Let'sGoZips94

Put me down as someone who thinks the scheduling problem might start with KD, and potential lack of respect for him from other teams. Shame on these "big" schools for turning us down. BUT, there are 351 DI teams in Men's College Basketball. Akron consistently finishes in the Top 100, yet some of these "big" schools won't even return our calls in a timely matter, if at all? Something doesn't add up, and I think it goes beyond "we're poisonous." $60,000 SHOULD cover the expenses of ONE trip. I'd be interested in knowing the projected expense totals for such road trip. Besides, and I've said it before, the Pay Day is gaining exposure by BEATING some of these teams. After all, isn't the school somewhat hurting for money? I'd be SHOCKED if hosting Lipscomb or Bethune-Cookman reaps that much more of an income for the program/University than a $60,000 Pay Game. I am sick and tired of hanging our hats on this 21-win streak we have going on. How much does it matter? You had a chance to shrink the group by 1. All you had to do was make a few FTs or one more shot in regulation, and you didn't. You lost to an OSU team that had no business winning 21 games this season. End of discussion.

What is the University/Athletic Department doing to differentiate themselves from every other Mid-Major that's looking to get to the next level? Why aren't we at the forefront of an All-Ohio tournament? Better yet, why don't we start some sort of MAC vs. A10, Big East, CUSA, or AAC tournament? Using the regular season results, take the top 4 MAC teams from the year before, take take the top 4 teams from an aforementioned conference, create a bracket style tournament with the Championship game being played at the Q or another rotating neutral site (i.e. FedEx Forum if playing against the AAC or CUSA) while every other game is played at the higher seeds' arena. The regular season conference champions would be the #1 seeds on each side of the bracket, guaranteeing at least one home game for each. You could even shrink the "tournament" to feature just 2 teams from each conference (the Conference Tournament Champion and the Regular Season Champion; in event of each champion being the same team, go to the second place finishing team from the regular season). I am sick and tired of hearing about our scheduling revolving around "money" games. 10 straight 21+ win seasons, 3 NCAA Tournament appearances in that stretch, a national ranking at one point, and we act like we are still a small mid-major. If you want to hang your hat on your mediocre (by national standards), quit hiding behind excuses. Stick your neck out there, take the bull by the horns, and control your own destiny. Edit: I want to add that I completely understand the difficulties of scheduling. So many schools nowadays are looking for the easy win instead of earning everything. It's sad and pathetic that nobody wants to play Akron. The point of my post was to merely express some frustration with what appears to be a misdirected scheduling search in my opinion. Just seems like we are dropping the ball when it comes to which teams to target. (Edit cont.) I like the idea of playing at Creighton. That is a solid name and a winnable game. Ty Dalton as a walk-on is an interesting development. I wonder what made him decide to come here to walk-on instead of staying closer to home? I'm excited for next year! Go Zips!

Any chance we can play in the women's bracket and at least play the Auburn/WVU names? The really sad part is the only team in the field that has an NCAA tournament win is Mercer (2014 against Duke). Win the stupid thing, bring home the trophy, and let it collect dust in the trophy case. This UTEP tournament field better be incredible, along with the rest of our OOC schedule.

The NCAA realizes this. An interesting statistic/comparison to look into would be the TV ratings after mid-majors (Cinderellas) are knocked out vs. ticket sales/attendance at games featuring two P5 teams. I would think the drop in interest is not nearly as great as the increase in attendance, hence the way the NCAA shapes the bracket each year. March Madness has the same effect on college basketball as Fantasy Football does on the NFL. The bracket is the moneymaker; it drives the interest for the average college basketball fan. I think the story each year is someone's bracket being busted because of the mid-major, not that the mid-major won. The NFL and NCAA (basketball wise) have a very similar problem. The common fan's interest isn't necessarily in their product, but in their side product. Focusing on the NCAA, they have an identity crisis. Why? Too many one-and-done's, not enough continuity for people to familiarize themselves with. It's ironic because Kentucky is essentially the NCAA's Golden Child, whilst also being the main source of their identity problem. Outside of Ulis, I can't name another Wildcat. Duke? I know Grayson Allen because he's a punk, and Marshall Plumlee because his mom belongs in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Now let's look at the opposite end of the spectrum. Wichita State has been one of the nation's most beloved schools over the past 4 years because of continuity. Van Fleet and Baker are their stars, and they stayed all 4 years. Not only did they make noise on the national stage with big win after big win, but by staying for 4 years, they gave people the chance to follow them/grow with them. Despite all of the fantastic games, I've lost more and more interest in the tournament this year. Partly because of the Zips disappointing season, but mostly because it seems more obvious than ever that the tournament is about making the NCAA money instead of honoring the great student-athletes across the nation. The snubs, seeding, and officiating have each been nothing less than nauseating. While listening to ESPN Cleveland 850 WKNR a week or so ago, I heard a caller propose an interesting solution. Re-allow high schoolers to make the jump to the NBA. I think the gap between high school and the NBA has grown since Kobe and LeBron did it; more and more players will realize they are going to need the college level to bridge the gap. The NCAA should then adopt something similar to their football rule, where once you choose to go to college, you must stay for a minimum of 3 years. This will not only create roster continuity, but it will also spread the recruits out. Instead of schools like Kansas/Duke/Kentucky getting the 5 best players in the country year in and year out, those players might choose other schools because they won't want to sit behind players for 2-3 years; they'll want to make a name for themselves now. Overtime, the P5 landscape becomes pretty full, and some of these higher caliber players will start to consider more mid-major schools as an opportunity to make a name for themselves quickly. I think possibilites of the idea are very interesting, and I would be a big supporter of it.

