Let'sGoZips94

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.

I laugh at the NCAA and people who think it's a great organization. It is the most corrupt organization in sports. They have taken an excellent foundation for young-adult success (college), and turned it into a money-hungry corruption base that uses the athletic programs for their own financial gain. I know a lot of people hate Scarborough, but I do think he has one thing correct: colleges will disappear due to a flooded market and poor economy. Anyways, aside from my little rant, I've watched some SportsCenter (I try not to watch ESPN much anymore) recently to see what they are saying about the Tourney. Apparently on Friday, the NCAA Selection Committee already had 33 At-Large teams picked? I understand there are some teams out there, like Indiana, who are shoe-ins despite losing in their tournament, but how do you have 33 out of 36 At-Large teams already picked? Something about that screams P5 bias for financial gain. I will say this. We have experienced enough sustained success over the last 10-11 seasons to get some national respect. This is exemplified by more nationally televised games, invites to pre-season tournaments (NIT Tip-Off), etc. Couple the consistent success with the LeBron connection, and you have a pretty marketable team. I think that might bode well for us with either the NCAA Selection Committee (outside shot at an At-Large bid for a Play-In game in Dayton) or the NIT committee (maybe a home game?). I'm not very optimistic because I hate the NCAA, but I've seen crazier things. Whatever happens, Go Zips!

I REALLY hope my comment about stripping KD of his COY award didn't come off as me wanting KD gone. I want KD to retire a Zip, WAY down the road. I can't believe how quickly some of you forget what this program was like when KD took it over. Here's the evolution of Akron... - 2004-05: 19-10 in his first year after Akron went 13-15 in 2003-04. - 2005-06: 23-10 with a win against Temple in the NIT First Round. Less-skilled, guard oriented team with undersized bigs and lots of heart. - 2006-07: 26-7 and, well, y'all know how this season finished. Again, less-skilled, guard oriented team with undersized bigs and lots of heart. - 2007-08: 24-11 with an NIT First Round win against Florida State and a close loss to UMASS. Still an undersized team with lots of heart. - 2008-09: 23-13 with our first trip to the NCAAs since 1986; we lost to Gonzaga in the first round. Again, the roster makeup was an undersized, less-athletic team with lots of heart. - 2009-10: 24-11 with an uninspired loss in the CBI. Zeke's freshman year. No longer undersized, but still less-athletic with lots of heart. - 2010-11: 23-13 with a FANTASTIC MAC Championship win and an NCAA First Round loss to Notre Dame. Still less-athletic, but with lots of heart. - 2011-12: 22-12 with a 2 point loss to Northwestern in the NIT. More athletic, but still some raw talent (Tree/Harney/Abreu were young) with lots of heart. - 2012-13: 26-7. The Dream Season that ended in Hell. Nationally ranked at one point in the Coach's Poll, nationally recognized winning streak, etc. Fairly athletic/talented team that was crushed by injuries/suspensions. Good team with lots of heart. - 2013-14: 21-13 with a loss to IPFW in the CIT. A lot of the key pieces to today's team were young on this team. - 2014-15: 21-14. Injuries killed us, young backcourt (young team overall, actually), and just couldn't put it together consistently all year. Played with lots of heart to get to the semis of the MAC tourney. - 2015-16: 26-8 currently. Injuries didn't help us, but still got backed to the MAC title game. Very young backcourt, starting to get more and more athleticism on the roster, and have some decent size. Didn't win the MAC but the post-season is still TBD. This roster has the blueprint-look of an NCAA team that can make a run. Need a little more experience and one or two more pieces. Basketball IQ on this team is pretty high at times (experience will make it more consistent). This is a very long, pointless post when it comes to the season overviews because y'all can google that. My point, though, is Dambrot has evolved this team over and over again. He definitely knows his weaknesses and recruits to fill them. Eventually he will put it all together and we will finally get over the hump. You also can't ignore the high character guys Dambrot has had on his roster year in and year out. The MAC has also evolved into a more complete conference. Buffalo is now a perennial contender. OU is still biting at ankles. Can't State is still there. The West is getting better. But Akron still dominated the MAC in the regular season and nearly won the Championship game. Quite frankly, I'm with the people saying the MAC holds us back. The reason teams like NIU and Miami are able to beat us: they see us every single year, and have a lot of chances to build a successful gameplan against us, combined with off-nights by us. It's just like every conference, no matter what level you look at. Losing Reggie, Jake, and Pat after this year is going to hurt from an experience, skill, and character standpoint. All three seem to be high character leaders. We have what seems to be some very athletic recruits coming in next year, combined with the redshirts from this year. I am VERY excited about next year, while this season still isn't over. I am damn proud of this team. Am I pissed they lost in the Finals when they had every opportunity to win? Hell yes I am. But I certainly am not going to overreact and call for the firing of the guy that has taken this team to consistent levels that, 10/15/20 years ago, we were dreaming about. Now, losing in the Finals of the MAC tourney is a near failure of a season. Dambrot will get this program over the hump. Trust in him. Let's see where our postseason takes us. If it's against the Suckeyes of Ohio A&M, great. If it's something else, also great. Let's Go Zips.

Dambrot should be stripped of his COY award for three things: 1) Subbing Kwan in for McAdams at the end of the game. I like Kwan's skill set but McAdams would have been the better choice to play D. 2) KD went back to the old offense with no movement, instead of sticking with Z Ball or whatever the new offense is called. 3) That play with 2 seconds left was the worst possible idea of all time. He must've watched the Valpo game. Dumb dumb dumb. The NIT gives our seniors one last horah and our young guys a chance to grow, but this one stings because we had plenty of opportunities to win the stupid thing. Our guys looked tight all tournament. The shots weren't fluid. Not a recipe for success. Go Zips and Can't State still sucks.

I think there are three keys to tonight's game, two of which have already been identified on this board. 1) Make your shots, specifically from beyond the arc. If there was ever a game we needed our "bombs away" style of play to be executed properly, it's this one. 2) Rebound. Rebound. Rebound. Bobcatattack talked about how Canada killed them on the boards last night. 3) Bench points. This can't be a one-person effort tonight (Big Dog has been that main person recently). Bobcatattack mentioned that their bench was outscored 25-8 (if I'm not mistaken). We have a relatively deep rotation, all things considered, but they can't just be bodies tonight. We need contributions from every player. An Honorable Mention key to tonight's game: the crowd. Akron fans need to be LOUD. I HATE the BU-FF-AL-O chant almost as much as I hate "WE ARE (clap clap) CAN'T STATE" and "O (clap clap clap) H (clap clap clap) I (clap clap clap) O (clap clap clap)". I want to drown the Canadians out. This Akron team can get this done. I believe in the team and in Dambrot. Canada knocked us out last year and eventully went Dancing. Let's make sure the only Dancing shoes collecting dust in the closet are their's. LET'S GO ZIPS! BEAT CANADA, EH?! Z-I...

You're right. I forgot they snuck in and got the 4 seed.

Looks like Akron vs. Canada! Here's to the hope of Canada's 4th game this week catching up with them.

See y'all tomorrow night!

Lost by 1.

Pretty much. Yesterday's Akron game could be like the 2010 soccer team's loss to CSU. The basketball team survived, but I hope it's a wake up call for the rest of the tournament and I hope they come out tonight firing on all cylinders.

I figured some heart had to do something with it. And yeah, I listened to the end and the CMU announcers were complaining about their FT shooting. Thank you for the responses! Like I said, I haven't followed their little run very closely and was wondering if the key(s) to their success is something we can stop.

So it's a player who has gotten hot at the right time? What's the rest of the team doing?