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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.

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

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.

Bud Wentz.

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

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

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

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.

Matchup between two of the most prolific shooting teams in college basketball.

I winter in the Tampa area so getting to the game would be a breeze, but at $250-$700 for anything below the nosebleeds seems excessive. Think I’ll grab some steak and lobster and watch from my recliner. Does the school offer tickets?

Still feels surreal to me.... This year feels different.

91% Polyester, 9% Spandex

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

Remember when Bud Wentz said in an interview that Akron has nicer facilities than JMU a few years back when JMU was the hottest thing in college sports? He was referring to everything that matters to players - practice facility, locker room, rehab, etc. These guys spend 80% of their time in those areas and it's a very easy sell to players/recruits. In addition, they're connected with a life-long financial stability partner in Bud/Wentz Financial Group which is seemingly not something many programs are offering. This is the recipe for the successful culture we are reaping the benefits of as fans. Bud funds the attractions while Groce & his staff find the high character, high skill players that value said attractions. Whatever they do going forward I trust because they damn sure have earned that trust. With that being said, more comfortable seating would go a long way with the community haha.

Who knows if we afford to keep Tavari, Lyles, Shammah, and bring in Evan then?

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.

And what's nice is that I really don't think over a few years it would end up being prohibitively expensive to make the JAR pretty nice for the fans, either. It doesn't need replaced.

I think it can be true that NIL is the most important external factor to success in 2026 and at the same time be true that renovating the JAR (eliminating sideline bleachers alone would be a positive) would improve the fan experience and potentially draw more people. Ultimately, the team should lean into marketing it's players. Our players are genuinely good guys, and I truly believe a big reason my son is hooked on Zips hoops is because of the many wonderful interactions he's had with many of them. The postgame autographs was a terrific start this season.

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.

Kellogg just called Tavari the MAC player of the year! 🤣

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 feel it's unlikely we find a 1st or 2nd All-MAC caliber big in the portal. Perhaps target a sophomore or junior who is still a little raw offensively, but can make an impact on defense. Seeing what Groce and staff has been able to do for the careers of Amani and Freeman I think would make this an attractive spot for a big looking to further develop his game. Amani's offensive production would likely need to be replaced in the aggregate.

I have no doubt after this weekend that Sharron and Eric will be ready to lead this team next year. We will need to use the open roster spots on immediate-impact transfers, but the path is there again for this team to reload and contend for 4 in a row. My biggest question is who fills Amani's role. The coaching staff seemed to lose faith in Barre, and Brisco wasn't able to push for any meaningful minutes this season. Quality portal bigs seem much more difficult to land, though.

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.

The Zips had the easiest path to a championship that I can remember and made it as difficult as possible. Three stressful games that shouldn't have been stressful at all. But in the end, the best team in the conference rose to the top.