mrelegazna

Unless this competition has their own broadcasting rights (which I doubt), CBS Sports is out of the equation for this one. They don't have rights to the Sun Belt, which is in play here because JMU is the home team. I believe only ESPN has Sun Belt rights.

My thoughts on this stuff: 1) If you live in Summit County, there's a fair chance that public transportation is an option to you to get to games and not have to pay parking. Don't be afraid of the bus. 2) Someone made this point earlier, but there's a tendency for people to think that attendance would improve if they addressed whatever their personal bugaboos are with respect to going to games, but people don't necessarily think like you (the royal you), so stuff that bothers you may not bother a lot of other people, and stuff you're not bothered by might be a problem for others. In the macro, that means catering to/trying to pull in casual fans probably makes more sense financially than appeasing the diehards when those two groups are at odds. In the micro, I'm looking at start times. People are complaining about the 9PM starts, (that's only 3 of 14 home games, although I realize more could be added), and obviously that's being done for TV purposes. Are you sure it's better to tell CBS Sports Network/ESPNU/ESPN2(!) "no" to a 9PM start time, and forsake that TV money, and maybe get some more butts in the seats at the JAR, then it is to foresake those butts and get on TV? This is still a capitalist society and however we improve attendance is gonna take money. As lowly as you may think of UA marketing or athletics financial offices, I doubt they haven't bothered to look at the $ difference between 7PM ESPN+ start times vs 9PM CBSSN/ESPNU/ESPN2 start times. P.S. I doubt a meaningful number of viewers are looking at empty seats on 9PM Friday or for Tuesday night football games and saying OH MY WORD HOW DISGRACEFUL I SHAN'T EVER ENTERTAIN THE NOTION OF WATCHING A GAME WITH THESE AKRON FELLOWS AGAIN AND MY SPORTING OFFSPRING FORSWEAR TO ATTEND THEIR INSTITUTION. P.P.S. I include ESPN2 in this because if you haven't heard, our home game against Toledo is indeed on the Duece on Friday, February 2nd. I am happy about this! 3) As far as societal changes with respect to going to games, I think Covid really messed that up - I must admit I am way less active and going out-y than I was pre-Covid - and I am not alone. That's the only aspect of our attendance issues that really don't have much of an guess on how to resolve. That said... 4) I think both camps are correct in this "promotional gimmicks!" vs. "promote the hell out of the great product on the floor!" debate. These are only anecdotes, and anecdotes are not data. But while I don't live in Ohio anymore, growing up in Akron, I went to a Zips football game that featured the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders performing at halftime (since they were able to be there during football season makes me think this must have been a season opener and probably and Acme-Zip game, speaking of promotions.) I was probably 8 or 9. In front of us in the stands was an older couple, and the woman was wearing a Dallas Cowboys....bandanna? I'm not sure what to call it. Older women wore them all the time on their heads in the 80s or earlier. Anyway, shortly after the third quarter started, they left. 8-year-old me was SO confused about this for about 5 minutes, before it dawned on me....they were only here to watch the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. So, it's like how someone mentioned upthread about people buying tickets just to giveaways and not staying for the game. Do I wish they would stay and become Zip fans and regulars? Of course. But this is better than not coming at all, right? We get their money, we get to count them as paid attendance, and these are beneficial things, no? Fast-forward about 15 years. I drag my sister (pretty much hates sports) and brother-in-law (only cares about the Browns) to a Zips basketball game. Jimmal Ball era. They had a GREAT time and LOVED it. That's the thing about basketball, IMO, that hasn't been mentioned in this thread. If you have good seats, which are plentiful in the JAR, it is thrilling. No other sport can compare (again, my 2 cents here). We weren't even particularly good around this time! We didn't even win the game I took them to (it was a close loss against Miami IIRC)! Now, full disclosure, this did not in fact make them lifelong Zip fans and the only other games they went to were because I went with them and paid for their tickets. But if I can show these non-Zips, non-sports fans a great time simply by taking them to a game with good seats, imagine what is possible with people (students or otherwise) who already care a little bit? I've also been told in this forum we used to indeed fill the JAR for pitched games vs. Cleveland State in the late 80s. Mouse McFadden vs. Eric McLaughlin. If true, how do we recapture that lightning in a bottle? Should we start trying to schedule CSU/YSU yearly (perhaps even for home-and-homes) and promote the hell out of these now-dormant rivalries? Probably not the worst idea. I also think we should partner as strongly as possible with the city of Akron to try to get the whole city aware of, and hopefully then excited about, the Zips. Living in Texas now, the mucky-mucks at Baylor often point out that there's no real connection to the city it's in (Waco). It's like Baylor is its own city, Waco is its own, and the two don't care about the other. If that's at all the case in Akron, it needs worked on ASAP. I personally don't see much value in trying to get people from the surrounding counties, especially those with their own D1 schools or pro teams, to come support the Zips. But this Akron's team, dammit. Summit County's, too. I grew up in Akron. North Hill. I hate the way people make fun of Akron. I am up to my eyeballs in Akron pride. Zips basketball could and should be a gift to the city. The city and the university need to figure out a way to make that happen.

