kreed5120

It will be important that we run them off the 3-pt line. I feel we're the better team, but the 3-pt line is the great equalizer in basketball and they're good enough to make us pay if we leave their shooters unguarded. Especially since this is @ Miami.

Iona just lost by 7 to the team that entering today was #326 in NET. Not great for us since that is our best win this season.

Ball State must be playing Sisters of Charity School for the Blind as they were up 48-8 at the half.

They offered discounted season tickets as stocking stuffers. Even if we were slightly under 1k season ticket holders at the start of the season we have probably added a few dozen since then.

I would have to imagine Akron has 1k season ticket holders and has had that for quite a few years. Even if they don't show they will still appear in the official attendance.

In grand scheme it doesn't really matter. We play them in a week. If we win they will no longer receive votes.

UA announces deal to privatize dorms. https://www.cleveland.com/akron/2025/12/university-of-akron-announces-deal-to-privatize-dorms.html?fbclid=IwdGRjcAO2w6xjbGNrA7bDcmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHod-6BB1D_UKaiWzJ-BZHjciiRX12WX8ISOOXAw3qQP4R4JuJ5iEnuz8sXE1_aem_EksRhrSQigqDDhQeRNFCjA

I guess it depends on how you measure it. Ohio has 13 D1 teams, 7th in state population, and has 3 schools in power conferences. Not to mention Dayton who is an elite mid-major. Realistically, given the size of the state and the number of teams it should be producing at least 1, more likely 2, top 25 teams per season.

Can't wait to shed the dead weight.

Yes, I would imagine since they're hosting the next round they will be the favorites in most of these matchups.

Yes, it's definitely a big loss. He was 1st on the team in minutes, 2nd in points, and 2nd in assists. Not to mention he was an efficient scorer. Their ceiling today is definitely lower than what it was before, but like Akron their strength is in their depth so they are better positioned to absorb this loss than other MAC teams would be. I wouldn't be surprised if they still find their way into the MAC finals.

Typical American, wanting to spend others money but not their own. He makes $7.5 million currently. How about he takes a pay reduction to $2.5 million and instead of needing $20 million he would only need $15 million.

I more just doubt they have 12-15 quality players worth building around, but time will tell. I do agree it's a winning formula if you have a solid foundation in place already.

I'm sure it's cheaper and easier to retain your own players than getting into bidding wars for others. It's probably the better long-term building strategy assuming you can bring in players that are capable of being developed. That said, UMass appeared to be a mid-tier FCS caliber roster last year. One would think if they have the deep pockets they claim to have they would at least try to jump start this rebuild by bringing in a few day 1 contributors. Someone on UMass board says they plan to spent $3 million in NIL for 2026. Without some outside talent I'm not sure how that money is going to get spent. Do they just plan to grossly overpay their current roster?

I watched the NFL games today instead of the bowl games. I'm not sure what the powers that be hope to achieve by expanding the playoffs. Unless you're a fan of the teams playing, who is going to watch JMU-Oregon over Packers-Bears? The more they try to expand the playoffs, the more games that will overlap with NFL time slots.

I certainly hope not. I like him there and Tod at Toledo. Two fewer teams that we have to worry about come March.

That's how I interpreted it as well. It definitely seemed like we had fewer breakdowns defensively. Nearly every 3-pointer EMU shot a Zips defender had a hand in their face.

Yes, I am under the impression there has to be something more.

I like the energy and effort Halligan has brought tonight.

The story isn't a great look for OU, but compared to Sherrone this looks fairly minor. I'm not surprised if there is a settlement reached.

You typed all that out just to further my point. Their win @ Wright State is better than any of our wins. In fact, it very well might end up being a Q2 win come March. Their NET is better than Iona and Miami got their win on the road while we got ours on a neutral court. They also have 2 Q3 wins to our 1. I'm not saying they're better. I'm more pointing out the fact we also just beat up on cupcakes during OOC play (evident by the fact all but 1 of our wins were Q4 wins). The better teams we played we lost to. We also played a very weak OOC schedule (#252 per kenpom). Not as weak as Miami who had the 4th worst (#362), but still nothing to brag about.

We rag on Miami for their weak schedule, but their road win @ Wright State is better than any win we have during OOC play.

Yet it's challenging to dispute any of them.

I think the spanking Murray State gave us is a blessing in disguise and yes it was a spanking. They could have easily beaten us by 25 if they didn't get called for so many moving screens. When we're beating Nobody U by 30 it's tough for Groce to convey to the team that the level of defensive play is unacceptable if you want to make noise come March. Now he has this game to point to as a reality check. Personally, I think our "havoc" or whatever defense you want to call it simply just doesn't work against teams that have quality perimeter play. It works against the cupcakes that have either inexperienced guards who are prone to turnovers or teams with poor perimeter shooters. When we play teams that can disect a defense all it does is leave an open shot at the basket or in the weak corner. If there is no defender within 8 feet of a 3-pt shooter those are pretty much practice shots. An elite 3-pt shooter, like Tavari, can probably knock down those specific wide open looks at or around a 65% clip.

Ignoring the problems isn't going to make them magically go away. Even in our wins we've consistently seen breakdowns defensively with many wide open looks. The competition just wasn't good enough to capitalize off of them. Murray State and Yale were good enough to carve us up. As will any 4 or 5 seed we encounter if the tournament if we make it that far. Giving up offensive rebounds because you're not boxing out and leaving 3-pt shooters wide open because you're slow in rotation isn't a winning formula against quality teams. We should constantly be evaluating ourselves and looking for ways to improve. Other teams will be doing the same.