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he makes comments in pre-games and post-games that indicate to me that he relies on them quite a bit.

CMU is clearly a well-coached and potentially dangerous team. Kent, FWIW, came from the 8th seed to within a fingertip of the championship in 2024. They are always a threat. BG...I'm not so convinced that they are "legit."

As things stand right now ... I feel the three teams to watch are Bowling Green, Central Michigan and Kent with regards to the MAC Tournament. BG's metrics are strong, even if their record is not. If they play to their metrics down the stretch, they could make a push toward the 3-seed. That makes Tuesday's BG-Kent game critical for them. Kent can probably lock up the 3-seed with a BG win as they hold tie-breakers over every other team behind them. At the same time, while they have a strong record, their metrics aren't really that strong. If they struggle down the stretch, they could fall a few spots. Central Michigan is on the outside looking in, but they have been playing well and are just one game out of the 8th spot with games vs. several teams that could be critical, including one vs. Buffalo, and one against Kent - a team they already beat. Keep an eye on CMU the next few weeks.

I would rather see Kent in the final or not at all, don’t know if that’s going to happen. In terms of my PTO, I love us being the 2 seed

Dude is set. Hopefully he has a heart for supporting his alma mater to some extent.

I would say quite considerably. I know the practice gym is outfitted with equipment that allows it to track player performance with advanced analytics. It even provides numbers on what lineups provide the most optimization. Groce has said in the past that some of those lineups he has been surprised by in the past. Add in the Zips are one of the heaviest volume shooting from 3 teams in NCAA. I know many gray hairs are against it, but I feel it's something that if you aren't utilizing, you're falling behind.

https://open.substack.com/pub/akronzippedup/p/akron-zips-mens-basketball-weekly-f3c?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email Akron Zipped Up has some insightful takes as Zips enter the home stretch.

Looking forward to our new QB dismantling the Sacramento State defense at Infocision Stadium.

It's a good move for NDSU. They think they are better than whatever level FCS will be after the G5 conferences separate from P4, and they are probably right. Montana,MT State, SD and South Dakota St need to do the same thing if they believe they are up for it.

Is anyone up on how much Groce relies on analytics? Just curious as it is a huge strength in the College of Business.

It takes two to tango. My assumption is NDSU preferred to stay in FCS over joining the MAC. It wasn't until the MWC had availability that they thought it was worth their while. Even a watered down MWC is still vastly better than the MAC.

Whatever. That's one less but game we have to play. We go there once every 2-3 years, big whoop. Sucks for them to come out here 4x a year but that's their issue

If the ADs at Ball State and Sac State are smart, they strike a deal with Manscaped to sponsor their matchups.

I know it wasn't an either/or but I'd rather NDSU than Sac State. Maybe that's just me but the same rationale against NDSU joining applies here too. Just to an even more outrageous degree.

This is worse than the MWC bringing in Grand Canyon. These moves don't always have good outcomes. Cal and Stanford have only made the ACC worse. The on field competition is worse. Big 10 adding OR WA USC and UCLA makes sense because they result in annual increased revenue and attractive names. These names result in more TV viewers. More TV viewers result in more advertising money. Most importantly, the quality of product is now the best in the country. In the truck stop if life, the MAC is now the lot lizard trolling from truck to truck hoping to scrape up enough cash to buy a pack of Slim Jims and a bottle of Mountain Dew for dinner.

The driver from SF to Sac is not easy. I guess it's also close to the least desirable places around Lake Tahoe as well.

So we get 18 mill now and then sac state has to pay an exit fee to leave. Sounds like big enough money

This is a bad decision. Does anyone really believe Sac State wants to be in the MAC beyond a few years? The money is not worth the continued degradation of the MAC rep. We only gets teams that are desperate and we whore out to them. They then leave. Find a new commissioner, set an identity that you can build on and attract new blood that will benefit the conference, not drag it down. Think WKU, JMU, Marshall. If we were to lose OU and Miami, as the rumor has it, we are toast. Akron also has to think of its future. If the MAC goes thru major turmoil we need to make ourselves attractive to another conference. The continued improvement in football is the key.

Somehow need UMass to be the 4th, 5th, or 8th seed to get onto the Sweaters side of the bracket. Or... Miami drops 2 to any combination of UMass/BG/Toledo/Ohio (I don't see them losing otherwise) and Akron wins out to take the 1 seed. Separation is occurring between Buffalo and the rest of the field for the 8th seed. The tournament field might be set here soon if Balls, Central, Northern, and Eastern don't find some magic.

I can’t wait for the 10:30pm kickoff on a Tuesday night on ESPN+.

I guess that the MAC Brass/ESPN saw some of the post here about joking about the 'MAC After Dark!' If true, I am Totally against this move. Especially if there if it is NOT All Sports and NO Travel Partner.... EDIT: This is not Hawai'i in the WAC days at 11PM Eastern at home playing in the WAC 'Saturday Night Shootout!' At least they had the excuse of playing on a Island 2000 Miles off the Mainland and we(If awake) saw the Game at 11Pm Eastern....

Not a thing on the MAC Web site about it.

No, but it's close to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe which were nice when I was there.