Let'sGoZips94

I can't speak for VCU, but Richmond would be able to make the James Madison leap to FBS in football. They have a good football program.

If the 3 additional schools were something like WKU, Richmond, and Illinois State, how good would that be for the MAC? Illinois State has a better football program and comparable basketball program to Rhode Island, and would geographically make more sense.

Nate Johnson.

I will say I think there's some rust that showed from what we didn't see - 3 pt shot attempts. Without looking at the box score, did he have a 3PA?

Saving grace of my night. Wow. Kowalchoke never ceases to disappoint. Thank goodness for that underachieving scumbag.

Free throws. Free throws. Free throws. Insert the old school face emoji hitting the brick wall.

LOL! ANOTHER PHANTOM FOUL!

Can we get an imaginary turf monster foul in our favor?

I was hoping they'd throw it down to Ethan. "That one time at band camp..."

Groce can't be happy with a missed free throws into a fast break layup off the miss.

That's a Senior level math course for them.

Did the Convo have music playing DURING the Akron possession? Also, Hunter skipping down the court like Carry... Akron by 100 the rest of the game.

Balls up 10 on CMU in Mt. NotSoPleasant. Toledo in a dog fight at home against NIU.

As much as we've made fun of the sideline reporter, the broadcast team is incredibly knowledgeable on Akron & the MAC. Fun listen (as long as we're winning).

FREEMAN!!!!!!!

WOW! Nice play by Nate. Welcome back!

If I asked AI to generate the prototypical male student at Ohio, Ethan Sargeant is what it would create. He's the guy on Saturday night making sure the Beeramid isn't going to fall. Never forget Kent's sideline reporter fail. Completely forget the fella's name, but when the camera was put on him for the sideline report, nothing on his body functioned properly. He was a combination of Ricky Bobby ("I don't know what to do with my hands") and the class nerd talking to a girl for the first time. "Put the ball in the hoop for a 3 point shot (holds up 2 fingers."

After that lazy turnover, not sure he gets many more minutes. Bad bad bad.

We need to start making some outside shots and take the pressure off Freeman. Tribble just got fouled twice on one play. Thank God the second was called.

Nate Johnson appearance early.

Lol. Assault is borderline legal so far.

Yeah, Nance Jr. had Crohn's. I played on his 3 on 3 team at the Akron basketball camp one summer when he was in high school (Pete was there, too, but in the elementary-ish levels), and his family were members at Springside in Montrose when I took tennis lessons there. Ran into Sr. & Pete quite a bit (Jr. was at Wyoming). Easily one of the nicest families you'll ever come across. I don't know how you're a coach at Akron, have Larry Nance Jr. playing in your backyard, and don't plan your scholarship gameplan around making sure one is available for him - especially when his dad asks for a scholarship for him. Of all the "backyard talent" that escaped Akron, that has to be the most embarrassing. Not to mention Harney was one of the reasons we didn't have one available - what a joke.

I must have missed this or forgotten about it. What the...

Akron is 30 minutes from Cleveland. We don't talk about the 2016 World Series without swearing Mother Nature. To add more details to @akzipper's post, the 2012-13 team was pretty special. That season included a Bracket Buster game vs NDSU that was a blast. The final week of the season was when Abreu was arrested (it might've been just before the last game against PCCC). We went into the tournament with a lot of uncertainty at PG, and ended up beating the absolute crap out of Ohio - by 19 - to win the MAC title. We went 3-0 against Ohio that season, which was led by Jim Christian (now babysitting Pinky on PCCC's bench), and featured the same exact personnel that Groce took to the Sweet Sixteen the year prior. We were a 12 seed and got a great draw in Detroit (our closest Tourney game in 3 appearances - typically they ship us out to Spokane or something like that) vs Shaka Smart's VCU Rams. Nearly our entire team had the flu for the game, and Shaka didn't care - beat us like a dead horse by 46 pts. It was truly embarrassing. 2012-13 and 2019-20 are the seasons of "what could've been."

The issue with the comparison isn't Rutgers & UMass - it's comparing the Big Ten to the MAC. The Big Ten wants to be in larger TV markets because they have established programs like OSUcks, Michigan, Penn State, etc., that will be heavily consumed by the bigger markets. I certainly agree with increasing the MAC footprint to the Boston market being a positive benefit. But the positive effective of this move won't be felt in whole until we have the other 3 schools added - whomever they may be. Reason being the next TV deal cycle for the G5 conferences will be based on competitiveness. I stated in another thread that the SBC is currently ahead of the MAC in competitiveness. Additions like UMass, WKU, etc., will make the MAC more competitive, and potentially put us ahead of the SBC - again. More competitive conference + bigger markets within the conference = more $$$ That's the equation and the bigger key within the equation is the first component.