Let'sGoZips94

I'm sorry our schedule isn't littered with ACC schools for me to get excited about like Wake Forest. UMass moves the needle for me more than a directional Michigan, Ball State, Northern Illinois, etc., especially in basketball which is typically a 2x schedule appearance. It breathes some life into an otherwise dying and stale conference, especially because this means 3 other schools are being added, too.

NDSU is the least plausible addition for the time being, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. If the MAC has a desire to grow to 20 teams and become a mid major super conference, an addition like NDSU would make tons of sense. Let's say they add 3 more teams this round and NDSU isn't one of them. The next round of 4 could be something like NDSU, SDSU, Illinois State, and Indiana State/YSU/Northern Iowa. SDSU was the best FCS football team last year, NDSU is notoriously one of the best FCS football programs, and both YSU (they've been solid for several years now) and Northern Iowa were top 25 programs. Not to mention Indiana State, Illinois State, SDSU, and Northern Iowa have all been top mid major basketball programs. WKU brings MTSU with them, which again, opens the door for expansion into the Missouri Valley Conference and other Midwest/Central/Southern conferences. Illinois State is traditionally an upper echelon basketball program. They beat #23 Indiana State by 13 this year and have made plenty of noise in the past. Their football program went 6-5 and played #1 SDSU, #25 YSU 3 pt loss, #23 Northern Iowa (3 pt loss), and #13 North Dakota (1 pt loss). They'd most likely hold their own in the MAC.

Steve - I'm assuming you're a UMass fan. Welcome back to the MAC. Thank you for bringing your basketball program this time. UMass is a good fit for the MAC across the board. Whoa! I didn't think NDSU would be a possibility. That would open the door for SDSU eventually. Illinois State would be fantastic! Maybe Northern Iowa down the road, too? I love the idea of adding strong basketball programs with budding football programs. WKU is a must.

This is a step in the right direction. The MAC has a competitiveness problem. Half the MAC hasn't tried in basketball for almost 2 decades. Football has become stale. The Sun Belt has surpassed the MAC in football & basketball, and at this point in time will be the winner of the largest G5 media deal behind the AAC when the next round of media deals come around. The MAC nixed expansion last realignment period, which was a negative IMO. This is a step forward, in the right direction, and needs to be succeeded by another 1-3 adds to solidify the positive movement.

Certainly in basketball, yes.

Yes, which I'm advocating for. The MAC needs to add 3 more programs in addition to UMass IMO to catch up with or pass the SBC.

I've been pounding the drum for WKU since the MAC stupidly declined to bring them aboard during the last realignment situation. I would love to see them get added along with some FCS football programs (and their basketball) like Richmond. If the MAC wants to catch up to the Sun Belt, they have to be proactive with their expansion.

Wow. A few early thoughts... - Are they a Marshall and will be looking to leave quickly? If so, what's the buyout? - This is the first A10 school to move their basketball to the MAC in favor of football. This is also a move to the east for the MAC location wise. Looking at the A10, Richmond has a really good FCS football program. Would they be interested in making the move, too? I didn't think the MAC would be able to pull any A10 basketball programs, but football is king.

Would this have anything to do with his key involvement in the Sampson/Indiana scandal? Or are they avoiding him out of envy for being paid $300k per year with mediocrity being the expectation?

Tribble is a lock for 2nd Team IMO. Ali Ali as well, unless someone sneaks him onto the 1st Team. Freeman POY is the lock of the century. Groce does not deserve COY this year. CMU's coach and BUGS' coach deserve it.

This may be one of the best, most accurate photos ever taken.

We need to get up by 20 on someone like EMU or NIU then let Nate experience an in-game shootaround the rest of the game.

Watching the Houston @ Baylor game right now. Kowalchoke had RayJ Dennis and didn't win the MAC Tourney. How? I'll never know. He will never have another player like Dennis. He is a special player and Baylor is lucky to have him.

Was it his shooting hand? The good thing is after Tuesday, it's all MAC West teams, and the lower echelon MAC West to boot. Should be plenty of opportunities for guys like Prather and Nate to get worked in more.

Coach Simon for BUGS is a good one. Great hire, and big time victory in the BFO (Bumb %!@# Ohio) rivalry. SOLO AT THE TOP AGAIN!

Well that was fun. I think a contributing factor to Pinky's new found shade of red is the all-time series now being tied at 82 a piece. What was the series record when Pinky took over? What was it when Groce took over at Akron? Freeman's 3 pt shooting ability is something I want to see more of. If he's feeling it, let it fly. Pure stroke and that's what will probably solidify his draft spot in the 2nd round of the NBA draft (come on, Cavs). Tribble is our engine and Dawson is our X Factor. We go as Tribble & Dawson go. Loved the toughness from Hunter down low tonight. Not sure it showed up in the box score, but he started off the game pounding it inside and it set the tone. Props to him! Thornton had a SICK reverse layup in traffic that was a bit of a back-breaker for PCCC.

That's believably unbelievable.

The MAC tournament would never be more clean than if those rejects didn't make it. Beat Kent. F Kent.

Here are some big time programs' all-time leading scorers... Kentucky: Dan Israel - 2138 Kansas: Danny Manning - 2951 (#2 is Nick Collision with 2097) Duke: JJ Redick - 2769 (#2 is Johnny Dawkins with 2556) UNC: Tyler Hansborough - 2872 (#2 is Phil Ford with 2290) UCLA: Don MacLean - 2608 (#2 is Kew Alcindor - AKA Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - with 2325) Some all-time great individuals... Pete Maravich - 3667 (NCAA scoring record) Doug McDermott - 3150 Oscar Robertson - 2973 Larry Bird - 2850 Had Akron been in the MAC during Joe's career, he would be the all-time leading scorer in MAC history. Bonzi Wells currently wears that crown with 2485. Jakubick is the 55th leading scorer among DI programs currently. Fun fact - he's 6 spots ahead of Austin Carr. So, long story short - no, nobody will catch Jakubick, barring an all-time great not just at Akron, but in NCAA history.

Joe Jakubick - 2583 Len Paul - 2028 Eric McLaughlin - 1810 Enrique Freeman - 1662 If Enrique Freeman scores 30 PPG for the remainder of the regular season, he'll be #3. If he scored 19 PPG, we would need to make it to Saturday in Cleveland. Anything less would require a post-season tourney (NCAAs or NIT).

Yeah this is a big miss by the Athletic Department. I don't necessarily care that Senior Night is the 2nd to last home game on a Saturday, but it's not like Senior Night snuck up on the department as a "promo". Senior Night should've been announced when the schedule came out, especially since it's not the last home game of the season. Tribble, Freeman, Ali, and Hunter deserve the whole community's support. Hard to do that when even the diehards are caught off guard.

Gotta call the ticket office to see if we can switch games, I guess. Bought 2 for the EMU game thinking that was senior night - like a sensible person. Ugh.

Whoa whoa whoa. What?!

We are a weak team and JMU/Toledo are exposing that.