Dave in Green

Walsh is all over the ball at both ends.

Just like other recent games. Will the Zips wake up in the last few minutes, or will this be the time they don't?

Zeke has much better timing on his rebounding. He looks like he really wants that ball, and is serious about going after it.

Live stream from the MAC site looks pretty good. Here's a direct link if anyone needs it.

Imagine how far the Zips could go if they could develop their trapping defense to this level of execution: An inside look into VCU's unmatched Havoc defense

Here's how the betting pros see it: Free NCAA Pick: Akron at Eastern Michigan

Zac Jackson delivers the best feature story yet on Zeke the person. It not only reveals what a unique individual Zeke is, but the challenges that Coach Dambrot and his staff had in getting Zeke to take the game seriously, and finally in his senior season start looking like a potential NBA player. Ultimately it could only happen when Zeke was ready for it to happen, and that's the way it should be.

Youngstown is a lot further north than Columbus, so you might want to switch divisions for the teams located in those two cities. (Note: I looked long and hard at a map before making this statement. )

Maybe I should think a little more carefully before making my last post of the night. Of course, Xavier is in Cincinnati, but Cincinnati is in the Big East. Who knows, with all the conference musical chairs, all the Ohio teams could end up in the same conference one day.

Atlantic 10 Conference = Cincinnati + Dayton + Xavier.

This dates back to before the Miami game. But it's really nice to see the assistant managing editor and editor of the sports section of a major newspaper far from Akron like the Boston Globe making a statement like this about the Zips: Akron at Miami of Ohio: I’ve gotten to really like this Akron team; they’re replacing Murray State in my heart.

Right, between Canal Park and Buchtel Field, Zips baseball wouldn't really miss Lee Jackson Field should they decide to use that property for a new arena.

I've just started using TeamRankings.com, and in some ways find it more useful than StatSheet.com.

The last story I heard many months ago was that Lee Jackson Field was a leading candidate for a new arena site, and that Zips baseball might be shifted over to a renovated Buchtel Field. The Lee Jackson Field site makes sense for a basketball arena as it's adjacent to the south campus parking deck and football stadium parking. Buchtel Field is about 5 blocks from the south campus parking deck and requires pedestrians to cross Exchange. So if a new arena should end up on the Buchtel Field site, it would probably require a new parking deck south of Exchange. The block on which Buchtel Field is located is large enough to accommodate a large arena plus an adjacent parking deck.

Montana is tied with Memphis for second best winning streak at 14. Grizzlies fans are praying for the Zips to lose.

Just stumbled on a new ranking system that shows the Zips in the top 10 -- the UPS Team Performance Index: In conjunction with STATS LLC, UPS has created a proprietary algorithm that gauges six major statistics covering the spectrum of a team's on-court performance: effective field-goal percentage, effective field-goal percentage against, rebounding percentage, ball-handling efficiency, miscues and winning percentage. From there, the data is normalized and an overall index is created for all 345 NCAA Division I teams. The scores are not meant to reflect a traditional power poll, per se, but measure a broad range of inside-the-lines excellence and overall balance.. The Zips are #10 in the latest poll, which is mentioned on some of the major sports websites such as SI.com, CBSSports.com, etc. Here's what they have to say about the Zips in their latest release: Up six spots to 10th, the Zips rank in the top 20 in only one of the index's six categories - winning percentage - but own the longest active winning streak in the nation at 15. They overcame a nine-point halftime deficit by shooting 56.5 percent in the final 20 minutes to improve to 10-0 in the Mid-American Conference with a 54-50 win at Miami of Ohio on Saturday. "We just have to be prepared to play 40 minutes every night," Akron junior forward Demetrius Treadwell said. "We can't pick and choose when we play. We have to stop doing that. We are going to get ourselves in trouble one of these games." Here's a link to the latest news release posted on CBSSports.com, and here's a link to the actual standings.

