Leaderboard

I know. It was absolutely horrible being a fan of the school that had the most successful record in the MAC Tournament for more than a decade. Please, let someone else have that.

I was just going to start this post when I saw your post so here is my take. Even though we lost yesterday in a game that we led almost the entire time, there are a lot of positives going into Buffalo and the MAC tournament. Zips fans, be happy: Three weeks agp Groce did not like this team's effort, intensity or coachability. In the post game he indicated he was happy with all 3. Happy coach, happy team! We have been competitive the last 5 games. Utomi is playing his best ball right now. We finally have a road win so if we play on the road in the first round we have got that monkey off our back. We led most of the game yesterday without 2 scholarship players that will hopefully return for the MAC tournament. We played our best defense of the season yesterday according to the coach. This is the MAC, playing well at the end of the season even with lesser talent can mean upset in the tourney. Finally, for the small but vocal minority that is still is upset with KD leaving, the Dukes have lost 6 in a row. Go Zips!!

"Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones" - traditional European proverb

One more regular season game for the Dukes, so they'll enter the conference tournament at either 16-14 or 15-15. Definitely progress for the program and a lot to look forward to for them starting next year.

unfortunately we have no choice but to assume the most likely scenario with no coverage of the team. I hope and believe you're right in that its not as bad as it appears. I'm not sure there is a good way in spinning getting zero minutes when dressed on a team with only 6 other scholarship players, however.

You guys need to get off Cotton's back. His not playing has nothing to do with disciplinary action or lack of effort.

I will say they are playing hard on defense. I haven't seen as many defensive breakdowns in the last couple of weeks. If they play that hard when they have more talent, I'll be pleased. On offense, it's a mess in large part because they have so few kids that can effectively score the ball.

Sorry, I was just thinking, "What if Groce, the coach of AKRON, got the benefit of the doubt during a 6 game losing streak, losing 10 of their last 13 in a very down conference?" Reading the Duquesne board, the Dukes aren't finishing strong, emulative at times of Dambrot's time at Akron. Meanwhile, Akron has become stronger as we've approached the end of the season with a much more depleted roster, and the Dambrot/Duquesne supporters on this board struggle to give Groce any support/positive remarks.

Saw that this morning and I am glad to hear it.

"Freshman guard Virshon Cotton sat out because of pink eye." https://www.ohio.com/akron/sports/university-of-akron/university-of-akron-mens-basketball-zips-cant-hold-14-point-second-half-lead-fall-64-62-in-overtime-to-miami This is also the reason he didn't play much at BG on Tuesday night.

I think the picture is clearer now. The only team that's still reachable and currently sitting in a Top 8 spot is Bowling Green, and they have to lose their last two games, we have to win our last two games, and we get the spot in front of them because of the tiebreaker. And winning those last 2 games guarantees that we'd also be in front of Central and Northern for that 8th spot, since we own the head-to-head tiebreaker over them. That would only leave OU (we split with them) as the only other team that could get that spot, depending on the tiebreaker with them. So, if we lose to Buffalo this week, we are definitely going to be somewhere between 9 and 12 and have a road game next Monday, no matter what happens anywhere else as the season comes to an end. I think that's right.

To quote my own post from earlier in the season, "They will still struggle this year until they get some big additions next season". Or something like that. They've still surprisingly doubled their conference wins from a year ago, and have done some things they haven't done in a long time, with a very depleted lineup. I think they've definitely done enough to show that they're pretty close to competing again in that league. Pretty impressive to see them emerging from the shadows of winning only 3 league games last year. Not sure if Keith has enough pieces right now to put together one of his classic conference tournament runs, but it obviously wouldn't surprise me.

Especially Patton. He's scared to shoot the ball. Wish he'd just let it fly. He needs to loosen up.

That pretty well sums it up. Not a good team + fans being spoiled = misery.

This just isn't a good team. Due to circumstances we've discussed at length already, it's understandable - losing Olojakpoke and Sayles turned what would have been an average team into a pretty bad one. We'll be on the road in the First Round, and given our road woes it won't be a surprise if we all save money on The Q this year. The biggest question marks moving forward are if Jimond Ivey and Daniel Utomi are bought into Groce and want to remain committed, how our youngsters work and develop over the summer, who we can land with the open scholarship, and if, with the transfers coming in to a team that SHOULD only lose player, it's enough to get us back to contention in the MAC.

HOLY SH!!!!T!!! Look at Bubba Arslanian equating 605 pounds. According to the tweet Bubba weighs 218.

When your vets can't make a shot in the second half if their lives depended on it, all the while making boneheaded mistakes, questions are easily answered. There were a few questionable coaching decisions, but we had our opportunities to make baskets and didn't.

100% right.

I have a thought. I'm sure it's likely to be many of the top programs. That's only logical, based on the history of corrupt behavior in college athletics as a result of money, and pleasing donors. So, lets put the hammer to all of these schools, and let the rest of us who love COLLEGE athletics start enjoying the competition again on a more level playing field.

Uh oh. You've done it now. You may have just reignited one of the most popular subjects in the history of ZipsNation. Of course, that conversation ties heavily into Football as well. But, I'd say think that after more than a decade of winning to a level that was only matched by 3 other programs in the country, I don't recall one legitimate sign that any "higher" conference was coveting Akron. If it didn't happen then, it's not going to happen anytime soon. Illini....That's only a partial recap of what's transpired in our conversations. But, I think it's safe to say that it would take a whole lot more than just Akron's desire to "move up".

I'd be ok playing a tournament on Mars if it meant getting out of the MAC. In all seriousness, if we left the MAC and weren't able to easily travel to that conference's tournament, I'd be ok saving the money and traveling to the NCAA tournament games. That would be an equally awesome trade-off for me. Far-fetched, but it could happen.