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Jason Carter is leaving? Fire Jeff Boals. Program is a joke. Total disarray.

Listening to French and Dunn’s call while riding a bus in Singapore. What an age we live in!

I had the opportunity to interview Josh Ward after last Saturday’s practice. Yet another great representative of Zips football! Thanks as always to Dr. Z for the nice layout and great supporting photos! Article

6 years ago tomorrow the season ended for KD’s best team with a 44 point loss to VCU. Some of the best players on that team (Aberu, Tree, Harney) left Akron/ we’re kicked off the team, eventually quit on the team (Pat F) or should have been on the team, but were suspended for the year (Diggs). This day started the decline of Zips basketball. Williams & Noah were leaving whether KD stayed or left. The program has had problems the last 6 years not 2. Lets support what we have instead of wishing we had something the we don’t.

I was able to speak with Coach Arth after the practice and ask a few questions. Question #1: What was the primary focus of this practice? What specific goals were you hoping to accomplish? “I think most importantly, this group of players, they’ve exceeded our expectations throughout this winter. From the first day we arrived here, to the group that they are now, is completely different and I’m so proud of them. The way they’re performing in the classroom, the way their grades have improved…it’s been a really positive thing. The same held true for our practice today. We had a certain expectation for how we expected it to go, and they exceeded it. I thought today was an excellent day. The way we were able to practice, to communicate, to get aligned, to make our calls, was really good. Obviously, there’s a lot of things we’ll need to work on from an execution standpoint. But I was very happy with the effort I saw. Question #2: This was the most scrimmage situations I’ve seen run in a practice so early in the spring. With an entirely new staff and system, how were the players so prepared…on essentially Day #1 of spring football…to line up and play? “I think it’s a credit to the players. In a short amount of time, with the limited number of meetings we’ve been able to have, they’ve been dialed-in. Players have been coming up to be asking to meet with the coaches beyond what was scheduled. There was a group of wideouts and a few tight ends working out Thursday night at about 8 pm, going through a walk-through on their own. I think our players have bought-in and embraced everything that we’re doing and I couldn’t be prouder of them. Question #3: How nice is it for you to finally see what you’ve got on the playing field rather than watching tape, or reps in a weight room? “It’s great. You really don’t have a true feel for the guys in meetings. You need to get out on the field where you have a chance to coach them and see them work. See them compete. I’ve been pleased with what I’ve seen. We’ve got a long way to go. But from where I expected us to be, and where we are today. I’m very pleased.” Question #4: You’ve spent a lot of time working with the QB’s. What do you like about what you’ve got at the quarterback position in 2019? “I really like the group in general. It’s been great for me to be back in the room coaching those guys every single day. I think Coach Schaefer, our offensive quality control coach who played quarterback for me at John Carroll, has done a fantastic job with these QB’s. When we were out on the road recruiting, and when I was tied up with the various things I need to do as a Head Coach over the winter, he’s done a fantastic job of meeting with the guys and preparing them. Like all the other players, these quarterbacks have really embraced what we’re doing. The mental side of things, the learning, is something they’ve really made a priority. And you have to do that if you’re going to be successful at the quarterback position.” Question #5: I noticed a few players have switched positions. Alvin Davis at cornerback, Tyler Gilchrist at safety and Jonathan Neeley on the defensive line. Can you talk a little about those moves? “We’re just trying to feel everybody out right now. We’re trying to get an idea of what people are capable of doing. We value versatility on our team, on offense, defense and special teams. The more ways you can contribute, the more value you can add. And right now, we’re just trying to find out what everybody can do. There’ll be a lot of guys moving around throughout the spring. When it’s all over in mid-April, we’ll determine what our needs are. From there, we’ll create a great plan for the team to follow when summer camp opens.” Question #6: Can you give me one or two things that you saw today that stuck out in your mind as noteworthy, or special at today’s practice? “Yeah…from an offensive standpoint, related to the quarterbacks, we had talked in our meetings about a particular route where, if we had an outside leverage on the slot receiver, and there was no middle-of-the-field defender, that we’d have the opportunity to get the ball out quickly on a slant route. The first time it came up, Kato recognized it and made the play. In a game that would have been a 20-yard completion, or if the receiver would have broken a tackle, a touchdown. I thought that was a great example of something we’d discussed in our meetings this morning being executed on the field. There were a number of examples today where we took what we’d discussed in meetings and transferred it to the field, where we took what we learned as an individual in meetings and transferred it to the team. That was a big positive I took from today.” Question #7: I noticed the quarterback was under center on occasion today. Is that something we should expect to see from the Zips on Saturdays? “Our offense is going to very multiple. Right now, we’re trying to figure out who we are and what we can do well. Hopefully when spring practices are done, we’ll have a very good idea of what we need to focus on in the summer, and what we’ll be in the fall.”

