Let'sGoZips94

He's gone, but these guys are here. Significantly bigger this year. Very much looking forward to seeing this squad in action, but I will gladly be patient so we don't rush back into the crappy weather seasons.

The hype was warranted to an extent. Helen Keller could see there's raw, natural athleticism/ability with his game. The issue, like I believe Hilltopper said, is he wasn't coachable. Good luck at Manhattan, Big Stank.

You'll be an asset to any of the teams as I believe it's a scramble.

If your hope is to play golf more in future years, don't get married. I'm kidding (sorta). Just get a simulator (trust me). Early congratulations on the wedding!

Basketball golf outing set for September 21st at Lake Forest Country Club. $150 individual, $600 foursome. Looking forward to this!

We have a regular customer at the card shop that's a big Akron fan. He brought his son in who is probably 8-10 years old. He asked me where he can get some 3Peat merch. Luckily, I was gifted an extra hat the other day and had it in my bag. Gave it to him and, man, you should've seen the smile on his face. He went to dinner and came back a couple hours later with the tags off. I asked if he will ever take the hat off and he said, "Nope," with a huge smile. Never be afraid to talk Zips with people. Never know who you'll leave an impression on and foster life-long fandom. Also, 3Peat merch is a huge hit. Props to Wentz and the FTRC crew on creating great merch.

Thank you. Am I understanding this correctly, that Akron isn't on the hook for any of Groce's bonuses from this past season? If that's the case, Akron essentially paid $500k for Groce last year after the buyout is taken out of the base salary. Wow. However, pertinent clauses in Groce's contract state the following: Payments of bonuses will be made in June, and if the coach were to terminate the contract (which Groce did a few months ago), the university's financial commitment to him would be limited to accrued but unpaid base salary and not include incentives. I like this. Not a very big bump, but it does place an emphasis on experience around Ford as he gets his feet wet as a HC. For three assistant coaches, Groce had a minimum base salary pool of $394,900. For three assistant coaches, Ford has a minimum base salary pool of $425,000 at his disposal.

Paywall for contract details. I hate the ABJ - anybody with a subscription want to pull the details?

Did the format accomplish that goal or did the teams? The 2 seed hasn't missed a Championship Game yet in the current format. See my previous post for who the 1 seeds were that missed.

Citing such simplistic data as the argument is like strictly using W/L for pitchers to determine the Cy Young Award winners. Explain the Sun Belt being a 1v10 in the Championship Game. How could that happen with the top 2-4 seeds being "rewarded" so heavily with their format? Let's not forget 3 of the 6 seasons in the current format have seen Toledo/Kowalchoke as the 1 seed. You could automatically crown them the Champions and they'd find a way to choke it away. 2021: 1 seed Toledo lost in the SF to 5 seed Ohio, who beat 2 seed Buffalo in the Finals and went on to win a game in the NCAAT with Jason Preston. 2022: 1 seed Toledo lost in the SF to Akron, who beat 2 seed PCCC in the Finals and almost beat UCLA in the NCAAT. 2023: 1 seed Toledo lost in the Finals to 2 seed PCCC. 2024: 1 seed Toledo lost in the QF to 8 seed PCCC, who went on to infamously lose the Finals to 2 seed Akron. 2025: 1 seed Akron wins the whole thing, including a thrilling Championship Game over 2 seed Miami OH. 2026: 1 seed Miami OH gets stunned in the QF by 8 seed UMass. 2 seed Akron won the Championship Game over 4 seed Toledo. In the 6 years of the current format, the Champion has been Akron 4x, PCCC 1x, and Ohio 1x. Akron and Ohio have been the Blue Bloods of the MAC for 2 decades, and PCCC has been a Powderpuff Blue Blood over that same time period. The 1 seeds have been Toledo 4x, Miami OH 1x, and Akron 1x. Toledo is fraudulent in March and a lot of people warned against taking Miami OH in their game vs UMass because of the matchup/fraud potential for Miami OH after flirting with many losses all season. The 2 seed has made the Championship Game all 6 seasons, further proving how bad Toledo/Kowalchoke are in March. If anything, the current format has proven that the best team(s) in March will rise to the top. The MAC Tournament has provided thrilling entertainment these last 6 years. Changing it would be silly.

My question is where does the conversation of the "reward" end? Personally, I think 1) having the most rest throughout the tournament and 2) getting to play the weaker teams the first couple rounds is already a pretty darn good reward. I don't believe a BYE is as rewarding as you believe. Letting the opponent get a game under their belt on a neutral court with new sightlines, etc., is a borderline disadvantage. If you want the regular season to matter more, you don't have a tournament. You have a regular season and a conference championship game - at most. Top 2 teams from the regular season play for a shot at making the dance. The tournament is a money grab - that's it. Trying to apply competitive logic to something solely built to line the pockets of the suits is a fool's errand.

Only way this works is if it's an even regular season conference schedule, which it will be going forward. Again, worthless conversation to have because the $$$ from Cleveland is too lucrative for the conference.

Where does the "reward the top 2 seeds" conversation stop? Why not simply let the regular season determine what the Championship Game is? Why have a tournament at all? The tournament is a money grab across the NCAA meaning the suits will always have the tournament. As long as we're having the tournament, the current format is the most fun. 4 games on Thursday starting at 11am is an absolute blast for basketball fans. Quit ruining what's fun in this country to extract every penny out of everything.

Suits are very, VERY good at screwing things up once they climb the ladder high enough. Messing with the current MAC Tournament format would be asinine, especially if it's in response to Akron's dominance/Miami OH's choke job. The Sun Belt has the craziest format in the nation that gives each set of higher seeds an additional bye. The tournament started on Tuesday, March 3rd. The top 2 seeds - Troy (1) and Marshall (2) - didn't play until Sunday, March 8th. The semifinals were 1 seed Troy vs. 8 seed Southern Miss and 2 seed Marshall vs. 10 seed Georgia Southern; this, after the quarterfinals matchups saw 2 blowouts by the lower seeds. Georgia Southern had played 4 games prior to their semifinal matchup and knocked off Marshall to reach the tournament final. Putting top teams on ice for longer periods of time is riskier than 3 games in 3 days. If the double-bye is that intriguing for ADs, why don't they propose a 2-round conference tournament starting Friday night? Why have 8 teams make it to Cleveland instead of 4? Don't. Touch. The. Format.

Players should get to choose what their bios say post college career. Nate's saying Kansas State is BS. He was made at Akron.