kreed5120

I've vocally criticized the MAC over the past year, but I'll give it it's due tonight. They went a perfect 4-0 tonight. They were favored in all 4 match-ups, but winning games that you're expected to win hasn't been the MAC's strong suit.

I'm surprised by the number of people who are expressing interest in an all tournament ticket. I wouldn't have guessed so many would want to sit on wooden bleachers for ~5 hours to watch both the Akron game plus 2 random cupcakes playing.

As a Zips fan, this would probably be for the best. I could just view the boxscore after work to see they lost. No need to waste hours of my evening watching the pathetic product we've been putting out the past ~15 years.

I couldn't imagine the PR hit Akron would take absorbing ~$1 million in payout hit for firing the coach and his staff at a time we're discussing major layoffs. Then again given Akron's track record of being poorly managed and being a PR nutcase, it would be onpoint.

It's a much bigger issue than the MAC commissioner. BGSU, Miami, and WMU all arguably are more committed to hockey than they are basketball. It's not like he can dictate how schools spend their limited resources. 5-10 years ago the MAC tried to introduce incentives to reward regular season and post season success by paying out larger shares of NCAA tournament credits to teams that do well. The issue is the MAC more times than not doesn't make it past the 1st round of the tournament so the MAC isn't earning enough credits to make the incentives large enough to motivate teams to compete. It's more profitable for CMU to forego the incentives and take paychecks to play on the road.

Yes, and St. Mary's is very much on par with the middle to bottom half of P4 schools. If he doesn't want to face the Kentucky's of the world there is no real difference between a St. Mary's and an Ole Miss.

The basketball program actually has enough donor support to cover a healthy chunk of its bills. Without people like Bud Wentz it probably would be whored out like CMU and several other MAC basketball programs. It's much more expensive to run an FBS program, especially given that we're still paying on that monstrosity. I know Kaulig gifts a lot for football, but you need a much larger pool of large financial backers to be competitive in football. Especially in this day and age of NIL.

I think you're more optimistic than I am. This is an entirely new roster and very few of these guys have previously played together. It's going to take time for this team to hit their stride.

Ohio, the preseason MAC favorite, now sits at 1-4. This is a borderline low-major conference now. About on par with the Horizon League. Crazy to think 5 years ago this was a borderline top 10 conference.

We got ran off the court against St. Mary's. What do you think would happen if we played Indiana, North Carolina, Kentucky, etc.?

Some people are impossible to please. They say football schedules too tough and then complain basketball doesn't schedule tough enough. The reality is we already lost the 2 measuring stick contests we had. At this point OOC only value is to sort out rotations and build chemistry. This is a completely new group of players. It's going to take time before they peak. Also, these schools are as good, if not better, than several of the schools that we'll play in MAC play.

If we beat Toledo next week then I'd say a corner might have been turned. Beating a team that might be the worst team in all of division 1 (including FCS) that we were double digit favorites against doesn't really mean much. It's too early to predict what our record would be next year. I'll make a guess once the transfer portal period is over.

Kenni probably bet the under.

They lost to St. Francis who lost to non-scholarship Dayton. They aren't just bad by FBS standards. They would be near the bottom of FCS as well.

Kent has a way of making a lot of teams look good...

Yes, not to mention the Big 10 pays out $60M+ to each school alone. A number that will only continue to increase. Also, ticket prices will be considerably higher compared to Akron. The main difference between the schools is Northwestern is flush with cash to spend. Akron can't even afford training tables for its program...

For those of us not in the know, what background does George come from?

Coming into this season I felt the MAC would be improved in the middle and bottom of the conference, but weaker at the top compared to last season. It's still early, but so far that appears how it's shaping up.

He clearly hasn't been the same after the injury. I'm not sure if it's physical, mental, or a combination of both.

We need to do better as a team of rebounding. They missed a total of 35 field goals. Of those St. Mary's got 20 offensive rebounds on their misses. That's just not a winning formula. Even if it means sacrificing fast break opportunities, we need all 5 defenders crashing the glass.

I didn't watch the game so I didn't want to comment, but that's how I imagine it played out. Teams generally get very conservative in the 4th quarter on both offense and defense to protect a big lead. Getting away from the things that built them that lead in the first 3 quarters. Allowing easy underneath completions and blitzing less on defense. On offense instead of taking shots down field, they look to run the ball or high percentage completions to both keep the clock running and to avoid costly turnovers that might allow the opposing team back into it.

Feed the hot hand. Draw a play for Scott.

Interesting to fire an OC in year 1 of a rebuild. We'll have to see what his next endeavor is. https://www.nfl.com/news/raiders-fire-oc-luke-getsy-following-blowout-loss-to-bengals-2-7-start-to-season

This reminds me of the Ralph Kiner story about his negotiations with the Pirates as a player. If we can finish last (or next to last) with them, we can certainly finish last without them. There isn't a player on this team I'd lose sleep over losing.

Turnovers have been a common theme that has plagued this team all season. The ability to deliver accurate passes, make good decisions under duress, and protecting the ball as a carrier are also skill sets. We are clearly less skilled than our opponents in those facets.