mrelegazna

I posed the same question on the MACBBS, and pretty much got the same answer that Pouch gave. Basically, they compare how you did against common opponents, one at a time, from the top of the rankings down and the first discrepancy breaks the tie. So we would start with Miami. We were 1-1 against the Redhawks. They were 2-0. Game over. We lose the tiebreaker.I kind of think they should compare records from the bottom UP. Which is more meaningful, that they swept Miami where we could only manage a split, or that they chunked one (at home, no less) against Bowling Green? You should be able to take care of the weak sisters of the conference before comparing records against the stronger teams of the conference.

I think this is a good idea. I hate Ophew more than anyone but Can't, but I want that #1 seed for us and would be more than happy to watch the kittycats take the flushes down.If the green shirts said something "OU fan for 2 hours...GO ZIPS!" or something far more clever, that'd be great. Remember, this is the same TV crew that gave the Ak-Rowdies two praising mentions of their infiltration of the Can't student section last month...hence it'll be that much easier to get that TV recognition for your efforts again, should the Rowdies come up with something good.

That's pretty funny since I have had a similar experience...a few years ago, I went to a cousin's wedding in Oregon (Portland Area), and when I told a couple people where I was from, they...they were not cool. Their attitude was sort of, "So what's it like to go from a rustbelt hellhole to paradise for a few days?"Oregon's beautiful and I had a great time, but MAN a lot of the locals are cocky, to say the least.

Do you really think there's a lot of recruits that would end up at Akron if not for Ohio State offers? It's a different level. It might be true that they pull more fans from us than other MAC schools, because small towns like Athens and Ohio tend to rally around the local team more than bigger cities...but is this a bigger problem for us than it is for Toledo, or even Can't and BG (in the shadows of those cities) in terms of fan support? Anyway, count me among the many posters (although the poll itself is going the other way) that roots for both (raised in Akron, attended OSU). I'll even take it a step further and say my passions for each is equal. However, I do root for Akron when they take on each other because a win in that scenario would benefit Akron far, far more than it would hurt OSU. I also buy more Akron gear/watch them on tv more if there's a conflict with OSU/etc., because OSU doesn't need my support. Well, neither does Akron, but you know what I mean.

So it turns out Rowdy and everyone else was actually too conservative...That's what I'm talkin' about!!!

Look at Miami spanking Can't 17-3 in the MACC center as I write this.This is a team the SQUEAKED by us in Oxfoed 3 days ago. I think Rowdy Zip might be right...we may win this afternoon by double digits and set ourselves up to run the table to finish off the regular season.

This team is not in a "spiral." This was a road game against one of the best teams in the MAC (who absolutely had to win to keep any realistic hopes of winning the MAC East) and the Zips lost by three. Could they have won if they didn't make certain mistakes? Sure. Is there a team that has ever lost a close game that CAN'T say that? Maybe Georgetown in their loss to Villanova in 83 or whenever is was.Based on the radio play, it sounds like they played pretty well defensively but suffered from some poor shot selection and Joyce trying to do too much. I don't see the being a problem at home or at Quicken and I don't think they are losing to Ohio on Saturday.

Damn.

Down by 1 with about 1:30 to play...excruciating...

Great post!!!Hard to disagree with any of it. If I must find fault, I agree with sgm that Can't's impressive victories should be measured against not just their questionable losses (which Akron doesn't have) but their shaky OT wins. But that may be me being biased.I think 9 losses gets the Zips in the NIT, ten does not.

I'd rather it turns out that Miami is actually more like the team that needed OT to beat Ball State at home. If they are as strong as we think they are, it does not bode well for Akron tonight, as they lost their other road games against the "Big Four."

Whew! For a second there I was afraid no one would make a make a divisive, antagonistic, unrelated political statement.Sincerely, A "Demoncrat" Zip fan who probably deserves to be called filthy and stinking for my beliefs in the course of talking/reading about Zip Basketball.

That's a question begging for it's own thread.When I was living in the dorms at Ohio State (don't hit me...Akron's my hometown, but Ohio State represented teenage FREEDOM that Akron couldn't because my parents weren't 130 miles away...you know the 18-year-olds think), this kid I barely knew from a few doors down got so plastered that he urinated on my front door. You see, he honestly thought he was in the restroom because if you went up the stairs to my floor and took a right instead of a left, you would be in front of the restroom instead of in front of my door. I would describe his thought process and execution as a Can't effort.

Man, this is the dumbest debate ever. Look, if you don't log a lot of minutes, your %s are going to most likely be very skewed, and they can be skewed either way. You could go 3-3 and have a 3 point % of 100% or you could go 0-3 and have a % of 0%. Either way, the sample size is way too small to be indicative of anything. So really, you're both wrong.

What a find!Paging Antonio Gates...have any more "stepchildren" comments to make for the umpteenth time? At least RT didn't put it in writing.

As a mostly-lurker, let me just say thanks for that, CK.Big Zip always seem to bring up fair points and I don't think Willy's obviously personal axe to grind is shared by anyone else and is getting a bit tiresome.Anyway, the half-full way to look at it is, maybe any of them can conceivably step up if it comes down to that. I agree with Preston. I might give Dials a chance to shoot the big three if needed. On the other hand, with as many bigger guys with range this team has, at least we should be able to get a shot off in a do-or-die situation, which not every team can do.

