Captain Kangaroo

Mid-majors get tough lesson By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS INDIANAPOLIS — Charlie Coles thought Miami of Ohio’s resume was strong enough for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament: a 19-10 record, the Mid-American Conference regular-season title, No. 29 in the RPI and a schedule strength of 49. It didn’t impress the 10-member selection committee, and the RedHawks coach is worried about the message being sent to the MAC, which got just one team in the 65-team field despite five teams ranked in the top 55 of the RPI. ‘‘What it says is that the committee has never, ever respected our league,’’ Coles said Monday, one day after the brackets were announced. As usual, the six power conferences — Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern — dominated the field. They accounted for 31 of the 65 teams, including 25 of 34 at-large bids. Add soon-to-be Big East members Louisville and Cincinnati, from Conference USA, and the numbers increase to 33 and 26. That left only eight spots open for teams in conferences like the MAC and Atlantic 10. Three of those were swallowed up by upset winners in the conference tournaments — something committee chairman Bob Bowlsby suggested Monday played a key part in some teams being left out. ‘‘The committee thought there were better teams, but I would also suggest that some of the upsets may have affected the MAC teams, including Miami and Buffalo,’’ Bowlsby said. But the annual debate about life in a mid-major league didn’t end with that explanation. A year ago, Saint Joseph’s earned a top seed. This year the Hawks (19-11) were doomed by a RPI of 60 and a 3-8 nonconference schedule. Wichita State (20-9), of the Missouri Valley Conference, was left out despite an RPI of 47. Three other teams were taken from the MVC — Southern Illinois, Creighton and Northern Iowa. Northeastern (24-9), of America East, didn’t even appear on the NCAA’s list of other teams considered despite an RPI of 42. Bowlsby has talked frequently for the past two years about evaluating each school’s complete resume, including conference RPI ratings. According to the NCAA’s own numbers, the MAC was the 10th strongest league this year. Conference USA, which ranked ninth, got four bids. The Mountain West and Western Athletic, which ranked 11th and 12th, each had two teams make it. ‘‘You may eliminate somebody by their nonconference schedule or their road record. Those are things that are difficult to separate,’’ Bowlsby said. ‘‘You can play yourself out of a bad seed, but you can’t play yourself into the tournament. That’s the harsh reality.’’ It’s also what Miami, Buffalo, Can't State and Akron are dealing with now. Buffalo (22-9) was No. 32 in the RPI, Can't State No. 52 and Akron No. 55. But it wasn’t just the MAC that was disappointed. ‘‘My only hope was that the A-10 has historically done well in the tournament,’’ Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli said. ‘‘I hoped it would have two representatives. When you’re on the razor, you have to give a reason to put you in and a reason to keep you out.’’ Coles, who is in his second stint as a MAC head coach, understands the predicament for schools like Miami. If you don’t win a large number of games or earn the league’s automatic bid, you must bring something else — like a potential first-round draft pick. Coles had that in Dan Majerle at Central Michigan and in Wally Szczerbiak at Miami. Szczerbiak’s last season at Miami, 1999, was also the last time the MAC had an at-large team make the NCAA field. ‘‘I think it takes a little star power, and a little location power,’’ Coles said. ‘‘People want to talk about Northern Iowa getting in, but what about the big boys? Some teams play 10 or 11 home games and go 7-9 or 8-8 in the conference. Did they overachieve? I don’t think so.’’

