GJGood

I don't agree with most of what EA said but I do think that the top of the West is getting closer to the top of the East, won't quite be there next year but maybe the year after the better West teams can at least beat the bottom half of the East. The bottom of the West teams, though, who knows? I imagine Toledo will get better eventually but EMU, CMU, and NIU are huge question marks for the foreseeable future.

Well, I'm not devastated by the matchup but I am just looking at the seeding compared to how we and similar teams was done in the past. Are we really that much worse than we were two years ago? or Ohio was last year? Should we really be a worse seed than Long Island U? What time slot does everyone want? Will the fact that its ND make it more likely to be in prime time?

Actually I think Louisville would be a good football opponent to try to work a home and home with. I know thats off-topic, but my thoughts.

Still not sure why we are a 15 seed when you think about it. How many times has the MAC Champ ever been seeded that lowly? I know even though only managing a 9 seed in the MAC tourney last year OU was a 14 seed. In 2009, we were the MAC #5 and got a 13 seed, this year we're a MAC #6 but a 15 in the Dance despite playing a tougher non-conference slate than in 2008-09. It defies logic.

Any MAC Champion that was able to also put up at least 20 D-1 wins should get at least a 14 seed at worst. The MAC may not be the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, or even as good as the MVC or A-10 but it isn't some bottom-feeder conference ranked in the bottom 7 or 8 leagues either. The only way a MAC Champ should ever get a 15 or 16 is if it was a true Cinderella team that won the conference tourney. By that I don't mean a 20+ win Akron, I mean if somebody like this year's Central Michigan made an unbelievable run to a title.

I would think some of the possibilities include Arizona, BYU, Purdue, and Florida State. Keep in mind if we have a 13, 14, or 15 seed that we will likely be playing an opponent that is close to their fanbase as the one thru 4 seeds are geographically protected as much as possible. I liked it better before the "pod" system inn the tourney. It used to be that if an underdog was competing well that the whole arena would start to side with them. I'd love to make it up to a 12 seed but also know that something that high is just a pipe dream THIS year.

I wish you were right, but do you really think that having wins over teams ahead of us in the standings outweighs the fact that we finished behind them in the standings? I really think our hopes rest solely on whether someone thinks that half of the teams in the MAC deserve post-season bids. I think that the selection commitees look at overall record as much as, if not more than conference record. 21 D-1 wins would be tops in the MAC of all teams not in the NCAA if we were to lose the title game. I also thinl one of the absolute largest factors is record down the stretch, so with a loss in Cleveland Saturday, Akron would still be 9-3 in their last 12. How many mid-majors with 20+ wins and not in the NCAA or NIT can say that? At tis point, though, I don't even want to say much more on this. Just win Saturday and none of this matters, at least not this year.

I'm not so sure that we aren't in the mix for at least the CIT. Keep in mind that the NCAA and NIT are comprised of 100 teams. The CBI, which many programs turn down invitations to, has another 16. Then there is the CIT which is for mid-majors only, so there will be no 16-16 "power conference" schools in the mix here either. Akron has 21 wins, 20 against D-1 teams, and has 5 wins against the Top 4 seeds in the MAC tourney. It may be close but I'd have to think Akron is at least in the discussion if it comes down to that.

While we all hope for a MAC title and NCAA berth, what will our resume get us as it stands now? I sicerely doubt we will get a sniff from the NIT, but what about the CBI and CollegeInsider.com tourney? Have we already done enough to earn a bid in one of those 16 team events?

I'll be interested in seeing the times for all these Saturday home games. Personally I prefer those late afternoon and evening games. Actually, if you really want attendance to be maximized (as much as I hate this to be true) you'd want to have all the games at times when Ohio State is not on TV.

So, how do you think we'll play this game since it is a nonconference tilt and really has no significant postseason ramifications (other than maybe CBI consideration/ seeding potential) for the Zips? Will we see more minutes logged by guys like Egner and Euton than usual or will KD play this one much like we would a tough MAC East game?

I agree with you. Great game tonight, but still how will we fare in a game when the threes are not falling like that? I wonder if KD is planning on going inside more to Zeke, Serb, and even McKnight once the MAC tourney starts? In the back of his mind right now he has to be thinking it is best to put as many different things on film as possible for our tourney opponents to have to prepare for. After tonight I think teams will guard our outside shooters a little closer, that should open up the inside game a little more as well.