So is it that Bracketbusters is a well-intentioned idea that doesn't go far enough (ie., they need to put us not just on TV, but prime time), or the Bracket busters is a ruse they created to make us think they are trying to help us but only keeps us down?

Even undefeated, would they really break the top25?If Nevada were ranked, that might be different. If they would put Bucknell in the top 25 with three losses, what (other than the usual "because the media wants to keep us down!" self-fulfilling prophecy) makes anyone think they wouldn't rank Akron if they had a similar or better w-l record/SOS?

ZipAnalyst, the only way that would work is if everybody (with the possible exception of low majors like the SWAC or the Mid-Continent, but if they get that once-in-a-lifetime team that gets a high RPI, they would want included), all of 1A, kept that weekend wide open, in case they qualify. Not gonna happen.The article strikes me as "The Bracket Busters don't benefit my team, therefore it needs to be remade" take 3, 716.What neither the article nor Zip Analyst takes into consideration is logistics, which MUST play a huge part in something like this. Going into this year, all teams involved in both the premiere, televised Bracket Buster games, and the CMU-Morehead State clunkers is this: You will be participating, and you will be at home (or on the road).If they turn it into a thing where teams may or may not participate depending on how they do, it throws the logistics out of whack. Can we reserve the arena for this high school band competition for the weekend? Don't know. Might have bracket busters that week, might not. We'll just have to see. And that's just the beginning, just one example.The present format allows teams to plan around it, way in advance, as much as possible. They only last-second detail is the opponent. If you're not involved with logistical planning, it may seem easy to work around this stuff, but it's not. Hell, the NFL had to move hell and high water to move the freaking SUPER BOWL up a week in 2001 because of 9/11, and pay the Auto Dealers of America a boatload of money (IIRC) to have their convention another week. It's stuff like that that makes wait-and-see scenarios impossible.

....of non-area markets of those who receive Fox Sports Ohio on Directv.That makes me very, very nervous. I'd been able to watch all MAC games on FSO until this one. I'm HOPING it's because the game was also carried on ESPN Full Court. Otherwise, FSO has picked up the theme of the regional Fox networks that carry SEC and Big XII games and blacking out games if you don't live in SEC/Big XII country. I honestly don't understand why anyone does this except "to eff over our alumni who no longer live in the area." I'm going to see if I can find a phone # for Fox Sports Ohio and find if they plan on blacking out BGSU/Akron outside of Ohio on Tuesday. They're gonna get a serious earful from me if they do.

Any place at all worth its salt that calls itself a sports bar should have a satellite system and hence, ESPNU. Damon's, for starters. You may have to call them up ahead of time to request that they show it (and how sad is it that that might be necessary in the Akron area?)But, if I was in town, I would definitely go see it at the JAR.

That sucks about ESPN Full Court. And since I signed up for the Sports Pack as soon as I got directv, I didn't realize that it wasn't part of the standard programming. But no matter. If you get Directv and don't get the Sports Pack, sign up for it Friday and cancel it on Saturday... Thanks for dropping by and being a good ambassador, CLPack. Looking forward to the game, good luck the rest of the season.

I am still feeling ambivalent about this.On one hand: Not only is ESPNU not as good as ESPN2 or ESPN, but it gets worse: They designated two games for the ultimate bottom of the barrel, Internet-only, not-available-in-all-areas ESPN360. And which two bracket buster games were deemed to be so shitty they had to be moved to the internet? The Ohio and Buffalo games, of course. That said, ESPNU is a) Better than nothin', More widely available than Fox Sports Ohio or ONN, and c) I think moving it to a Friday was actually a nice consolation prize to not getting on ESPN/ESPN2. The only college basketball it will be up against will be Providence/Cincinnati, and only for the first half...if someone wants to watch live CBB from 10-11 that night, we're it. In terms of exposure, I'd rather have that than be lost in a sea of six other games, even if we did get on "The Deuce." If you are determined to see this game, you will....just go to any bar. It's on directv and Dish Network's package, and it's availabe on a growing amount of cable carriers.Nevada is very strong and while it may hurt tthe Zips to have to make this trip in terms of having enough gas for the rest of the season, a big part of me is excited and glad they got a real challenging opponent.That Marist/ODU game getting better billing is insanity, but really, UWM/Missouri State pretty much deserve it. Besides the RPIs, The MAC is freakin' 0-8 against the MVC, and although they have a winning record against the Horizon, UWM is the conference leader and incumbent champion.

I normally am not an advocate of conspiracy theories, but I think the East Coast bias is in play here. It leads them to take non-East Coast teams lightly. That said, I don't think anyone was saying "How can we eff over Akron and the MAC? You know, keep them down?" I am also pretty sure that the MAC, over the last ten or fifteen years, has gotten two NCAA bids more often than one. If not, then it's at least got to be pretty close. But not in the last couple years...which is what you can focus on if you want to believe the world is out to get us or doesn't respect us...which is the prevaling theme on every single team's board in every single team's sport, college or pro.We should be celebrating tonight...Can't lost, and they only way anyone can truly stop making us play is by beating us.

Seconded. I don't find the banners/popups particularly distracting and I appreciate that they are necessary to preven the site from becoming a money pit. You may want to reconsider your browsing philosophy.