Well played!

Whether our thoughts are positive or negative in regards to this news, prepare yourselves to see tons of national publicity and support over the next 4 days for the new Cinderalla Story of this year's NCAA Basketball Tournament.

I think what is disappointing to zips fans more than anything is the draw we could have gotten should the ball have bounced the other way in the championship game. We may have lost to Northwestern but we played that game on the road.

It sickens me...

Well it shows me two things...

1. We were a sweet 16 caliber team
2. The MAC should be two bid conference

Exactly. OU is probably the 3rd (or 4th) best team in the MAC this year.

I am not a naysayer, but come on.
We lost in the MAC championship game
Then we lost in the first round of the NIT.

We were NOT a sweet 16 team this year. I wish we were.

This is a little off topic, but I had no idea about this:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball...him-to-transfer

1. Not really.

2. Absolutely. The MAC West is such a mess, but the changes to the MAC's NCAA credit payouts and tournament format should begin to change that. If nothing else, Toledo will be good again. Eliminate basketball divisions and things will improve even more.

Congrats to OU and their fans. Once again, I'm jealous of another mid major, at least it's from the MAC.

A violation of ncaa rules by Bruce Pearl. Shocking....

This should be a huge news story as one of the schools in question, #3 seed Baylor, is in the Sweet 16. I wonder if the media will make an issue of it.

this is bittersweet...good for the mac....but i keep racking my brain as to what is the difference between VCU...OU & Akron....other than those schools have exp tourney success....

is it talent? coaching? luck?

i think akron is talented enough...coaching is solid....WHAT? WHAT?

dammit i want that to be us sooo bad

Especially when you consider Baylor nearly got the death penalty under former HC Dave Bliss not so long ago.

Talent... They have talent, but not as much as the Zips.
Coaching.... Ours had trouble managing the game late in our last two games. Theirs is in control late. Both are good coaches though.
Luck... Too late in the year for luck, but it does take some.

You didn't mention the "c" word....Composure. Looking at the stats, Cooper had a good game, but shot below 50%. What he does is make plays when they need to be made late in a game. He has a short memory and isn't rattled by setbacks. His coach has confidence in him and he has confidence in himself. Right now, is there any other player in the MAC you would want with the ball in his hands late than Cooper? Lots of teams can be good against the MAC West in February. Hell, everyone is good against the MAC West. It's those teams that win in March that get to call themselves winners.

With all due respect Dr Z, I don't think Arnold Horshack would make much of a basketball player. Boom Boom Washington...maybe, but not Horshack.

For sure. Arnold got all excited because he believed he knew the answer to Mr. Kotter's question. I believe I know the answer to mivis12's question, and so do you.

ZipsWin! asked this question on another thread, where is Big Zip? Either he is on vacation, or he has nearly bitten entirely through his tongue by now.

I must have missed that one. Sorry. It's a great question, that could have good discussion.

Perhaps in a perfect world, but surely not in an internet forum.

Congrats, indeed, to OU.

Cooper has been excellent and deserves the pub he's getting, but the real difference-maker, imo, has been their defense. Their helps and switches in the paint are running almost to perfection, and they have been really good guarding the three ball. I really thought they pretty much handled Michigan in a win I don't think was an upset. Last night, they beat a pretty good USF team at their own game. Very impressive.

Don't like their chances against UNC, even without Kendall Marshall. Just too much Tar Heel talent for the Bobcats to overcome.

P.S. They were better than us this year. Maybe not by much, but they were better. I hope they feel a little over-confident in our first match-up of 2012-13 so we can finally steal one in Athens. Going to be a really exciting MAC East race next year.

I have been enjoying watching OU beat some of the bigger schools.

I continue to be disappointed in the finish of our season. I thought this team had much more potential but I learned from other posters I'm supposed to be happy we won a MAC Championship (that mean's squat in basketball) and not want more for my team. I learned this loud and clear from a fan that will visit htis site for about another year while the rest of us with vested interests in our alma mater continue to root for them to go beyond the MAC for many years to come.

Seems odd, but I think we are in the minority. I don't understand it.

The oddest part is we are so close to being able to do it. In fact, I would say we are exactly where we need to be to win a game or two in the ncaas.

Can't say that the Zips would have beaten Michigan. Was Northwestern as 'good' as Michigan? All the games in the NCAA are 'on the road'. Can't say they would have won yesterday. Zips don't have someone who can take over a game like Cooper. Maybe Abreu can get there. Sorry until you do it its all speculation and wishful thinking.
The MAC a 2 bid conference? Not right now. Maybe what they should think about is ditching the conference tournament so the 'best' regular season team goes. For the marginal conferences like the MAC the tourney is only to make money and get some ESPN/STO time. The conference may be penalizing itself, because the 'best' regular season team may not end up going. Last year when the #1 seed didn't make it to the NCAA we didn't notice as much did we?

Chances are we wouldn't have faced Michigan since we would probably would have been a 12 seed due to our higher SOS and power rating at the time. That being said, we may have had a tougher road as I'm not sure how we would have matched up with some of the 3 seeds.

As said in this thread and others; OU got a great draw for THEM. Michigan plays the same style as OU (no inside game, lots of 3's), but OU did a better job and played better D on them. OU probably would have beaten Temple as well, as they were an average team just like USF. Yes, luck plays into it, such as their draw and even that bad technical on the jersey grab that totally changed the momentum of the game at the time.

I have mixed emotions as I want all mid majors and MAC teams to do well, but as most I can't stand their fans or some of their players.

