Dave in Green

Winning the NIT was good, but still below expectations. According to the story linked to above, Dayton was picked to win the Atlantic 10 in 2009-10, as they had four starters and 10 of their top 11 scorers returning. But they played erratically throughout the season, finished only 8-8 in the A-10, and had to settle for the NIT instead of the Big Dance. This season the Flyers were expected to be among the A-10's top teams again, but finished 7-9 in conference and had to settle for the NIT again, where they lost to the College of Charleston in the first round. So while Dayton's last two seasons were not shameful, they underperformed expectations on Gregory's watch. Maybe Georgia Tech examined the record more closely and decided it was not all Gregory's fault that the Flyers didn't live up to expectations. We'll see how he does at GT. By the way, one rumor has Staten transferring to Cleveland State.

My best translation: Question for ZachTheZip -- do you practice worrying or does it come naturally? What will be, will be (as in "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)." On another note, I wasn't aware that Dayton freshman point guard Juwan Staten had decided to transfer. Staten has the potential to be a star player somewhere. That's a big hit for Dayton, which has underperformed the last two years. Interesting that departing coach Brian Gregory was rewarded for two straight underperforming seasons by getting a higher-profile job at Georgia Tech.

If the goal is to have an occasional upset over a higher-ranked team, then, yes, I'd support scheduling lots of tough opponents to improve the statistical odds of scoring the occasional upset. But the real goal should be improving the overall performance of the team. So the real question should be what SOS increases your chances of becoming a better team -- an easy schedule, a balanced schedule, or a really tough schedule? If there was a simple answer, every team would be doing it. But there isn't a simple answer. I know of no conclusive study showing that teams that deliberately set up the toughest schedules tend to become better teams than those with more balanced schedules of weaker, moderate, and stronger teams. I suspect that the best all-around schedule is one that's balanced with a variety of opponents with varying levels of strength -- not too weak and not too strong overall.

ZN.O is not unique. Every sports forum I've ever visited has some degree of coach hate regardless of the coach's record. Even the coaches with winning records are ripped for not winning more and winning bigger. No matter how silly that may seem to some, it's just the way sports works, so we might as well all get used to it. Some sports fans are always on the lookout for new coaches just like some men at bars are always on the lookout for new women.

No guarantees, but there's no doubt that Butler has the capability to take down UConn. I knew that UConn was a young team, but didn't realize until last night's player introductions that they started three freshmen and a sophomore along with junior Kemba Walker. The younger UConn players are extremely talented, but Butler is more experienced. On paper it looks to be a great matchup. Just hope that one team isn't stone cold and the other team makes a laugher out of it. I'd like to see another game with the closeness and intensity of last night's UConn-Kentucky battle. On the subject of UA's OOC SOS, which has been covered extensively in other threads, the Zips have slowly increased it to the point that it's now respectable. I wouldn't have any problem with trying to schedule one or two more games against top 100 teams. But the Zips OOC SOS is already pretty close to those of several of the more successful mid-majors that we aspire for the Zips to emulate. The Zips OOC SOS could still benefit from some fine tuning, but it's no longer a glaring weakness.

Thanks to my dad being a semi-pro basketball player/coach, I've been following college basketball for more than half a century. The biggest upset I can recall in all the years I've been following college basketball was when Texas Western won the national title with a 72–65 victory over the Adolph Rupp-coached Kentucky Wildcats in the 1966 national championship game. It was the first time in NCAA championship history that a team started five black players, and Kentucky was the overwhelming favorite to beat them. For little Butler to reach the national championship game for a second straight year after losing their top player to the NBA is the second greatest achievement I can recall next to Texas Western's win over Kentucky. No Kentucky this time. But even if little Butler upsets mighty UConn, I'd still have to rank it 2nd all time. The Texas Western win over the Kentucky dynasty holds a mighty high place in sports history.

Never say never and never say always. I'm superstitious, and cringe everytime I hear someone say KD isn't leaving. I hope he doesn't leave, and I feel good about all the good reasons for him to stay. But I've had enough disappointments in life to know that nothing is guaranteed.

