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I looped Shammah's game winner to easily show just how many Akron fans were in the crowd. Normally you can see a definitive line where Akron's fans are vs. the opponent's fans. Not Saturday night; Akron fans wrapped all the way around. 11k in attendance and probably ~9k were Zips fans. Previous MAC title games - including vs. Kent - only saw 7-8k total attendance. What an incredible showing by Zips Nation!

From The Athletic

"I don't know that it's lucky when you do it 4 times in 5 years.". Groce's response to Tod's comments at the selection show party.

Bud Wentz.

I found out when I went to the game in Pittsburgh a couple years back, that you can buy the gear they sell at the Tournament games online through the company that handles the sales. For example, you can get the March Madness shirt that will be sold at the arena here: https://www.event1teamstore.com/d-i-m-basketball-single-team-shirt-champion-jersey-short-sleeve-tee-fgdca151467a-fw1001024-fgdca151467a.html#color=187 They also have shirts for each site (e.g., there will be a shirt specific to the Tampa site) but they don't all seem to be added yet: https://www.event1teamstore.com/basketball-0/division-i-9/mens-44/1st-2nd-rounds.html Plus, they appear to offer free shipping! EDIT: They appear to have now added the Tampa site shirts but don't have the actual artwork yet, just conceptual artwork. Maybe check back tomorrow.

I enjoyed this blurb at the end.

I will be looking to see which team scores more points. That should determine the outcome.

We haven't won a tourney game before - I'm all for mixing it up.

In 2022 we were +13.5 against UCLA, 2024 +12 vs Creighton, 2025 +14.5 vs Arizona This is our best chance

I know the MAC list was shared before, but here is a more complete list of what ~200 D1 men's basketball programs that way you can see how we compare to other top mid-majors. It should be noted that this list doesn't include private schools since they aren't subject to public record requests. https://www.extrapointsmb.com/p/here-s-what-it-costs-to-make-a-run-in-march-madness

Another great website for merch is: https://1870market.uakron.edu/. Last year they had some cool tourney exclusive stuff, I'll keep my eye out to see if they do anything unique this year again. Each purchase includes a donation to a UA Alumni Assoc. Scholarship.

I made the mistake of buying tickets early for the Creighton game in Pittsburgh a few years back. I think they were ~$200 a piece +/-. The day before the game or the day of, they were $30 each. Outside of Florida, I'm not sure you're going to get a huge draw from many other fan bases. Heck, even Florida fans might not be interested in the spending the money to see them play Lehigh or PVAMU. Clemon & Bama might bring some, but the Pittsburgh location a few years ago had Kentucky playing later that day and prices still plummeted. Be patient and keep an eye on ticket prices.

When looking back at the Zips season, they had 5 losses and three of those losses were away losses to teams that made the NCAA tourney including Purdue, Miami, and Troy. The Yale loss was on a neutral court and one of the best games all season and that game went back and forth till the very end. Yale is in the NIT and lost out on an NCAA bid in overtime. The away loss to Murray State was our only bad loss of the season.

If your employer offered you 2 options which are you taking? 1) Build new office with on-site gym, nice green space, and insert a few other amenities but have a pay freeze on all employees for 5 years to help fund. 2) 25% immediate pay bump with 10% annual pay increase, but you have to keep working in your functional ~40 year office building. I don't think people realize the players have a nice locker room and practice facility. In fact, in an article in the Toledo Blade multiple coaches on other MAC teams said they were envious of Akron's facilities. The wooden bleachers is a fan problem, not a player or coach one.

I wanted to make a bracket group for us here. I have it set up on ESPN and you can have up to 3 brackets each. I encourage you to have Akron winning the whole thing as one of your three! https://fantasy.espn.com/tc/sharer?challengeId=277&from=espn&context=GROUP_INVITE&edition=espn-en&groupId=0cb75e53-4c2b-4693-84ae-48cd2ba88261

Something tells me Kowalchoke is enemy #1 at Akron right now.

The secret to Calhoun's success for sure!