I have mixed emotions regarding OU. It is nice to see a MAC team go this far. On the other hard, it should of been us.
As for NC, I have a feeling that OU will take them. The blow of Marshall will also have psyhological impact for the team. They are ripe for picking.
Interesting that on ESPN, they referred to OU as "street fighters". If they can get away with fouling they will be very agreesive. NC is not that agressive, they play a controlled game.
I had OU for two backets but now I want them beat!!
KD needs to let a little street fighting into our team. FIERCE! OU wants it really really bad and that makes up for a lot of mistakes in a game.

DJ has played three straight incredible games. If he keeps playing like that, they will keep winning.
It is amazing that he plays in the MAC. That guy would literally start anyplace in the country, and maybe even in the NBA.
When I watch him sometimes I say:

Come on, NO ONE IS THAT GOOD. But he beat us on a three that was not even aimed, he just threw it up and it went in. NO ONE IS THAT GOOD.

But he is.

Just so I understand, you're not saying that he'd start anywhere in the NBA, correct?

Not right now, but if he keeps this up.....

Of course, he is not tall enough. Then again, he seems to be holding his own against the big boys. After what he did to Nik..........

His upside is Earl Boykins (no shame in that), his downside is playing overseas.

IF OU wins a couple more games on national TV]
IF he keeps playing the same way
IF he has a great year next year

He is a first or second round draft choice.

Final Four and DJ Cooper will be a household word. Right now he has the mojo.

NBA teams aren't exactly salivating over 5'11", 165 lb point guards shooting .357 from the field and .316 from three point range. D.J. Cooper is a volume scorer, and that works in college basketball. For a player of his size to make it in the NBA, they need to be a far more efficient scorer than Cooper is.

Maybe he makes a big jump, but I see a helluva college player who is a 2nd round pick at best.

Lets see what happens. If they make the Final Four, it is all Cooper.

Anything can happen, I agree on that. I will say that NBA scouts will judge his overall body of work, not just the NCAA Tournament. This run by OU may get him noticed more now, but his performance as a senior will decide where he ends up.

We shall see!

Final Four talk? They still have to get past UNC to get into the Elite 8. I hate their success. They are almost as worse as Can't State, and I can't root for them to have success. Please, UNC, for the love of everything that is right and good in this world, kick the Bobkittens to the curb.

I don't know if Cooper is ready for the NBA or if he ever will be, but I don't believe he has much to prove by staying another year too.

I suspect UNC will destroy them...they have an impressive inside game that won't go soft on them.

Am I the only one who isn't overly impressed by their run? An over rated Michigan and a USF that isn't anything to salivate over. They have had the easiest path of any "Cinderella"

Almost as worse? I think they are worser.

Akron was just as capable of making this run as Ohio. Don't kid yourself. Losing at the last second at Evanston doesn't change that.

And really, they should've had the chance. As a conference, we didn't get the job done in raising the MAC's profile when opportunities were there.

Honestly any of the top 3 (Akron, Ohio, Buffalo) had the potential to win games in the NCAA tournament.

Don't get me wrong. OU deserves to be the one making this run right now, they won the MAC tourney fair and square. I'm just not buying into the "Cinderella" Thing right now. If they knock off UNC I'll change my tune.

Absolutely.

With the injuries racking up at UNC, they have probably the best shot they'd ever get to win this game. I don't like OU very much, but they are representing the conference well. Go MAC!

Pat Forde visited the 7 Sweet Sixteen schools within a two hour drive of Cincinnati. Here is one of the things he had to say when he got to Athens.

Like VCU and Butler before them, the Bobcats believe their presence this deep in the tournament proves that the quality of play in their league is badly underrated. Ohio has taken down teams from the Big Ten (Michigan) and Big East (USF) but only finished third in its division and had to beat regular-season champ Akron by a point in the MAC tourney final just to make the NCAAs.

Exactly. The Zips might be even better built for it in some ways, having a 7 foot center and all.

It needs to be pounded into the players' heads that they could have made the tournament anyway, if they had just won their non-conference games. The schedule was set up for it, and they blew nearly every chance they had to get a marquee win. They lost to Duquesne and Valpo, couldn't get it done against VCU, CSU, and Oral Roberts, and embarrassed themselves against MTSU and WVU. The only good wins were against Mississippi State and Marshall. That's a 2-7 record in games where they had a chance to get a win that "looks good".

Somebody needs to tell them that these games matter. The coaches still have somewhat of a residual "win the MAC or stay home" mindset from previous years where that was true. The players don't have the self-confidence to see that they are good enough for an at-large bid.

Zach, while I agree with you in general principle, I would also try to factor in some of the problems the team had in terms of new and inexperienced players, suspensions and injuries that had a bearing on some of those losses.

The history for all the games is there for anyone to look up. But one example would be the VCU game. At the time, Harney was the team's leading scorer. But he had just served a 5-game suspension, and this was his first game back. He played only 6 minutes and scored only 4 points. And many believe that Rico was the Zips most valuable player this season, and the one player they could least afford not to have at full strength. The VCU game was his first game back after knee surgery about 10 days earlier.

Without full use of their leading scorer and with their point guard and arguably most valuable player playing his first game after knee surgery, the Zips took VCU into OT before losing by 1 point.

On one level it was just a plain old loss. On another level, it was the Zips coming remarkably close to a win that many would have predicted they were unlikely to achieve under the circumstances.

I didn't really want to create a new thread for this, so since it is related to the sweet 16 I'll place it here.

This is a Cincinnati reporter's take on why the Queen City apparently takes little notice of tOSU (news to me). What is particularly troubling is his complete dismissal of local college sports in Akron, Toledo, Cleveland, etc. I really hope Dambrot, Bowden, Porter and company make this guy eat his words, the sooner the better!

I don't really know from first hand experience how Cincinnatans (is that a word?) feel about the Buckeyes, but if Mr. Daugherty is correct in describing their disdain for OSU, the city should be commended. My first inclination would be to call bullshit. I bet there are a lot of OSU honks in Cincinnati.