RoyalBlu

FWIW, heard a different story. Morales caught an elbow in practice some time after first Akron game. Broken orbital bone. Has since signed (per twitter) with an international team. Also note, since that first Akron game those guys have been playing much better, ... for them. Whichever story is right, was a net positive for them.

What's interesting about this is ... the original standard, the RPI ... is not part of the equation. Indeed, it is mostly forgotten. But it still lives and offers some interesting insights. First, the MAC is not as bad here as everywhere else with a Conference RPI of 16. Second, three MAC teams are ranked 101 or higher (Akron, 45) Third, with a Top 50 RPI the Zips could be considered a NCAA bubble team, although there are no quality (Top 100) wins to support this. That said, going 17-1 in the MAC should carry some weight in and of itself. That 2002 Kent team went 17-1 and had no quality non-con wins to speak of, either. Although, Ball State, Marshall, BG and Miami were all highly regarded 2002 MAC teams -- unlike the rank and file this season. http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_conf_Men.html

Zips should be a sure thing in my book opening round ... the other three games all have some level of upset potential. Beware of Western ... they beat Kent, Eastern and Miami during the regular season.

THIS IS A ROAD GAME ...

If you look around the MAC, pretty much nobody is making even an average (33.3%) about of 3-points as a team, game in and game out. Miami seems decent, but that's about it. Volume shooting is good, I guess, if that's your game. But you have to live and die by it. The fact there are so few even decent post players in the league anymore ... even the 6-7 types ... means every MAC team is pretty much about the same. You'll look good on a good shooting night, and look awful on a bad shooting night.

Thanks for the website link ... Noticed in the 12-team league 8 teams are trending down. Only two teams trending up are Ball State and Eastern Michigan. Interesting. Also noted all top 4 teams in the MAC are loaded with Q4 wins. Doesn't say much for the league. CMU has 2 Q2 wins, both non-con. Ball State has 1 vs. Kent.

That's just it ... statistics say they may be the worst team in the MAC (outside of NIU).

Explain to me how the worst team in the MAC (Kent) is by metrics considered the best team in the MAC by both the NET (127) and Kenpom (131). Waiting.

Look around the league tonight ... every game was in the 80s and 90s. Lots or scoring and lots of 3-point shooting. If nobody in the MAC is going to play any defense, Zips sure look better than most at the 3-point game. Even Buffalo, bad as they are, puts up a lot of points almost every game.

With all these P5 leagues now looking to get 8-10 or more teams in the NCAA Tournament each year, ... the NCAA should really revisit awarding conference champs from Top 20 leagues into the NIT. Mid-majors pay a 'penalty' for being in one-bid leagues. But 10-bid leagues get an extra reward with at least 2 more teams in the NIT. It really is not fair. But FAIR in our society seems no longer viable no matter what the sport-business-etc. is. If you can bend, stretch or even break the rules - especially if you have the money/power to get what you want. So be it.

Then supplement it with some of the TV money. The MAC needs to start moving the needle w/basketball or the league is going to fall more and more behind. FB makes $$ just by being DI, then individually getting big paydays for 2-3 P5 games a year. If the MAC paid its regular season BB Champ $500,000 off the top out of the annual NCAA Tournament pot, that should be incentive for all. As I understand it, the NCAA pot is equally divided between all MAC teams and the league. Right now the MAC is a one bid/one game league as far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned. Going one step more ... I'd say any MAC team that wins a game or games in the NCAA Tournament also gets extra out of the pot ($250,000 per win above split). Incentives are the key, and this day and age there is not much of a bigger incentive than $$$MONEY$$$.

I. agree with all of this. A STRONG financial incentive for winning the MAC regular season, perhaps $500,000 (or more) from the league directly into team NIL. Then a return to 12-team MAC Tournament complete w/4 team bye. First rd on campus. While I'm not a huge fan of reseeding, I could live with it as long as the financials and MAC Tournament format aligned.

