Quickzips

No offense, but these rankings don't make us look good at all. Second best in NEOhio is absolutely nothing to brag about. Heck I'm sure Can't even isn't bragging about being "best in NEOhio" when that simply means they rank 108 in the country. All this really shows is the absolute abysml level of play in the MAC.

Cap'n is spot on as far as the scheduling. It isn't really the Niagra, Valpo, Drake, UIC, Wyoming kinds of games that are the problem. It certainly isn't the NCState, TexA&M, Rhode Island type games. It's the mid-season games against joke programs like UNCGreensboro, Malone and St. Francis that are the problem. Replace those games with one road game against an NCState/TexasA&M kind of team, one home game against someone like Dayton or VCU and a home game against a Niagra/Valpo/Drake/UIC/Wyoming and I am perfectly fine with the schedule.

Problems as I see them:Poor recruiting. Too many teams in the MAC have fallen into the idea that the best way to win the conference is to try and find a couple of good guards, match them up with some undersized frontcourt players and hope for the best. Problem is, if you strike out with the guards, you have zero chance of doing anything outside of the conference because your frontcourt is so vastly undersized. Combine this with the proclivity of certain teams to take the "easy" route by trying to recruit JUCO's and troubled transfers and you have an insustainable recruiting situation.Too much focus on just trying to win in the conference. This ties back into recruiting, but it seems that too many teams, ourselves included often times, are too focused on just winning the conference. There doesn't seem to be that ambition out there to win the tough OOC's games. Just get through them without any injuries and hope you learn something from them while getting a nice paycheck. Conference season is all that matters, and really, it only matters for seeding those four days in Cleveland. It does nothing to raise the conference status during the regular season and nothing to prepare whatever "champion" comes out of the tournament for the NCAA's.Poor scheduling. Unfortunatly we are probably the most guilty culprit here. It's been hashed out over and over again on this forum, so I won't go into too much detail, but the bottom line is that you can't win games you don't schedule. Until the conference as a whole steps up and demands better scheduling the MAC will continue to trend towards numerous home games against absolutely abysmal competition that does nothing to raise the profile of the conference.Focus at the top on football. Let's face it, the MAC has tried in recent years to be a football conference (an attempt that has pretty much failed). Basketball has been a secondary focus for the league office and it has shown. This really isn't a "conference" when it comes to basketball as much as it is a collection of 11 individual programs masquerading as an organized group of teams. We have no scheduling guidelines, no real television deal to speak of, no scheduling alliances with other conferences. Until the conference itself steps up and focuses more on basketball it is hard to see this thing turning around.Again, just a few of my thoughts. I'm sure the problems run much deeper than just what I have come up with.

If he starts developing the world's ugliest jump shot we can call him linhartNot to defend the relative ugliness of Nate's jumper, but I've certainly seen a lot uglier looking jumper than his. I think a lot of what made his shot look so darn awkward was that he was a southpaw.

You picked the Browns over the Zips?Yes, I picked the Browns over our Zips. Today, I saw Josh Cribbs set an all-time NFL kickoff return record with his eighth career return for a TD and Jerome Harrison run for a Browns single-game rushing record of 286 yards (that's the third best rushing day in NFL history). My point is...why go up against the Browns/NFL, when attendance struggles like it does. I just think it is a poor decision by The University of Akron. Go Zips!To imply that the University of Akron simply decided to go up against the Browns (who are an awful excuse for entertainment btw, todays result not withstanding) is drastically oversimplifying the amount of factors that go into scheduling these games.

The Conyers line for today. 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, .500 from the field, hit his only FT and put in a 3 for good measure. Jimmy is playing well. Finally starting to earn that scholarship. Since starting to see consistent minutes six games ago he is averaging 8.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals with 53% shooting from the field and 90% from the line.

I have to ask Cap'n, are you ready for a little side of crow on Conyers yet? Today is six games in a row he's been getting significant minutes and it will be six games in a row that we've gotten good production out of him. I'm just hoping he can keep this up for the rest of the season. A productive Conyers is just another weapon for us.

Well your point spread is about right.....if you're predicting the first half. Zips dominating a completly overmatched St. Francis team 40-18 at the half.Jimmy Conyers having another very solid game. McNees with a good game. B.McK has been big on the glass. More than anything though, St. Francis just can't match up with us it seems.

If he can put a ball through the uprights from more than 30 yards away (heck even from inside 30 yards) then get him fitted for a Zips uniform, stat!

Exactly the kind of hire I did NOT want to see. A guy who has zero head coaching experience coming from a mediocre BCS school (sorry ND fans, your team just isn't that good, and hasn't been for a decade or more) whose only apparent redeeming quality is that he's supposedly a great recruiter and has ties to our AD. I'll cautiously give this guy the benefit of the doubt for now, but let's just say I'm skeptical. Recruiting ability should never have been the determinative factor in this decision, and it appears it was. We've got the best facilities in the conference and some of the best in the area to be able to attract talented kids. We don't NEED a coach whose specialty is recruiting. We could have done just fine with an average to just above average recruiter who is a great X's and O's guy that can coach his recruits up on Saturday.