Well, the season has come to an abrupt, yet expected end. I am curious as to what ZipsNation thinks were the positives and negatives looking back on the season. Seems like it was just yesterday that we were headed off to the JAR to face Cedarville, but here we are. I thought I;d throw this thread up on the board rather than have us all unload in a game thread. As I look back- Positives and highlights: * Defense, defense, defense. This team played hard on defense all year. They not only played good team defense but Jimond spent the year shutting down the opponent's leading scorer. * Tyler Cheese developed into a solid MAC player, especially on the offensive end. He was the one person on the team aggressive with the ball in his hands. * The team was in a lot of games. Even in most of the losses, they kept the games close. * Groce got the kids to buy into playing hard. Effort was never an issue. * Strong performances against Nevada and Clemson; thrashing of PCCC; Bowling Green win, Miami tournament win. Negatives and lowlights: * Inability to close tight games. * Woeful offense in all but a few games. * Iffy big man play, particularly on offense. * Bad 3 point shooting. * The Buffalo tournament loss; the loss at Miami; ugly collapse and loss at NIU; the Gueye- Kostelac incident, the OU loss.

A few points: 1) KD was successful at US and...people b!+ched...offense is too predictable...they don't play enough zone...they can't stop dribble penetration...they have no out of bounds plays...there are players of questionable character on the team and kids getting into trouble...the OOC schedule is weak...they can't win the big game...he can't win in the tournament...yada...yada...yada... 2) Groce came into nothing, the team improved in year two and...people b!+ch...players are transferring...the big men are offensively challenged...their shooting is awful...there was a fight between players...the OOC schedule is weak...yada...yada...yada... 3) People will b!+ch no matter what. 4) Groce is going nowhere. Love him or hate him the University of Akron does not have the financial resources to dispatch him.