Tough day for Kent. Forced more than 20 turnovers, took 20 more shots than Ball State, and still lost. Sullinger has lost his shot. Best player (Safford) done after hip surgery, potential backup, Moss, done, second knee surgery, top local recruit Jonas, MIA. Looks like another long season over there.

At this point, why not just redshirt Mahaffey? ... Unless he is a REAL difference-maker (20-min high-production) player.

WHAT'S THE WORD ON HARRIS. IT'S BEEN ALMOST A MONTH SINCE HE LAST PLAYED.

I think the record is more reflective of 'how' they have played, not 'who' they have played. Ark St., Princeton, had late leads and should have won them both. Perhaps a few more of those type of games make for a better team, but worse non-con record. Zips can go 13-5 in the MAC and I'm not sure they would be any better in March than they are now. That's how bad the MAC is. Zips could also go .500 in the MAC, based on what we see right now, and wouldn't be totally surprised. Disappointed, but not surprised. Non-con schedule showed they can beat bad teams, play with some good teams ... but not sure about winning against good teams.

Yep ... that was the core for a .500 team last year. Guessing they have been playing 10 guys this year for a reason ... so nobody really gets exposed.

Wow ... went to check that Kent box score. Several players not in the Kent lineup? Anybody know. what's up over there. (Kent barely won).

This may surprise folks ... but based off what little I've seen from around the MAC, with his combination of both height and girth Okonkwo may be the biggest post player in the league. There are several taller ... and the round mound at BG may have more girth ... but overall Okonkwo, who has had some double figure rebound games this season, is a more than adequate post player in the MAC. IMO.

A somewhat scary thought .... But at this point even in a pi$$ poor league this year, where would you realistically rank the Zips. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Personally, I do not know. Early on I thought CMU had staying power and Ball State was a joke. Now I think that has reversed. Ohio ??? Toledo ??? Kent ??? BG ??? Akron ??? Questions abound everywhere. Major questions!!! And MAC play starts in 2 weeks. Actually, the most consistent team has been Miami. I would rank them a solid 4 or 5. I think there are teams better, and teams that are worse. Just don't know which ones (although going from the bottom up, I can pick the bad ones).

This might sound weird ... but trying to play a P5 brand of basketball with low-level P5 guys is what got Groce out at Illinois. He's too good of a coach to fall into that trap again. Win with your kind of guys; over-achievers, under-sized gym rats and so forth. Just my opinion. Also ... not middle of the road MAC team ... perhaps most years, but not this year. 2024-25 MAC Basketball sucks. Bad as it looks, Akron still one of the top teams in the MAC. By far.

Horizon League ends a week to 10 days prior to the MAC, and their Tournament ends before the MAC Tournament even begins. That gives their winner at least a week to 10 days of rest and prep before playing a NCAA Tournament game. The tough part about the MAC Tournament is the winner (on Saturday night) barely gets to exhale before (worst case) traveling Tuesday night/Wednesday morning for a Thursday NCAA Tournament game. Just one of those things.

Zips should absolutely steamroll this league. Toledo and Ohio are supposed to be TOP CONTENDERS???? I apologize for past posts on CMU. Awful loss at Valparaiso. What's left. Miami??? ... Kent??? RedHawks have no defense to stop the Zips. Even if Kent's defense is stellar, Zips scoring 60-or more should still be enough to get the job done. What a pi$$-poor league.

Not in this league ... check out some of the scores today (12/14/24) ... Nevermind, here is a wrapup: With BG at Kansas City still to play (drum roll) .. Toledo lost at YSU, Central Michigan lost at Valparaiso and Ohio Lost at Marshall. All of these were essentially .500 teams losing to .500 teams. The only winner was Ball State (well under .500) over Bellarmine (well under .500) a game I would bet was between two sub-Kenpom 300 teams. And don't forget, Bellarmine blew the doors off Toledo not that long ago. If the Zips can't win this league by 3-4 games then shame on Akron. And I say that without knowing if this team is truly really good or not. I know they are good. Just don't know if they are REALLY good. And let's not forget. Ohio and Toledo were expected to be top tier in the MAC this season. Jeez ...

Forgot to add ... other two teams are UTEP and Princeton.