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My inclination is to root against Miami but at the same time Miami's success would be good for the MAC, and what's good for the MAC would have some benefit to Akron. The MAC teams doing well on the "Big Stage" would help the conference in being taken seriously on a national level.

Know all the attention today, and appropriately so, is on our incredible men's basketball team and the opportunity they have on Friday, but today was another great day to be a Zip. Our 2025 Mac champion women's lacrosse team moved to a 2026 season record of 7-2 by taking down PCCC 10-6 at their field! Another Wagon Wheel point and a dominant performance by the Zips! Cant Read, Cant Write, Cant State couldn't hang with our Zips who literally played on another level. Look forward to the same on Friday. Go Zips!

Speaking of rewatching - I went back and watched the last five minutes. Evans block with a couple minutes left is my unheralded play of the game. Unreal hustle and athleticism on that one

"I don't know that it's lucky when you do it 4 times in 5 years.". Groce's response to Tod's comments at the selection show party.

Bud Wentz.

I have to say this before it gets lost in the excitement. Evan Mahaffey has been totally boss lately. His effort and determination was the difference tonight in my opinion. Shammah hit the game winner, but Evan carried us a ton.

Congrats to Miami. Good for the MAC. And hopefully that bodes well for Akron.

I was excited when Groce came to Akron, but if I'm to be honest I had doubts he would live up to Dambrot. Not because I didn't think he would do well, but because it's hard to expect anyone to make 9 MAC finals and then win 3 of those. Not only has Groce lived up to those standards, he has surpassed them by making the tournament 4 times in 5 years.

I looped Shammah's game winner to easily show just how many Akron fans were in the crowd. Normally you can see a definitive line where Akron's fans are vs. the opponent's fans. Not Saturday night; Akron fans wrapped all the way around. 11k in attendance and probably ~9k were Zips fans. Previous MAC title games - including vs. Kent - only saw 7-8k total attendance. What an incredible showing by Zips Nation!

They need NIL. Not an arena

Not that there was ever any doubt, but last night was further proof that Groce is without question the best coach in the MAC. The halftime adjustments and productive second half timeouts were outstanding.

It will be deemed a forfeit therefore the Zips awarded the 3 points. Information second hand from an athlete on the team.

Miami is very hateable. 🙂 That said, I was pulling for them last night, and was impressed at their execution and poise. Every time SMU made a little run and pulled within a couple points, Miami pushed it back to 8 or 10.

Stick to walk on big men

Elmer is their best player and I don't think it is especially close.

Surprisingly, my hatred of a team and coach can overcome what is "good for the MAC."

Groce was on 92.3 with Baskin and Phelps today. As always, he said all of the right things. He is such a professional. We are so blessed to have him.

💯

I think Groce is the best coach in program history. The culture, the MAC Tournament success, all of it. With that said, he doesn't take the job in the first place if KD - who I also consider an all-time great - doesn't build it into a program with a winning tradition. Sometimes I take a step back and think about how fortunate we have been to have 13 seasons of KD followed by 9 seasons of Groce.

I found out when I went to the game in Pittsburgh a couple years back, that you can buy the gear they sell at the Tournament games online through the company that handles the sales. For example, you can get the March Madness shirt that will be sold at the arena here: https://www.event1teamstore.com/d-i-m-basketball-single-team-shirt-champion-jersey-short-sleeve-tee-fgdca151467a-fw1001024-fgdca151467a.html#color=187 They also have shirts for each site (e.g., there will be a shirt specific to the Tampa site) but they don't all seem to be added yet: https://www.event1teamstore.com/basketball-0/division-i-9/mens-44/1st-2nd-rounds.html Plus, they appear to offer free shipping! EDIT: They appear to have now added the Tampa site shirts but don't have the actual artwork yet, just conceptual artwork. Maybe check back tomorrow.

I enjoyed this blurb at the end.

From The Athletic

If your employer offered you 2 options which are you taking? 1) Build new office with on-site gym, nice green space, and insert a few other amenities but have a pay freeze on all employees for 5 years to help fund. 2) 25% immediate pay bump with 10% annual pay increase, but you have to keep working in your functional ~40 year office building. I don't think people realize the players have a nice locker room and practice facility. In fact, in an article in the Toledo Blade multiple coaches on other MAC teams said they were envious of Akron's facilities. The wooden bleachers is a fan problem, not a player or coach one.