@skip-zip, the computers consider all the same data the NCAA selection committee considers, and they spit out the same raw numbers the committee sees. The computers don't know that Akron is not supposed to be good. They only know that the Zips have a better resume than some might think, because they've unemotionally and dispassionately compared the numbers behind the Zips' SOS, RPI, significant wins, etc., to those of other teams. Considering all that data, they project that the Zips have about a 1 in 3 chance of getting an at-large bid. It's impossible to accurately factor in the predispositions and prejudices of the human committee members because we have no way of really knowing what they are or how big a role they play. The NCAA has made a major effort to become as data-driven and transparent as possible. That's why they invite media in to go through a mock selection process. It's not a perfect process and it never can be. Fans of many teams, not just the Zips, will never trust that their teams are getting a fair shake. It's always been that way and it always will be. The only thing we know for sure are the numbers the computers spit out, and they show that the Zips may have their best shot ever at an at large bid this season as long as they keep winning.

It's interesting to see what Team Rankings projects for the Kitties. They're given an almost equal chance (44.9%) to get the MAC's automatic bid, but only a 1.9% chance of earning an at large bid. So projecting from the same data the selection committee will be looking at shows the Zips as a much more likely at large candidate than the Kitties based on their respective total bodies of work.

It depends on the other teams in the at large pool. If a lot of the teams with higher rankings than the Zips win their conference tournaments and get automatic bids, the Zips would have a decent chance against other at large candidates with similar records. If a lot of higher ranked teams get upset in their conference tournaments and need to use an at-large bid, then the Zips would be more likely to get passed over. Team Rankings NCAA Basketball Bracketology Projections currently show the Zips with an 80.2% chance of making the NCAA tournament based on a 45.1% chance of an automatic bid and a 35.1% chance of an at large bid.

RPI is a purely mathematical equation. Computers are pretty good at running math simulations. RPI Forecast simply runs the math on approximately what a team's RPI would project to if it won all the rest of its regular season games. The final number would vary a little depending on what happens with other teams, as well. But the RPI Forecast computers currently say the Zips' RPI would be around 30 if they win all the rest of their regular season games. While RPI Forecast does not yet include tournament game projections, it's logical to assume that there would be an improvement over 30 if the Zips won a semi-final game at the Q and then a drop if they lost in the championship game. Under those circumstances, why would an estimate of high 30s not be in the neighborhood?

@Hilltopper, you didn't want to try to make it fly again, did you?

One thing that hasn't been discussed about the Zips' BracketBuster game is timing. Getting the 7 pm Friday time slot is wonderful, as there are only 8 college basketball games on tap that evening, and 1 (the other BracketBuster) starts at 9 pm. The 7 games that start at 7 pm include 4 Ivy League games and a meaningless Atlantic Sun Conference game. Unfortunately, Butler and St. Louis will be battling for Atlantic 10 leadership at 7 pm, which will draw a lot of attention. But other than that, there will be little competition for the Zips game. That means that national media who may not have had a chance to see the Zips play will have perhaps their best opportunity of the season to tune in. If the Zips' winning streak is still alive going into that game, and if the Zips have a great performance, the media buzz could pick up considerably. It's imperative that the Zips make the most of this rare opportunity.

@PB1719, it would take an unbelievable number of multiple upsets of many good teams currently ranked ahead of the Zips -- who are effectively ranked #37 in both the AP and Coaches Polls -- for them to move into the top 25. The way things are going this season, it may be a little more likely than other seasons. But it's still highly unlikely.

@RootforRoo44, that is a really nice feature to have all the rankings available in one spot. Hope it will be a regular weekly feature. The only ranking of note that I see missing is ESPN's BPI, where the Zips are currently #49.

@HS Stripes, I really appreciate your intelligent analysis. As I recall, you predicted here last March that Egner might end up reunited with his HS PG at Walsh. Good call. Like you, I value the more sophisticated ranking systems such as Sagarin and Pomeroy. Right now, the Zips are in the mid-50s in virtually all of the ranking systems. Their highest current ranking is #49 in BPI, which I like because BPI calculates for games where key players were missing, like the Zips' first 3 games minus Tree and Harney. I do disagree with you when you say (in another thread) that the Zips will not rise much in the rankings even if they keep winning against low-rated MAC teams. In the more sophisticated rankings that include offense and defense, the Zips have been falling a little because their offensive rating has been falling in recent games. They can rise again by elevating their level of play, scoring more points and holding their opponents to fewer points. And they can rise in all the rankings as teams ahead of them lose games. They just have to keep winning, and winning bigger, while other teams keep getting upset.