Can we please change the title of this thread. I almost had a coronary when I read it thinking that Zeke had gone down to an injury for the rest of the year.

Not as much so without LeFevour there next year. Not disputing that it is a good coaching destination, but losing a star QB to graduation certainly diminishes the shine a little bit.

The one endearing image from the Brookhardt era for me will always be Hixon climbing off his back after throwing up god knows how many times on the sideline from the cramps he was getting, dragging himself back in the game and diving for that ball in the endzone with the clock winding down to win us the MAC Championship game. I'm proud to have a guy like him in the NFL from Akron. Just the way he was able to bounce back from the whole Kevin Everett situation and make it into a positive both on and off the field is testimony enough to the kind of player he is. Deserves all the success in the world.

I wonder if the Rowdies will have to cut back on the "Buffalo's in Canada" when Ennis gets here?Seriously, the kid looks like he's got some talent. Certainly seems like he played against enough high level competition since coming stateside. Something tells me NIU is going to end up regretting the fact that we snuck into their back yard and snatched this kid up.

I'm trying to temper my enthusiasm for what Jimmy has done the last 3 games because we've seen spurts like this from him before, but if he keeps playing the way he has it is a huge plus for us. Right now we don't have anyone else who can really play the SF spot. The Brett's and Nikola can do it in spurts, but none of them are a true 3. Conyers is the only guy on the roster that really fits the spot. If he can keep building on these performances and continue to gain confidence it will go a long way to getting back to the promised land. One thing noone is talking about with him is how good of a FT shooter he is. I think he's somewhere around 85% on the season right now. If he can keep his confidence up and take the ball to the hoop more and more often it will really put a lot of pressure on our opponents defense.

Bardo got dunked on? I thought he was our best interior defender???

Personally, I think right now you have to treat Ronnie like porcelain. His injury history alone means you can't just throw him right back into playing 25+ minutes a game. I can't imagine that his conditioning is that good at this point. Not to mention the fact that he's barely played in about 2 and a half years. Watching him against Niagra he seemed a little unsure of himself. It didn't seem like he had the chemistry with the rest of the guys to really make an impact. If he can get back to the point by the end of the season where he can give us 15 solid minutes a night and looks comfortable doing it I would consider it a big victory for not only the Zips but for Ronnie as a person.My bigger question is whose minutes get cut to make way for him? We can't play a 5 guard rotataion can we? The natural choice would seem to be Humpty or McNees, but I almost wonder if McClanahan doesn't eventually become the odd man out in the guard rotation. He's our biggest guard which is an advantage for him, but he's done absolutely nothing of note so far this season. On top of that, he was supposed to redshirt last year until Ronnie went down again. I wouldn't be surprised if the guard rotation eventually becomes Humpty, Daryl, Steve and Ronnie.

Foul trouble for Zeke is the difference in this game. With Zeke in the game the Zips were playing right there with A&M. Zeke comes out with foul trouble, Aggies go on runs.

Give me a good, solid 40 minutes of basketball and some worried faces on the Aggies sidelines and I'll be content regardless of the outcome. Give me an upset win and it will make holiday shopping and studying for finals this weekend a whole lot more enjoyable. Gotta show up for all 40 minutes. No disappearing acts in this one if we want to give ourselves any chance.

You know what Rugby, you are right, whatever new arena we get should be named after Hipsher.While we are at it, I think we should re-name Infocision Stadium to Lee Owens Stadium. I mean, Owens did more to get us some respectability than anyone else. He brought in some good recruits in Domenik Hixon, Charlie Frye, Chase Blackburn, etc. Granted, he never won shit while he was here. Never beat a BCS team, never got us close to a conference championship and his teams consistently underperformed. I mean he was going up against a better MAC than what we have now with those dominant Marshall teams and some very good teams in Miami, Toledo, NIU, etc. He had to deal with future NFL players like Byron Leftwich, Ben Roethlisberger, Chad Pennington, etc. Never mind the fact that he accomplished absolutely nothing while he was here, let's re-name the stadium after him. I volunteer to help take down all the Infocision Stadium signs and I'll even start working on a design logo for Owen's Stadium.

Yup, you aren't close to the Hipshers at all.

I have to respectfully disagree. After seeing TA&M play this past weekend, they are a top 20-25 team. I think our best game from last year would still make us double digit losers on the road. Let's keep it under/near 20, and I won't be disappointed.You know what, let's just forfeit the game. Save the money on air fair. Stay home. Don't even go.

Thankyou for your opinion Mrs. Hipsher.I would be willing to bet you are a woman who laughs at her own jokes.You would lose a lot of money on that one.I however, would be willing to bet that you have some close relationship to the Hipsher family and would make a killing.If we're going to name a new arena after a coach Hipsher isn't exactly high on the list. The guy compiled a very mediocre 112-137 with 5 losing seasons and one .500 season in 9 years here. He never took us out of the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament let along to the NCAA's or NIT's. Never got to 20 wins on a season. Only twice did he finish better than .500 in the MAC. Fact of the matter is Hipsher's impact on the Zips basketball program was insignificant at best.

Thankyou for your opinion Mrs. Hipsher.