What fun night. Zips Nation showed out, at least 80% Akron fans there and probably the biggest crowd that I can remember there since maybe 2010 ish vs OU. Good times. Easy to root for this group

John Madden once said, "The champion is the champion until he's no longer the champion, and that's what makes him the champion". Normally, this is pure gibberish, but tonight it makes a lot of sense.

Can't blow a 20 point lead in the second half if you're getting blown out. 4D chess move by the Zips.

Yes, I feel realization is setting in for him that he can't elevate Kent's program to where Akron is currently. His only hope is Akron regressing. I actually thought he coached Kent well and had a solid game plan to disrupt Akron offensively yesterday. Jack's and Joe's just beat X's and O's.

Outside of Young picking up 3 fouls, not much to complain about in the 1st half. I agree we've been waiting too late into the shot clock. Luckily both Tavari and Scott are capable of making shots in those situations.

We haven't won a tourney game before - I'm all for mixing it up.

When looking back at the Zips season, they had 5 losses and three of those losses were away losses to teams that made the NCAA tourney including Purdue, Miami, and Troy. The Yale loss was on a neutral court and one of the best games all season and that game went back and forth till the very end. Yale is in the NIT and lost out on an NCAA bid in overtime. The away loss to Murray State was our only bad loss of the season.

Kellogg just called Tavari the MAC player of the year! 🤣

I have no doubt after this weekend that Sharron and Eric will be ready to lead this team next year. We will need to use the open roster spots on immediate-impact transfers, but the path is there again for this team to reload and contend for 4 in a row. My biggest question is who fills Amani's role. The coaching staff seemed to lose faith in Barre, and Brisco wasn't able to push for any meaningful minutes this season. Quality portal bigs seem much more difficult to land, though.

A city the size of Akron should have a decent arena, plain and simple. Even completely ignoring the Zips there's no reason that the JAR is the only thing that exists in the decades since the Coliseum closed and it's seen no significant renovations. It's a joke. Both the city and UA deserve better. It's controversial, but a portion of the Ohio unclaimed funds should be going to Akron. If the Billionaires up in Cleveland get a big chunk, why can't we? If UA wants to keep Groce around they need to make some moves.

3-Peat hats are now available. https://www.feartheroocollective.com/category/all-products

I don't think the JAR is necessarily a dump. Nonetheless - if I were a player I'd rather play in a "dump" with a bag than a new arena without one. I don't think UA can pat their head and rub their stomach and do both with all the recent financial problems. Like someone else said, there is just better ROI in NIL.

123 all for one 456 Family 789 Community/alumni NEED TO SUPPORT THIS COACH AND PROGRAM!!!!!

I already gave kudos to Evan, but watch…with 6 seconds left here again his defense slows the ball down. And then he pokes the ball away. Toledo does get a shot off, but it was a frantic heave because of Evan’s disruption.

I love the Akron Zips!!!!!

Scott’s block at the end reminded me of the end of the 2011 MAC Championship game against Kent where we blocked it 2 or 3 times. #DancingOnPorrini

There was a lot of good in this game. Lots of good ball movement and players working together. Good defense with just the one breakdown, inability to clear inside the box. Not sure how it works, but I think the PK’s only figure in if a tiebreaker is needed.

We can't be the team that allows Toledo to end their nearly half a century drought. Their fans will only become more insufferable than they already are.

Saturday we will play for the MAC Championship for the 13th time in the last 19 seasons. We are truly fortunate to have had KD and now Groce, and a ton of really fun and talented players over that timespan.

We'll have the same bench. You get to choose by seed and Groce always wants that bench. That's why our school purchased seats were so screwed up in that we got pushed back in those sections by the higher seeded Miami. It was satisfying to move down into some of their seats after they got beat and headed back down I-71. I would have preferred to play PCCC in the final in part because of the PCCC hangover we've all seen and Groce has acknowledged. In event, peel them tonight and play both nights like there's no tomorrow.

There’s no way Suder should have won the PoTY over Tavari…but it happened.

Normally, but I'll take what I can get. She and her younger sister know the fight song words almost as well as the Lord's Prayer. I think I'm allowed to be proud of that. It's funny, she reads basic kids books and I'm half expecting a grad school brochure from Kent to appear in the mail any day now.

Not TP, but according to Verbal Commits we've offered JUCO 6'4" 2G Mason Costello from Indian Hills CC.