Dave in Green

One thing in the Zips' favor is that Zeke will be matched up against another 7-foot player with a reasonable level of talent. Da'Shonte Riley is similar to Zeke on defense, but not so much on offense. I was concerned about this matchup going into last season's EMU game. But walking from the parking deck to the JAR, we happened to run into GameChngr44 and family. We mentioned our excitement about Zeke going up against Riley. GameChngr44 told us how much Zeke liked going up against other 7-foot centers, and that he had played against Riley in many AAU games. She said that Zeke had some of his best AAU performances against Riley. Sure enough, Zeke outscored Riley 11-0, outrebounded him 5-1 and outblocked him 4-1. The Zips won, 77-47. While I don't expect the Zips to outscore EMU by 30 points at their place, I do expect Zeke to outperform Riley.

The NCAA often brings in groups of sports media to go through the tournament selection process the same way the NCAA selection committee does. It helps educate the media on what really goes on, and the media can then report what they experienced to help educate the public. As I mentioned earlier, there are many, many good articles on the internet that explain things in excruciating detail. No two journalists see and describe things exactly the same way, so the more articles you read, the better educated you become. For example, here's Elton Alexander's report from a few years ago.

I often get different info from different sources. Professional reporters learn not to put too much trust in single sources, but to look for multiple sources to corroborate data. A recent example of a single source failure was when Hilltopper heard from a usually reliable single source that UA was leaning toward a 3,800-seat arena. This was shot out of the sky by multiple reliable sources and went down in flames. The original source was not trying to deceive, but apparently made an error in quoting the number he thought he heard.

So the Zips are effectively 37th in both polls. As long as they keep the winning streak alive, they'll keep getting a few more votes each week as other teams stumble. If the Zips stumble, they'll probably disappear from the polls for the rest of the season. All the polls really accomplish at this point is to put the Zips on the national radar and bring them to the attention of some folks who might have otherwise totally ignored them. The real key is to consistently perform in a way that will keep you in the national spotlight once you've creeped out of the shadowy fringes. EDIT: @Aaron, we think alike!

And the Zips get 9 votes in the Coaches Poll: Others Receiving Votes: Missouri (17-6) 72; Oregon (19-5) 63; Virginia Commonwealth (19-5) 63; Cincinnati (18-6) 38; Kentucky (17-6) 27; St. Mary's (21-4) 27; Louisiana Tech (21-3) 18; Saint Louis (18-5) 13; Middle Tennessee (22-4) 11; Mississippi (18-5) 11; Illinois (17-8) 10; Akron (19-4) 9; UNLV (18-6) 8; Wichita State (20-5) 8; UCLA (18-6) 3; Stephen F. Austin (20-2) 2; Belmont (20-5) 1; Oklahoma (15-7) 1; Virginia (17-6) 1

@Akronnnnnnnn, yes, Drexel's winning streak was a big Cinderella story last season. Many sports writers considered Drexel to be the most interesting case for the NCAA selection committee. No single factor killed Drexel's chances. It was the total body of work that didn't stand up when compared with other at-large candidates. The Zips are in a similar situation. They would literally have to win every remaining game except the MAC tournament championship game to have a better chance this season than Drexel had last season. One more loss before the MAC tournament championship game would end what remote chance there might be for an at-large bid.

Well, not everyone. Some folks don't have time to do research while others don't believe in it. But everyone has an opinion. There are some seriously good analysis stories on the internet that go into fine detail about exactly how the NCAA selection committee works. A quick read of a few of those articles would quickly put an end to some of the common myths. But I don't expect to see the myths disappear from sports forums in my lifetime.

Others receiving votes: Minnesota 80, Missouri 69, Cincinnati 68, Saint Mary's 62, Creighton 56, San Diego State 53, Louisiana Tech 43, Virginia Commonwealth 35, Saint Louis 34, Illinois 26, North Carolina State 24, Akron 12, UCLA 8, UNLV 6, Indiana State 5, Virginia 4, Wichita State 3, Belmont 2, Oklahoma 1, Ole Miss 1

In the Pomeroy rankings, EMU has the #322 adjusted offense and the #81 adjusted defense. By comparison, the Zips are currently #58 in offense and #51 on defense. So we're not that far apart on defense. But if the Zips' offense struggles against EMU, it could get ugly.

Zips up from #11 to #9 in the latest Bleacher Report Mid-Major Top 25: Akron struggled in both of its road games last week against Central Michigan and Miami (OH), but the Zips managed to execute down the stretch and get a pair of victories. The Zips hold a one-game lead over Ohio in the MAC East standings, and they will play Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green this week.

Zips finally make the CBS Sports Mid-Major Power Pyramid: 13. Akron (19-4). Why it's here: No longer can I deny the team with the nation's longest winning streak -- 15 games -- to be snubbed from the Pyramid. This of course means the Zips will lose this week. Apologies in advance. Something you should know: You'll recall Ohio repped the MAC in the NCAAs last year. But before that, and in 2009, it was Akron. It's tough to go back-to-back in the MAC and to the NCAAs. In fact, since the league split to two divisions, only Can't State's won the league in back-to-back years.

Hint: The forum member who made the statement quoted in my previous post is active in this thread.

