Dave in Green

SI has a lengthy story up with lots of details on money issues. Some interesting points include teams getting more money from their NCAA shares than from their conference TV contracts, and the fact that the teams that have been leaving the Big East on an individual basis do not get any of the shares. The shares money stays with the conference. But if the seven Catholic schools split, they get to move their earned NCAA shares over to their new conference because they fit the NCAA profile of a group of seven teams that have been playing together in a conference for more than five years. As Big East Catholic schools prepare to break away, key issues emerge

The Big East situation highlights the problem of what can happen to a conference in which some schools place a higher value on basketball and others on football. The Big East was created in 1979 primarily as a basketball conference. Over the years it evolved into having a mix of schools with some more focused on football. The recent defections have been primarily based on football, but the football additions are all weaker in basketball than the schools that have left/are leaving. That puts the original basketball-first schools in a bad spot in terms of trying to maintain the quality of their basketball programs. With nearly three times as many schools having DI basketball as FBS football, there is obviously a place for what the Big East was originally envisioned to be -- a premier basketball conference for schools who either don't have football programs or have smaller football programs that are never expected to compete at a high level. Sources: 7 leaning to leave Big East

I was thinking the Zips needed more losses to highly ranked teams in order to move up into the Top 25.

Football-first folks have a hard time dealing with the fact the Big East was always a basketball-first conference (though it came to be a heck of a soccer conference along the way). Those who live, breathe and die football, to whom every other sport is a casual distraction, never gave a crap about the Big East, anyway. It was always going to be irrelevant because it wasn't part of Big Football, and football-first folks could care less if it disappears. For everyone else, the intriguing questions now are whether or not there are any viable alternatives in the sporting world to Big Football, and whether or not the remaining members of the Real Big East can do anything about it. Big East Catholic schools wake up?

The final bit of craziness to this game is that after losing to Creighton, the Zips moved UP 15 spots in RPI from #125 to #110!

ROI = (gain from investment - cost of investment) / cost of investment

Fascinating that both football and men's basketball programs have exactly the same percentage that are profitable (57%).

I stopped hearing Big East whispers coming out of UA several months ago. There was a time when it may have made sense. But it has turned into the most volatile conference of all. If the seven basketball-first members are able to vote as a block to dissolve the conference, take the name and basketball contracts with them to a new conference, and attract a few other quality basketball-first schools, they could rebuild the Big East into a basketball power again. Since UA is committed to football, that potential new Big East conference wouldn't work if it ever happens.

I think the point you're trying to make is that it requires fewer resources to create a successful college program in basketball than football, i.e. facilities, personnel/payroll, travel, etc. Therefore, more schools are financially capable of making the smaller basketball investment than the larger football investment. Obviously, some schools get a better return on investment than other schools, whether in football or basketball.

Whenever anyone thinks the Zips' free throw shooting is bad, just go back and check out this video for a reminder of how bad it can get:

Part of the Zips' lack of experience is due to the absence from the rotation of the entire year's HS recruiting class from 2010: Dakotah Euton - Gone. Michael Green - Gone. Josh Egner - Almost Gone. Less experienced but more effective players are taking what was expected to have been the PT of those three.

Great question. I'm more interested in college BB this season for a number of reasons. I really believe that college BB is getting better and better each season as kids get better training earlier and are generally more polished by the time they get to college. The larger the pool of good players, the better more teams get and the more competitive it is. One thing I really like about this season so far is Kentucky falling on its butt early. After UK won the national championship last season, I was afraid that Calipari was going to get so many NBA-ready one-and-done freshmen that they'd be like a semi-pro team kicking everyone's butt every year. I like the way reality has set in this season for UK. They may work their way into a Final Four team by the end of the season. But there are no guarantees that every UK freshman class is going to get it together by tournament time. Another thing I like is the rise of the Big Ten in basketball. It has now surpassed the ACC and the Big East. The Big Ten really needed that as they have fallen so far behind the SEC and others in football. I'm really intrigued to see what Groce can accomplish at Illinois. And, of course, it's exciting to see more mid-majors becoming competitive with the old big names. But most of all I'm excited about the talent level coming to UA. Sure, talent level is up everywhere, so the Zips aren't gaining major advantages over everyone else. But I do believe that the Zips are slowly moving up in relative power. When I think back just a few seasons ago about how much I cringed when some of the subs went in, I'm amazed at some of the talent on the Zips bench this season. UA's previous recruits were rarely able to contribute as freshmen. Now we have freshmen who can not only hold their own on the floor, but make bigtime clutch plays like Kretzer in the MTSU game. I used to think the Zips would have a bunch of Creighton-like games each season, where they fell far behind and had no chance of getting back into the game. Now I think the Creighton game is the exception. In almost every game now, even if the Zips lose, they play entertaining, exciting basketball that's fun to watch.

While Zeke is closing in on the MAC career record for blocked shots, I noticed in yesterday's Creighton game that Pat Forsythe had 4 blocks to 2 for Zeke. Looking at the season stats, Zeke has 29 blocks to 11 for Pat. But Zeke has played 193 minutes to 87 for Pat. Looking at the number of blocks per minute played, Zeke has .15 to Pat's .13. As a freshman, Zeke blocked at a rate of .10 per minute played, rising to .11 in his sophomore and junior seasons. So Pat is already blocking shots at a higher rate per minute played than Zeke did in his first three seasons. In other words, it's entirely possible that the biggest future threat to the MAC career shots blocked record that Zeke is due to set before this season is over may come from Zeke's backup.

