GJGood

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.

I think our toughest matchups in the MAC are Ball State and CMU because of the height both teams possess. Those two teams can throw it over the top of us and get what big players we have into foul trouble. I wish we didn’t have return games to both CMU and BSU. After those two, Miami and Ohio can get hot any night and beat anyone else in the conference, even us. One game at a time is the only way to be.

I see it as Portage being by far the primary rival and Athens clearly the next in line… after that it’s pretty much all those former MAC East foes and Toledo in basketball due to recency only…. I still have never gotten over that title game loss in Cleveland to Miami on the miracle shot just as Akron was becoming a MAC power nor the way Buffalo treated Akron in the Hurley days.

A rare opportunity for a Central Ohio Akron alum and Zips fan. If I get the chance tomorrow, January 4, I plan to attend the Westerville North at Westerville Central basketball game and hence watch two Zips commits on the floor at the same time, and pretty close to my own back yard

I am aware of the Avon QB Nolan Good, simply because we share a last name and he was going to be recruited at the Akron so my reasons for wishing my alma mater would recruit him were for personal irony. Anybody from Cincinnati Anderson we have been looking at? Anybody we should? what about any of the other teams in Canton this weekend?

Anybody playing in Canton this weekend being recruited by the Zips? Any insight on if we send scouts to these games or if JoeMo himself may attend? Who in these games would you like to see the Zips offer?

The receivers on this team are good for some big plays here and there but are any of them truly dependable? That has to be addressed before next season. The only ones I trust at all are the tight ends. Tonight was not poor coaching, was not poor defense, just poor offensive execution.

Sorry. Not sure how that entered twice

I would like to see the Zips extend an offer to Aubin Gateretse, 6’11” athletic center from Belgium that is transferring out of Stetson after helping them get to the NCAA tourney this year.

I would like to see the Zips extend an offer to Aubin Gateretse, 6’11” athletic center from Belgium that is transferring out of Stetson after helping them get to the NCAA tourney this year.

North Texas(NIT over UAB in the final) and Charlotte (CBI) I believe. I remember FAU in the NCAA Final Four as well. All four of those teams were mid-majors from CUSA. There was no CIT last year.

I still feel like a key difference in recent years was the transferring out of Aziz. We had our athletic 7 footer to play with these guys. That would have made such a big difference today and would have had us dominating the MAC if everyone else was still there.

There are 7 conferences they really pay attention to. I hope the Sycamores make a deep NIT run.

I honestly think this is where the CiT could come in. Bowling Green is hosting a CiT game. The CiT is run by collegeinsider.com which is the same site that has the mid-major Top 25 rankings that seem to be widely accepted and used in the media. Combine the CBI and CiT ( we don’t really need both) and find a way to not make the new tourney pay to play, more like the NIT format.... would also love a best of three final that the CBI had once upon a time.

Yes, I have been putting this travesty out there all season since the announcement. It Does look like BG has accepted a CiT bid and is also hosting. Must mean Schools like Toledo and Ohio declined. Sad state of affairs. Especially now with the NIT effectively shutting the MAC out we need a viable tournament for our top teams that just didn’t have it go their way in Cleveland. Make the regular season matter with a postseason berth somewhere.

Any chance any MAC team plays in the CBI or CiT? CIT is back this year with 16 teams, campus sites...4 pods of 4 teams each to keep costs down. CBI, a little less exciting to me, but 16 teams all one site single elimination over four days

I think Shammah and Tavari are key tonight. Scott seems to have found his three point stroke while Dawson is really cold and Sammy hasn’t been all that hot of late either but could play a key role if he finds his stroke or can be more of a force on the boards. Tavari has been a spark late in the season even as the team has come back to earth. Game 2 of back to backs are always hard to know what to expect. Does one team run out of gas? How much does depth make a difference? Does fatigue show up more in three point shooting or in being a step slow and fouling on defense? No matter what happens this has had to be an interesting tournament for Coach Groce, first sending his brother home (and completing the set to say Akron defeated every MAC team this season) then a semifinal date with his previous employer where he still made his deepest postseason run to this point.

Miami is the only team in the MAC that Akron did not defeat this season.