Captain Kangaroo

Reminds me of a quote from Jason Taylor. A former AD contacted Jason and asked him if he'd like to contribute to the Zips football program. He replied "Sure. You know, no one's ever asked me before?" I guess if you proactively ask the students to show up, some actually will?

Getting students to the JAR.

To paraphrase Terry Bowden - "This is a great class with a lot of potential...I just hope I'm around long enough to see them become great." Bowden feels he has to win now. Maybe looking back on Ianello's two 1-11, seasons he feels he's 50% of the way towards Wistercill giving him the axe? I certainly hope that's not the case. Bowden SHOULD have a long leash, given the state of the program when he took it over and the groundwork laid last season. But he needs to get a couple wins this season by hook or by crook.

Good research Dave. No excuses in 2013. This is Zeke's senior year. This is the year we should win game(s) in the NCAA tourney.

If UA couldn't get their 1 million dollar payday against Tennessee, how would that affect women's soccer? I'm being serious - that million dollars covers a lot more than the football budget at a non-BCS school. I really wonder how non-BCS programs will compensate for that lost revenue. Football isn't going anywhere, so something will have to give.

Are you getting the MTSU win confused with the John Carroll game?

Why is Gonzaga still considered a basketball mid-major?

At the risk of repeating myself...the back up PG position remains our Kryptonite. No one is there to push AA when he struggles, or give him a breather. CB is simply too unpredictable. That said, I always tell my little rec league ballers - "If you make a mistake, make a play." It seems for whatever mistake AA makes, somewhere down the line he makes a big play to offset it.

Beats driving there on your own...

Da’Shonte Riley is a lazy, worthless stiff. If Zeke has any motivation in him whatsoever, Riley will get eaten alive. Zips back on track. Roll by 14 tonight.

Tough to put too much stock in the "analysis" when they list Lane as a safety.

It didn't help Drexel last season. The 2011-12 Dragons had a nearly equivalent run to the one the Zips are riding...in a better conference...and got snubbed. Unless we start beating some marquee teams during the regular season, the writing is on the wall...win the MAC tourney or go to the NIT. Having two of our better players out for the Oklahoma State game doesn't help us. It only would help Oklahoma State if they'd have had the same situation, and lost to the Zips. THEN the NCAA would justify them as a bubble team selection. T Boone Pickens carries slightly more weight than Joe Akron. I really don't want to see a packed Barley House on national television with the team and fans crossing their fingers and praying for an at-large, because it will not end well for the Zips' faithful. We need to win the MAC tourney.

If you win the MAC regular season title, you are guaranteed an NIT bid.

We will not get an at-large if we lose to OU in the finals, regardless of the win streak. Look at Drexel 2011-12. They'd won something like 24 of 25 going into their final game against VCU. They lost to VCU by 3 points, and subsequently ended up in the NIT. Drexel's 2011-12 schedule was exponentially tougher than the Zips 2012-13 schedule. Eeking out games against Miami and CMU doesn't impress anyone. Nor should it. We need to beat OU in the finals to make the tourney. And we need amped-up guard play if we're going to win any NCAA tourney games.

Since you seem to have a pulse on this situation...is he going to be a Zip, or not? We have some conflicting info here.

Betancourt had a year of prep school, so I'd have figured his learning curve would have been shorter. You see increasing glimpses of his capabilities with each and every game. He's lightning quick, and a pretty sure short-range shooter off the glass. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it continues. I miss Diggs in many ways, but I was not a big fan of Diggs at the point (not like we had much of a choice last season). He dominated the ball, and just made too many bad pass/drive decisions. He's mentality is shooter/slasher, not PG.

It amazes me that no MAC program is on the conference hopping radar whatsoever. Yeah, some putz with a blog might speculate something completely unfounded. But the reality is - core MAC programs don't seem to be going anywhere (carpet-bagger programs like UCF/Temple/UMass/Marshall have never been "core" members).

Winning, and cupcakes, can mask a lot of problems. We need Chauncey for the stretch run. For NDSU, K.e.n.t. and OU. And obviously the tourney. I hope he is healthy. If he's simply in the doghouse, that's a problem. Hey George - this is definitely something you can follow up on.

Have at it. Please don't mention Wistercill or Ohio State. Keep it on-topic.

I think you might be right on your rationale that TW didn't blow the Winters hire. If I recall correctly, someone bloviated on our site a bunch of BS that caused Winters' daughter to create a ZN.o account exclusively to rebutt that BS. I'm sure she put a bug in her dad's ear to reject UA in large part to that person's post. She was pretty pissed. Caused someone to get banned, if I recall correctly? I will lock this thread and begin a new BracketBuster thread. I like talking basketball.

Abreu needs Betancourt to continue to improve. We need at least 8 solid minutes out of CB if we are going to have any success against major opponents. Abreu can play tired against CMU and still be effective. He can't do that against Michigan State. That is my biggest concern as we make our post-season push. We can cover temporary holes at any other position except point guard.

Axe-grinder.

It doesn't matter. We had fewer scholarships to offer, so our rating will be artificially low regardless of the caliber of players we signed. And - ask Brookhart what "#1 rated February classes" mean on autumn Saturday afternoons.

There's a bad-ass dude from Ball State that deserves some credit for his game against Zeke.