Shhhh... Don't let facts get in the way of their misery. _______________________________________________________________ The Zips this past season were 8 deep. Even with the departures, I'm looking at a roster that's 9 deep and that doesn't include the incoming freshman or the 2 open spots. It's ridiculous to say there are only 2 DI players on the current roster, when the rag tag group of 8 were consistently competitive against teams like Clemson, Buffalo, and Nevada, and finished in the middle of the pack in the MAC, while blowing out the #2 team in the MAC (BUGS). Scoring is a fixable problem, and probably the best problem to have, especially for a rebuilding team. I'm going to keep pounding this point. We have the right system in place to be successful. We focus on the key fundamentals - defense, effort, rebounding, free throws - and have built that foundation. Dambrot's system was and still is entirely flawed. It ignores nearly every basic principal in the sport of basketball. This very board had people constantly talking about the lack of ball movement, defensive breakdowns, free throw shooting problems, etc. We eeked out a lot of close victories against sub-par MAC squads despite being more talented (usually). Those issues have carried over to Duquesne. Read their board; "will this team ever emphasize defense" and "free throws are an issue". I'd be curious to see the opinions of the Dambrot apologists when looking at the Duquesne roster. Is it full of so-called DI players? If so, what was the cause of the early 1st-round exit in the A10 tourney and not dominating/being more competitive in a weaker A10 Conference as a whole? In the first round game, they scored 86 points, shooting at a 47% clip. How can you lose a game when you make shots?! You don't play defense, give up 92(!) pts, and shoot 68% at the line. What's going to be easier to fix: having gym rats hit the gym and practice shooting (including free throws), or getting a team to buy into 40 minutes of tough-nosed, heady defense? My vote is the shooting, which again, gives me hope for this next season. Lastly, let's stop crucifying this team and Groce for a 40 pt. loss to Buffalo and 24 pt. loss to a motivated O-BooWho squad. Of the 16 losses we had, 11 were single-digit losses, and an additional 2 losses were closer than their final score (@ Buffalo and @ Toledo). That means there were 3 games we simply weren't competitive in. Heck of an accomplishment for a team with only 4 DI players at the time. I wonder if Arizona had the pitchforks out for Sean Miller for losing to Buffalo by 21 last year, or Boeheim for losing by 12 to Buffalo this year. Do BUGS and Miami want to fire their coaches for losing to a team with 4 DI players by 24 & 29 respectively? The Clown lost to a team with only 4 DI players by 19. We had 1 extreme off-night (O-BooWho) and one off-day that was aided by being inferior to one of the better teams in the entire country (Buffalo at The Q); clearly that's not the norm. So much good to focus on. The sky is not falling. In fact, I feel as if the ceiling is higher than ever before, considering our previous ceiling had a MAC Finals record similar to LeBron's Finals record (oh look, another similarity between Dambrot and LeBron, to add to the excuses and now neither of them making the postseason), and arguably 0 marquee wins (unless you include the few NIT wins against Houston, FSU, and Temple).

I'm optimistic that with a full year under their belts and another full off-season to improve their craft, our offensive base will be much more solid. Throughout the season we saw growth tremendous growth from numerous players - Riak & Cheese were the two most notable - and I trust the individuals on the team will put the work in to improve for the betterment of the team as a whole. It needs to be noted the system Groce has implemented on offense and defense. They are very fundamental. They require personnel that will dedicate themselves to the fundamentals, something AAU has largely killed off. We have lots of movement now when executed properly, and that goes for both sides of the ball. Two factors have led to the exodus - players not buying into the system, and players simply not fitting in. It happens, and it has been magnified by the state of the program when Groce took over. All season I had next year and the year after next circled because those are the seasons that start to feature the core of Groce Ball with the majority being his personnel. Whatever we accomplished these first two seasons would be whatever, and I was simply hoping to see the basics implemented. I've seen that and way, way more. With the departure of Utomi, it accelerates the roster turnover to becoming mostly Groce guys. As I mentioned, a lot of the fundamentals in basketball have been killed off by AAU ball. It was very encouraging to see so many guys this year buy into those fundamentals again, especially on defense. Seeing that gives me a lot of hope this off-season will yield big improvements all the way around. Also, are we forgetting the MAC is about to potentially enter the stage it was at when Dambrot took over? It depends on what Buffalo does; otherwise, it's completely up for grabs. Fret not. Go Zips!

We're lucky to have CK and Dr. Z! Appreciate all the info.

They got an at-large because VCU failed to win their conference tournament. The same would have been true for the MAC had Buffalo lost to CMU or BG. Both conferences had 1 at-large caliber team. If you don't believe me, just look at Buffalo's seed compared to VCU, dumbass.

A couple of things I noticed from yesterday's practice. Practice is so up tempo and organized. I am amazed at how smooth and quick everything seems to run with coach Arth being in his first year. Coach Arth is very hands on. I see him running defensive routes while teaching receivers how to get out of their breaks, I see him teaching defensive players hand technique. He distributes his time all over the practice field. You can actually see how much he enjoys the teaching process. I’m starting to believe the "we are going to keep local kids local." It was junior day yesterday, I have never seen so many high school kids and coaches at a practice. They gave everyone a presentation on a big screen after practice. Coach Arth is not going to get out worked. I was told Kelvon Blackmon is new (walk on) to the roster. I saw Wofley and Alce make nice one hand catches on swing pass out of the backfield. I can't see why both won't play a part in any offense that the Zips run. For those that like the 3-4 defense, I can see the versatility that some on this roster have to offer in the scheme. Lots of different players rushing the QB from different angles. It seems like this scheme has the ability to pressure a QB with athletic ability and confusion. A sidelined Keyondre White and Deltron Sands gave Devanier Floyd a chance to run the ball, he sure was shifty in the open field. If I’m a QB, one of the first things I do when I get to line, is find #1 on defense, he still has the uncanny ability to get his hands on the ball. I thought Kato and Rob looked good many times today. Some quick decisions were being made in the seven on seven drills. I'm sorry to say I will be out of town for the spring game, I am depending on some good ZipNation reports to catch me up. I think ZipsNation will enjoy watching these guys. The buzz around practice is that the players are very excited about the staff, and have enjoyed #OurWay thus far.

