Captain Kangaroo

When you start pulling out Reagan-era stats, you are really grasping for straws. Like I said - If a MAC West program, or OU were to win the MAC Tourney, a 15 or 16 seed is possible. If a good MAC program...Akron, Can't, Buffalo, Miami...wins the tourney, a 15 or 16 seed is not possible.

No MAC program has ever been a 15 or 16 seed. Only if OU, or one of the MAC West teams stole the MAC tourney, would a 15 or 16 seed happen. If Miami won the MAC tourney, they would be damn close to 20-wins, with a very respectable RPI. A #14 seed is the absolute worst-case.And - CSU, as a 13 seed, won in the 1st round last season. I would hardly count them out in round 1. Waters can coach.

GP1 has had one of his better weeks of posts, IMO. One of his recent points is a calling out the basketball program to clean up it's cream puffs and play some "body bag" games to bring revenue to the UA athletics department. The football team plays 25% of it's schedule against SEC, Big 10 and Big East teams this fall. Like any MAC program, they will not be favored in any of these contests. But, they will bring some nice cash flow into the JAR offices by playing these games. At the expense of the Head Coach's winning percentage.Two very relevant examples of mid-major hoops programs who schedule very tough include Miami and Cleveland State.Miami played the following teams to begin the 2009-10 season:Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico, Dayton, Temple, Cincinnati, Xavier, Colorado.They lost every game. Some close, some not-so-close. As of today, Miami stands at 11-13 overall, but 8-3 in the MAC (tied with the Zips for 2nd place in the MAC).CSU played the following teams to begin their 2009-10 season:Kentucky, Virginia, Wichita State, West Virginia, Ohio State, Kansas State.Like Miami, they lost every game. Some close, some not-so-close. As of today, CSU stands at 13-12 overall, but 9-4 and sitting in 2nd place in the Horizon (to #22 ranked Butler, whom they play 2...probably 3 times every season)Both programs can sell their recruits that they will play "high level" competition if they attend Miami/CSU. Both programs are bringing in good money to their respective athletic departments. Both programs remain highly competitive in their respective conferences, despite their loss-riddled starts.If, like everyone's mantra seems to be...."The only thing that matters is the MAC Tourney"... then why not play a super-tough start to the season, bring in some revenue, get your highlights on ESPN, give yourself several opportunities at BCS-level upsets that you can sell to recruits...all that stuff.It seems like the only thing you have to lose by playing a tough OOC schedule is ... money?

D1realscout with a gem!

Tourney info

Drink your beer in a plastic cup. Be 21-or-older. Plan on using a gas grill, but you can probably get away with a charcoal grill if you feel like risking it. I'm PM you with some details. There is a large grassy lot a couple blocks from campus. Lots of the younger, more-rowdy fans seem to park there. Lot #9 is where we park. Luigi's has been mentioned by several. It's a small Italian restaurant just outside of downtown. It is kind of a local institution. I don't know how feasible a group of 30 would be. As I said, it's small. If you stay in the Fairlawn area, there are a ton of things to do. And it's only 10 minutes from campus. North Canton has a lot of hotels too, and is 10 minutes south of campus. The hotels in downtown Akron are ok. I'll think about it. The drive-in type burger joints like Swensons and Sky Way are somewhat unique to Akron. But in the end, it's burgers and fries. Tell me how many tee times you will need, and what day, and I'll set up a course. I'll get at least one, maybe 2 or three Zips foursomes to join you.

Rasor Probability Index?

Obviously, it can be seen in the severe NCAA sanctions we've been saddled with. How, oh how did Ianello recruit under such circumstances?

I was wrong in predicting "Anything Conyers will give us this season is gravy." Conyers senior-year All-MAC performance has been crucial to our success. He carried us for a stretch, and remains arguably our most consistent performer.I was correct in predicting we don't win an NCAA tourney game without Zeke being a major contributor. Without him, should we advance to the Big Dance, we're one-and-done. He's the "X-factor" that gives us a fighting chance.

I think you could live 1,000 years and never make a safer assumption than that one.

