GJGood

We have heard all year about the 11 straight years of 21+ wins teams. Akron has it again this year. OSU currently has 20 wins so Akron can make the club more exclusive by knocking someone out head to head. I guess there is some irony to that.

No, but that would be at a neutral site where both teams had to adjust to the sight lines and depth perception of the arena. My comments came after it had previously been stated that a 3 vs 6 game should have had Akron as the 3 and OSU as the 6

I am Columbus born and raised and work within the city limits now. I am not looking forward to hearing the garbage I will hear at work the next two days. I never trash talk but man, oh man, can the fans down here do it.

I am already here but my work schedule may get in the way, not sure yet.

Yes, a cavernous arena like that. How many threes did we hit in Cleveland on Thursday? How did that compare with the number we were hitting in the games leading up to that? Maybe you all are right and it won't matter that much since we are coming off three games in Cleveland. Hopefully it won't. Excuses though? No, excuses would be reasons offered up after a loss actually takes place..... These are points that can effect the game, a game that has the vastly better ranked team being treated as inferior and that treatment being the reason that those points come into play. That is unless, of course, you think OSU deserved a home game even though they are playing a team ranked something like 30 places ahead of them in the RPI. I still think we can win the game. When Akron is playing well the Zips are the better team. I just think this committee has hurt the chances that we actually do play extremely well. Again, maybe I am wrong and the guys come out on fire.

True and if it is North Florida we would host them as well. That would be interesting because most of this season Akron was second in made threes per game. The team that was first ahead of us was North Florida.

Another first round loss is now likely.. Not directly because of the opponent but because of how the game will play out and the location. We know how the officiating will go in that place. Most importantly, though, we shoot a ton of threes but are not used to doing it in large cavernous arenas like the one this game will be played in. You can't just get acclimated to the depth perception issue that creates overnight.

Tuesday 7pm

First place in 10th ranked conference versus Sixth place in the 4th or 5th ranked conference RPI Season record

My problem is not playing them but the seeds, and therefore the location, should be reversed.

Don't like the way this is going... Are they going to send us down the road two hours? If so, that would just be wrong.

I am not saying I would want anyone let go. I am only asking if there would be any value to someone coming in from outside the program to add a different perspective. It is certainly not about work ethic. I honestly don't know what rules or constraints there are on coaching staffs. If someone comes in does someone automatically have to go?

Also, this year the MAC as a whole was ranked much higher than in those other years referenced. This team really deserves a good NIT seed. Instead of being a. Home seed vs. away seed conversation it should probably be a one home game vs. two home game conversation in a chalk bracket at least. We should be on the line between a two or three seed in the NIT at minimum. I fully expect, though, that a 5 or 6 seed is coming. If that ends up putting us at a much lower ranked Ohio State then we know the numbers were fudged to get the matchups they wanted. We should be ahead of OSU easily but I fear this committee won't let that happen unless they must.

Wait? Seeding in the NIT takes things into account other than what happens on the court during the current season? :O

I'm not 40 years in but I am in year 22 since I became a Zips follower so I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the possibility of tweaking the assistant coaching personnel or assignments. Should the pot be stirred at all? I liked what someone said earlier about bringing in an outsider for a fresh perspective but I really don't want to do too much to disturb the stability of the program either.

I don't know the stats. How many of those teams had 26 wins and RPIs in the 30s? How does 2016 Akron compare to the 2010 arch rival team?

I am happy that they instituted the auto NIT bid for regular season conference champions. I am also happy that they took some power away from the NIT committee last year by making the NCAA selectors list their first four out and having them automatically be 1 seeds in the NIT. I think the NCAA selectors are certainly unfairly skewed toward the big name schools and conferences but I also feel that it is still much better than the total bias the NIT has shown in the past, at least against Akron and the MAC. They may not be anti-mid-major overall but certainly seem to be anti-MAC for some reason. Maybe given the MAC's improved numbers thi year it will be different. I just have to see it before I'll believe it.