OK Mike Thomas...let's call the UALR AD and GET IT ON! UALR snubbed by NIT despite better RPI than most DAVID HAMMER Associated Press Writer LITTLE ROCK — In one of the most glaring snubs of Selection Sunday, Arkansas-Little Rock was not invited to the National Invitation Tournament, despite having a higher RPI than 32 of the 40 teams that received bids. "We were told all week that we were in pretty good shape," UALR athletic director Chris Peterson told The Associated Press on Sunday. "You felt with the RPI like we had and having won the division, we'd get in. I just feel bad for our kids and out coaches who put so much into the past year and don't have a chance to continue the season." The Trojans (18-10), who won the Sun Belt Conference's Eastern Division and enjoyed a Rating Percentage Index of 61, held a practice Sunday afternoon while the NCAA Tournament selections were being announced, fully expecting a call from the NIT Selection Committee in New York later in the evening. An NIT bid looked almost certain when there were only nine teams with better RPI that weren't selected for the NCAAs. The RPI considers win-loss record, strength-of-schedule and performance against top opponents to rank the Division I college teams. But Western Kentucky, with an RPI of 63, was chosen instead from the Sun Belt Eastern Division, even though UALR beat the Hilltoppers twice this year. "Western's a great program with great tradition and we wish them luck," Peterson said. "But it's just a little frustrating." NIT executive director Jack Powers did not immediately return calls seeking comment Sunday. UALR sports information director Kevin Tankersley sensed some anxiety right after the NCAA selections. "There were some kinks thrown into the deal when Maryland, Indiana and Notre Dame didn't make the NCAAs, so the NIT (selection committee) is working on that," he said while the Trojans practiced. There are 65 teams that make the NCAAs, but because of automatic bids for conference champions, some higher-ranked schools are relegated to the NIT. That was even more unpredictable Sunday when the NCAA denied bids to Maryland (RPI 65), Indiana (83), and Notre Dame (93), all big-conference teams that the NIT covets for their draw at the gate. But even small-conference schools that were ranked behind UALR were invited to the NIT. Davidson (62); Virginia Commonwealth (66); Drexel (71); Oral Roberts (79); W. Michigan (81); another Sun Belt school, Denver (87); and Cal State Fullerton (107) all received bids. Of the 10 non-NCAA Tournament teams with the best RPI, only UALR and Akron didn't make the NIT. Akron had an RPI of 55 Sunday. The Arkansas Razorbacks (18-12, RPI 112) had an outside shot an NIT berth, but coach Stan Heath made it clear earlier in the week that his tired team would decline an invitation. That squashed any hopes of a showdown between a satellite school, the higher-ranked UALR, and the team from the University of Arkansas' main campus. Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles' longstanding policy has been to not play other Arkansas schools, but had said he wouldn't try to stop the NIT from scheduling the in-state matchup.

I disagree, we would be in the NIT right now had we beat WMU. We would have a better record than them, but they beat us in the regular season, we're in the same conf., so there's no real difference between the two squads except for the tourney game. We win, we go to the NIT, thats my take. In that scenario WMU would only have 18 wins, and the Zips have the "magic" 20 wins. Zips would have gone to the NIT. Woulda coulda shoulda...

Good questions. Pretty much every Zips fan is wondering the same thing...how is the rebounding issue going to be solved in 2005-6? I would love to hear Dambrot's thoughts on this topic on Thursday's Zips Live. Help a brutha' out, Tommy G?

I disagree. Our problem is losing pivotal games. Football: If we beat Miami, then got shunned by the bowls, I would agree with you. Basketball: If we beat WMU, but WMU gets the NIT bid, I would agree with you. Like Dambrot said (paraphrasing here): If you have your fate in your own hands and lose you have no one to blame but yourself. When we have the chance to control our own destiny...and we win...the rest takes care of itself.

As solid as Zip Watcher was for this promotion, he finishes a distant second to the OU kid who got in three "Buffalo Sucks" over the Gund PA system. That kid should have a statue of himself placed in Athens town square! A college kid turns down $100.00 to say "Buffalo Sucks" in the mike 3 times...now THAT's school spirit. My favorite moment of the tourney since it moved to Cleveland, hands down.

You sure got that right. I think one of those board moderators edited my post! It originally read "Buffalo will kill OU for the first twenty-five minutes." Congrats to OU. Way to finish the season! Make the MAC proud in the tourney.

Where will all the underage kids get their beer once the Zip Mart is plowed under!? Seriously: The place looks awesome. Great to see more and more of those 1920's era rubber worker houses wiped from the face of the earth. Still awaiting the stadium announcement, Louie.

