Captain Kangaroo

I'd have to believe the A-10 and MVC would rather die than agree to a MAC-opponent tourney. Playing each other? That would be a good tourney. The MAC is a better match up for the OVC you mentioned, or the Horizon. The Northeast Conference unfortunately might also be good competition. Rotating the event between Pittsburgh and Cleveland might get some interest going? The now-depleted CAA would still be a sexy partner.

It was always bizarre to me that the dregs of many mid-major conferences still participated in "The Bracket Buster" tourney. I think that sort of cheapened the image. That said, in years where the Zips got a seemingly bad draw (not necessarily a "dreg"), the return game saw a much improved opponent (Valpo and Creighton). The return game is really the gem of the whole deal. Hopefully we still participate in a future, reformulated event. It has proven to be an excellent gauge of where the Zips' program stands in the world of mid-major basketball. And a mid-season treat for the fans tired of the EMU's and NIU's of the bowel-major world.

Chose Miami (OH)

While I'm sure they will contend for the Horizon title, they look pretty pedestrian thus far. A close loss to St Johns is their marquee performance to-date. A loss to BG is their low point. Schedule and Results

I gave it to him for free, since his parents forgot to give it to him at birth.

Milwee looks like he's 18 years old. The kid must be a genius. Funny entry from your link: Wisconsin: Barry Alvarez will earn $118,500 for coaching the Badgers in the Rose Bowl. If Wisconsin beats Stanford, Alvarez will receive a $50,000 bonus. Must be nice to appoint yourself coach for a month, and give yourself $118,500? Make it rain, Barry!!

I don't think it would be a problem to set Akron/K.e.n.t and YSU/CSU in opposing bracket sides every other year. And make their meeting count as a conference game. Yeah, coaches will complain they lose home court advantage in a given season. But you gain it the next season. People from Youngstown would show up in droves...they show up in droves for Instructional League baseball.

Mr. GP1...Mr. Sajak would like to know if you wish to solve the puzzle? T_M WI_TER_ILL

It was great for the Zips fan because it brought opponents to the JAR who'd otherwise never step foot within 200 miles of it. Creighton, Nevada, VCU a couple times, Tom Davis' Drake team...it was awesome for local college basketball fans. Too bad the Zips never capitalized on what it provided. I look forward to the likes of North Carolina A&T and Binghamton as a replacement. Yippee.

I'm so old I remember when sports talk and sports news actually focused on the game and strategy.

We are always ok the rest of the way (after the tough OOC games are tucked neatly away in the loss column). We're never good to begin the season. We always lose to upper-echelon programs. Some of us thought this year would be different...we thought bigger...and the ball got yanked away...again. I hope we don't draw the likes of a Nevada or VCU in the Bracket Buster. Lucy will tilt that ball, laces out, and I'll do it all over again.

I can say with certainty, Indiana is fun to watch.

Another way to look at the layoff is - We had a ton of time to prepare for Creighton, while they had to worry about game plans for other opponents. We just laid an egg. No two ways about it. It wouldn't be so bad, except the ball's been pulled away from us old timers too many times. My butt and back are killing me.

Diggs was to be that guy for the '11-'12 Zips. At least in the games where he mentally showed up. Look back to the Oral Roberts game last year. Dominique Morrison did whatever he wanted. We always seem to allow the opponent's best player to control the game. And to any "Master of the Obvious" poster out that ready to pounce on the "REPLY" icon and type: "Yeah, that's why they're the opponents best player. Player X does that to a lot of teams." Spare us your insight. The PD seemed to blame the Zips Omaha whipping on playing only 2 games in 20 days. I'll actually buy into that a little. But who's scheduling all these D-3 schools at the beginning of the season, and then formulating sure a bizarre schedule cadence in a year where the Zips are supposed to be making a case for an at-large bid? GameChanger wonders why students are staying away from the JAR - Until this team does something special, there will be a lot of empty wooden bleachers on Zips home days again this year. The 2011-12 early season gave the Zips a lot of opportunities to make some magic, and thus far we've done nothing but yank dead rabbits out of the hat while a couple suffocated pigeons fall out of our sleeve. In every remaining game this season, with the possible exception of OU, the Zips should be even-money or favored. There will be fun times to be had in the JAR this winter/spring, but next chance for any real magic to occur is 3+ months away. Hopefully we figure out some way to go from Good to Great. Good is fun, but Great appears to be even better. At least from what my buddy from OU keeps telling me.

If we'd have played them at the JAR we've have only lost by 3-or-so. Very much like playing VCU. Those uppper mid-major programs are just flat out better than us. Every year I get teased into thinking we've moved up...I'm a sucker. Maybe I'll try to rationalize a positive by looking at guys like Kretzer, Betancourt and Forcythe who played big minutes despite being Freshman, and figure we have no business playing competitive with a Top 15 team... The thing about playing a Top 15 mid major vs. a Top 20 Major is - You can't sneak up on a Creighton. They know the Zips and respect them. A team like Florida State or Mississippi doesn't know Akron from Gannon, and can be beaten when overconfident. Forcythe is a beast. We can't defend the perimeter. That's about it. Please beat Detroit and CSU. CSU is down. They're at the JAR. But Waters has Dambrot's number. I guess I'm looking forward to that one as a tiny step forward, should we win. That's about it.

One that takes advantage of passes that hit offensive linemen in the back of the head? Or one that takes advantage of his being able to lob a ball almost 34 yards?

Very nice work, Dave. A lot of people will enjoy tracking these guys.

Yeah, but if I recall correctly the referees screwed Duquesne in that one. The Duquesne coach complained the laces on the ball were excessively large. And also filed a protest that Wahl had sharpened his uniform's metal belt buckle. Very controversial outcome. I believe Kinnesaw Mountain Landis made the final ruling?

No beer before noon, dude.

No. But we are REALLY good at almost doing so. From Pitt back in the 80's, to Xavier in the 90's, to Nevada in 00's to VCU in the 10's. Josh Cribbs: "We almost always almost win."

Give me the 2005 cheerleaders any day of the week. But I think the 2012 band would blow the 2005 group off the field. Fear the Dadgum Tuba.

Zips women's basketball @ 7-1, and K.e.n.t. football @ 11-2. The Mayans were right.

We will need to find someone in this recruiting class to replace his 4 receptions for 2 yards. If he still wants to play football, maybe he ends up at Fordham. Moorhead was pretty high on him 4 years ago.

Hey, I bailed on Coleman Crawford too. Who could watch that crap? I couldn't imagine having to play on teams that were estatic to get 20+ points in a half. Especially when you had the option to be a starting guard on a Final Four team. Buford was an Engineering student, and obviously one smart cookie.

He won 11 games at K.e.n.t. State. Not in a decade...in a single season. Winning 11 games in 1 season @ K.e.n.t. is more impressive than winning 20-in-a-row @ Auburn. Water-into-wine is about the only thing that might potentially top it.