I was a big fan of the work he was doing there. They should have given him a lifetime extension.

E-Man leaving is an opportunity to upgrade

Here are some photos from this morning.

Pay to play tourneys for both genders. One step closer to gender equality.

Scrolling through Dr Z's photos, one thing that sticks out is the youth of this staff compared to Bowden's. Some of these guys are 30...40 years younger than some of those in the Bowden/Amato crew. There's a different form of engagement with the players during the drills, and a different level of energy. When I watch a practice I try to look at things from the Coach's perspective and see who really stands out. In one drill there were 20 guys running through cones, then tackling a dummy. Maybe 15 of them looked identical. A few showed techniques and speed that stood out, and a couple guys...probably won't be bucking for a starting position this fall. Guys like Alvin Davis, Josh Ward, Boogie and Bubba can be fun to watch, even in drills, because their technique stands out. If you are looking for a great stock to buy low, with huge upside, get in early on Freshman fullback Abe Alce (ALL-cee). With Deltron Sands and Keyondre White sitting out, Abe got a lot of reps. He's big, fast (for his size) and consistently shows soft hands when pulling in those almost-out-of-reach swing passes. I expect he's going to be a big part of our offense this upcoming season. Saturday was the first time the kickers were showcased under rush conditions. Cory Smigel is a tiny kid with a big leg. His ball gets in the air quickly, and in the difficult-to-gauge environment of the indoor practice facility, showed good accuracy from 40 yards-in. Sophomore Jonah Wieland (Hudson) also had a couple nice kicks, but had one blocked. Keyondre White and Andy Jean-Baptiste didn't play. Likewise, no Reggie Corner was seen in the secondary. Redshirt Freshman Jaylen Hooks (Warren Harding) got some reps at cornerback. Another redshirt Freshman, Rich Hall, got some reps in the secondary. Physically, Hall looks like he can step in and play immediately. In scrimmage situations, Kato gets the "first team" reps. As of March 16th, Robbie Kelly seems to be the leading candidate for the #2 QB position. @Dr Z mentioned Kelvon Blackmon as a player who tried-out as a walk on and was given a roster spot. Another is 5' 6" 165 lb Brandon Lee. Brandon played WR last week, this week he was in the backfield. He's REALLY tiny, and REALLY fast. It will be interesting to see if he can find his way on to the playing field this upcoming season. Liking what I've seen from Bubba Arslanian at LB thus far. He's a strong kid with a nose for the ball. He runs all his drills with great technique, and at high speed. Yet another guy that will be fun to chronicle once the tackling begins (all drills and scrimmage situations thus far are non-contact). It was nice to see so many high school kids attending the practice. The Ignatius HC and Maple Heights HC were there. Probably also several HC's that I didn't recognize.

The NIT will tell you that they like to limit travel and create regional matchups when possible. They never publicly say that the bigger arena or more perceived ticket sales get preference but it is clear that they do. ... as far as the Akron-OSU game a few years ago goes there were nearly as many akron fans there as OSU fans. The NIT missed a chance at a boisterous crowd in Akron and opted for a less than half full arena in Columbus.