Cleveland State knocks off Ohio tonight. Going into the game, Ohio held a 14-2 alltime record against CSU and the Vikings hadn't beaten the kitties since 1997 or 2000 or thereabouts, I forget when they said exactly. Watched most of it. Fun game.

I'm with you part of the way in that I never root for Can't or Ohio. What should the MAC do for us that they don't?

What poise by the Zips in a hostile environment down the stretch. I love this team.

Good timeout. Like how the Zips are being patient and working the clock. Too often that feels like "playing not to lose," but this seems more unruffled than anything.

Glad Freeman stayed in the game after going down, thereby aborting my heart attack.

Since writing this, Akron has gone 6-15 from deep. If they can prove they can hit 3-pointers decently, the restpf the MAC is toast.

Welp, SDSU read the scouting report. They're daring us to shoot 3's and we are 3-10 from beyond the arc. 6-19 overall shooting for Akron, 47% shooting for SDSU.

Yes, they are instead trying to do a ton of perimeter shooting, with predictable results.

Say hello to LINGARD for me!

It's already over. Last year's NIT finals were held in Vegas, this year, in Indy.

Are you like me? In the seasons where Akron won the regular season but didn't win the tournament, did you look forward to them playing in the NIT? Did you relish their wins over Temple, Florida State, and Houston in that regard? Do you like it when teams like Cal-State Bakersfield make it to the NIT Final Four as an #8 (the lowest in the NIT field), as they did in 2017? Did you notice that last year, the NIT champions, both finalists, and 3 of the 4 semifinalists came from outside the six high-major conferences? (Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC)? Well, too bad! Because that's all over now! No more NIT auto-bids for regular season champs! Instead, LITERAL DOUBLE AUTO-BIDS for EACH (!!!) of the six high majors mentioned above! I am absolutely livid. They can't say teams below these conferences haven't succeeded in the tournament, so this is about money and money only. F*** it. NCAA, follow their lead! Restrict the Big Dance to those conferences only! Yes, mid-majors have excelled there too, and the whole nation loves Cinderella stories so much that it's the literal foundation of the tournament's everlasting popularity, but the MAC tournament champs will not generate as much money for the tournament as Virginia Tech boosters or whoever.

I liked NIU's old court. I like just about all weird and gaudy courts. There. I said it.

Like I said in an earlier post, I also lament that there are no high majors on this schedule, so we agree there. But the Can't schedule last season notwithstanding, it's not an automatic thing that surefire tourney-destined high majors are willing to schedule us. On the other hand, we have ZERO teams scheduled outside of the top 200 at barttorvik.com (Kenpom rankings aren't out yet I don't think) except our opening round Cayman opponent. Instead, we loaded up on teams that are MAC-level and slightly better. I would rather have this schedule than one where we swap in, say, Michigan State and UNC but also swap out a couple for Chicago State and Utah Tech. We already know beating teams like Mississippi State doesn't really move the needle. I love that. It's a steady diet of teams that are MAC level or slightly better, and that should have us greatly prepared for the conference season At any rate, the only way a MAC school is going to get an at-large is if they run the table in non-con against mid- and low- majors, and Akron has never been able to do that. Indeed, Buffalo 2018 is the only example of any MAC school doing it that I can think of. While you may be right that losing to a Top 30 team might not count against you, you would have to beat everyone else either way. The committee has shat on mid-majors for like 20 years now. They will say, "Yes, team X beat Texas, but they lost to Gardner-Webb so ackshually they don't deserve a bid." Hell, the *NIT* is loathe to take on mid-major at-larges, and seeds them way too low IMO when they do. To go undefeated against every team roughly at or near your average conference skill level all year is INCREDIBLY hard. That's why it's so rare. Even that Buffalo team laid an egg against Northern Illinois. So what I'm trying to say is, the at-large talk is very, very hypothetical/academic, and, IMO, doesn't hinge on whether we got that one annual-top-4-seed-tournament-team on the schedule.

