Zippy87

If Halligan is less than 100% - and I think he clearly is - why not? It is what it is though, he'll play 2 minutes and sub out.

I've never understood Halligan starting, personally. He should have always had an MMK-type of role, 5-10 minutes, max, and matchup-dependent, not starting and playing 15-20 minutes a night. I'd start Eric, especially tonight against a Toledo team that can struggle rebounding. But I understand not wanting to rock the boat, too.

Predictions for tonight? We destroyed them on the glass in our meeting at the JAR. 37-25 overall and 16-7 on the offensive glass. Could be key tonight.

Thank you!

Lyles' ability (normally) to stretch the floor opens up the lane for Tavari, Shammah, and Sharron. I can't see Groce telling a normally-good shooter to stop shooting 3s because of two bad games.

Saturday we will play for the MAC Championship for the 13th time in the last 19 seasons. We are truly fortunate to have had KD and now Groce, and a ton of really fun and talented players over that timespan.

A few thoughts: - I would love to see Eric be more aggressive offensively. He's been tentative on that end in the first two games. - Sharron hasn't gotten it going offensively, but his defense and energy has been huge. Had some big plays tonight. -Halligan is pretty clearly less than 100%. - MMK gave us some important minutes tonight. - I am going to miss watching Tavari and Shammah next season. Such a special duo. - Hopefully Amani hitting those two free throws late give him a confidence boost. It seems like it is mental for him right now. We need him tomorrow.

Does it fit true to size?

Let's not repeat yesterday and think this game is over. Start out strong in the 2nd half and don't let up.

I bet Jerrod Calhoun gets Cincy. You never know what a person is thinking of feeling, but I don't know if Groce would be as successful with his culture-building style at a P4 school. Most P4 recruits are about the paycheck and not much else. Not that money doesn't matter here, because we've seen it does. I just think you can team-build more at an Akron than you can most P4 schools.

Looking at MACteam statistical rankings today that I think could be keys tonight: Offense: Akron - 2nd Kent - 3rd Defense: Akron - 4th Kent - 13th Rebounding: Akron - 2nd Kent - 1st Turnover Margin: Akron - 2nd Kent - 11th

From 2012-2015, the 1 and 2 seeds received byes to the semifinals. The championship games each of those years were: 2012: #3 Ohio over #1 Akron 2013: #1 Akron over #2 Ohio 2014: #1 WMU over #2 Toledo 2015: #2 Buffalo over #1 CMU Since being changed to the current format in 2021: 2021: #5 Ohio over #2 Buffalo 2022: #4 Akron over #2 Kent 2023: #2 Kent over #1 Toledo 2024: #2 Akron over #8 Kent State 2025: #1 Akron over #2 Miami Given Miami is already eliminated, the current format has will have resulted in the #1 seed reaching the championship 2 out of 6 years, while the #2 seed has made it every year (let's keep that going!). On the other hand, the format that sent the 1/2 seeds straight to the semis resulted in a 1/2 championship game in all but 1 season, and the #1 seed made it every year. While adjusting to sightlines is legitimate, I think the historical data shows playing one less game has been more valuable. Now, the MAC has a choice to make. I'd they want to protect the top seeds and increase the odds of them playing in the championship game, changing the format would help that. If they want more "madness", they can stick to the current format. A fun and creative solution that may be interesting is to let the #1 and #2 seeds choose their quarterfinal time slots.

I actually agree with Steele on a few of the things he is saying, but his blaming the format, the time, daylight savings time (lol what???) comes across as super whiny. His team is more unlikable than Kent this year IMO. With that said, I do think the MAC should adjust, and I think there's a simple answer. Thursday Bye - #1, #2 seeds #4 vs #5 #3 vs #6 Friday #1 vs #4/#5 winner #2 vs #3/#6 winner Saturday Championship Evening games both Thursday and Friday to allow more fans a chance to attend. The top two seeds start in the semis and earn an advantage for their regular season performance.

This quote...yikes.

Do they switch them every round then? I figured our bench would be the same as tonight as the higher seed.

ESPN Bracketology has Akron as a #12 and Miami as a #11...same region.

Tavari is going to get his 20-25 and then we are going to need a combination of Shammah, Amani, Bowen, Sharron, and Eric to step up and score tomorrow. I didn't think we had bad looks today, a lot of them just didn't drop. Halligan had something on his hamstring during timeouts and looked a bit slower. He only played 7 minutes and I wouldn't be surprised to see him limited the rest of the weekend.

This would be huge. Love staying with Nike, too. It is absolutely the premier brand for basketball.

Just realized Toledo, UMass, or BG will be in the championship game. Wild.

Please do!

MAC POY had 10 today in a losing effort against a .500 team.

UMass is screwed with the whistle Miami gets and their being in the bonus the rest of the way. Hopefully they'll at least wear them down a bit physically.