GJGood

Which job pays more? Boals current gig or the head job at OU? Boals turned down the job at Fresno State which plays in a higher profile league than the MAC, but going to OU would be "going home" for Boals. KD doesn't like to play against his friends but how do we get OU off the schedule?

I'd actually like to see Justice earn some playing time. Going into this recently completed season I heard a lot of the same expectations for him that I heard for Gilliam, and he has turned out all right.

How much playing time and how important of a role do you all see the incoming freshman and returning inexperienced players on the Zips roster getting in 2012-13? I am particularly interested in how much playing time some of the returnees like Justice, Ibitayo, and Egner will be getting next season. How big a role would you like to see these guys and the incoming freshmen have next season? How deep can the rotation go effectively?

Did I read somewhere that the winner of tonight's game in Evanston will play their second round game on Thursday? That is terrible. Why would the NIT want teams playing twice in a little more than 48 hours and be doing so at the same time as the NCAA tournament's first full day? For a team like the Zips which would likely have to play both their first two NIT games on the road (and the second likely all the way across the country) this is just brutal. It reminds me of the year we beat Temple in Philadelphia in the NIT and played Creighton in Omaha 48 hours later and the team looked exhausted. of course that year Creighton had something like 8 days off leading up to the game, so I guess that is a little better this time around.

Go Zips! and as an added bonus go Texas-Arlington Mavericks! UTA at Akron would be a great second round matchup!

4 regions, 8 teams each.... 4 x 8 =32

I agree with this statement. The only thing I saw last night that disturbed me a little with the officials was that it seemed as if they were trying to protect Cooper from the physical play more than any of the other 9 players on the floor. It did seem like he got away with a few slaps of Zips' hands and arms while there were one or two phantom fouls that led to him shooting free throws. I'm not saying the officials did this on purpose at all but that maybe it was done somewhat subconsciously. That thing tends to happen with star guards at all levels of basketball though I guess. I also thought it was interesting that OU had the same officiating crew two nights in a row. Could that be an advantage, since the officials may have been more able to anticipate what OU would do and vice versa OU would have a better feel for what they could and could not get away with? I know both teams had this crew many times throughout the season but what the stripes are told to focus on changes much more from week to week than it does in a 23 hour span. No excuses, I've just always wondered if that creates any type of advantage at all?

That same site had us as a 3 seed in the NIT the year we were 26-7 and got left out all together. I am thinking we will be a 6 or 7 seed, that should be low enough to assure we don't get a home game but are still competitive.

Yeah, remember the guys in charge of seeding the NIT Tournament are the same guys that left us completely out of the NIT when we were 26-7 with the conference MVP on the roster. Why would they give an Akron team that is 22-11 a top four seed? Not saying it isn't deserved but the "good ol' boys club" that is in charge of such things is not likely to let Akron be in position to get a home game unless both the Zips and another bottom 4 seed team pull off upsets in the same part of the bracket.

I will take a deep run in the NIT over a second straight one and done in the NCAA, but I would DEFINITELY take the program's first ever NCAA tournament win over anything the NIT can offer (other than possibly bringing home the NIT hardware but even that is an extremely close call)

Our team has the potential to be very special next year, having the experience of playing as many good and possibly bigger name teams as possible now can only be a good thing for next year. I'd love a deep run in the NIT.

We pretty much got the game we wanted except for the end result. We had a lot of inside looks and open threes. We had no bigs in foul trouble. We even severely limited Cooper's drive and kick out ability and contested most of his three point shots. Those contested shots just went in and whether it was too much adrenaline or not we missed some of our inside shots. Too many turnovers but that is OU's forte and tends to be our biggest weakness and it was nowhere near as bad as it was in Athens a couple weeks ago.

I love that field for the Zips. Most of those teams are the very types of teams I'd like to see Akron schedule in the first place. Plus, I love the fact that this is an actual tournament and not like that thing we played in this season where even if you won you couldn't make the semifinals. Being guaranteed three games against those programs shouldn't be harmful to the SOS or RPI compared to other seasons.

At least they have the NIT, I fear if the regular season champ auto bid to the NIT rule was not in place the NIT wouldn't have taken them either. The NIT selection committee has absolutely no respect for leagues like the Summit, and only a very small amount for the MAC.