Rusty or rested? I've seen teams that had extra time off come out and destroy another team, and people credit that to the team being rested and having had plenty of time to prepare for that specific opponent. I've seen other teams in similar situations stumble like the Zips did, and people say they had too much time off and got rusty. Honestly, I don't see extra time off between games as a defining factor in winning or losing. It can work both ways depending on other factors. Holding McDermott below his season shooting averages alone would have been no guarantee the Zips would have won. He hit 4-7 2-pointers (57%), and he's about a 50% shooter on the season. So hold him to 3-7 (43%) and you've held him below average. He hit 6-8 3-pointers (75%), and he's about a 50% shooter on the season. So hold him to 3-8 (38%) and you've held him below average. Subtract those 11 points and McDermott gets 19 -- below his 22 ppg season scoring average. And Creighton still outscores the Zips. This was a team whipping by a skilled, aggressive bunch of well-coached players who played their game to perfection. When both teams play their best games, the better team usually wins. By all measures, Creighton is a better team than Akron. The Zips needed to play their best game and hope it was enough to catch a better team that was not playing its best. It didn't happen. It doesn't happen often. That's why they're called upsets. And starting to pull off upsets is the first indication that a team may be about to move up to a new, higher level. That's what we're all still waiting to see from the Zips.

It's pretty hard to get around playing inexperienced players when you're the 9th-youngest team in the country out of 347 DI teams. The Zips currently have 16 players on the roster with a total of 15 seasons of collegiate experience (0.94 years/letters won per player), and 12 of the 16 players have one year's experience or less. In any case, I feel for the players who I know worked their tails off in practice to get ready for this game, and who are more down right now than any Zips fan. But the bottom line is that the Zips were a little off while the Jays were at their peak. It happens. If the Jays had been a little off and the Zips at their peak, it would have been a different result. The Zips still are not quite good enough to consistently win at this level. They're close, but no cigar. The only thing left now is what we Zips fans are so used to. They have to use the rest of the season to get ready for the MAC tournament, and then be good enough by that time to not only win the tournament but be able to actually win an NCAA tournament game or two.

Outshot, outrebounded, outeverythinged. This is not the Jays team that lost to Boise State.

Third foul on Rico early in the second half could be a killer.

Jays are 6-12 on 3-pointers while the Zips are 1-8. If that evens out in the second half, the game gets close. Also surprising that the Zips outrebounded the Jays in the first half, 16-15. Rebounding hasn't been a Zips strong point this season, so this is a good sign if they can keep it up.

Jays are extremely quick, aggressive and smart in all aspects of the game, including shooting accuracy. These guys are not only good, they are really on today. Zips have been a good second half team so far this season, and will have to be at their best on both offense and defense to pull this one out in the second half. The best news so far has been that Zeke is making a good impression on the NBA scouts. Everyone knows he can block shots, even against a good team like Creighton. But he's doing it without getting in foul trouble. The big surprise for the scouts has to be Zeke's offense. He's been aggressive on offense and is 5-6 from the field. Zeke is playing like a future NBA player today in a game that is being closely watched by scouts.

First team All-American demonstration time.

Looks like Groce is turning Illinois into a super OU after beating #10 Gonzaga in Spokane, 85-74. The Illini are now playing Bobkitty-style basketball, with a guard-oriented offense that's leading the NCAA with an average of 10.8 3-pointers per game. At 6-4, senior guard Brandon Paul is playing the role of a bigger D.J. Cooper. Paul dropped 35 on the Zags, hitting 10 of 16 field goals, including 5 of 9 3-pointers. He made 10 of 11 free throws, and added 3 assists, 2 blocks and 3 steals. As a team, the Illini had 9 steals and forced 16 turnovers while playing 3 or 4 guards most of the time. It appears that Groce has been able to instantly transfer his scrappy, clawing style of play to a team that may be deeper in talent than the one he left behind in Athens. The main question now is how much of what Groce taught the Bobkitties will remain with them as this season moves along and Jim Christian tries to mold them into his style of play.

EMU did a brilliant job of outshooting the Boilermakers from the field, 30.9% to 29.8%. Combined, the two teams sank 31 of 102 field goal attempts. But Purdue did win at the free throw line, shooting 60% to EMU's 42.1%. Together, they just broke 50%, hitting 20 of 39. I recall some painful games like that from the Zips' dark past, and hope I never have to sit through one of those again.

Thanks, CK. I really appreciate the opportunity you provide through ZN.o to interact with other Zips fans. I've always enjoyed researching data and sharing with others, and this is the perfect place to do it with other Zips fans.

MTSU (7-2) just handed Mississippi (6-1) its first loss of the season, 65-62. Ole Miss is not a national power. But Pomeroy had them ranked #23 before today's loss. In preseason predictions for the 14-team SEC, Ole Miss was projected to finish 7th and be a borderline NCAA tournament team. This adds a little more value to the win over MTSU, with the Zips moving up about 10 positions in RPI today.

The Bobkitties are off to a decent start (6-2) without John Groce's coaching, and are playing a weak Oakland team in Athens today. But Illinois is off to an even better start with Groce now at the helm. How much of OU's recent success was due to Groce and how much of that success will transfer over to Illinois? The first big test for the #13 Illini comes tonight when they travel to Spokane to face #10 Gonzaga. Both teams are 9-0 for their best starts ever, presenting Groce with his biggest challenge since last season's NCAA tournament. Groce's energy gives Illinois new life Weekend Watch: Illinois-Gonzaga preview