I'll dump a little bucket too: I see there being two distinct topics her: 1.) The season 2.) The tourney game I'll save a season overview for a later date, but sufficive to say, I never dreamt we'd have 19 wins, especially after Wood went down early. The tourney game: I thought the students and community did a great job of showing up on a Thursday afternoon. We had a great crowd...easily double what it was the last time we made it to Cleveland. Also, the pre-game party hosted by The University was top-notch! Stuff like that is usually reserved for "big donors" and influential alumni/faculty. To host such an event for the "average" Zips fans was very classy. If you ever want to know if your support is appreciated...there you have it. As far as "What the game meant"...it was a H-U-G-E opportunity lost. In the basketball world, 20 wins is an order of magnitude above 19 wins. To not get the 20th was crippling. Furthermore, to have a Friday night game in Cleveland would give more students and community members a chance to get to the Gund...to see the"real" tourney atmosphere...to familiarize themselves with the likes of Buffalo and their students...OU and their following...to see how the Zips program should really be supported and to start seeing the MAC for what it is. Instead, there were about 20 of us Zips fans wandering around The Gund wondering "what if?" and watching other teams have all the fun again. We had a chance to take the program up 2 or three notches with a win Thursday...and we didn't come through. As far as the game itself...we had it. I agree with Big Zip...we were a 19 win team this year, playing in our own back yard. Who cares if we were supposed to win 19 or not...we were a 19-win team with essentially a home game. A 19-win team with a 6 point half time lead. A 19 win team with the ball and 11 seconds left in a tie game...and we blew it. Why didn't we get the 5th foul on Rost after he picked up his 4th with ELEVEN minutes remaining!! To me, the refusal to go inside and get Rost out of the game was the killer...he was 40% of their offense and we kept him in the game for the next 16 minutes. Joyce is a solid, if unspectacular player. Joyce with two bad ankles and 25 game minutes logged is not the guy I want launching a 23 footer at the buzzer. Why did we have to settle for a 23 footer with 11 seconds left anyhow? Man... Dambrot rode McFadden too long. He kept waiting...and waiting....and waiting for his shot to come around. Like the previous game vs. EMU, it never came. McFadden is a streaky shooter. His 43% 3-point shooting for the season is deceptive. He'll hit 6-of-7...than go 0-for-7...then hit 5-of-6....it adds up to 43%, but it isn't something you can bank on. McFadden was a warrior...never quit...he's a much better defender and rebounder than Peterson...but when he's off it hurts our offense. Against a weak team like EMU, it didn't matter. Against Western, it was a killer. What was up with that line up of Milum and Myers in the first half? Was anyone surprised to see the following two possessions go "WMU 3-pointer"..."Zips air-ball"? In a game that ended up tied in regulation, it makes you wonder what that decision cost us. I don't see the NIT as a possibility. Can't, Miami, OU and WMU all go ahead of us. Maybe Toledo does too, since they have wins vs. Akron (split), Nevada & Auburn. The MAC isn't getting 6 teams in the NIT. BTW: Yes, Buffalo will kill OU tonight. All that said, WMU is a good team. They are tourney-tested. Reed is a stud...the type of player we all expected Tarver to be...but never was. Rost is tough...Snider is tough...and WMU is well-coached. We lost to a good team @ The Gund in OT, which beats our losses in the Hipsher-era. Yes we did better than I ever dreamed this season, but one more win would have given us soooo much more. And we had it. Damn. BTW: The similarities between the football loss to Miami and the hoops loss to WMU are uncanny. Both teams exceeded season's expectations...both had a shot at a program "breakthrough game" in their last contest...both had halftime leads...I guess you know the rest.

Ok, Joe Dunn. You've been outed! I agree. He really progressed a ton, both offensively and defensively.

See you there! I'll be the guy in the Gold "Akron 6" shirt. Hopefully you won't be able to see me due to the 2,000 other identical shirts in the house! Popped my first beer....Summit (in honor of the County) Maibock...at 10:22am. This is going to be a GREAT day! CU There!

To get to The Gund is nice, especially considering our tourney history (or lack thereof). However, 19 wins and a quarterfinal exit is a pitance compared to a 20+ win season and a semi or final appearance. The hoops program really needs a win tomorrow to make a definitive statement that the program is truely "back." The difference between 19 and 20 wins is also the difference between us going to the NIT, or us getting ready for Spring Football. Any of the 8 teams in this tourney can win it. Why not us? CU at the Hard Rock!