I went over to YSU for the preseason scrimmage. It is a very nice cozy facility and the sight lines are good. The bleacher seating on the ends is a little goofy but I'd be happy with a similar reno for the JAR.

Summer of 2024 i believe YSU spent @2 million to replace ALL the seats at Beegly center with new chairbacks floor to ceiling on the sides. The Zildjen family paid a big chunk of the cost. Beegly and Rhodes arenas are very similar. That reduced seating from 6300 to 4633. Central Michigan's Rose arena was also very similar. Retractable bleachers upstairs, chairs down. They did a sizable renovation ,(20 million in 2010) that increased seating from 5200 to 5300 utilizing angled seating in corners. It was a nice facility with cushioned theater seats everywhere but endzones, though it did not have a centerhung scoreboard

They keep saying it'll be a home game for Miami OH. I won't believe it until I see a +20 Free Throw Attempt advantage for the Redhawks.

I didn't start one thinking the tournament thread covered it as it did not the past, but have at it!

~40% from 3P and we win this game. Maintain an up-tempo pace - run these guys out of the gym. They're not deep, they're not tall, and Akron is due. Play with confidence.

Coach Groce got choked up yesterday at the Watch Party talking about Bud Wentz and how he believed in his vision for the program when he first came in. He genuinely seems to love Akron and being here. I'm not saying programs won't reach out - they wouldn't be doing their job if they didn't - but I would be surprised if he left.

I'd be hammering SMU. UMass shot 3-15 (20%) from 3P and beat Miami OH because of 6'9" Bettiol. SMU has a 7'2" C and 4 guards/forwards that shoot 37% or better from 3P.

where would the Zips be had the Abreu situation not happened? probably the ACC.

I have the zippy head cover, it replaced my HS golf Brutus buckeye one. It definitely is trying to look like zippy

Coach just took the beatdown stick to Tod on espn cleveland. Said the success is about preparation and hard work. Mentioned” “the other coach” said they were living a charmed life and dismissed it. We are so lucky to have him.

Now, today the news is coming out that he's retiring.

Here is a down and back same day option. CLE-TPA-CLE. Airfare, game ticket and 2 uber trips. No Hotel or evening bar tabs.

91% Polyester, 9% Spandex

It's lightweight. I can't find a tag so unfortunately can't tell you the material.

Awesome!

Christian Anderson - their leading scorer with JT Toppin out - was the guy who slipped on the glass court in the Big 12 tourney and hurt his groin. Would be a shame if Shammah or Tavari hit him with a crossover hesi and he tweaked it again.

12:40 Friday on TruTv is what I'm hearing.

Friday 12:40 pm

We want Hofstra!

Yes, they wear OSU gear, but they're mainly OSU football fans. 99% of them don't follow OSU basketball. I wouldn't be surprised if many are UNC or Duke bandwagon fans for hoops.

Okonkwo was at the game last night and the watch party.

3 things. 1) The MAC does the conference no favors by having the conference schedule be on Tuesdays with big games flexed to Friday nights. Both days are boys high school basketball game nights in Ohio. Seeds 1-6 this year were all the Ohio schools, meaning a good chunk of their prospective attendance is being eliminated during the regular season. 2) We need to find the money for a JAR renovation. I know Kaulig is mainly on the football side, but he could really plant his flag at the University and help both basketball and football by getting naming rights on both the JAR and Info. 3) Home opponents need to be better.

I like it, UA can win this!! Best matchup we've had IMO.

I don't think the JAR is necessarily a dump. Nonetheless - if I were a player I'd rather play in a "dump" with a bag than a new arena without one. I don't think UA can pat their head and rub their stomach and do both with all the recent financial problems. Like someone else said, there is just better ROI in NIL.

https://open.substack.com/pub/akronzippedup/p/akron-zips-mens-basketball-weekly-1ad?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email Excellent summary of tournament from Zipped Up.

I already gave kudos to Evan, but watch…with 6 seconds left here again his defense slows the ball down. And then he pokes the ball away. Toledo does get a shot off, but it was a frantic heave because of Evan’s disruption.