All Activity

Technically, NO league has an auto-bid. It's the top five ranked conference champions that get a bid. Obviously, the B1G, SEC, B12 are 100% of the time always going to get there. The ACC usually, too, but that's more tenuous than they'd like. Then that leaves one for the top ranked G5 conference champ, which I think happens much more often than the PAC would like, will be the AAC.

Are we sure? My understanding was the league had a two-year window to rebuild the conference and keep its seat at the table. From everything I remember, they’ve technically met that requirement. But things change so fast that I’m not certain. If someone wants to dig into the details and either confirm or correct that, I’d love to hear it.

The PAC is not going to get an auto-bid. The AAC is in the driver's seat for that G5 bid every year IMO. But an 11-1 PAC champ would have a good argument.

I haven’t followed UConn all that closely, but I do remember Mora being under the impression they’d end up in a power conference and that UConn had some sort of inside track on the Big 12. Fast forward a few years and they’re still independent. If I’m not mistaken, Colorado State is joining the new PAC, which I believe gets an auto-bid to the playoffs despite looking only marginally better than the current MWC. As for Moorhead, I’ve spent the last few offseasons shooting down the idea of him leaving. This year, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he did. I imagine the next seven (?) weeks of fundraising will factor heavily into that decision. I still think he wants another shot at the power-conference level, and UConn — or possibly other G5 openings with better resources — could be viewed as chances to rebuild the résumé and set up a bigger move down the line.

I’m seeing snow warnings for the Thanksgiving holiday. All of Wisconsin and NE Ohio are likely to be affected at some point. I hope they are paying attention and plan accordingly. I need another game badly.

Remi says Big East All the way.... https://www.instagram.com/p/DRhr1hmDSOm/

The biggest thing for Joe will be to triple his pay in a "well Akron was hopeless too so who cares."

If the NCAA really cared, they would force bigger schools to pay restitution or kickbacks for poaching players. Something like 15-25% of the NIL deal paid back to the former school. Not a lot, but it's better than nothing and would provide resources to replace outgoing athletes.

Why would Mora take this Job? That is a lateral move at best(From a Coaching Standpoint). My second question is why would Moorhead take the UConn job? Let's be real, going to UConn is like what Kansas was in for years: A Coaching Death Sentence......

Is this the real Clark, or ClarkGPT?

Me at the Thanksgiving table praying for UConn to hire JoeMo.

I can't get a real feel for Milwaukee. Their losses other than Wofford are to solid programs and Wofford is okay

Adams was great in 2022 but never the same after that.

I'm gonna sue!

Interesting. I looked closely at the SBC as I think they a a good model for the MAC. AI tells me they only play during the week on Thursday night, not the ghetto days of Tuesday and Wednesday. The only two teams that had two Thursday games were Arkansas State and Georgia Southern. Neither of the teams had two home games on Thursdays. Why can't the MAC do something similar with Friday nights? The premier MAC game of the week could be on Friday night with no team having to play more than one Friday game. It could be done over 3 weeks. I'd be interested in two pieces of information about this chart. What is the percentage of capacity for each team? Are they showing actual attendance or tickets sold? I see UNCC has shown 15,000 fans per game. That would mean a horrible one win team is filling their stadium. I doubt that's the case. The percentage of capacity as it relates to actual crowd size is most important.

That's fine, all the good analytical people who could offer insight and breakdown match-ups have long been chased off. It's mainly just now loud mouth clowns who think whoever screams louder has the better argument.

And much of ESPN.

This is trending pretty hot on X now. Joe’s name seems to be coming up frequently. He coached there from 2009-2011. For the record, Jim Mora was making $2.1 million at UConn when he left. Joe is making $620k at Akron. With all his frustrations at Akron, it’s hard to believe that he wouldn’t take this job if offered.

I'd think CSU would be better in that there is more certainty. Scheduling at UCONN has to be a nightmare. There is also the possibility of winning a conference championship and maybe leading the team to the playoffs because of that. UCONN is just a place where you play games and maybe a bowl game. People who are highly competitive want to compete for as many things as possible and it helps with motivation. For example, you compete for conference rankings even if the championship is out of reach. It keeps the players focused and motivated for something in addition to a win. It also helps with better bowl games.

Chatgpt is going to leave @clarkwgriswold jobless with his game preview write-ups.

Likely agree. UConn cleary has basketball as main priority. Colorado State at least has a pathway to the CFP whereas UConn really doesn't.

Let's take a look at the numbers leading into this matchup using ChatGPT's deep research function. Scoring Offense: Akron averages about 94.9 points per game, a huge number, whereas Milwaukee averages 74.8 points (in Division I games). The Zips’ fast-paced, efficient offense (50.6% team FG) has routinely topped 90 points, while the Panthers have been held under 75 in four of their seven games. Scoring Defense: Akron allows 74.1 points per game, compared to 83.3 allowed by Milwaukee. The Zips have generally played better team defense, holding opponents to 42.8% shooting and 33% from three. Milwaukee, by contrast, has struggled defensively, especially on the perimeter – opponents have hit nearly 39% of threes against them, contributing to the Panthers’ high points-against. Rebounding: Akron holds a slight edge, averaging 35.4 rebounds per game to Milwaukee’s 31.5. Akron’s rebounding effort is balanced (four players grab ~4–6 boards per game), and they have a +5.5 rebounding margin on average. Milwaukee is roughly even with opponents on the boards (about 37 per game each), with Jovanovich and Fields leading the way. Securing defensive rebounds will be critical for Milwaukee to prevent Akron’s second-chance points. Playmaking: The Zips exhibit great ball movement, averaging 20.1 assists per game – a reflection of Coach John Groce’s emphasis on sharing the ball. Milwaukee averages 12.2 assists, indicating a more one-on-one oriented offense. Akron’s offense is more fluid and balanced, evidenced by multiple games where four or more players scored in double figures (a regular occurrence last season as well). Turnovers: Both teams take care of the ball reasonably well. Akron commits 9.7 turnovers per game, slightly better than Milwaukee’s 10.7. Notably, Akron’s defense has been adept at forcing turnovers (opponents commit ~15.6 per game against them), which fuels their transition offense. Milwaukee will need to handle Akron’s ball pressure – in last year’s meeting, Akron actually forced 22 Milwaukee turnovers, but the Zips couldn’t capitalize enough. Keeping turnover numbers low will be a focal point for the Panthers.

Good question. UConn is always in a weird spot: no conference, poor attendance, basketball school, etc. When there is a question it usually comes back to money - wether it’s money in the program or money in his pocket…or likely both!

Weird.. one would think UConn to Colorado State is a step backwards? Maybe the PAC12 $ but even still idk

Looks like UConn coach Jim Mora is leaving to take the Colorado State job. This is one of the possible landing spots for Joe mentioned last week.