MDZip

Spectacular dunk by Chauncey and then WMU beats them back down the court for an easy layup. Net of 0. Nice start by Zeke, though.

Mollaut already does the work for us. He pretty much updates it after every set of games. He occasionally posts here on this board when we play Miami. He also does something interesting called the golf standings, where a birdie means you got a win on the road, pars are wins at home or losses on the road, and bogeys are home losses. It really gives you a better feel for the real standings and how teams are playing in lieu of the league standings. This is where he has things this week: EAST 1. Akron -4 2. Buffalo -2 -- Can't -2 4. Ohio -1 5. BGSU E 6. Miami +3 WEST 1. BSU -1 -- EMU -1 3. WMU +1 -- Toledo +1 5. CMU +2 6. NIU +4

Actually, seeds 5-12 would have to win five games. 8 teams play in the first round, then the winners of those four games play and the two survivors of that face two rested teams in the "quarterfinals". That's why being a five seed really sucks.

I also saw this on Miami's board. State Farm is having a sweepstakes with a really nice grand prize for the MAC basketball tournament. I would have entered but it is ony open to residents of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Seeing as how only one of those states has any MAC schools in it kind of screws the rest of the league over. At least it might give an Akron fan a better shot. Here is the prize list: •Three (3) nights hotel accommodations at downtown Cleveland hotel (March 14-16, 2013) •Three (3) $50 gift certificates at downtown Cleveland restaurants •Two (2) complimentary tickets to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum •Two (2) VIP Suite MAC Tournament tickets for all 14 Men's & Women's Tournament 2013 games •MAC merchandise package (championship gear, game program, etc.) •Merchandise package (t-shirt, hat, etc.) from MAC school of choice •On-court ceremony recognizing winner with State Farm representative(s) at halftime •$500 pre-paid gift card for use during stay in Cleveland •Two (2) 2012-13 basketball season tickets at MAC school of choice

I was just checking out the MAC West pretenders. Bold prediction. Not one of them finishes the crossover season with a winning record. EMU finishes with Akron, Can't and OU, WMU finishes with Can't, Akron and Buffalo and Ball State has the "easiest" with Miami, BG and Can't. They'd have to win 2 of those three to get above .500 and I say they don't do it. That would almost eliminate the MAC West champ from one of the top four seeds. Thank god they changed the tournament format or some combination of at least three of Akron, Can't, OU and Buffalo would be one one side (and I'll tell you I wouldn't be fond of facing BG either). So odds are looking like two of that group will make the automatic quarters and two the automatic semis. It really sucks to be a 5th seed this year. This would be an excellent year to be the 1 seed. Stolen from Mollaut of the Redhawks board here is what the tournament would look like today (he does a really great job with this): First Round (Campus Sites): Monday, March 5, 2012 GM 1: 12. NIU (1-7) @ 5. Can't (5-3)$ - TBA GM 2: 9. CMU (2-6)# @ 8. WMU (4-4)% - TBA GM 3: 10. Toledo (2-6)# @ 7. BSU (4-4)% - TBA GM 4: 11. Miami (2-6)# @ 6. BGSU (4-4)% - TBA Second Round (Cleveland): Wednesday, March 7, 2012 GM 5: Winner GM 1 v. Winner GM 2 - TBA (STO) GM 6: Winner GM 3 v. Winner GM 4 - TBA (STO) Quarterfinals (Cleveland): Thursday, March 8, 2012 GM 7: Winner GM 5 v. 4. EMU (5-3)$ - TBA (STO) GM 8: Winner GM 6 v. 3. Buffalo (6-2)* - TBA (STO) Semifinals (Cleveland): Friday, March 9, 2012 GM 9: Winner GM 7 v. 1. Akron (7-1) - TBA (STO) GM 10: Winner GM 8 v. 2. Ohio (6-2)* - TBA (STO) Finals (Cleveland): Saturday, March 10, 2012 GM 5: Winner GM 9 v. Winner GM 10 - 8pm (ESPN2) NOTE: Under new format, division champions no longer earned top 2 seeds (like format in 1998 and 1999). TIEBREAKER EXPLANATIONS: * Ohio beat Buffalo head-2-head.. $ EMU beats Can't as having the best winning % versus the highest ranked team -> #6, Bowling Green (by the way, the only other East vs. West losses both belong to Miami) % Among 4-4 teams, head-2-head, BGSU is 1-0; BSU is 1-1; and WMU is 0-1. # Among 2-6 teams, head-2-head, CMU is 1-0; Toledo is 1-1; and Miami is 0-1.

