Let'sGoZips94

Based on your recap, I think it's likely Groce was forcing the guys to play in uncomfortable ways. Frustrating for fans but it's good coaching if true. Odd that Brisco didn't get any PT. Wonder what's up with that. What I haven't heard yet is that we looked slow and weak. As long as those two attributes avoid becoming the descriptors of this team, we'll be quite competitive.

Load management with his heart condition maybe?

The card shop I work at on the weekends had a Panini redemption for an Enrique Freeman rookie auto. After learning that I PC Freeman, the shop owner gave the redemption to me. The card arrived today from Panini. Love seeing Zips on official sports cards!

I was wondering the same thing. - What were your expectations for Head that he is exceeding in practice? - I think our front court is going to surprise some teams. We're larger on average and more athletic. - This team, theoretically, should play faster than last year's squad. We're a few guys deeper at each spot and healthy (knock on wood). - Love this. The $20 ticket price has been validated with this information. Good for both programs.

Balls in midseason form.

You're right. I forgot he fled Notre Dame for LSU on his own accord.

This should've been the final nail in the coffin for Brian Kelly's coaching career. Glad that scumbag is out of a job (again). He needs to be done coaching for good. I love that he hilariously flopped at LSU which also produced an all time embarrassing GIF.

So when we win by 30 it doesn't mean we're winning the Natty?

EMU and CMU with dueling scandals in recent years. No better time than now to boot them both from the MAC. From the article: "... sportsbooks saw unusual betting interest against Eastern Michigan in the first half. The Eagles trailed at the end of the first half in each game." "The NCAA said that, due to the lack of cooperation, the enforcement staff was unable to determine whether sports betting violations occurred." What a joke. 1) Any bettor worth their snuff could tell that EMU doesn't play defense and just sucks in general. 2) The NCAA is the equivalent of the Abominable Snowman at the end of Rudolph - toothless.

Spend money to make money. The Rubber Bowl was decrepit; the University was in a situation where they were going to spend money on a stadium regardless. Maybe the Info should've had a smaller, more affordable design, but it doesn't seem like the stadium was built for Akron to stay in the MAC. If it was built smaller, would it have been possible to go back and add seating given the area? I don't know. However, and I've stated this before, the moment a decision was made to bring the football stadium on campus, a subsequent plan should've been made to develop East Exchange and Spicer into a college tailgate hub that distances itself from the otherwise urban setting. Creating a fun atmosphere around the stadium would've been a nice safety net to ensure its worthwhile for fans to come to a game regardless of the result. City universities are struggling all over the US compared to their more rural counterparts and it's partly because of the environments around rural campuses. They're simply more inviting and more fun. Look at Kent. They've had a crappy football team for the majority of my lifetime, but their campus environment is 100x what Akron's is which is one of the biggest reasons why they have better enrollment. A fully renovated JAR would go a long way with the community. Akron has been one of the most successful mid majors for the better part of 2 decades, but the average attendance has gone down. The average fan sits in GA seating which includes nothing but uncomfortable, backless wooden bleachers. Not to mention if you sit high enough, the banners get in the way of the scoreboard. Want something from the concessions? You'll have to wait for a while pregame or during halftime, even in a half full arena. The JAR, when it's rocking, is one of the best mid major atmospheres in college basketball. Outside of that, it BLOWS. Step 1 is winning at the national level in March. Step 2 is renovating the JAR (or building a new arena entirely, although less feasible IMO). The jolt those two things would give the program could really propel the University as a whole to the next level.

InfoCision has never been the problem. The lack of a winning product, virtually zero student activity usage such as concerts or other events, and zero vision for developing the area around the Info have made the Info seem like a problem. While I agree NIL investment would go a long way, the JAR is a detractor from one of the most successful athletic programs at the university, and quite frankly our #1 $$$$ sport. Having an attractive 5k+ seat arena for basketball and other events would go a long way for optimism at Akron.

I don't think the MAC semis saves Boals' job. Catching lightning in a bottle with Jason Preston prior to the post-COVID era of college athletics doesn't seem to be holding up with Bobcat Attack as much. UMass could be a major obstacle for Ohio. You could almost always pencil in the "O (clap clap clap) H (clap clap clap) I (clap clap clap) O (clap clap clap)" chant for Friday and possibly Saturday in Cleveland, but last year showed cracks in the foundation that 1) I don't know if Boals & co. patched and 2) more competition in the MAC will take advantage and hopefully supplant the Bobkittens' typical slot in Cleveland. It's why the games are played though - we will see what happens. Totally agree with UD Arena being an achievable blueprint to the extent you laid out. I'm not going to pretend to know what the cost would be, but if we have a nice March run in the next year or two, I'd imagine that project is coming.

Rule #1: Have a pulse Rule #2: Have the ability to make corrupt, greedy people in power a lot of money

What are we doing?

I didn't realize Akron was in the Ohio State Championship Game tonight.

For anyone attending this game who is interested, most of my season ticket parking passes are available for use as I won't be able to attend the majority of games (I bought the season ticket to consolidate into a few games). Let me know if you would like the parking passes I will not be using and I'll bring them to give away. EDIT: These have been claimed. Go Zips.

This is where people need to shut the laptops, turn off their phones, and watch the game(s). Miami OH was objectively better than Kent. Their undefeated head to head vs Kent proved that, along with every single possible eye test. I don't know if I've ever seen a more offensively inept group of guys at Kent than last year's squad. Kent was propped up by playing tougher opponents, which gamed the system designed to reward P4s for their conference play and early season tournaments. Kent's run in the NIT was fueled by matchups with teams that didn't care. As soon as they played a team that cared, they lost. Senderoff knew his team was thrown a bone and he tried to parlay that into a new opportunity elsewhere. Going to be fascinating to see where Kent and Miami OH are this year.

Ohio lost to Wright State tonight in an exhibition. According to ProZip, we beat Wright State over the weekend.

Kowalchoke is in mid-season form making sure his team knows defense isn't a priority. How many D2 schools have put up 100+ on their D1 counterparts?

Putting Kent ahead of Miami OH makes me question everything about this list.

3 losing seasons out of 15 in the Big 12 and SEC. UMass is much more of a reclamation project than people are insinuating it is, and he was 20-11 just 2 seasons ago. I'm going to need to either see one heck of a fall off for Frank Martin or one heck of a rise by anyone else in the MAC to not put Frank in the top 2-3 coaches in the MAC going into the season.

The same way Oats got added to the conversation.

This game will be available one way or another. I can almost guarantee the debate is which network picks it up, and will it be nationally televised on ESPN2, U, or CBSSports vs. ESPN+. These are 2 top G5 programs on CBB opening night. I'd be surprised if it's not nationally televised.