I agree completely but it is not based on fairness. What frustrates me is when people say that you have a great RPI but you don't have any quality or marquee wins. I thought RPI was supposed to be a measure that took your strength of schedule into account. Saying you have a good RPI but weak SOS actually means you had to do MORE to get that RPI to that respectable level.

Wanted to create a separate thread for this topic. OK, what is everyone realistically hoping for and realistically expecting from the committees today as far as the Zips are concerned? My wish list: 1. The NCAA committee absolutely stuns the media 'experts and let's Akron in, likely sending the Zips to Dayton. 2. The NCAA committee surprises the media experts and lists the Zips as one of their "first four out" thus making Akron an automatic 1 seed in the NIT. This would also grantee home games all the way to the Final Four in MSG. 3. The NIT committee gives Akron a top 4 seed in one of their quadrants of the bracket thus meaning Akron plays at home in the first round. This seems to be where Steve French and Joe Dunn thought the Zips would end up per their thoughts in the post game last night. My expectation: The NIT committee continues to be a joke and puts Akron as a 5 seed or maybe even a 6 seed thus making them a road team in the first round and likely not getting any home games even if they 'upset' their first round opponent. Knowing how the good oil' boys at the NIT typically treat schools like Akron I feel that even though the Zips clearly deserve a home game that they won't get one. Hopefully I am wrong.

Akron is not a destination for most coaches. It is for KD. That creates stability in the program. We have a great chance to win the MAC every year. Nobody wins the MAC title with any regularity because of the diversity in styles of play this league contains. Still I am in the school of thought that thinks if you play for championships enough that you will win some too and if you win enough of them you will eventually win in the NCAA as well. It won't happen this year now and it may not next year but overall the program is in a good position to make it a real possibility going forward and I want that possibility to be there perennially.

If our name was Memphis or VCU and we had the exact same resume with the exact same schedule we'd have a good chance of an at-large. That is not the fault of any coaches, that falls more on the media and the marketing of the team by both the university and the conference. I respect viewpoints opposed to mine and understand that maybe my perception is different than some since the Zips won something like 35 games total in my four years at the school but I still think that we are better off now than we would be with just about anyone else at the helm. I don't want some coach that views Akron as a stepping stone. I want one that sees it as a destination. Who is the better than KD that would fall into that category?

He stays... Is there anyone else out there who could ever care more about this program and the school it represents all while leading this once moribund program to the successes it has had for the last decade? In another thread someone mentioned bringing in someone new from outside the program to the coaching staff and I could see that possibly just to avoid stagnancy, especially if their expertise is developing 'bigs' or creating the perfect mix of non-conference scheduling but that is on the staff not as the head coach. If I had to guess right now I'd say KD will be here until he decides himself to step down and that at that point the university will make Rick McFadden or another insider the next head man. Of course this changes if the success level falls off dramatically.

Yes. I have seen that in a lot of instances. In the case of Columbus, though, I think they could still get more for an NIT game than Akron could get in the JAR. It wouldn't be anywhere near a full house but I think it would clear the 5,500 mark. If that matchup did come to pass I'd hope that a large Akron and zipsnation contingent would be down here in my hometown. You still couldn't replace the excitement level the matchup would have if it was in the JAR though, not even close.

Is more revenue generated by television viewership or ticket sales at the venue? Having a game with Ohio State in Akron would be much better TV as the JAR would be rocking and the crowd would be split on who they were rooting for. While Akron at Ohio State would be a good game on the court you aren't going to get the same feeling of an exuberant setting from viewing that on the tube.

Good point on the NIT. We still have never won more than one game in any single national postseason tournament. Let's change that. I just don't trust the NIT committee at all. People complain about the NCAA selection committee al the time but in is the NIT selection group that truly seems biased. My prediction: Little Akron gets a 5 seed at has to play at NIT 4 seed Ohio State. That would be a travesty as all the numbers would indicate that Akron should have been the home team in that matchup.