Okay, let me get this straight.You have a problem with "lack of control"?Yet..... you appear to be griping about suspensions, which is an indication that policy is being enforced, or at least that anarchy is not going to prevail.Right? First off, let me just say that, philosophically speaking, and sociologically as well, control is an illusion.However, in the sense of maintaining discipline, a suspension is not only an indication that something went wrong, it is also inherently an indication that something is being done to correct it. Since players are human beings and not robots on remote control, no coach is "in control" so to speak. Now, to be fair, I think that what you are suggesting is that KD is being heavy handed, and the suspensions are unwarranted?No, what I am saying is this:These are full scholarship athletes on a Div I team. The coach's job is to motivate them to be good players AND good students AND good citizens. Even the THREAT of suspension means something is wrong. That should be a last resort. Now, a player can stray now and then. Lets face it, Babe Ruth, the greatest ballplayer and probably the greatest pro athlete of all time would have been suspended by KD before he ever got into a game, and RIGHTFULLY SO! He was a bum off the field.But after Humpty was suspended last week, the message should have gotten out. That is did not is partly, if not totally, the coaches fault. I could be the coach and suspend players, that takes no special talent. It is maintaining team and personal discipline WITHOUT imposing sanctions that takes special talent.I would say every group of players is different. And every group is motivated by a different type of discipline.Dambrot has rarely ever suspended a player. I recall Travis getting a 1/2 game suspension for Nevada Game #1. That's all that comes to mind.Do you think that the Travis episode was the only transgression that's happened over the past 5+ years? Obviously the coaching staff has used alternate methods of disciplining players over the course of the last several years. You just don't hear about it.I give Coach credit for having the guts to yank his #1 offensive threat, and -arguably- his #1 guard to send a message that BS won't be tolerated. It cost us one conference loss...and almost TWO conference losses. Don't think Coach didn't realize the potential to go 0-2 by benching these guys, and potentially cost us a very valuable high MAC tourney seed.

CMU Board Comments

I care where he goes. Because it's K.e.n.t. If he went to Drake or Idaho, I wouldn't care.If every student athlete @ K.e.n.t. flunked out tomorrow, I'd do a dance.

Do you think they will be better in a power run scheme instead of that lame attempt at a running game last year?We'll have a true Freshman FB. That concerns me.It's one thing to run a power formation. It's another thing to run it effectively. I'm as happy as the next guy to be rid of the delayed shotgun hand off. But an entirely new playbook, coupled with an entirely unproven stable of RB's, concerns me.

I read it as - The writer is an Ohio State supporter and knows his readers want to read Ohio State stories. The writer is connecting his own dots and the story is strictly conjecture. If it were really a slam-dunk that, if Howard attended a prep school, Tressel would snatch him up in 2011, Howard would be at the prep school. Alexander was put in a nearly impossible position last season, going from practice squad to starting RB 1/2 way through the season. But when he played he never showed that he could break initial contact. He has a great deal of weight room work and technique drills to practice before I say he's a #1 RB. I hope he can do it.Martin has always been injured. I can't bank on him for anything. If he could stay healthy, he's our #1 RB, hands down.To this point in his college career, Torrence has needed his hand held every minute. It will be interesting to see how Ianello handles him. Like JD, does he assign someone to stay on him 24/7 to keep him on track with his classwork. Or does he tell him - Grow up. It's sink or swim time.I worry about our RB's in 2010. They all are very unproven. None were better than Joe Tuzze last season.

Again...they aren't. People are actually praising the writer.That's the reason I pushed the positive thread "tone." I too hate the people who pile on a coach/team after a loss. But, are no where to be seen after a win. Ditto the Beacon bashing.The ABJ treated fans of Zips' athletics like dogs for many years. That's a big reason why ZipsNation arose...a bunch of us were tired of sitting on our thumbs waiting for the Beacon to acknowledge our programs. If they didn't want to write about the Zips, then we would.The ABJ has changed. The past two-or-so years we've been given a pretty fair shake. Hopefully it continues.

I kind of agree. I wanted to post a "Great Game Zips" message in this thread...but after reading it's progressive decline...I don't know if it is a good idea to extend it's life?But since I already did - I'm glad Humpty is back and playing well. He drives me up the wall when he drifts into his shooting slumps. But he's the guy I want dribbling the ball when the game's on the line. Every time. Humpty, and the foul-riddled Cventinovic have the assassin's mentality. If we beat VCU, those will be the guys that will carry us. Maybe Zeke too...he said before the K.e.n.t. game that he is a "big game" player.Great job against Ball State. A nice road win!

I think we did give them credit?

Great story.

Ease up there, Barn.

If you want, I'll give you your ZN subscription fee back.

It's funny...the general media gleans all sorts of information and ideas from our board, and we never get any positive credit. But, if someone acts like an idiot on our board, ZipsNation gets an explicit mention.

Doesn't look like we'll need to defend the 3-point line too aggressively this Saturday?

Can the MAC Bounce Back?

Was it: "GP1 Speaks on the Rise and Fall of the Suburban Athlete"?