kreed5120

The college basketball season officially got underway today, with Villanova and Notre Dame tipping things off in Rome. The majority of teams will get their seasons started tomorrow. Below are the Sun Belt matchups for Round 1, along with the current point spreads. The MAC is favored in 5 of the 12 matchups, but the lines are relatively tight across the board. Should make for some competitive and entertaining basketball! Georgia State -4.5 vs. BG Troy -3.5 vs. UMASS Arkansas State -3.5 vs. Toledo South Alabama -1.5 vs. Ohio James Madison -1.5 vs. Miami (OH) Coastal Carolina -1.5 vs. EMU Marshall -1.5 vs. Buffalo Old Dominion +1.5 vs. WMU Georgia Southern +2.5 vs. Ball St. ULM +3.5 vs. CMU Louisiana +5.5 vs. Akron Louisiana Tech +5.5 vs. Kent

Thanks!

These road games in the SunBelt challenge haven't treated Akron well. It should be a good early season test.

It was a different time. Prior to ~2018 there was no reason we couldn't compete in the MAC other than our ineptitude. Our facilities were top notch. Enrollment was booming. Since then enrollment has plummeted and players are now paid to transfer every year, which we can't keep up with financially. The deck is stacked against programs like Akron. You need money to compete and we just don't have it.

My least favorite is Ianello. If there was anytime that Akron was in a position to make noise in the MAC it was when enrollment was pushing 30k and we had a new stadium to sell recruits, students, and fans. Ianello ruined any sort of momentum midway through his first season at the helm.

There is still winless NIU

Good to hear. He rarely attempted them at WMU so I didn't know that was part of his bag.

I can certainly see teams wanting to pack the paint against us as they won't respect Evan/Barre/Buddy/Burton jump shot. Hopefully Evan or others improved their range in the offseason. Otherwise we'll likely need to rely more heavily on defense to create offense and creating extra possessions with offensive rebounds.

Out of curiosity what makes it better? I haven't had the chance to make it to one of the events there yet so was wondering what I'd expect if I did attend in the future.

New promo video for the season. Checked FTR thinking there might be something new in store, but nothing that I saw. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1E7nr3Q1Pf/

Not even sure what a lot of these promos even could be. 1/30 is also the day womens basketball hosts Kent State so I would hope that would be a double header as well. I think the women's program, while not MAC contenders, should be improved. It could be a game worth attending. Looking forward to LCJ returning to the JAR. Which Zips player do you guys think is next in line to have a jersey ceremony?

Tipoff Reception tomorrow for those interested in attending. https://x.com/Dustin_Ford/status/2115940480198578606?a=iWcRO6sWU35Zf5ywLBY&s=19

I'm not sure that's the correct way to look at it. Top 3.4% play D1 3.4%-5.3% play D2 5.3%-7.8% play D3 Anyone who played D1 likely had options to play D2 or D3. Most who played D3 didn't have options to play D1. Obviously there are exceptions. Therefore I would say D1 is naturally more challenging to get into even though it has a higher player count.

More than 56. I distinctly remember a stretch in the 2nd half that Hammer and Barre were on the court together.

2/3 of G6 coaches stated they would be in favor of a separate playoff for G6 schools. Would love to read the article, but it's behind a paywall. https://x.com/On3/status/2115796200750190908?a=irFWmqVBvDlzxO2U2PE&s=19