Let'sGoZips94

We would have to join in basketball to see our share of the massive Big East deal with Fox Sports.

Amazing news. "The Zips will be eligible for the conference championship immediately." They already know.😎

Unfortunate that Qatar is the destination, but really excited to watch the Blue & Gold represent 2 countries in the World Cup. Black Friday is especially going to be a blast with USA vs. England.

Not adding WKU to the MAC was a stupid, STUPID decision. This is going to be a very tough game. Great opportunity to right the ship after playing like PCCCC (Portage County Community College Crap) these past 2 games. Bottom line: we need to make shots. If we don't make shots, we might as well head to the beach. One thing I will say. I like that we have a week off before this game. Going from SDSU (tough opponent, hard fought game, and OT to boot) to MSU within 5 days as the first 2 games of the season... I'm not surprised with how dead we were in the second half against MSU and how flat we were yesterday against Morgan State. I expect a better shooting performance on Monday. WKU hasn't played anyone this year. Their only legitimate win came against Eastern Kentucky by 6. They most recently beat the Greyhounds of U Indy 68-50. The next opponent will be one of LSU or Illinois State - it doesn't get any easier.

Hunter sighting. Nice dunk.

Yep. Biggest crowd that stadium has ever seen.

Looking at my focuses this game at the half... 1) Amani Lyles is getting more comfortable. Took him a second to find the confidence to be stronger, but I think we can see it's there. Just needs to develop and become more confident/comfortable. 2) Nate Johnson is at 9. Henderson is proving he was a big fish in a very, very small pond. I do like how active his hands are on defense, though. 3) Somewhat more control from Tribble. Need him to finish just a bit more consistently. I like the aggression, though. 4) Tavari?

LYLES! Way to rebound strong and put it back. THAT'S what I want to see.

We got Emoni Bates?! (If you can't tell by some of my posts, I don't think very highly of the Bates situation)

Tavari Johnson sighting, and nearly a turnover.

I love Freeman.

It's a FDR Fireside Chat. Can't you tell?

Slap some chairs down near the basket, duct tape some brooms, and nobody leaves the gym until they've made 1000 layups. Edit: Add some body pads for contact. 500 regular layups, 500 contact layups.

We didn't fix the audio issues. Are you f'ing kidding me?

WMU also had the mental/effort edge. They took it to us from the get go and put us in too big of a hole to climb out of. Skill wise, we still scored a goal despite being down 2 players and them packing the box.

This is the perfect game at this point in our schedule. It's not too easy where we'll be complacent (at least I hope not), and it's not overly difficult where we won't be able to fine tune the lineup & rotations. Things I would like to see... - Amani Lyles have a nice game down low. With Hunter being somewhat of a threat from beyond the arc, we need another bruiser down low to help Freeman in the paint. - Double digits from at least one of Nate Johnson and/or Hankerson. - Aggressive drives with more control from Tribble. I don't need him to be a shooter, but I need him to have better control when he takes it to the basket. These "living on a prayer" shots after he gets into the paint are momentum killers. - Find at least one more person to enter the rotation to help keep legs fresh. The margin of defeat on Friday was due to fatigue.

Did someone say snow?

After last year, I think the "sky is falling" card needs to be reserved until we're down by more than 1 possession with 1 second to go in a MAC tournament game. Anybody who has seen the team in practice - thoughts on Ryan Prather getting time as a freshman? He was pretty highly touted with offers from schools like Wichita State.

Is that not the going rate for the circus? Their profit margin increases more by not having to use makeup on Pinky.

Simple solution. Offer women's football too. Eliminate the head-count method and just go sport for sport.

No, my first sentence was in response to the second sentence in your post: A conference doesn't "sponsor" a sport. The literal verbiage used by the MAC was "sponsor," hence why I used the term "sponsor." I'm well aware the conference can't force its members to carry a sport. However, this isn't equestrian, field hockey, or other obscure sports like that. This is soccer - the world's sport - in which they have a perennial national contender as a member. They're also close to dropping Track & Field, which they have a perennial national contender as a member. They don't sponsor men's hockey either, which 2-3 of their full time members are national contender in. I don't know how good the swimming & diving is as a conference, and I don't know about any other sports in which their full time members have a program that is a perennial national contender (i.e. OU volleyball). I won't bring up rifle cause that's incredibly obscure (although I'm damn proud that Akron could shoot the nuts off a squirrel at 50m). Yes, I hate the MAC. You're right, that is well documented. I think it's also pretty well supported by the constant failure by the MAC to grow, become an attractive G5 conference for other schools to be full members, and support its current list of members, especially when it comes to their best sports. What is a D1 conference without men's soccer and soon to be Track & Field? That's pathetic. Also, regarding the game, WMU embarrassed us and earned their NCAA tournament appearance. Congrats to them.

So take this with a grain of salt?

Headline from the MAC's official press release: MAC to Suspend Sponsoring Men’s Soccer Following 2022 Season The MAC has had West Virginia, FIU, etc., as men's soccer members and failed to keep them. From what I know, the MAC has 3-4 full time members with mainstream sports that contend for national championships every year, and none of these sports are now sponsored by the MAC - Men's Hockey and Men's Soccer. Title IX is an issue, but the culprit for their own problems is the MAC. It is an atrocious DI athletic conference.

My comment was more directed at the fact that WMU found themselves in a MAC Championship game because the MAC cannot properly sponsor soccer. Maybe we need the Thursday game. We have not looked as sharp as of late.

Wow. I really don't care about a participation trophy MAC championship game as much as the NCAAs. Now we're down 2 of our best players for the tournament that matters.