the Golden Goose. Miami's unicorn season got the MAC a 6-year boost in NCAA Tournament revenue, thanks to (1) making the 68-team cut and (2) winning a PIG (Play In Game). I wouldn't expect another MAC team undefeated BB season until ... who knows when ... now that there is a 22-game schedule. These ADs are short-sighted idiots, looking at end results and not the overall product. Yes Akron has dominated the last three to five seasons. Eastern Michigan has had a run, Miami has had a run, Ball State has had a run, Kent State and Ohio have had runs. Why stack the deck? 1) Akron's BB 3-peat success in the MAC Tournament have all come down to the last possession. 2) Those 3 title games were against an 8-seed, a 2-seed and a 4-seed. The beauty of Akron's MAC Tournament success is the Zips have won against a level playing field, on a neutral court, against all (equal) odds. If the MAC ADs want to stack the deck for the MAC regular-season champion, Miami, let the regular-season champ host the tournament on its home court. Toledo would have hosted three straight, I believe. Certainly they would have won one of those. ADs need to take your AD pampers off, put your britches on, and man-up. I would be shocked if Dustin wants anything other than a 'true' MAC Tournament. And he should say that to the AD. SCUTTLEBUTT NO. 2: The Sun Belt Challenge is expected to continue. Final thought: If the ADs want to re-seed the MAC Tournament after the first round, I would be consider that. (But understand, if that had been the case this year, the Zips would have played a very physical UMass in the semifinal ... and we have seen over the years physical defensive teams consistently pull upsets in the MAC Tournament.

24-20 at half Monroe 0/4 on two point tries so far or it could have been a bigger lead

Congratulations to Zips Men’s Soccer alum Aodhan Quinn.

I think the MAC Tournament is one of the best run events in all of college basketball. I do like having the whole league participate with the lower seeds having play-in games on college campuses. Too often an 8th seed with a .500 record gets hot and healthy at the very end of the year. The current format gives them the same road as the teams carrying the weight of being the target all season long. Not fair. And because the MAC is usually a 1 bid league, I do favor giving the top seeds a bye. I agree that sometimes a bye will backfire because the opponent has the advantage of getting acclimated to the large arena. But more importantly, having to win 3 games in 3 days is just not ideal for anyone. You end up with the most resilient team, but not necessarily the best team. It would be nice if the MAC was given an at-large bid more often, when warranted.

Looks like it may have been sold again.

I actually think the format should change. I believe we are one of the few conferences that doesn't reward its 1 and 2 seeds at all. Regular season performance should earn you an advantage.

Double bye is good imo

Personally, I like 3 games in three days & agree they shouldn't fix what's not broken. But wouldn't proponents of the move argue it gives more weight to the regular season (which really is a problem basketball - at all levels - struggles with) by rewarding the top two seeds?

A big reason why they went away from the double bye was because schools thought it was too over powered and used it as an excuse for why Akron constantly made the finals under Dambrot. Now that both Toledo and Miami got embarrassed by an early upset a few years apart and Akron is dominating even more so than before they want to make changes once again. It seems the other ADs are just tired of Akron winning.

It's surprising how consistently bad women's basketball has been. They have access to the same training facility and analytical tools men's basketball has. I know they don't have the same NIL that the men's program has, but none of the MAC women's programs are spending big dollars on NIL.

Props to him not just sipping martinis from the balcony of his beachfront condo like I probably would.

I like this. I'd go as far as to say "giving the P4s the middle finger" is the only path mid majors can take.

Thanks, happy to do it. I think the offense could be really good this year. If Poffenbarger plays as well as I think he can, he’ll be a candidate. I’d be surprised if Mason and Williams weren’t selected at WR. There’s a chance both Patrick and Gant will be worthy, but neither make it if snaps are split fairly evenly. In that situation they wouldn’t have the same amount of opportunities as some of the other backs in the conference. Lyons and Jones are probably the best candidates along the OL. I think the collective parts of the defense will make it solid, but I’m not sure if we’ll have that many standouts this year. I like Hull at DT, but for some reason even when we’ve had strong DT play in the past, our players have been passed over. Then at DB, White at CB and David at safety could be candidates it if they can stay healthy.

I know a guy who had a completely unremarkable 7 year NFL career. His key to longevity was his professionalism. He showed up to work on time, kept his mouth shut and always did what he was asked to do. Enrique could be a guy like that. He's not the type of talent that's sets the NBA on fire, but not everyone needs to be a superstar either. Sometimes you just need some people to show up to work and do their job. I'm sure he'd be happy to play 7 NBA seasons playing only 2-3 minutes a night.

Falcons got Two Zips...

Both. But winning three games when everyone has equal rest vs winning two games with one or two less games than your opponent is a pretty clear advantage for the higher seed.

Citing such simplistic data as the argument is like strictly using W/L for pitchers to determine the Cy Young Award winners. Explain the Sun Belt being a 1v10 in the Championship Game. How could that happen with the top 2-4 seeds being "rewarded" so heavily with their format? Let's not forget 3 of the 6 seasons in the current format have seen Toledo/Kowalchoke as the 1 seed. You could automatically crown them the Champions and they'd find a way to choke it away. 2021: 1 seed Toledo lost in the SF to 5 seed Ohio, who beat 2 seed Buffalo in the Finals and went on to win a game in the NCAAT with Jason Preston. 2022: 1 seed Toledo lost in the SF to Akron, who beat 2 seed PCCC in the Finals and almost beat UCLA in the NCAAT. 2023: 1 seed Toledo lost in the Finals to 2 seed PCCC. 2024: 1 seed Toledo lost in the QF to 8 seed PCCC, who went on to infamously lose the Finals to 2 seed Akron. 2025: 1 seed Akron wins the whole thing, including a thrilling Championship Game over 2 seed Miami OH. 2026: 1 seed Miami OH gets stunned in the QF by 8 seed UMass. 2 seed Akron won the Championship Game over 4 seed Toledo. In the 6 years of the current format, the Champion has been Akron 4x, PCCC 1x, and Ohio 1x. Akron and Ohio have been the Blue Bloods of the MAC for 2 decades, and PCCC has been a Powderpuff Blue Blood over that same time period. The 1 seeds have been Toledo 4x, Miami OH 1x, and Akron 1x. Toledo is fraudulent in March and a lot of people warned against taking Miami OH in their game vs UMass because of the matchup/fraud potential for Miami OH after flirting with many losses all season. The 2 seed has made the Championship Game all 6 seasons, further proving how bad Toledo/Kowalchoke are in March. If anything, the current format has proven that the best team(s) in March will rise to the top. The MAC Tournament has provided thrilling entertainment these last 6 years. Changing it would be silly.