It's not a bad idea to recruit around the globe for potential college players. Fact is, the big schools with the big basketball budgets have already thoroughly combed the rest of the world looking for college-age big men with talent. Even mid-major Gonzaga has a private jet their coaching staff uses to travel around the globe looking for talent. What kind of budget does UA have to compete against the big-budget schools and their private jets?

The only thing about the CMU incident that's even remotely close to relevant today is that it's now totally irrelevant, and, except for the "ir," relevant and irrelevant are spelled the same.

So what does a former Buckeye official who was one of those responsible for hiring Tressel away from YSU think about the situation his old friend is now in? Oregon St. president: Tressel 'beyond the pale'

The older you get and the more you've seen and understand about life, the more you realize that there is a point beyond which more money truly isn't everything. At UA, KD is making enough money for his family to live comfortably if not ostentatiously. If he tripled his salary, he could start living more ostentatiously. But would he feel more fulfilled? Would he be more satisfied? Would he be happier? Unlike some of the younger coaches out there, KD has been around long enough to have a better understanding of himself and what works best for him. He's the only one who can answer the question of whether he wants to be tossed into the coaching grinder like most other college coaches, or whether being a longtime coach at his alma mater is the fulfillment of his coaching dream. One of the biggest longterm impacts a coach can make is to leave a legacy that's remembered and honored long after he's gone. One way to achieve that would be to build the UA program into a perennial national power. As a selfish Zips fan, that's what I'd like to see. But the important thing is for KD to do what's right for himself. I just hope if he does decide to leave for a higher-paying position that it all works out well for him. I hope he doesn't become another in the band of vagabond coaching castoffs with suitcases always packed, always waiting to be fired for not producing immediate results and constantly on the search for new opportunities.

Generally, I'm in favor of 64 being just about the right number. But it sure would have messed up VCU this year and spoiled a great underdog story.

Well, we already know that UA students are smarter than Can't students. So maybe this is a sign that smarter people are less dependent on social media like Facebook to define their lives.

On UA's graduation rate for African-American Basketball Student-Athlete, since that's the only 0 for any school in any column on that chart, I'm guessing it was a typo. If the number is as incorrect as we all seem to believe, it would be smart for someone at UA to call the phone number listed on the study and get it corrected. Akron should not be the poster boy for this problem, and it could become one if sports writers looking at this study single UA out for the worst performance of any school.

The Frontline story pales in comparison with the bombshell HBO is going to drop tonight. More info in the Potential College Football Scandal thread.

As bad as the Fiesta Bowl scandal is, it's only the tip of the iceberg. The original story that started this thread was about pay for play at Auburn and other schools. Now, 4 former Auburn players have admitted on an HBO special that they were paid thousands of dollars to play football at Auburn. They even document such details as how much they were paid for individual plays: Kremer to McClover: “How much was a sack worth?” McClover: “Anywhere between 300 and 400 dollars. For one.” Kremer to McClover: “I think in one game you had four sacks, what did you earn in that game?” McClover: “Four thousand. Against Alabama.” Kremer: “Seriously?” McClover: “Alabama, a rivalry game.” Kremer: “More money because it’s Alabama?” McClover: “Definitely. No other game matters.” It isn't just Auburn, either. Other schools are called out, including our dearly beloved tOSU: Kremer voiceover: “But McClover says there were money handshakes from boosters at other football camps too. At Auburn for a couple hundred dollars and at Michigan State. All the schools denied any wrongdoing. And things really started heating up a few months later when he went to Ohio State for an official visit where schools get a chance for one weekend to host prospective athletes. McClover says there were money handshakes from alumni there too. About a thousand dollars. And something else to entice him.” McClover: “They send girls my way. I partied. When I got there I met up with a couple guys from the team. We went to a party and they asked me to pick any girl I wanted.” Kremer: “Did she offer sexual services?“ McClover: “Yes.” Kremer: “Did you take them?” McClover: “Yes.” Kremer: “McClover committed to Ohio State right after that weekend. The recruiter at Ohio State who says he dealt with McClover that weekend denied the school was involved in any wrongdoing.” On what caused McClover to sign with Auburn over Ohio State: Kremer voiceover: “McClover says what he asked for was money. A lot of it. And that he got it. Delivered in a bookbag, exact amount unknown.” I expect there will be more dirt flooding out from the dark corners of the college football world in the coming weeks and months, and that it will have a profound effect on college football as we know it. Following are links to stories at CBS Sports, Sporting News, ESPN and Sports By Brooks (NOTE -- The last link below is to the Sports By Brooks story, which is the one with extensive quotes from the HBO script. Hilltopper said his antivirus program had a problem with Brooks' website. But I've had no problem there and the CBS Sports site links to Brooks' site, which I don't think they would do if there was a problem with that site.): Ex-Auburn players tell HBO they were paid Ex-Auburn players say they received thousands in payments Report: Four ex-Auburn players got cash Ex-Auburn Players Claim Systematic Pay-To-Play