For the record...I agree with the guy. Our RPI seems too high for our record and caliber of opponents. ************************************************************************ Fuzzy math shrouds NCAA hoops By JOHN KNOX Published , March 09, 2005, 06:00:01 AM EDT It's that time of year, when a sports fan's fancy turns to ... math. Mathematics helps determine which teams get invited to the Big Dance, the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Here's how it works: Unless your team gets an automatic slot (generally by winning a conference tournament), you need an at-large bid. The NCAA handles at-large bids the way colleges do admissions -- the insiders repeatedly reassure applicants that they aren't reduced to a number. But in the end, it's all about the numbers. With college admissions, the all-important number is the SAT. The NCAA selection committee uses the Ratings Percentage Index, or RPI. A low RPI, and you're in the tournament as an at-large team. A high RPI, and you're not. Like the SAT, the calculation of the RPI is a very ad-hoc, unjustified and unjustifiable process. The RPI formula is, according to the Web site (www.collegerpi.com): -- 25 percent team winning percentage -- 50 percent opponents' average winning percentage -- 25 percent opponents' opponents' average winning percentage. For the 2004-05 season, the formula was changed to give more weight to road wins vs. home wins. I'm blowing the whistle on this silly RPI formula. First of all, the RPI decouples a team's record from its performance in a game and from its opponent. If your team wins by 30 points on the road at Duke, it has the same impact in terms of winning percentage as a 1-point win at lowly Savannah State. Second, who decided that a road win is worth 40 percent more than a neutral-court win and should count 133 percent more than a road loss? That's excessive, given that statistics from other more sophisticated ratings schemes (see below) indicate that home court advantage is about four points. In effect, the RPI paradoxically rewards losing on the road and winning at home. Proof from Tuesday's computer polls: Pittsburgh is 20-7 in the powerful Big East Conference and is a Top 25 team according to the human polls. But the Panthers are only No. 41 in the RPI. Why? Pittsburgh played only nine road games (but went 6-3) and earned one neutral-court win. Their actual winning percentage is .740, but by the RPI formula it's reduced to .699. The Panthers' home losses to probable Big Dancers such as UConn, West Virginia and Georgetown are killing them in the RPI. One spot ahead of Pittsburgh in the RPI at No. 40 is Akron. The Akron Zips? They're 17-9 and they play in the solid Mid-America Conference. But how is that better than 20-7 in the Big East? Easy, if you're the RPI: Akron played 13 road games (they went 5-8), half of their schedule. The road losses are minimized by the RPI. Meanwhile, the Zips' road wins are magnified even when they're against dogs like Marshall and Duquesne. And so Akron's actual winning percentage of .667 is boosted to .705 by the RPI formula, just ahead of Pittsburgh's. Winning percentage is only 25 percent of the overall RPI formula, true. But because the other 75 percent is based on other teams' winning percentages calculated by the same lousy formula, even a few fouled-up ratings contaminate the whole scheme from top to bottom. There should be a better way to quantify the quality of a basketball team. There is. More sophisticated algorithms have been devised that know when you beat a tough team on the road or lose to a crummy opponent at home, and which use advanced statistical methods to estimate a team's quality. One of the pioneers of this approach is Jeff Sagarin, an MIT graduate whose ratings are found in USA Today. In Sagarin's latest ratings, Pittsburgh is No. 27, Akron is No. 74. That makes a lot more sense to me. But on Selection Sunday, remember that dumb math may be behind some of the poor decisions of the NCAA selection committee

I don't have a problem with Coles. He had the Xavier and Purdue OOC wins AND he won the league title, leading essentially wire-to-wire. Good cases could be made for Dambrot, O'Shea, Witherspoon and Christian too.

Bob Pruett retires Saying "it's time" Bob Pruett retires from the head coaching position with the Marshall University Thundering Herd By: WSAZ NewsChannel 3 WSAZ-TV CHARLESTONWVUSA - At a news conference Thursday morning Marshall University head football coach Bob Pruett announced his retirement after nine years leading the Thundering Herd.A tearful Bob Pruett announced today that friends told him that only he would know when it was time to retire.Thursday, Coach Pruett said, "It's time, it's just time." Saying that his health or his relationship with the administration of the university had nothing to do with his decision, Coach Pruett said that he was looking forward to changing his role with the university."I'm not going anywhere; I'm just changing roles from coach to supporter and fan." After taking questions he introduced interim head coach Larry Kueck.Coach Kueck said that he and Coach Pruett have known each other for many years.Kueck was a member of Pruett's staff in 1996 when Marshall won the 1-AA National Championship and had returned to the Herd as the quarterback coach. Kueck said that it was a "bittersweet" moment."There is not an assistant coach alive who does not want to become the head coach.""We plan to start spring practice as we have planned." Kueck responded when asked what his plans were.

