kreed5120

Losing our #1 scorer off a team that finished last in the MAC in offense certainly is going to hurt. Groce is going to need to turn water into wine to make us contenders next year. I don't know how he can do it, but for our sakes I hope he does it. He still has 4 years at 650k per year left on his deal. Like it or not we're pretty much stuck with him for the next 3 seasons as I can't see Akron buying out more than 1 year.

Akron consistently has one of, if not the highest, basketball operating budget in the MAC. If your solution is to spend more how do you propose we fund that? That money needs to come from somewhere. Its not like the university is swimming in extra money at the moment that they can reallocate to basketball. Yes, when someone proposes we drop down to D3 they will be laughed at.

I wish Utomi the best of luck wherever he ends up. I'm sure when he committed to Akron in 2015 he wasn't expecting a coaching change and a complete team rebuild. I hope wherever he ends he has an opportunity to make it to the big dance.

This one really hurts. With Utomi I was thinking we'd have a chance to be a top 2-3 team in the MAC next season. We'll see how the roster shapes up, but my new expectation as of now is something along the lines of 7-11. I'm going to hold out judgement until after the start of my season, however, I'm going to begin to sharpen my pitchfork.

I guess that just depends on what the team violation was. I'm guessing it was something fairly major for him to be suspended on senior night. They could very well want to see him break the record, but didn't want to set a bad precedence by showing him preferential treatment. They knew he'd be guaranteed at-least 2 additional games (MAC + postseason tourney) to get the 51 points needed for the all-time record.

Walker is 32 points away from becoming Kent's all-time leading scorer. I'm guessing that played a big part in why they're continuing their season.

I don't know if Akron got asked or not, but based off the below teams it seems the CIT has pretty low standards. Without looking at each teams resume, I'd have to guess Kent is one of, if not the best team, in this field.

Not really a surprise. Now that the novelty has worn off from the CIT and CBI it seems many teams aren't interested in a pay to play tourney.

Mount Union won the OAC this season and still managed to only draw 137 fans to this mid-January game. If the goal is to kill any interest in the basketball program than yes drop down to D3. http://athletics.mountunion.edu/sports/mbkb/2018-19/boxscores/20190118_3966.xml?view=boxscore

You can't pick and choose your conference by sport. Where your basketball program is where your olympic sports need to be. The lone exception is if your conference doesn't sponsor a sport then it can join another conference for that sport as an affiiliate. C-USA basketball has gone way downhill since Memphis got poached. Hell pretty much the only way to watch any the games is via facebook watch. They have next to no national tv games. Even calling it a lateral move would be generous.

Outside of the #1 seeds, which the NCAA committee picks, I don't think there is any mistaking that the NIT committee picks the teams and match-ups that they think will sell the most tickets. It's no coincidence that Toledo is playing an in state school just like it was no surprise when Akron played Ohio State.

Yes, I know who it was directed towards. I just figured I'd actually provide something towards having a productive discussion instead of endless rants.

Honestly, I feel a good place to start is by programs like EMU, NIU, and Miami actually start to invest in their basketball programs. Miami was once the face of MAC. It's incredible to see how much they've fallen in the last 20 years.

The MWC is the only conference ranked below that MAC that had 2 at-large caliber teams. All the others were the product of bid thieves.

When I said the MAC was rated as the ~8th best conference by Kenpom/NET/RPI etc. that factors all 12 teams in.

When I'm saying this was the best year the MAC has had in 20 years I'm not referring just to Buffalo. I'm looking as the conference as a whole spots 1-12. Yes, there have been some years in the last 20 years where the MAC's 2nd best team was better than Toledo this year.

That's factually correct. Our tournament champion got a 6 seed. I believe Kent got a 9th seed in '02. Pretty much every other year since 2000 our conference champion has been a 12-15 seed. Which year(s) since 2000 are you trying to say are better than this year?

1-17 is about what I'd expect us to be next season through 18 games. If people really think we're going to be able to compete with 4-5 scholarships when everyone else has 10-11, they're in for a disappointment.

They got an at-large because VCU failed to win their conference tournament. The same would have been true for the MAC had Buffalo lost to CMU or BG. Both conferences had 1 at-large caliber team. If you don't believe me, just look at Buffalo's seed compared to VCU, dumbass.

He seemed like the obvious candidate from the get go. He played and coached at OU. He has experience recruiting Ohio. He had a 31-17 conference record in his 3 years at Stony Brook.

Since 2005 the MAC East has produced 25 out of the 30 MAC finals teams and accounts for 14 out of the past 15 tournament championships.

First off, I don't think Riak is the ideal C Groce would want for his offense. Riak being here is a byproduct of Groce scrambling for players in year 1 and having some sort of connection with LCJ father, who Riak played for in high school. No C in a Groce offense will be a featured scorer, but he would want a mobile big who can both space the floor to free up the lane for his guards and one who will be able to roll to the basket after setting a high screen. Seeing Riak trying to catch the ball after a high pick and roll to try to score was painful. It's clearly a weakness in Riak's game. I think Xeyrius should be able to do this so it wouldn't surprise me if we see him play 10-15 minutes per game at the C position.

I frequent a MAC sports forum in addition to posting here. Toledo fans enjoy bragging about Kowalcyk 4 MAC West titles as if they mean anything. I find it hilarious. I guess when you haven't made it to the tournament in 39 years there isn't much to brag about.

Never said that. There are a shortage of quality 6'10+ bigs that can move up and down the court without clogging the paint. A slow footed 6'11 C who is a back to the basket scorer will never be something Groce covets. He doesn't run a 1970s style offense. Expect a 6'8 or 6'9 C who can move the court and is able to stretch the floor with his 3-point shooting. That type of player seemed to work out well for Buffalo this year.

It's still to be determined whether or not this will be a 1 bid or 2 year bid for the MAC. It just comes down to whether or not Buffalo loses or not. Are you wanting Akron to move to another conference? If so, what one do you think would accept us while being a clear upgrade over the MAC?