Here are a few images from today's practice. CK will have some notes in the next 24 hrs, then I'll add a few things that I observed. You will notice a few (three if you're observant) position changes in the photos. Keep in mind, the staff is trying things out early. Blue is offense, white is defense, quarterbacks are in gold now, and the red are injuries.

for UB

If we’re going to schedule an FCS team, then by damn schedule one that doesn’t have any chance to beat and embarrass us. The average fan doesn’t know the difference between St. Francis and James Madison. FCS games should be guaranteed wins. I have never understood why any school would schedule a tough FCS game. You gain nothing if you beat them, yet sacrifice quite a bit if you don’t.

To be fair I remember there being talk about Utomi being a scorer but also a defensive liability. I don't think he is a defensive liability any more. That may take a little away from offensive production. Both Utomi and Ivey are hard workers, stuck around when others bailed, and are key cogs on this years team. Whether they are the best fit for this current system under Groce or not I have nothing but respect for both of them.

I can't be there, so everyone please give Ivey a great ovation. The last part of the season's been rough, but I hope everyone cheers this team on. It's so easy to soon forget that KD left this program in a heap of ashes. Groce has almost had an identical job as Zips' baseball coach, Chris Sabo, i.e., starting from scratch. Ivey stuck around and is a Zip for life! Thank you Jimmond!!!

I've noticed that when the Zips are playing well I refer to them as "we" and when they play poorly they are the "Zips" or "they." The ZIPS need to play better Tuesday night than THEY did today. If they win, WE will have to carry it over to the PCCC game.

It would also be nice to put a morale and spirit breaking @$$ whoopin' on them if we have to face them again in a couple of weeks.

We're so close. Just not enough depth to hang for 40 minutes at UB. Regardless of all the turnover, take 2 scholarship players off any team in January in the MAC and they'll have issues. I think we're getting better as the season goes on, and the team keeps fighting

If anyone has tried to turn this political it would be you. None of my argument was based off of whether he was a conservative or a liberal. It frankly doesn't matter to me what political party he affiliates himself with. I'm a moderate who votes both sides of the ticket. I'm not trying to push a liberal agenda here. I simply just brought up a comment he made and my personal opinion on how I felt it would have a negative impact on recruiting. Others disagreed and that's fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I like E-Man, but it's probably for the best. We didn't need to have 3 offensively deficient centers on our roster.

No reason anyone shouldn't be able to state their position, I just get fed up with griping without solutions. It has been a while, but I recall that UA was among the larger basketball budgets in the MAC. Unfortunately, the citizens bailed on a new arena. It was going to be in an issue to go to the voters and every poll showed it was going down. With each year, I wonder more if the Georgetown model isn't one to consider. Pick your sport and devote your money to it while you let the others exist but on a lesser level. It has recently blown up on Georgetown as the basketball program has slipped and I am not sure a public university is the right place for it, but it is an interesting approach.

You might want to look at how many players have transferred out of Duquesne since KD got there. Nature of the beast in a transition period. KD left on his own, was the highest paid coach in the MAC, and might as well have had a lifetime contract. Enough with acting like it was Williams' fault.

Just because we don't make it our lives' missions to be the Eeyores of ZipsNation and P!$$ and moan to the point that we're virtually unreadable does not mean we're fine with the status of the MAC.

But their main center is only 6'8".

@Captain Kangaroo and I went, we will have photos and notes later.

Difficult to 'fill the pipeline' with 2-year transfers. My hope is that he starts focusing more on HS recruits. I will be watching for that before renewing my season tix. Time to start building from the bottom up.

Found this thread to be a real head-scratcher and quite frankly disappointing. Not what we're used to in CLE for sure but only our second dud this year from a team that is really still an assembly of a little of this and a little of that. We're also not a fan base used to 1st-round wins in The Dance and disappointed when we don't advance beyond that. We are 0-fer and never really looked very good doing that. Withholding judgement on Groce until he has a chance to truly fill his pipeline. LOVE the emphasis on 'D' he has established and who knows what would have happened this year if we had shot the ball better at times. I'm good with Year 2 - to each his/her own.

