GJGood

Wasn’t sure where to put this but it is general NCAA Tournament info with a very familiar name. What do we think of this? Is this a little bit of a good thing for Akron, the MAC, and/or mid-majors in general? Probably not but it can’t hurt. Can it? Who knew who the Big Sky commissioner was? Bet he loved that Southern Utah win in the TBC. https://www.ncaa.org/news/2022/3/22/media-center-wistrcill-newton-to-join-division-i-mens-basketball-committee-in-september.aspx

Akron defeated KSU, Toledo, and Buffalo in Cleveland. The Zips beat OU in Athens and after the MAC title game had an eight game winning streak then lost by four points in the NCAA tournament to a team returning all their starters from a Final Four team a year ago. I guess I could see Toledo making the claim of best in the MAC since they won the regular season title but the Flushes got beat down by 20 in the title game. They trailed by 9 at half with their suspensions and were outscored by 11 in the second half with their guy. Then KSU went out and got beat by the second place team in the Big Sky Conference. Poke the bear, or in this case the Roo, too many times and you will most likely pay the consequences. Akron had the best postseason performance for the MAC while OU had one favorable result in squeaking by Rice before falling to Abilene Christian. Who do they think was the best team in the MAC?

Yes.. but even they had to eliminate a fellow MAC school to stay alive.

Our prior head coach used to use a 10-11 man rotation. I think it’s harder to keep continuity that way but it also develops a deeper bench if there is foul trouble and allows the legs to be fresher in tournament settings. Of course it didn’t seem to hurt this year with just 8

The MAC postseason came to an end tonight with a 1-4 record as Ohio fell to Abilene Christian 91-86 in the quarterfinals of the CBI in Daytona. Ohio played Abilene Christian and Rice in the postseason while the archrival played Southern Utah. I feel like these are the types of teams we need to schedule in November and December.

We are not a program that catches many breaks with respect to location or times in postseason basketball. I am not saying we should be, but I do get a little irritated when I see someone like Ohio State, who is not a top 4 seed, playing in Pittsburgh which is literally the closest venue to them that is hosting. I thought only top 4s were “protected”. That is why I am always saying there is a big difference between being a 12 and a 13. At least the NCAA is not as bad as the NIT has been to us in the past with respect to times and locations. Playing at OSU when all our metrics were better and putting it on a Tuesday night after three brutal games in Cleveland the prior weekend while the Buckeyes had been off since the prior Wednesday was tough. Even worse was the year we went to Philadelphia to play Temple in the NIT opening round on a Tuesday, we upset the Owls, and had to play in Omaha against Creighton, who had an opening round bye, in the first round 48 hours later.

Agreed.. I like the way it used to be before the “pod system”... at the very least I liked seeing teams in the same 1/8 of the bracket playing in the same place. In our case Akron, UCLA, St Mary’s and Indiana all have to be there but in the old days the other four teams playing in that arena would have been on the bracket of whom you would have met in the Sweet Sixteen. Also the courts all looked different depending on where you were so it was easier to visualize who would play who the next weekend if they made it through this weekend without having to always refer back to the bracket

I have loosely followed the Big Sky and SUU for a while now but I have no idea about the Thunderbirds uniforms tonight. I know it was to honor the 125th anniversary of the school but I am not sure if that powder blue was an original color or what.

Just a question and not a criticism but has anyone heard an explanation as to why Aziz has had his minutes go down the last few weeks? You would think with the loss of a player that minutes would go up and given the position you’d at least think he would get more minutes in those games where Freeman encounters foul trouble.

Yes, but the women’s team is also in the WNIT and there are various other sports in season at present, so I wasn’t sure.

I was wondering the same thing, not only that but is AD Guthrie going out and going to try to make some connections as well? Not only am I wondering about recruiting but relationships for scheduling across all sports. It’s not just UCLA that will be in Portland but also Gonzaga, Georgia State, St. Mary’s, Boise State, Memphis and either Indiana or Wyoming. So schools from the PAC-12, West Coast Conference, Mountain West, American Athletic Conference, and Sun Belt to network with.

I agree with that... the added kicker to that one is even with the way the Zips got jobbed by being a 6 seed having to go to Columbus had they beaten the Buckeyes they actually would have hosted the Florida Gators in the next round due to their arena being renovated. I would have loved to see Florida in the JAR

Again, I don’t disagree from a player perspective but I do believe fanbases, staff, and alumni groups would want some diversity. The postseason tournament tidbit that bothers me the most this year involves the NIT. Why did they decide against seeding all the teams 1-8 in four quadrants and only go 1-4 and arrange the rest geographically? Toledo could have really gotten the shaft having to play a 1 seed when they clearly would not have been an 8 seed themselves. They were projected as a 5 or 6. The saving grace, in this instance, may be that Toledo actually gets to host top seeded Dayton due the First Four being in the Flyers arena. But what happens in the case of two upsets in the same part of the bracket? Who hosts the next round? Why do I feel like this lack of seeing all the teams will punish the lesser name schools in favor of the bigger names? Also, if Dayton not being able to host means Toledo does get to host then why was it the case that when Akron was in the NIT last time that the Zips played Houston at Texas Southern instead of in the JAR?

Pinky and the boys are playing at Southern Utah in the first round of the TBC.

