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That was pre NIL. The climb has become a lot steeper. One wonders what TT's budget is now(?)

Siena gave Duke a run McNees and Kennesaw St kept it close Santa Clara should have beaten Kentucky Hofstra is up 10 over Bama Miami will probably beat Tennessee High Point beat Wisconsin I don't mind losing. I just want a chance. We end up getting blown out almost every single time. Aside from the UCLA game, we never really even have a shot.

He won 3 tourney games at Ohio. If anything, JG probably wants to break whatever glass ceiling is over this program because he can.

You would think they would've done it at least once; you would also think any of those 5 OOC losses would've had average or even below average shooting nights at least once. Realistically - Akron didn't do enough in any of their OOC losses to overcome unprecedented shooting performances by their opponents. Whether or not defense was a factor is irrelevant because the opponent made their shots at absurd rates. THAT'S being realistic. Akron was talented enough to compete with all of their OOC opponents. THAT'S being realistic. 3 pt loss to Yale: Shot 64% FG and 47% 3P; on the season, 49.6% FG and 40% 3P 15 pt loss to Murray State: 58% FG and 56% 3P; on the season, 46% FG and 34.8% 3P 10 pt loss to Troy: 43% FG and 52% 3P; on the season, 44.9% FG and 33.5% 3P 20 pt loss to Texas Tech: 64% FG and 55% 3P; on the season, 46.7% and 39.3% 3P Purdue pretty much shot their season averages; the difference in that game was our inability to do anything around the rim. Akron had to be damn near perfect to win any of those OOC games and even then (great offensive performances vs. Yale & Murray State) it wasn't enough to overcome the hot shooting. Those shooting percentages are outside the norm of what most defenses can affect. On the flip side, they blew out Tulane (18-15 on the year and middle of the pack in the American) on their court, dominated Princeton, and handled James Madison. They didn't drop any headscratchers to teams like Evansville, Iona, Milwaukee, Bucknell, etc., which is something we've seen other teams do. This team was much more than just "MAC good." This team had the talent - that wasn't the issue. Luck wasn't on our side in some of those games and execution certainly wasn't, especially vs. Miami OH, Troy, and Texas Tech. Did we have the size? Probably not, and that's likely where the team will look to improve in the off-season. I'm realistic, not pessimistic.

I don’t think Akron is going to sneak up on anyone in the NCAAT. We are a respected mid-major and the pundits amplify it. We are going to have to show up, play great and take it.

Somebody had the chance to title this thread Staying Close to the Vest, and fumbled 😉 Even with the NIL money, JG has to be feeling somewhat ceilinged at Akron. He is still young enough to want another crack at a P4 IMO.

i don't watch much P4 hoops but i would certainly think TT could give Alabama a lot of trouble assuming they win their first game.

Thats ridiculous thing to say, I don’t think a program like Yale, St. Peter’s, ORU is just gonna accept the fact that they will never do anything in the tournament. You can play hard all season and you get one game where you are the underdog to prove yourself. There’s a reason for the seeding in the tournament

Great season, Zips. Tough way to end it with our worst game of the year. Add Texas Tech (64% FG, 55% from three) to the list of teams that had outlier shooting nights against us: Yale (64% FG, 47% 3pt), Murray State (58% FG, 56% 3pt), and Troy (52% 3pt). Credit to Tech’s coaching staff. Their game plan was clear. They pushed us off the three-point line and funneled everything to the rim, where we struggled to finish over their length. This felt like a rare game where Groce got out-coached. Would have liked to see a few early set plays to get Hardman going. Overall, we came out a bit tentative and never really found our rhythm. We will reload. We will be back.

This is based. At least that's what I believe the youth call it.

We're too small. We're athletic enough to overwhelm MAC teams but we can't do that vs P5 competition. It is what it is. Just have to keep building and increase the level of player we are bringing in

You're calling my take a bad take but you don't want to be realistic about the limitations of this year's team. If they truly had the talent to beat a top team, they would've done it at least once, and not lost to all but one of them by double-digits. We can love our team and be proud of them while staying realistic.

Oh you're not wrong. This is as good as it gets. Just gotta hope they play hard for all 40 minutes so it's a 5-8 point loss and not a 20 point one.

Will never break the ceiling, face it. MAC champs is all we can get. Not bad, but not great as MAC is lower mid major conference

Bad 6-7 minutes in the game??? That’s close to 20%!!! Not what I expected from a Sr laden team with 2 previous tournament experience. its always about guard play in march madness and our star guy didn’t show up!!

Poor perimeter defense doesn't = automatic shot making. I watched SMU the other night miss some wide open 3s, and they're a VERY good 3P shooting team. Your take was based on a lack of talent, and that's why I said it was a bad take. Akron didn't beat the top teams on their schedule - that's accurate and will need remedied in the future. However, this team had the talent to do so. The ball didn't always bounce our way. So be it, we move on. Go Zips.

This team won the most games in program history. People always bring up that 2013 dambrot team as one of the best. 2020 was also up there. But this team won 29 games. If the only thing that matters is winning in the round of 64 has the program ever been good at the d1 level? The football team could go 6-6 and lose in a bowl game and people would say it’s a great season. This zips basketball team represented this school well and was something to be proud of

I'm not overrating the MAC - I'm literally going on metrics. They are in the top half of conferences for the first time this decade. Not sure what point you're trying to make - MVC is rated higher than the MAC anyways.

Akron lost to a very good team that plays in what can be argued as the most difficult league in the country. Akron had a bad 6-7 minutes, not a bad game.

Not happening unless the Zips get substantially better. This was a banged up Texas Tech team that was probably overseeded anyways.

Not a bad take at all, a realistic one. The MAC had two very good teams - us and Miami - and we both beat up on inferior competition. Those other teams you mentioned had excellent shooting performances because we play poor perimeter defense, not because of bad luck. I'm not trying to rip on our guys - I love them all and am proud of this year. But this team didn't beat a single top team the entire season. It is what it is.

There will be 63 teams that say this when all is said and done.

Or maybe we're overrating the MAC. Kent got smoked by a 21-12 MVC team, so it seems maybe our 5-loss team is at the same level of a 12-loss MVC team.

We were only down 6 and then we scored 8 points in the final 9 minutes. Was TT that much better than us or did we just have another bad game? Really difficult to be competitive when your best player only scores 4 points and has 4 turnovers. I thought TT had a good game plan of collapsing the defense in the middle and forcing us to shoot from three. We could not make a 3 the second half. Game over. Very proud of our seniors. The Zips had a great season. But we will have to wait for next year to get that elusive tourney win.

Welp, there’s always next year…