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I agree!!! But while there is no way of knowing, I would say, if Toledo matched Akron's success, with their infrastructure - arena, recruiting ability, location - they would be in another conference by now. Missouri Valley at the least. Perhaps even the American. Akron is still in the MAC.

Miami picked up 22 votes in the AP poll and currently sits 30th

I think the last 40 years is a pretty relevant statistical sampling, and over that time period Akron’s basketball success dwarfs Toledo’s.

Jim was a really good guy. I had him come speak at several business events I organized. PMA, Positive Mental.Attitude!

As an urban university Toledo is not in really great shape. But it is still waaaaay better than Akron. I agree it is the best job in the league considering infrastructure, location, recruiting and at least a solid foundation for winning. What can't be overstated is the fact Toledo's prime recruiting areas - Columbus, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis - are all prime prep hoops hubs and all 3-hour drives or less. Akron stands tall with arguably the best coach in the league who has carried the league during a relative down stretch. Credit to him for taking advantage of the situation. But without his one strong financial donor, in the current portal landscape, it's tough seeing Akron even close to Toledo - all things considered. And that goes without mentioning Akron's financial woes and the enrollment issues all universities face these days. i'll take Groce over Kowalczk any day of the week .... but I'll take Toledo over Akron any day of the week as well. Tough to say that living in Northeast Ohio, but in terms of college basketball, I stand by it.

That was a rough one to watch…Western 55 Zips 48 Had a nice run to start the 4th and had our chances but very poor execution down the stretch. Interesting note: Western down 4 key players due to injury so had to go to the volleyball team for a body similar to us last year.

That Toledo job is sneaky good depending on the criteria you're looking at. Kowalchoke l think is the 3rd highest paid coach and has been at Toledo for 15 years. He has never made the NCAA tournament and their fanbase still worships him. They constantly come up with excuses for them being "robbed". Meanwhile, at Akron Dambrot made 10 straight MAC finals appearances and multiple trips to the Big Dance. A vocal minority wanted him gone because he didn't make the tournament for a 4 year stretch. I guess that's just the difference between a winning program and another that is content with being good, not great.

Jose Pedro started 15 games for the zips in fall 2025. Jose will transfer to a conference rival. NOTABLES Played in 16 matches, making 15 starts in 2025… took two shots on goal and recorded four assists… logged 1,235 minutes… helped the Zips post a 13-5-3 (5-2-1 BIG EAST) record… helped the Zips advance to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight… played in the Liga Revelacao before Akron, reaching the champions phase for famous Portuguese team Rio Ave. QUOTING COACH HIGGINS "Jose is a big pick up for us from an in-conference rival. He has proven that he has the ability to play and thrive in the BIG EAST and we will look to get the best out of him on both sides of the ball."

Realistically, the Staff gave Akron a chance to rack up some good wins that would improve NCAA seeding and maybe, just maybe put them on bubble for an at large bid. After the loss to Yale and especially after loss to Murray State the goal is now to win in Cleveland. Groce and staff is figuring out what is going to get them to rope cutting on Saturday. The kid from Serbia didn't get out of his warm ups last night and has limited limits. He's not going to start. And the viable back up big has a bad injury. Re-set and re-calibrate.

I agree, and I think a starting lineup matters more than some believe. A team can absolutely set a tone early that dictates the rest of the game, and we saw our squad do that multiple times last season. I think Sharron performs better off the bench at this point in his career, too. Personally, I'd like to see more Stankovic and less Halligan. Nothing against Halligan, who plays really hard, but Oggy's ceiling is just so much higher. Evan Eric Lyles Scott Johnson Young Hardman MMK Stankovic Once Barre returns, he can take minutes back from Stankovic. But right now, I'd love for him to get more court time.

adam trick, the stud edge rusher from miami, oh signed with texas tech also...

Ranking the Top 25 USMNT Players in the Last 25 Years https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25340227-ranking-top-25-usmnt-players-last-25-years 20. DeAndre Yedlin Caps: 81 Goals: 0 World Cups: 2 (2014, 2022) DeAndre Yedlin is the lone player on this list who managed to appear in both the 2014 and 2022 World Cups, surviving the carnage in between and failing to qualify for the 2018 tournament. That durability earns him a place on this list even while he is rarely thought of as a core piece of any of the three World Cup cycles in which he participated. The hype around Yedlin coming out of the Seattle Sounders was so high that merely establishing himself as a Premier League regular for four seasons at Newcastle United was seen by some as a disappointment. But he was always a useful player as an international outside back, and is still one of the better MLS fullbacks well into his 30s. Yedlin hasn't received a cap under current manager Mauricio Pochettino, and the switch to a 3-4-3 as the Americans' primary formation means it's unlikely he will. But at just 32 years old, there's still a remote chance he could return to the USMNT picture if there's an injury crisis.

Frankly, I don't believe ANY team in the MAC is playing the type of quality defense that consistetly holds teams below their scoring averages or shooting percentages. More and more it's the NBA style of getting up as many shots as possible as quick as possible. I haven't looked, but I would suspect there have been 3 or 4 Akron games already this season where BOTH teams have shot 48-percent or better FG in a game and many game where both have shot 38-percent or better on 3-pointers. Lockdown Defense is just not the priority it was for success like in the recent past. You're lucky if teams can man-up the last four minutes to get a victory.

I think Groce generally deserves the benefit of the doubt, but I agree with you. Whether it’s a starter or not, I don’t think anyone besides the 5 should be taking up valuable minutes for defense unless it’s Tribble-level OR situational. Since the lineup change has been made, we feel more like the same old Zips rather than a dangerous team that can drop 90-100 on you any given night. And i’ve heard Groce’s comments about not getting worked up about starting lineup changes. I agree, but my eyes tell me the team has not looked as good recently with the rotation changes. We’re in conference play now. Our defense should look better by default with some of the bum teams we’re playing. How much is competition vs lineup change? I know our offense has taken a step back.

BG right now has the best defense in the MAC per Groce. If their defense results in a low Zips 3 point percentage, the Zips continue to turn the ball over and the perimeter defense drops off again, it could be a long night in Stroh Center.

R.I.P. A good guy and solid coach by all accounts.

I feel we should have challenged ourselves more in OOC play. We only played 2 true road games if I'm counting correctly. One of those was against Purdue, which we weren't going to be competitive with. The other was against a below average Tulane, which is okay. It would have been nice to play more in the line or 3-4 to better prepare ourselves for hostile environments. Playing quality competition on the road is much different than at our or even at a neutral site.

Halligan played 19 minutes last night, which was his most this season (tied with the Concord game). I didn't expect that after he played only 9 minutes against Miami. However, Sharron played only 18 minutes which was his lowest since he played 14 minutes against Tulane. I thought he played a little better on offense last night though so maybe that can start to tick back up.

Agreed. Being 2-2 would feel so strange after going 17-1 last year but the conference is much improved this year and we'd have two of the most difficult games behind us.

The problem is the NCAA has no power. Whenever they try to enforce something the courts step in and tell them they can't. While many of the suggestions that try to establish order would be good for the sport. None of them would likely be enforceable without the players forming a union and a collective bargaining agreement being reached. The players have no incentive to do that though.

Thanks for getting this thread up. It has been a crazy morning.

Gonna be a tough one.