Akron "playing down to competition" is something previously mentioned in this thread. It caught me by surprise, and the poster who wrote it didn't accuse this team of doing so regularly, but it did get me to thinking. In the Groce Era, specifically the contending years, how often does Akron play down to lower competition? By this, I mean losing these games. Many times they can be close, but you can't blow everyone out every night. I based the determination of bad losses on the team's KenPom ranking.
The "Contending Era" of John Groce at Akron started in 2020. That team lost 4 conference games. vs. Toledo, vs. Buffalo, @ Kent, @ BG. Technically, the blowout loss at BG was the worst of the losses as they were 168, but the UB and Toledo games were at home. While the Zips did technically play down in those games, I don't consider them to be really bad losses.
In the wacky 2021, Akron went 12-6 in MAC play, losing their final 3. Two really bad losses in the early stages of MAC play had us reeling. @EMU and @NIU back to back, with EMU being 289 and NIU 337.
Last year, @WMU was 329 and home vs. NIU was 297. Both really bad losses
This year, the worst MAC loss by the numbers is @ Ball State, and that is without X. You could say that the Toledo loss at home was one they should have won, same for @ Ohio. But as far as this year's team goes, they have been really good about being consistent and winning when they are supposed to win. What does this all mean? Nothing really, I just find it interesting. In the regular season, this team hasn't really left a whole lot on the table. They were alone at the top of the MAC after 5 weeks and if they come out on top tomorrow, they will finish the season without any head-scratcher losses in MAC play.
More numbers for funsies:
Groce's final KenPom rankings by year at Akron, ranked:
1. 2020 (82)
2. 2019 (108)
3. 2021 (112)
4. 2022 (126)
5. 2018 (255)
Akron currently sits at 104, and was as high as 95 after beating Kent at home. Again, these numbers are largely meaningless, but tell an interesting story about the program, and the conference as a whole. Remember, the 2019 team lost tons of close games, and tended to play good teams really close. The MAC was pretty loaded that year. Close losses at CMU, at Kent, home vs. Buffalo, at Ball State, and at Bowling Green were absolute killers. LCJ shot <30% from three that season, which really is hard to believe.