There were 38 combined fouls called, 29 of which were in the 1st half. We didn't lose because of the refs. Buffalo was clearly the better team. That being said, the refs made this game unwatchable. If refs consistently called this many fouls per game, many of which were phantom calls that hurt both teams, I wouldn't watch another game of basketball in my life.

Can an 8 vs. a 9 seed really be a trap game? If we're looking past a team that finished 1 game behind us in the standings and beat us once, we have a problem.

Thanks CK. This just confirms for me what I expected. New coach/ new depth chart! One's and two's of old will crank it up to stay there; all others will see their chance to move up. I firmly believe that at this level performance is 20% ability/80% attitude. I expect some big surprises out of this group. Much can be accomplished with the proper attitude. We may not win the MAC, but I don't expect a down year. Save some vacation for December.

A few more Random thoughts from Saturday. Shawn Featherstone is almost cleared to practice. All his paperwork is in order to receive another year, but he hasn’t got the word just yet. Tyler Gilchrist was moved to safety late last week. Anonymous staff member “first impression was good” Nate Stewart looks like he is ready to contribute more this season. He had some nice plays showing strength, and quickness. I think this is the earliest practice that I have been to, but it was impressive for the little amount of time together, how quick and efficient it was run. Put this in the back of your mind. Coach Arth preaches that you win and lose many games late, he wants the Zips conditioned so that they are able to win late games. He referenced Kobe Bryant's (you could tell this wasn't the first time he spoke to the team about this) ridiculous dedication to his craft. He referenced another professional football player's work ethic. He preaches a committed work ethic is the difference. From an anonymous player after practice "I like the whole staff...they hold us accountable, and except nothing less...they bring the competitiveness out of everybody, you can see the difference" I know it's early, but this seems to be the attitude.

If we had players that could knock down open 3's or a C that could catch a dump off pass and slam it home, LCJ dribble penetration ability would be much more useful. We have neither.

I too am questioning Groce right now. It's an easy thing to do when the Zips have lost 5 of 6. That being said, let's not act like we lost some great talent in K-lac. Great kid yes, prime D1 basketball talent, nope. K-lac was a 7 footer who never made the All North Coast League team. That's the North Coast League, a league of a bunch of very average basketball programs (with the exception of VASJ and CCC). He ended up at IMG because he didn't have the game for college basketball when he graduated and ended up at UA because he was a 7 footer and UA was desperate for recruits. He played hard and showed some flashes, but his hands were awful and he was a defensive liability at times. If he's smart, he'll head to a place like John Carroll or Ashland where he can contribute. Otherwise, he's destined for the end of the bench in any reasonable D1 program. I agree the Zips need to recruit another Zeke, Bog Dog and Tree. Every team could afford to again recruit their best 3 players in the last 10 to 15 years.