The "Field of 68" puts out an incredible comprehensive preview almanac. I'm probably biased since they are very high on the Zips, but it seems like, somehow, they put in the homework on all 360+ D1 teams. Best $20 I spent this year. They have Akron winning the MAC too. They have the Zips #4 in their preseason mid-major top 25. No other MAC team is in it. They have Enrique Freeman as their #4 Mid-Major player to watch. Again, no other MAC players made the cut. Some snippets from their Akron review: "The 2022 NCAA Tournament appearance is still fresh in the minds of Zip nation. Usually, it’s a stretch to draw parallels between teams two years apart. However, there are some déjà vu vibes brewing with this 2024 rendition." "As a coach, it’s not always wise to look backwards and fixate on what worked in the past. Today, competitors adapt, players change and the game itself continuously evolves. For John Groce, however, a stroll down the 2022 memory lane may illuminate a proven path back to the NCAA Tournament in 2024." "The boomerang transfer return of Ali Ali will light the way, as will the impending return of Mikal Dawson, a quasi-starter on the 2022 squad who missed last season with injury. The reunion of Ali and Dawson is a storybook backdrop to what could be a special season for the Zips. " "Don’t let Sammy Hunter get lost in the frontline shuffle, especially after his coming-out party in March." "Rookie Darrion Baker is a man-child in the middle and may be plugged in to bigger bully lineups. If he played anywhere else in the league, Baker could be a fringe starter." "In short, Akron’s combination of depth, talent and experience is second to none in this league." "In the team’s foreign tour this summer, Freeman displayed a newfound comfort zone along the perimeter, including shooting 3s off movement. That’s a scary proposition for the rest of the league, assuming he can convert at a high clip. The same goes for Dawson, who must regain his shooting stroke and shake off a year’s worth of rust." "Don’t dismiss this perimeter nucleus. There are question marks, sure, but Groce’s hit rate with freshmen and transfers deserves the benefit of the doubt. " "The bedrock of the backcourt is Greg Tribble, a defensive specialist who sets the tone for Akron’s coverage. Tribble’s offensive limitations can be frustrating, but his defensive value more than outweighs those flaws. He’ll be asked to run point in spurts this year, though his upside as a lead creator is limited by his rim-or-bust shot diet." "Another guard on deck is Ryan Prather Jr., a former three-star recruit who redshirted last season. It’s not often three-star prospects are slapped with the redshirt tag in this conference, further proof of Akron’s depth and robust internal competition. Groce said Prather was still nursing an injury over the summer, so he may not be cleared to play until fall." "The rocketship that is Hunter, coupled with the return of Dawson, gives Groce an endless supply of wings and forwards to play with." "The roster imbalance, however, portrays the perimeter as the Zips’ weakness. Whether that’s actually true or just a misnomer, comes down to Thornton, Scott, Tribble, Nate Johnson and Tavari Johnson. Collectively, this quintet runs the gamut of prototypes — but none is a bona fide scorer." "'Guys like Xavier Castaneda, and (Loren) Cristian Jackson — those guys were scorers,' Groce said. 'Our scoring this year will be carried from the frontline. We need the point guards to make open shots, but their primary job will be facilitating for others and defending.' On that note, role acceptance will also be pivotal this season."