Could've played OSU and UF in back-to-back games at the JAR. Even with the seeding screw job, we still had the opportunity to guarantee Florida coming to the JAR. This is all salt on the wound in my opinion.

Not sure if this is in reference to the team thinking that or us as fans, but I want to add I wonder if Dambrot isn't as good as he thinks he is, at least not yet. And that's not a slam on Dambrot, as I completely respect his loyalty to the program and what he has accomplished. But I do think he has a lot of areas where even he can still improve. His offense showed flashes of improvement this year with movement on and off the ball. But as we talk about the team needing to play tougher opponents OOC to toughen the players up, I think the same applies to Dambrot. The difference is instead of toughening up, Dambrot would have his eyes opened to new strategies, styles of play, players, etc. I think he takes bits and pieces here and there from other teams already, but he lacks the experience against them. When Shaka Smart had VCU on top, it was because of their guard play/HAVOC. Dambrot tried to adopt a bit of HAVOC, but it largely failed because of our lack of guard play/guards in general. I think that's why we now have 3 great, young guards and I'm sure more are on the way. But I don't know if he realized how far away he was from the real HAVOC until we got our butts handed to us in Auburn Hills by VCU. Just some food for thought as we discuss playing tougher, different competition.

This was the worst game I've ever experienced in my 21 years of Zips fandom. Unbelievable how bad we were. Yeah we shot poorly, but I'm talking about coaching. This was the worst game Dambrot has ever coached. You had the ball with 30 seconds left in regulation and a tie game with 2 timeouts, and you don't use one. Instead, you let a sophomore PG try to make things happen in a stagnant offense. Awful. Just awful. Our coaching staff needs to shake things up. What the Hell happened to this great ball movement "ZGen" offense? This past week, our offense looked like crap. Stagnant and slow. OSU looked a step ahead of us the entire night, and that's saying something because they blow. Thad Matta is an atrocious coach. 3 keys to future success: -Tougher OOC schedule. I'm done with the Lipscombs of the world. It's time we start scheduling like a real high mid-major. -Free Throws. -Ball movement. Our offense was fantastic and then it just went to crap. 4700 announced attendance is embarrassing. The NCAA should be ashamed of themselves. Absolutely ridiculous. Boring crowd and zero atmosphere. Akron got robbed, then shot themselves in the foot. Until next year... Go Zips.

I really hope I get to see his face turn as red as a tomato tonight. That would be a good sign.

For possible wins: Wichita State, UNI, Illinois, Belmont, SDSU, NC State, Cincy, Memphis, Temple, Saint Joe's, Butler, VCU, Dayton, Pitt, Wake Forest. For experience: WVU, OSU, Indiana, Michigan, Syracuse, Texas, Virginia. Every game is win-able, but there are some teams we are less likely to beat that you play to see what it takes to be the best. Also, that first group I deem more likely to do a home and home with us.

Only reason I think the NCAA is more corrupt than FIFA is because of their ultimate purpose. The NCAA is supposed to provide a platform for STUDENT-athletes to grow as young adults; the main goal is NOT to make money. FIFA's goal is to make money.

I didn't realize we played well/shot lights out. Let's just go beat the Suckeyes. OSUcks.

I hope we kick the crap out of them, then tell the NCAA and NIT they're #1. The game doesn't bother me. The fact that money rules the NCAA, therefore OSU automatically gets to host us. The 3/6 matchup is just a slap in the face to us, though. A 6 seed? Really?

Creighton hosting Alabama.

Actually, I heard a lot of them mention Top 100 wins as a measurable. Obviously Top 50 wins trump that, but one of the anaylysts mentioned Top 100 wins (or lack thereof) when arguing against the selection of Michigan.

I actually might agree with this IF we have to go on the road for the NIT First Round. We should make some noise in the media if they won't give us respect for the noise we made on the court.

Last Four In and First Four Out just announced. They used RPI on the screen. Akron had a higher RPI than everyone other than St. Bonnie.

Makes me wonder the TRUE reason behind the invention of BPI. Akron is rated way lower in that (around 60 or 70). Disrespectful to not even be mentioned as a Bubble team.

This might be the worst bracket I've ever seen, combined with the worst Selection Show ever. Syracuse is an absolute joke. The NCAA wants money. That's it.

27 teams on the Bubble Board, including teams like Hofstra, and we aren't even included. We need out of the MAC.

Tulsa... Freaking Tulsa...

CBS going over "The Bubble Board". No Akron, and there 27 teams on the screen. That's a freaking joke. I've seen the "leaked" bracket online. Not sure if I believe it.

Heard that as well. Tweeted how cruel that slip-up is IF we aren't in...

I completely understand and respect that, but you're telling me that on the Friday before Selection Sunday, you already have all but 3 teams pegged for the tournament when there are still how many conference tournaments to be decided? My issue is there's all of this talk about teams who are possibly on the bubble, and a good showing in their conference tournament could get them in, but there are only about 3 spots left.

Exactly why I posted a mini-summary of KD's career at Akron. Even if the record isn't as great as the year before, the recruiting and vision for the program gets better. I mean a few years ago, we were all complaining about not having a backcourt with any PGs. Now we have 3 young, outstanding PGs with more coming in. Another gripe has always been the lack of athleticism/slashers. We have several of those either on the team currently (playing or redshirting) or coming in next year.