While that would make OU have to win twice to get to us it would also put them in our half of the bracket. At #3 they still have to win two to get to us but have to grind out a game with Buffalo and make the title game and a potential matchup with the Zips.

So, from the scenarios shown at the beginning of the thread I see that EMU has the possibilty of being the #3, #5, or #6. Is there no way they can get the #4 spot? The ideal scenario for me would be one where Buffalo is #2, Ohio #3, EMU #4, and the archrival #5. That way the two teams we match up the worst with we can't meet until the final AND they would likely have a tough exhausting game with each other 24 hours prior to that title tilt. Since I think OU is the even tougher matchup for us than Buffalo right now I'd like to see them as the 3 seed so they'd have to play 3 games in three days to reach the title game. In the Zips half of the bracket I'd love to see the 4-5 game be one where the Portage County team is playing for the second time in 24 hours or so. That way we'd either get EMU or a tired team in a rematch of the regular season finale. Just my take. But can EMU still get the 4?

MAC #2 seed, not winning the conference tourney + struggling as of late = CBI MAC #1 seed, not winning the conference tourney = guaranteed NIT berth If we don't bring home the hardware from Cleveland the above two scenarios are why tonight's game was so important. Unless you'd rather see Akron in the CBI than the NIT, you have to want more than the #2 seed and a just a double bye in Cleveland.

I'd love to see the home season end with the ball in the hands of Kyle Petersen.

Don't give up on Central Ohio, I need to go watch Zips recruits on Friday nights this fall too. There is plenty of talent in this neck of the woods also.

To me the determination of whether a game is well officiated or not isn't dependent upon how many times the whistle is blown overall. I just think a game is poorly officiated when the whistle is blown consistently due to incidental contact that does not result in a significant advantage for either team on that particular play. There can be well officiated games with a lot of fouls called as well as well officiated games where few are called. To me it is about whether contact creates an unfair benefit or not. Something like handchecking fouls 50 feet from the hoop are the ones I hate to see called. The other issue I have is when an official assumes that a foul is going to take place before it happens. They should always be sure that they see the foul before they call it.

I agree with all of that, except I don't think the top of the MAC is that bad. The MAC West is currently to be sure, but not the conference as a whole. Kudos to ORU, they deserved to win and I'd love to see them get in the dance and win a game or two. Still you wonder how the game may have been different if we just got a few more rebounds or just hit a few more open threes since we went 4-for-21. The Zips need to grow from this and play the best they've played all year from here on out.

To me the telling stat from today was 4 rebounds for Treadwell and Zeke COMBINED! You're gonna have the 4 for 21 three point shooting nights once in a while but there is no reason why our 7-footer and best rebounder can't get more boards than that.

Actually the Zips have never won more than one game in a national Division I postseason tournament to date. All three NCAA berths were one and done, as was our lone CBI appearance. I know that there was a one and done NIT under Coach Huggins as well when the Zips lost in Columbus to Ohio State. We have two NIT appearances under KD and we are 1-1 both times. The first go-around we beat Temple in Philadelphia and then lost to a rested Creighton in Omaha only 48 hours later. The second time the Zips went down and shocked Florida State in Tallahassee and advanced to play UMass in Amherst. That UMass game was one where the Zips had a great opportunity to win. I believe the Minutemen then went on to upset Syracuse before losing in the NIT Championship game that year. So, the very worst I want to see this year is an NIT berth and multiple wins in that tourney. I'd still take an NCAA win over an NIT run anyday though.

I would imagine that we will be seeing both Temple and UMass in future seasons because I know there was an agreement in place that those schools would schedule MAC schools in a variety of sports due to them being admitted to the MAC in football. Plus, since Akron has been at or near the top of the league in basketball that we'd be one of the most likely MAC programs to get those games.

Should we try to schedule a Big Ten team or two every year to become more of a name in the Midwest? Or should we play teams more similar to ourselves in leagues like the A-10, Horizon, and maybe even C-USA? Also, another thing I have thought about lately is a conference challenge type thing. I know there is the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, the Big East and SEC have a similar thing as does the Missouri Valley with the Mountain West. Should the MAC enter a scheduling partnership with another conference as well? If so, which conference is about on par with the MAC in terms of its indidvidula members right now? Personally, I'd like to see a conference challenge with the WAC, Sun Belt, or C-USA. That way there would be a chance it could carry over to football as well since they are FBS leagues.