11/6 @ South Dakota State 11/11 SOUTHERN MISS 11/14 HEIDELBERG 11/19 FIU, Cayman Islands Classic 11/20, Marshall or Utah State, Cayman Islands Classic 11/21, Oakland, Drake, Loyola Marymount, or Stephen F. Austin, Cayman Islands Classic 11/28 @ UNLV 12/5, BRADLEY 12/9, @ Northern Kentucky 12/17, MIAMI-HAMILTON 12/21, GARDNER-WEBB 12/30, St. Bonaventure, in Cleveland While I too would've liked them to have swapped one of the non-D1s for a P5, this schedule is damn solid. I know some of this (like the returns of home-and-homes) shakes out to luck, the only D1 team out of the barttorvik.com top 200 on this schedule is FIU at 205...and we didn't schedule them, we were assigned them in the Cayman Island Classic. Besides that, everyone else (unless we play Oakland on the last day of Cayman) is ranked #176 or higher. In other words, ALL of them are ranked in the top half of the D1 ranks (362 teams).

All of the feels. *Think about how not only did these four seniors adamantly want to stay, but Ali Ali wanted to come back (and for the record, I think it's great Groce welcomed him back with open arms rather than being petulant and prideful about it). It demonstrates how much Groce creates an environment that players WANT to stay in, and that's worth its weight in gold. Yes, we will still lose players, including good ones who have a place on this team, to the transfer portal. But if we are doing that at a rate that's markedly less than other schools, how valuable is that? *I'm a sucker for weird/random trivia, and "Enrique Freeman worked in HR at the Rock and Roll HOF" is a great one. *Can't find anything about his Topps deal. Where can I get some Topps Freeman cards/merch? I'd rather support them than Barstool.

I wonder if we'll pick up another Western US game in addition to UNLV. That's quite a trip for a single game.

Yep. People are going to call this an overreaction but: fire Joe Moorhead now. By doing it now we hopefully have a head start on 2024 not being a lost season.

Yes, this is quite common in D1 vs. non D1 games in basketball. It's exhibition only for the lower-classified school so they don't have to take an L along with that sweet buy-game money in a game that, frankly, they have absolutely no chance of winning.

I can't recommend highly enough to bookmark D1 Docket if you're interested in finding out who we schedule OOC as soon as possible year after year. The dude meticulously documents all OOC schedule info throughout the country, often using the FOIA to find the contracts that reveal such games. Based on that source, we have ten games thus far (2 more than that ESPN link at the moment), below, including getting the answer to the eagerly-anticipated question of who our non-D1 opponent is this year. Teaser: It's not Concord! 11/6 @South Dakota State 11/11 SOUTHERN MISS 11/19 FIU, Cayman Islands Classic 11/20, Marshall or Utah State, Cayman Islands Classic 11/21, Oakland, Drake, Loyola Marymount, or Stephen F. Austin, Cayman Islands Classic 12/5, BRADLEY 12/9, @ Northern Kentucky 12/17, MIAMI-HAMILTON 12/12, GARDNER-WEBB 12/30, St. Bonaventure, in Cleveland Miami-Hamilton, you ask? Yes! They are a branch of Miami of Ohio, of course. They aren't D2! They aren't D3!, SO HELP ME GOD, THEY AREN'T EVEN NAIA! No, the "Harriers" are a part of something called the USCAA! They play in a conference called the Ohio Regional Campus Conference, which they share with our own dearly beloved Wayne College branch. Gardner-Webb is the other heretofore unrevealed opponent. D1 Docket's shading indicates Akron's schedule is "unreleased," which means it's at least possible there are more games to be added.

The 2023 edition of The Basketball Tournament is underway, and as best as I can tell, only one former Zip is taking part. Remember B.J. Gladden? Of all people. Started 9 games for the 14/15 Zips before transferring to Georgia Southern. He's on the team JUCOPRODUCTS, #7-seed in the Wichita region and taking on the #2-seed, Heartfire. It'll be on ESPN+ at noon ET tomorrow, hopefully we will have better luck than we did waiting for XC to enter summer league games for the Clippers.

I move to close this thread down until the season begins. Reason: Tired of getting heart attacks seeing this at the top of the page and thinking he's been injured or entered the portal.