The potential college football scandal is slowly unraveling into a full-blown scandal, with lots of different elements starting to hit hard. The appetizer for today, which will be shortly followed by the main course, is the expose of the Fiesta Bowl's long-running and now well-documented scandalous behavior. Following is a hint of how ugly it is: For 30 years, John Junker was a glad-handing, canary-blazered shogun of the Fiesta Bowl, the smiling face of that event and its most passionate advocate. So grand was his passion that it overruled his judgment, which is how the 55-year-old came to find himself seated at a conference table, trying to convince investigators there was a legitimate business purpose for the $1,241 he'd charged to the bowl for a visit to a high-end Phoenix strip club on September 12, 2008. ("We are in the business where big strong athletes are known to attend these types of establishments," Junker said, according to investigators. "It was important for us to visit and we certainly conducted business.") That pathetic quote appears on page 240 of the bowl's 276-page, 1,500-footnote "Special Committee Report" -- the result of a recently completed investigation that was launched last fall. Full story from Sports Illustrated: Fiesta Bowl probe results in Junker dismissal, casts pall over BCS

Perhaps you could refer to us as the Zips. "I'm going to a Zips game." No way they can mistake that for something else. When talking about the university (not sports) I always say UA. When talking about sports, I tend to say Zips. If people are too ignorant to figure out what I mean, they're not the kind of people I would want to be talking to anyway. I use Zips a lot when I'm talking with sports fans. I also know a lot of smart people who don't care about sports. They're ignorant about sports, but they're not ignorant people. I'll continue to use Akron U in conversations where it's appropriate. Next time one of these discussions starts on ZN.O, I'll refrain from posting and just laugh to myself about the tempest in a teapot. The use of Akron U is truly not as big a deal as some want to make it.

Districtballer, you have to be in heaven right now. What an amazingly impressive run VCU is on. I'm sure that almost every member of ZipsNation.org is behind you all the way. The first mid-major to win an NCAA National Championship in basketball will have a special place in the history books.

Just Akron will suffice when talking sports with sports fans. The problem comes when talking to non-sports fans, which I do on a regular basis. If I tell them I'm going to an Akron game, they don't know what Akron team I'm talking about (Oh, are you going to see the Aeros?). If I say I'm going to the Akron U game, they get it. If I say I'm going to The University Of Akron game, they also get it. But people don't talk like that in casual conversation. They shorten and abbreviate formal terms into informal terms that are understood by all. It's unfortunate that some people are so sensitized to the use of Akron U because they perceive it as a negative. It's almost like being around someone who as a young child was frightened by a big dog, and cringes every time someone mentions the word dog. As far as I'm concerned (fill in the blank) U works as a casual conversation term for any university, whether the school's formal name is (fill in the blank) University or The University Of (fill in the blank).

Seriously?

You can't have it both ways. How is it disrespectful to emulate an official UA marketing program by referring to AU? Seriously, what would you consider a respectful way to refer in casual conversation to "The University Of Akron" in an abbreviated manner that everyone you're talking to will understand? I've tried using "UA" and get mostly blank looks. I've tried using "U Akron" and get mostly puzzled looks. Everyone gets "Akron U" and knows exactly what you mean.

Sports Illustrated and Sporting News are talking tough on Tressel: Tressel may be forcing Ohio State's hand with more alleged deceptions It's time for Ohio State coach Jim Tressel to resign

I hate it when someone tries to shorten a name like The Artist Formerly Known As Prince.

Sure wish I could believe GP1 that KD wouldn't be seriously considered by a successful program like Dayton's. But since I disagree with GP1's opinion of KD, the Dayton possibility does concern me.