MDZip

Ever get the feeling that the Zipmeister actually does attend these events but sits by himself over in a corner wearing a trenchcoat?

So its now set. Even though WMU deserved to be in the tournament as a better team in the league, I'm happy they're out because we seem to have trouble with them. So next Friday it's #3 WVU vs. #2 NIU at 4 and then #1 Akron vs. #4 BGSU. I think it sets up pretty well. Would much prefer WVU in the final than NIU assuming we get past BGSU. If the Zips do win the tournament they also set the all time NCAA record for a consecutive unbeaten streak in a conference. Also David Meves added to his already NCAA record for shutouts last night without even having to make a save. His record was noted here. They also note that the Zips have not been scored upon in over 1,000 minutes. I do believe this team has a legitimate chance to win it all this year. Their only loss (Notre Dame) was in a game they were dominating until going down a man and one of the ties (Creighton) that was a terrible call from being a win. If they do win it all, that means the senior class could have four sweet sixteen appearances, three national championship appearances and two titles. That would be pretty incredible.

Finally!!! Scott Caldwell with less than five minutes left!

WVU beat BGSU tonight. If WMU ties Akron they make seed #4, if they lose they are out and BGSU gets the 4th seed based on head to head tiebreaker.

No video or audio.

Senior night for four guys who have meant a great deal to the program. Go out with a win and momentum into the post season. With Marylands loss, it could propel the Zips to the top spot in a few polls.

Senior night for four guys who have meant a great deal to the program. Go out with a win and momentum into the post season. With Marylands loss, it could propel the Zips to the top spot in a few polls.

He usually does the women's games. Doing a nice job. Harney is doing quite well, 10-11. He's a bit bigger this year. With my grainy feed I thought he was Tree a couple of times.

And they finally got the audio working. Zips up 39-18.

They finally took it off. Sounded like they had a classroom with four people who were not anywhere near the game miked up. Zips look good but I have no idea what the score is.

I was going to talk about our defense wearing down but realized we didn't score a single point in the second half. The self destruct sequence when we were deep in Can't territory at 3rd and 1 late in the game clinched it. Damn it, probably helped guarantee Can't a bowl game in the process. I think this makes next week's game a little critical for self respect alone.

Anybody watching? Very strange audio feed.

All right Zips, the D made a stop. What are you made of? Game ain't over yet. I just want to see them ruin akzipper's day.

Watching on ESPN3, pretty easy to hear the Zips fans.

Debbie, try to enjoy it while it lasts.

14-0 Z-I

Started great, lets end it now. Then an idiot penalty on the kickoff. Grrr.

If Akron beats WMU, NIU can be no worse than the third seed, because either BGSU or WVU will have a loss or they will tie and both have a worse record than NIU, giving NIU the 2 seed. How embarrassing.

Yep, someone forgot to mute the mic on the last break, badmouthing the hell out of OU.

Video feed is working fine, Tiffin hanging a little closer than I'd like to see. Forsythe with a beautiful pass to Harney for a layup. The big man can pass and shoot. I'm excited about him. I also realized just how much I'll miss watching Zeke next season (oh well, its only the beginning of this one).

The top half of the MAC is pretty impressive, but the bottom half is woeful.

This is complicated. With WMU's win over NIU today, there is a four way tie (3-2-1) for the last three MAC tournament spots. All four have a "win and you're in scenario", because two, WVU and Bowling Green have an elimination game if that happens. That's not likely to be an elimination game as that assumes WMU beats Akron. Buffalo is even still alive (2-3) because if they win their last two, they get in ahead of NIU (they play each other so it would be Buffalo 4-3 ahead of NIU 3-3-1) and either possibly WMU or the loser of WVU-BGSU. Bottom line, any 3-2-1 teams are in for sure if they win. In head to head matchups, WMU holds the tiebreaker over NIU, BGSU over WMU, NIU over WVU and WVU effectively over no one. WVU has a pretty good chance of missing the MAC tournament entirely. I can't even conceive of the scenarios right now if a bunch of these games end in ties and I can't find the MAC Men's soccer tiebreaking procedures. Well, we do know one thing - the Zips are the #1 seed and will host the conference tournament. Remaining games of importance: Wed: Buffalo at Hartwick Fri: NIU at Buffalo Sat: WVU at BGSU Sat: WMU at Akron

Stewart Mandel apparently agrees with you, but Jeff Sagarin still has it ranked last of all FBS conferences. There has been definite improvement though. The same could be applied to the Zips, they have definitely improved but the results aren't showing up statistically in wins.

I believe you're thinking of someone else. Never made any comments on Penn State's season this year. My only comments have been on OU's weak schedule so I am not convinced they are anywhere near an elite team. Beating weak MAC teams and no one of note out of conference other than Penn State (which I gave them some credit for but noted it was under obviously very unusual circumstances) I'm not buying in yet. Beat BGSU and either NIU/Toledo (whom they can't play until the MACC) and I'll give them their due. I know they can only "play who is on their schedule", but beating 3 of the 4 worst MAC teams (Buffalo, UMass and UA) by an average of about 5 points doesn't inspire a lot of awe. I believe BGSU is a better team and beats them in Athens. Take heart though, they should still beat Can't and Miami.

After looking at CMU, I don't like our chances here either. CMU's record is deceptive, they have played a very hard schedule this year. Their last six games have been Mich St, Iowa (which they won), Toledo (now #26 in the AP poll after beating Cincinnati), NIU (41st in the AP poll), Navy and Ball State (wins over Indiana and South Florida and are third in the West). The West seems way better than the East this year, which is why I am now much more worried about CMU. Still think Can't and OU are a little bit of frauds (very weak schedules especially when you compare them to the West, I can't believe OU is showing up in the BCS standings), I still think there is a reasonable chance Bowling Green passes both. The MAC is very odd this year, with two pretty good teams (NIU and Toledo), four OK teams (OU, Can't, Ball State and Bowling Green) and everybody else is pretty bad. Unfortunately for the ZIps, we played most of those good teams and couldn't quite get over the hump with the few bad ones. Terry said one more than last year, right? We're running out of chances, if we can't take out CMU, please don't let UMass get their first one.