The MAC brings the Women's Swimming & Diving Championships to the Ocasek Natatorium this week, and the 5-time defending champs (and nationally ranked) Zips get to try for 6 in a row. Two teams have won 7 in a row previously. Despite some set-backs with injuries during the looooong season, I think the Zips will have little problem with taking their 6th title. Here's why: WEDNESDAY - only two events, both relays, and Akron has dominated the relays in the MACs in every Championship year. They are deep, and it shows in relays more than anywhere else. Their season best in the 200 Individual Medley relay is a full second faster than Eastern Michigan, and their best in the 800 Freestyle relay is 13 seconds faster than Miami's. Two wins on Day 1. THURSDAY - Sadie Fazekas and Broooke Lamoreaux will score in the 500 Free, but look for Ohio or Buffalo to win, and Miami is always deep at the distances. Sarah Watson and Ellie Nebraska could go 1-2 (or 2-1) in the 200 Individual Medley, with Buffalo's Olivia Sapio in the mix. Watson hit the NCAA qualifying standard already. The 50 Free should see as many as 5 Zips make the Championship final with Fazekas the favorite, but watch for Sophia Hennell to challenge. Both have met NCAA qualifying times. We're weak on the boards this season, but Katey Applin should make finals in the 1-meter, and then the 200 Free relay should be ours, as the quartet already met the NCAA standard. FRIDAY - The 400 IM should see Sapio with gold but Zipper Jackie Pash, if healthy, might sneak past her. Akron's Emma King and Ohio's Hannah Schlegel should duel it out for third. We own the 100 Butterfly with Fazekas, Watson and Paulina Nogaj 3 of the fastest 4 in the field. Same for the 200 Free, with Fazekas, Nogaj, Nebraska and Avery Movold wrapped around Miami's Camila Lins di Mello in the top 5. EMU (Delaney Duncan with an NCAA time) will more than likely go 1-2 in the 100 Breaststroke but could be challenged by our Paula Garcia. Fazekas and Daisy Platts of Bowling Green have already hit NCAA times in the 100 Backstroke, but it's wide open from there. Karly Crail could make finals in the 3-meter dive, and then the Zips should take the 400 Medley relay, as we're 4 seconds faster than EMU. SATURDAY - it should be already over when the pool opens Saturday, but you never know. The 1,650 meter Free is like the marathon of track and field, it's all by itself as an event, and it takes a different type athlete to compete in it, let alone win it. look for Ohio's Schlegel to win this one. The 200 Back should be the highlight of the day, as Platts, Movold and Nicole Roitenberg of Buffalo all have met NCAA standard times and within .4 seconds of each other. We could have 5 of the 8 finalists in the 100 Free with Watson and Fazekas at NCAA marks. Andrea Fischer could surprise for Akron in the 200 Breast. And Nogaj and Mackenzie Vargas should dominate in the 200 Back, and watch for Watson to make it a sweep. Preliminaries get underway each day at 10:30. Diving prelims follow. Finals are at 6:30 and there is a consolation final (qualifiers 9 through 16) and a championship final (1-8) in each event, and both score, so that's why depth plays such a huge part in the title. Find some more space on the Ocasek wall for the sixth banner.

She was the only person from Akron that showed any talent on the JAR floor today!

PIT 1-0 AKR More experienced players are more accustomed to finishing. Zips actually had greater number of chances; they should have scored at least one. Biggest takeaway: The raw athleticism of Will Jackson. The freshman will contribute this year. Sam Tojaga and Carlo Ritaccio played well, each in their own way.

I found this link conference tournament bracket generator. Thought I'd share it in case anyone wanted to play around with it. http://bball.notnothing.net/mac.php?sport=mbb

WOW! Two events, two firsts, two meet records, two MAC records, two Ocasek records. In the 200 Medley relay Sadie Fazekas, Paula Garcia, Sarah Watson and Raven Engel won by breaking their old record and hitting the “A” standard time for the NCAA. Then in the 800 Freestyle relay it was Avery Movold, Paulina Nogaj, Watson and Ellie Nebraska beating the MAC and meet record by over 3seconds and the Ocasek record by over 6 seconds! Miami started the strongest but Nogaj caught them in the second leg and Watson pulled away. 80 points - Thursday should be fun.

I think the Zips can play with anyone in the league based on their defense. Can they put together a good shooting night on the road? Can they pull out a victory in a close game on the road? I looked at the Miami game and the Zips shot over 40% from both the field and from beyond the arc. The Zips won even though Ivey had a difficult shooting night and had 6 turnovers. There is a margin for error if the Zips shoot the ball well. I think the key is going to the hot hand. If Tyler Cheese can duplicate his effort against Miami then the "teamism" needs to get him the ball. If Utomi can start draining the 3 ball that means get him the ball. This team must find a way to score and if that means getting the ball to the guy that is "feeling it" then pass up your long ball shot and feed it to the player that can score. I would love to see Jackson have a great road game and start on a diet of short jumpers. I noticed on Saturday that this team passed on a lot of 3 balls early in the game to get a higher percentage shot. We need to find easier shots on the road and avoid the temptation to shoot the 3. We play our best when we limit our 3 ball to the low twenties. Looking forward to a close game tonight and a possible upset. Go Zips!

Combining our performance on the road with the fact Buffalo has won its last two games by a combined 70 points, I'm not feeling good about this one. I hope we can just keep it close enough throughout that we have a chance at the end.