Watching this video I am wondering if we can recruit any of those offensive linemen too. Didn't see a lot of QB pressure or collapsing pockets on the video

One of my favorite MVC schools is Evansville. I think they were somewhere similar to us in RPI too after last week's games.

I believe Maine has played their way up into our neighborhood in RPI. Would anybody want to see us play them? I don't really get excited about that matchup if it were to happen for this year's Buster but I would love to make that return trip next year. I have always wanted to travel up that way.

Very bad move for whomever decided to put that on the scoreboard. Seriously, by my count there was only one Akron Zips product still alive in the hunt for playing in the Super Bowl this year. Jason Taylor plays for the Jets who were the Steelers opponent. I wouldn't have condoned a "Go Jets" message either at a U of A baskeball game but if it would have included a note about JT it at least would have made more sense.

In the past I ave gone to see a number of high school games here in Central Ohio that featured players that had given commitments to the Zips. I have gone to see the likes of Linhart, both McKnights, Hitchens, Seward, and Green in recent years and go as far back as watching Jawanza Moore play in high school. So now my question is who in Central Ohio should I go see this year? Is anybody knowingly strongly considering the Zips that currently plays down here in my neck of the woods?

I don't know how much the ESPN selectors look at certain things but it would be kind of interesting if the opponent was Morehead State considering Brett (and Chris of course) McKnight has an older brother who played his college ball at MSU a few years back.

It's that time of year again where we not only have national signing day approaching in football but also the announcement of the Bracketbusters games. So, does anybody have any predictions on who we may see in the JAR the third weekend in February? Who would everybody most want to see the Zips matched up with?

We need speed, speed and more speed. That is how non-BCS programs win. After that I think you have to start with the offensive and defensive lines. I see D-Line as the side of the ball I'd target most.

Mission #1 completed successfully, now let's not forget what happened in the MAC title game last March. I want this next game every bit as bad as the one tonight!

Since I cannot attend in person, anybody know of any video tonight ?

It seems to me that when teams play three games in three days the 3 point shooting seems to suffer. The Zips live and die by the 3, so these tournament setups against bigger teams on Day 3s may not be the best situation for us. I would rather have played Miami on Day 2.

I have often said I am against a playoff in college football simply because I would be afraid that some conference champions would be left out. At least the bracket above includes the conference champs of EVERY conference. The format I have prposed in the past, though, would be a 14 team playoff and not 16. That way the top two seeds would get byes and we'd keep that chase for the top 2 spots that the BCS now provides the sport. Also, it would limit the number of "wild card" non-champions of their league just that much more but still allow for an independent or top team that loses out on its conference title to a tiebreaker rule to be in the mix. The seeding process is where I disagree with the model above. I would do it like the NFL does. Conference champions (and any qualifying independent) would be seeded before any team that was not crowned the champion of their conference. This would allow for some of the more non-traditional schools (such as TCU, UConn, Nevada, or UCF) to have the chance to "host" a game as well as create marquee matchups even in the 1st round. In my model this year Michigan State and LSU would be the two teams left out that are included in the Rivals bracket. The top two teams, Auburn and Oregon, would have first round byes and would host in Round 2. Auburn and Oregon would also each host a national semifinal (even if the host school was upset prior as it may be beneficial to have a site determined weeks in advance for games of that magnitude). The seeds: #1 Auburn, #2 Oregon, #3 TCU, #4 Wisconsin, #5 Oklahoma, #6 Virginia Tech, #7 Nevada, #8 Central Florida, #9 Connecticut, #10 Miami(OH), #11 Florida International, #12 Stanford, #13 Ohio State, #14 Arkansas This gives us the following first round matchups: Arkansas at TCU Florida International at Virginia Tech Miami (OH) at Nevada (winner to play at Oregon in Rd 2) Ohio State at Wisconsin Stanford at Oklahoma Connecticut at Central Florida (winner to play at Auburn in Rd 2) What do you guys think? I don't particularly like first round rematches of regular season games and maybe some adjustment could be made to avoid that but this is way the way the seeds came out in ranking the teams the way the rivals bracket did.

wondering the same, haven't found anything yet.