Kind of cool next to the Super Bowl story. And it actually says Akron instead of just saying Tressel took a non-athletics position.

Hold it. Did you and Dave just switch roles temporarily?

Nope, that's exactly what I'd expect from someone named Spin. Well done.

You frighten us all dude. You know that, right?

I love what Terry Bowden has done. While Tressel would have been a little bigger splash initially, I'm not sure he would have been able to generate the kind of enthusiasm that Terry has. I'm thrilled we have Terry Bowden on board, the promotion and visisbility he has brought has been just what this program needed. Considering the football program as a whole, I think Bowden would have been a better hire even if both would have been interested in the job. I'm fine with Tressel being at UA if he can help in some capacity but I'm also happy to hear that it sounds like the football program will be left entirely in Coach Bowden's capable hands. No need to even consider Tressel for anything football related at this point unless Coach Bowden wanted him to do something.

Yep, on ESPN as well.

Quotes from the Porter article (about time we had someone named Porter really supporting the University, oh, wait ...) “Then they come and see the facilities and they say, ‘Oh my goodness, it’s like every other BCS school,’ ” Bowden said. “Local guys, you have to sell them on a vision and an expectation of success. In their minds, they’ve been fed ‘Why would you go to Akron?’ If you’re not winning and you try to turn things around, you do what you shouldn’t and go further away. That could’ve happened in the past.” In addition to length and speed, Bowden recruited success. He wanted players who were successful in high school. The Zips have won one game in each of the last two seasons. “When you’re trying to change a culture ... you like players who are used to winning,” Bowden said. “Three players won state championships. Four had undefeated seasons, and one is from a school on back-to-back national championships. Two others are from Florida teams that won three of the last five state championships.” It's very obvious to me that Coach Bowden really understands what he was asked to undertake when he took the job. Bravo Coach.

To us it might have appeared that way, but in the postgame Dambrot said he told Zeke he hadn't seen him get beat that much since he was a freshman. To the untrained eye, I thought he did pretty well too. Maybe there are just much higher expectations for him.

Coach Bowden mentioned that in the recruiting video. Said they count against last years class so they could sign up to four more (but didn't want to worry about bumping against the 85 limit (c'mon coach you were in the SEC, oversign ). Someone on the board did mention that it would be good to hold a couple slots open for last second drops from other schools. I'm going to bet that is what's happening.

Did Ianello ever do something like this? This was very good. As an example of finding overlooked players perhaps, they showed Dylan Evans who was brought in as a linebacker, but primarily was used as a running back this year. He wasn't likely to get a D-1 scholarship as a RB, but the coaches dug into his background and found excellent LB skills during his sophomore and junior years. Coach Bowden also appears to have met his goal of bringing in a lot of speed.

Toledo player hanging on the rim.

Yeah, hope they cleared this with Coach Bowden.

Yep, I switched it back over to ESPN3, but even that isn't very good. It cut out right as the Rockets cut it to three, then apparently the Zips when on a 10-0 run.

There was some mention on the basketball broadcast about Jim Tressel joining Akron in some capacity tomorrow. What in the heck is going on?

Zips start out 13 of 16, up by 14 in the first half.

Uh-oh it might stick. Just heard one of the announcers refer to him as the Harney Badger. Apparently the AK-Rowdies picked it up. One for BirdZip.

I checked the stream on ESPN3 and mac-sports. The one on mac-sports appears to be much better. They also kept the mic on during a timeout and got to hear what Dambrot was saying the huddle. Good start.

It worked for me. All three were very similar but I thought all were pretty good too. (Edit: I also had picked #1, the color changing contact lens for diabetics was awesome).

Today is signing day. Have we signed him/her yet?

It might not mean anything as far as an at large bid goes, but with ORU currently projected one seed line above Akron, if the Zips make the tournament, it could mean the difference bewteen a 13 and a 14 seed (or maybe even a 12 if the rest of the season goes really well). Every seed line up increases your odds (not to mention the perception of the MAC as a higher level conference).