I agree with King Zip regarding the Dambrot poster. Posters go on the walls of students and kids. I hung one in my kid's room. I think he'd rather have a big pic of Travis tearing down the rim than a 43 year old guy in a business suit.

Click Me

* OK...how can the Fredrick's Catering commercial that boasts about being the "exclusive caterer for <Rot-ZELL> and <An-DRAY-is>" run all season long? ! It's <RET-Zul> and <AN-dris>!!!! It's the biggest law firm in Akron!!! Gheezus.... * I thought the big ex-cheerleader that exorted the "Give me an 'A'...give me a 'K'...give me an 'R'...etc. cheer was horrible. His substitute last night sounded like he was on quaaludes. Least enthusiastic cheerleader ever. * Peterson in the dog house? Minutes seem pretty limited? * Cedrick in the dog house? I don't get why he played so little? Joyce struggled pretty hard on both ends of the court last night. You'd think Ced would have merited a few more minutes? * Travis still rules. * Great game by Preston. * Good game for McFadden to have an off shooting night. It can't happen again on Thursday, though. We will need 80+ to win. * Myers gave some nice minutes. * I don't care what anyone says about EMU being "a talented team with a bad record." They're a bad team with a bad record. They have maybe 2 players that I wouldn't mind seeing in a Zips uniform. They could keep the other 13.

NIT "at-large" maybe...but forget the NCAA's. Beating Buffalo @ Buffalo, or Can't @ Can't would have given us an outside shot, but we failed. We need to win the MAC tourney if we want the Big Dance.

I would assume that any Zips fan watching the 12:00pm Game #1 will not be able to attend the pe-game function at the Hard Rock (No Re-admittance Policy @ The Gund)? Too bad...if the Zips played at 12:00pm, or 6:00pm, there wouldn't have been a conflict. On a side note: Wonder if The Winking Lizard (Zips' sponsor, with a location in downtown Cleveland) is pissed that the Zips are convening at the Hard Rock (competitor)?

1,500 for a tourney game is pathetic. No mincing words. Absolutely pathetic. Editor's note: I was there.

Dwight will never have to worry whether or not he has enough money for gun pellets: Mar 7 Jay Glazer, of FOX Sports, reports the New Orleans Saints have agreed to terms with free agent S Dwight Smith (Buccaneers) on a five-year deal believed to be worth $15 million, including a signing bonus in the $3.5 million range.

We can't lose tonight...we simply can't.

To say he never produced is pretty unfair. He's something like the #9 rusher in U of A history and had some very nice 100+ games (Wisconsin is just one that comes to mind). Marcus Sanders....there's your poster child for "never produced."

I disagree. We had "Biggs" in 2003. It was Bobby Hendry. The 2004 difference wasn't Biggs, it was the fact that the new staff wasn't Frye-centric. While Lee Owens chose to run the ball 5 times vs. Miami in 2003, JD knew he had to rush 15+ times in ANY game if only to keep the 2004 opponents honest. Lee Owens' favorite running play was the maddening "delayed draw", usually on 3rd and 8. Saw it a hundred times. JD ran that play once. Biggs caught screen passes. How many times did Owens call a screen pass for Hendry? I can't recall one. JD found ways to give Frye time to pass without keeping the RB in to pass block every down. Owens always defaulted to simply keeping Hendry in the backfield. Yes the seniors "came together" when they seemingly could have given up. However, I give credit to the new staff for instilling the fight in those guys. The coaching staff can't go on the field and tackle or catch the passes, they can only teach and motivate. I think the 2004 seniors responded to the coaching as much as they did their own competitiveness. I summary: If JD would have had Hendry in the backfield instead of Biggs, our 2004 record wouldn't have been any different. The difference wasn't Biggs, it was the fact that JD knew how to use a running back, even though he had an NFL-caliber QB under center. Owens didn't. And on a slight tangent, I'll say the Owens DID know how to run the ball. The McCray, Culler, Payne, Gray, early-Hendry era teams could pile up some decent running yardage. But as the Frye era evolved (under Owens), the running game became a forgotten game. My 2 cents.