GJGood

Brian Walsh https://www.nbc4i.com/sports/buckeyes/brian-walsh-joins-ohio-state-mens-basketball-as-assistant-coach/amp/

I agree, not only mainly mid-major but with on campus environments … but don’t tell Miami RedHawks fans it is for the second and third place MAC teams.

Miami finished multiple games ahead of PCCC in the standings and beat them 3 times head to head while they also came closer to beating the champs than the Flushes did, yet no Miami in the NIT while Akron’s archrival did get an accept an invite? I would really be steamed at the NIT committee if I were a Miami fan … I am actually irritated with them even though I am not a RedHawks guy

Accidentally stumbled upon this.. apparently no longer in basketball?

I wasn’t sure if it was possible but it is what it is.

Anyway we can get Eastern and Toledo to meet in the 4/5 game given that the four schools all play each other tonight? If so, I think that would be the scenario I want.

What do seeds 3 through 6 look like if EMU and Toledo defeat the Bobcats and PCCC? It would mean all four are tied at 10-8 but how would the tiebreakers pan out?

I don’t really know much about that on the high school level. A cursory look just tells me the NFHS network app but that is a subscription service. Maybe someone reading this knows better than I do?

Josh Henderson and Westerville Central will be underdogs as they meet Tai Perkins and Westerville North in the D-2 Region 7 semifinal tomorrow night (3/5/2025) so one 2025-26 Akron Zip will contribute to his future teammate’s high school career coming to an end.

These last four road games, starting with this CMU one, scare me a bit. This will be our toughest stretch of the conference season as we lead up to Cleveland. CMU and BSU have height that we could potentially have trouble handling, especially if we get some foul trouble. The other two games in Toledo and Athens are just really traditionally tough teams in tough environments. Plus, the rival comes into our place within the last stretch too and that can tend to take some focus away from other games. I know Akron is good but these last 7 will show how good, not just from a talent standpoint but from a team mentality and focus standpoint.

No, hopefully not since it only applies to regular season conference champs. Hopefully it’s just an unneeded backup plan for the Zips.

Also, Ball State gave us the toughest battle at home this year so far and the Zips still travel to Muncie. I believe CMU is the team with the most height in the MAC and the deminuative Zips go to Mount Pleasant this weekend as well. All in all I think 5 of the Zips toughest 6 or 7 conference games still lie ahead… that said they are all very winnable

With the NCAA tournament pretty much being a win 3 in Cleveland to get in tournament for MAC teams (although let’s just go 18-0 and see if at large talk happens) the only thing I really pay attention to NET and the various ranking systems for is NIT consideration should we somehow falter in Cleveland. The NIT once again has new criteria this year. Before last year they eliminated the auto bid for conference regular season champs that failed to win their conference tourney but this year they somewhat brought it back as you will get in if you win your conference and you are ranked an average of 125 or better across the ranking systems they consider. So still not good for a lot of conferences but the MAC could benefit. Last year Toledo was 129 and would’ve just missed. This year, though, Akron is hovering in the upper 80s and low 90s at this point.

Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves with talk of seeds in the tournament…. after WMU the Zips face a pretty tough five out of six run in the schedule. a I personally think the two toughest matchups stylistically for the Zips are CMU and Ball State.. Akron travels to both. Zips also have to go to both Toledo and Athens… sandwiched in there is the rivalry game (where odd things can happen and they did just beat Arkansas State) at home.

I like the MAC-SBC challenge but would like to see a third and maybe fourth conference get involved. If we could get the CAA and SoCon in with the MAC and SBC this could become a premier mid-major event. It could still be a one game home one game away for each team just with more variety in whom the opponents could be. For example , Akron and Arkansas State are the top in each of their conferences but already played in Jonesboro. With an additional two conferences involved you could have top of their conference teams like Samford and College of Charleston being the return team to the JAR in the challenge.