Correction to my previous post: At the time that the NCAA selection committee was considering last season's tournament at-large selections, Drexel was #71 in RPI. The Zips would need a much higher RPI than that to get strong consideration for an at-large bid if they won the rest of their games but lost in the MAC tournament championship game. The Zips are currently #53 in RPI.

Drexel's RPI in 2011-2012 was a modest #63.

Can anyone guess which forum member made the following statement in his very first post on ZN.o?

The USFL website is also worth a quick look to see that they have a big announcement Monday.

If the Rubber Bowl name didn't go along with the real estate purchase, they wuz robbed.

OK, I admit that I'm fascinated with the Groce-OU equation. I'm really intrigued by how much success Groce has taken with him to Illinois, and how much of what he helped build is left in Athens. Illinois started the year with 12 straight wins, then took a dump when the Big Ten season started. Sports pundits started talking about how the style of play Groce brought to Illinois was unsustainable, and their 2-7 Big Ten start had them on the bubble for making the NCAA tournament. So what do they do this week? Upset #1 Indiana at home and then tonight #18 Minnesota on the road. So even though they're still only 4-7 in the Big Ten, they have wins over top 20 teams Butler, Gonzaga, tOSU, Indiana and Minnesota. The NCAA selection committee is probably going to give the Illini an at-large bid on the basis of all their quality wins no matter where they finish in the Big Ten. In the meantime, the Kitties have an 8-1 start in the MAC -- their best start since way back in the '80s. But they really have no big wins to date. They've mostly beaten weaker teams and lost to stronger teams. I'm still trying to figure out if this is a characteristic of Jim Christian coaching vs. Groce coaching. Is it possible that the Kitties' ability to win the big ones and make the tournament run was more a Groce characteristic than a quality of the players? The first hint will come when the Kitties visit Belmont and the second will come when the Zips visit Athens. The ultimate truth will be revealed at the Q. I'm starting to lean toward the theory that Groce has some kind of magic potion formula that makes his teams overperform against tough competition, and that the Illini are now a team that would be more likely to make a deep NCAA tournament run than the Kitties. Stay tuned for updates.

I wonder if Elton will still vote for the Zips after their two close wins over low-ranked opponents.

The 2005-2006 Missouri State season record was 22-9, and their RPI was an aberration. That was the era when the Missouri Valley Conference got together and decided to game the RPI system to optimize their conference numbers. Here's how the top 6 teams in the MVC ended up in RPI that season: #20 - Wichita State #21 - Missouri State #24 - Bradley #35 - Northern Iowa #37 - Southern Illinois #45 - Creighton Those teams were all pretty good, but not as good as the RPI numbers alone would suggest. Each of those teams played each other 2 or 3 times (counting their conference tournament), which really inflated each others' RPI. The NCAA selection committee spent a long time dissecting what had happened there before deciding not to give an at-large bid to Missouri State. As a result, the NCAA modified the RPI formula and puts more weight on factors other than RPI.

ESPN's BPI is currently the most favorable ranking system for the Zips, where they're in pretty good company: 44. Butler 45. Oklahoma 46. Mid Tennessee 47. Belmont 48. Akron 49. Virginia 50. North Carolina

In 2006-2007, after the last-second upset by Miami in the MAC championship game, the Zips finished with a 26-7 record and an RPI of 68 -- way too low for NCAA at-large consideration.

Mid-Major Madness disagrees with the Fantasy League choices made by Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas and Jalen Rose on Saturday's GameDay show: 4. Take the swat machine. Nerlens Noel was taken, which is a great way to get blocks filled. But how about getting a guy that blocks shots, scores, and is the rebound machine for his team. Oh, and he isn't a freshman and won't get himself into foul trouble that often. You take Akron's Zeke Marshall. He is one of the best shot blockers in the country, and when you go against the undersized MAC, you are going to get a lot of chances to send balls into the stands. The only worry with a guy like Marshall is that he won't have a big scoring night. He has the tendency to not be as effective a scorer as you would expect from a 7-footer. But I will still take him, because on the nights he is on, he will sway enough to make up for the lack of production. And I already have Muscala. I can take a guy that is going to have the opportunity to really turn it on over the remainder of the season.

If the Zips should win out except for a loss in the MAC championship game, they'd be 27-5 with a 23-game winning streak on their resume. They would have added top 100 wins over OU on the road and NDSU at home. They might also have added a top 100 win over WMU on a neutral court in the MAC semi-finals. If all of that magic should come about, the Zips would be a bubble team waiting like all the other bubble teams to find out how many top-rated teams did not win their conference championships and needed to use up an at-large bid from the NCAA selection committee. It's possible the Zips might squeak in under those circumstances. But it would require a lot of things outside of the Zips' control to fall into alignment. On the other hand, the Zips control their own destiny by winning 2 games at the Q.

@GP1, it wasn't a flare up of Rico's knee earlier this season. It was a severe high ankle sprain. That threw his conditioning off as he was unable to practice with the team for awhile. He was operating at reduced speed for many games. At this point I'm not sure if there are any lingering after effects from either. Rico was never fast from the day he arrived at UA. But he's always been quick and deceptive, which I believe he developed as compensation for not being fast.