I don’t disagree with the CBI being seen as higher caliber presently. The TBC, though, could improve its position relative to the CBI though as we move forward if they would be a little more forward thinking and come up with something g to make it unique. They already dropped what the CIT used to be when they said they would now welcome schools other than mid-majors. I think they should steal the CBI’s idea of a Finals Series. They already have the superior TV contract to the CBI. The new TBC is an unknown and programs are skeptical. However, if these current formats hold for a couple of years I could see teams annually being CBI/TBC worthy and not wanting to just travel to the same site year after year like they would do with the CBI. Maybe the CBI will revert to campus sites but I doubt it. It may be more plausible that their tournament changes locations from year to year. I think that would be a positive. Also, like I said before, it would seem a simple concept that they could add consolation games, that would be a move coaches trying to farther develop their teams would love. It’s just that the idea of watching California Baptist play Boston University in Daytona Beach in no way sounds as exciting as watching that team the Zips just knocked off in Cleveland play in front of a true Southern Utah home crowd.

In addition the new “The Basketball Classic” is televised on ESPN+ while the CBI first two rounds requires a subscription to FloHoops to watch via streaming. In my opinion what made the CBI superior to the old CiT is now gone. I get that the CBI is more advantageous financially but to me in the basketball environment and uniqueness way is has fallen to 4th place of the 4 postseason tournaments. I hope the TBC takes the three game series finals idea and that the CBI adds consolation rounds. That would give each a more attractive calling card

I understand a lot of people feel that way. I, however, am one who would travel the two hours to Akron from my home in Central Ohio to see the Zips but have no way to travel to Daytona Beach at spring break time. I am also not a fan of the whole tournament being a total of four days long. Teams in the finals will be running on fumes. There should at least be a couple of days off in there for the teams. Most of all I miss the home-and-home finals series though. I just found it so intriguing to see a school like Fresno State have to travel to Siena or the Nevada Wolfpack traveling to Kentucky to take on a Morehead State program that really has great difficulty getting any type of decent quality non-conference competition to come to their building.

Actually since they started the “pod system” in the NCAA tournament they have also stated that they want to protect the top four seeds in each region geographically as much as possible and plausible. So, that means there is a significant and tangible difference between being a 12 seed and a 13 seed. The 4 gets a geographic benefit against the 13 and potentially the 5 seed in the second round. There is no mandatory effort however to give a geographic advantage to a 5 seed even against the 12. So I don’t think it’s a case of the MAC getting screwed by where they choose to put the games unless the statement was meant to say the MAC gets screwed in seeding and then I tend to agree in most years.

I disagree on the format. I loved the way the CBI was formatted previously. The best of three final guaranteeing both programs a home game was great. The very least the CBI should do now if they insist on a single venue neutral site is make it like an early season tournament format and have a guaranteed minimum number of games for each team with consolation rounds. I mean all the teams and fanbases are there anyway, so why not? It certainly would intrigue more teams given the extra chance to develop against quality competition

I noticed that the NIT was only seeding teams 1 thru 4 in the four quadrants of their tournament and then largely pairing the remaining half of the teams by geographic proximity. I am not a fan of that change. Last time the Zips were in the NIT they were a 7 seed and knocked off the 2 seed. If it were this year’s format that game doesn’t likely happen. Also that year the 6th seed in the quad of the NIT upset the 3 seed so the Zips played at UT-Arlington in the second round... I feel like without seeds when a double upset like that happens they will just award the home game to the bigger arena if there is no firm seeding... this is a disadvantage to Akron and similar schools. As it stands now I would prefer a berth in the newly rebranded “The College Basketball Classic” since it allows a team to experience Homs and away environments and has one more round of competition. What I would love to see from the new TBC is an idea I stole from the old Bracketbusters event, if a team hosts a game in the tournament they should be contractually obligated to make a future visit to the other team’s venue in a future season. This would help, albeit on a small way, with mid-major quality opponent scheduling

How cool would it be to get Duke and be known as the school to end Coach K’s career? They look like a potential 3 seed.

My guess is a 14 seed simply because of being a 4 seed in the conference tourney and the MAC being ranked something like 19th out of the 32 conferences this year, when historically it has been a top 14 conference. I am not sure why but when I look at the possible destination locations the one that seems to be calling out to me is Fort Worth. Knowing that the committee traditionally tries to put top 4 seeds in each region closer to home. So my wild guess, and I actually hope I am wrong, would be Akron in Fort Worth against Texas Tech. The committee could always go for the story line though ( it happens too often to be coincidence) and have John Groce coaching against Illinois. The seeds will line up just about right. If that happened it would probably be somewhere like Milwaukee

I am seeing projections that have teams like Western Illinois and Rice playing in postseason tournaments. I would take any of the top 5 in the MAC compared to those schools. Ohio is senior led so maybe they would not want to play but younger teams should want to extend their seasons as much as possible. Hoping the Zips are in the Big Dance but whoever wins tomorrow night both teams should be playing beyond Cleveland.

Looking at post season projections and clearly we sealed Toledo’s fate to the NIT tonight. We also know the victor tomorrow night is going to the Big Dance. What about Ohio and the team that falls short tomorrow night? There are two other tournaments out there this year and it seems to me a MAC school could be, and should be, represented in each. The CBI this year is all at one site so there is not the pay to host situation that there was in the past. The former CiT is still held on home floors. I just have heard very little said about these tournaments. I expected to hear Buffalo mentioned as a possiblity here after the Zips knocked them out but it has been silent.

Well, in the case of the quarterfinals and finals the games are carried by the ESPN family which means you can watch On Demand after the fact if you have the $6 per month subscription... CBSSN set the 5:00pm game time instead of the traditional 7:00 and then it was nearly 6:00 before they actually showed any of the game. They either need to schedule more time between games or not have a game start until the other televised game is done.