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Buffalo got a vote from the AP poll. Good sign for the Mac!

UMass pulled away in the final minute. Wins 73-65.

UMass beats Oregon St. 73-65. Nice win for UMass.

Let's Go Zips!!! Rise to the challenge!!! Let's Go ZipsNation!!!...Fill the Stands!!! Fill the Hill!!! This is OUR FIELD!!!

…”Students admitted free w/valid Zips ID courtesy of President Nemer and AkronZips donors” … 👏👏👏

But they don't have FBS football which is the centerpiece around which all things MAC must revolve.

Even with the MAC improving some this year it would be a brutal challenge for the MAC. The MAC has a steep drop-off after the top 3 or 4 teams. The MVC usually only has 1-2 cupcakes the MAC ~6.

Outside of Purdue they gave us the toughest game this far.

Same with Toledo

I will say Tavari as a freshman showed flashes that made you think he could be great. It took him some time to show he could do it on a nightly basis.

Look at Tavari...he was pretty underwhelming his first 2 seasons, and he's been lights-out ever since. Lyles was a 5 mpg & 5 fouls per game center. Now he's dominant. Lots of examples of guys who get better every season.

Troy is such a roller coaster

Toledo wins 75-68 vs. Troy.

Out of likes, but agreed.

I see Cody Head stepping into Shammah Scott’s role for the next 2 years and then Jashawn Ladd after him. And let me say we often talk about Freeman being the poster boy for skill development at Akron (and rightfully so) but Shammah Scott is a man on a mission out there. I’m so proud of how much he has improved and the way he plays.

I’ll just add that I wouldn’t be surprised if JMU has a season similar to us last year where the OOC schedule is brutal, but they figure out in conference play and come storming back. So they might sneak onto this list too by the end of the season.

I do support a MAC vs MVC challenge like we are doing with the Sun Belt. A major difference between the 2 conferences is in the MAC when a coach has success he leaves for greener pastures. In the MVC that successful coach takes his school to greener pastures. Believe it or not, Kansas, Louisville, Missouri, Nebraska, Wichita State, Creighton and more were all members of the MVC at one time ages ago. So for ISU to leave would be par for the course. I just don’t want it.

This looks eerily similar to what Akron did vs. Virginia in the National Championship game in 2009.

Nope!! As an ISU alum I want no part of this. I have been to games obviously, but I don’t follow them like I do Akron. Still, I don’t want my loyalties clashing. I will say Redbird arena is pretty sweet and rivalry games against Bradley are always sold out and raucous.

Toledo is currently playing Troy in the Coconut Hoops event, down 30-36 at the half. Was hoping to watch this one, but it's on the dreaded FloHoops. UMass plays Oregon State in 30 minutes on ESPN+.

I've had a decent chuckle every time I watch this team dominate D1 competition or think about how we have 5 guys on the bench that would probably be starting or significant role players at the very least on most mid majors. What a job Groce, his staff, and Bud Wentz have done at building this program back up.

Get Illinois State into the MAC yesterday.

Cody Head would be getting 10+ minutes a game at most MAC schools. We redshirted him from the looks of it because he doesn't have a pathway to earn minutes.

Miami OH hasn't played anyone (nor will they until MAC play); they're still riding last year's success and the offseason hype, which infuriates me when some other CBB accounts have them ranked ahead of Akron for these reasons. Kent's schedule is weird because they've played some decent mid majors (Troy & UNCW) but only at home, losing to Troy and beating UNCW. They have yet to play a true road game and their wins outside of UNCW (who apparently was missing a player or 2) leave a lot to be desired. 2 of their next 3 games come against non DI opponents, with the lone DI opponent being a home matchup vs. Austin Peay, so we won't really know much about Kent until they play @Portland, @UMass, and @Purdue in back to back to back games (nice scheduling with coast to coach travel, Pinky). Buffalo has the nicest resume thus far among the 3. 5-0 with wins vs. Southern Miss (gave South Carolina a run for their money before losing by 4 and recently beat UT Martin who has had an incredible start to the season), Big East DePaul, and Vermont. VMI, Bucknell, and Canisius are their next 3, so losing one of those will hurt their solid start, but then they get St. Bonnie at home which will be a great litmus test. Long story short - the MAC has had a nice start to the season. Both Akron and Kent each play 6 teams on the current list - 3 MAC and 3 OOC each. There are two SBC schools on the list, both of which are available for Akron to play in February, so there could be a 4th OOC and 7th overall for Akron. Kent is less likely to add a 4th OOC and 7th overall at the moment having already played Troy. As much fun as the power conference games are for us as fans, these high mid major games need to be where Akron focuses the schedule going forward unless something changes in the power conference mindset or scheduling rules.

When Groce subbed-out the 5 on the floor and brought in next 5 to close out the game I said to my wife - "That could easily be a starting 5. They'd finish over .500 in the MAC." Anyone remember when we had a starting line up that featured Brian Wood and Brian Hipsher?🤨