RowdyZip

If the U is smart, they put out a release about JT being at the WMU game Saturday. Bam! Sellout!

I did notice a lot of matador defense on the perimeter. Hope Dambrot gets on the guys for getting complacent with the 7 footer inside. Zeke did a great job tonight, and was honestly the difference in the game. Our guards and wings were a step behind and Zeke stopped and altered a TON of shots.

RPI Forecast puts Akron at 29 RPI if we win out the regular season. That's not a lock. I'd say we'd have to be top 25 (rpi) to even have a shot. It would help the conference SOS if EVERY MAC team won their bracketbuster.

The odds are tremendously stacked against it, but if the Zips win out, including the bracketbuster and then lose in a close MACC, they would have a reasonable (maybe 25%?) chance at an at-large. It's better to pretend it's a zero chance.

Wednesday night on tv? Just over 3k. Win out through the bracket buster and Joe MAY start to care.

For comparison sake: Oral Roberts: vs. top 100 (3-3), vs 101-200 (8-1), vs 201+ (9-0) Akron: vs top 100 (3-6), vs. 101-200 (3-1), vs. 201+ (7-0) I can't blame them for being upset with the draw, as they may be looking at us as an easy win. Someone would have to look deeper to see we were shorthanded in 3 of our top 100 losses, we were missing Tree and Harney vs WVU, Tree vs. MTSU, and Harney vs. CSU. Not to mention no Abreu vs Duquesne.

ORU is solid this year, just not the sexy return game that Creighton/VCU type teams are. It's great to have a potential top 50 win, but no one cares about ORU.

UGH.

Valpo drew VCU. Lucky draw for them, hosing for VCU.

I read somewhere that its one ESPNU at 530.

Convo at Ypsi is real nice, but not all chairback. I believe most of the 2nd level is bench seating. I'm attending McGuirk arena for the first time. The remodeling is amazing at CMU. 5300 is small, but 80% is chairback. No hanging scoreboard, but rather a widescreen hd monitor on one end of the court.

Anyone else watching Ball State @ OU? 2 point game, last minute of the game...MAC officials call a TERRIBLE away from the ball offensive foul on Jones. ESPN announcers are incredulous.

Agreed. CMU is bad, not terrible. Vegas only favors us by 5, and that should tell us something. From what I can gather through online stalking, it looks like both PGs are ill(Deji, Rico). No word on how that will affect PT tonight. It's a raging blizzard outside right now, but should stop well before gametime. We'll see if it has any affect on attendance.

Not much time to contribute here as the wife and I are about to head out and explore the frozen tundra of Mt. Pleasant. Rico has just tweeted that he is very ill...let's hope this doesn't affect us vs cmu.

I crunched some Rpi numbers earlier this week, if the MAC East were its own conference, it'd be ranked 12th, between 11th PAC-12 and C-USA. The west would be around 25th near the Southland. I'm sure this has shifted more with the East going 5-1 in the first round.

FYI, Northern Iowa lost tonight. The Zips will likely hop UNI in RPI tonight putting them as the 4th best RPI away team in Bracket Busters. Saint Mary's and Long Beach State both have difficult games coming up tomorrow.

1000 times yes. This is my dream matchup and a winnable game. Theoretically, moving up 2 spots among the road squads gives us a shot. There's some probable losses there too for SMC and UNI especially.

CMU and WMU left on the road for the MAC West swing. I think WMU and Ball State are a toss up for the toughest in the West. Let's get a win in Mount Pleasant and then get some home cooking against some of the worst of the MAC. Fun game to watch just because we can find a way to win. We weren't get calls inside at all, Zeke was having trouble in the post and so we moved the ball outside and hit 60% of our 3s. If we can ever consistently put everything together...there will be no close games in the MAC.

The line opened at Akron (-1) and has shifted slightly to (-1.5) to (-2.0). I thought it'd be more, honestly. I'd say Zips by 12, 74-62.

I hope this is sarcastic. You could also choose not to follow the kids on twitter. Or maybe realize they're 18-22 year old young men and that they say stupid $hit sometimes. I know I never said anything dumb in my teens and twenties.

Fixed.

This is where things stand heading into the Zips swing through the West. @Ball State 216 @CMU 245 vs Toledo 287 vs EMU 197 @ WMU 139 vs NIU 338 With the Zips hanging on to a top-70 RPI spot right now, 6-0 is the only choice we have for trying to stay in that range. It's remarkable how bad the West is RPI wise. The West is the sole reason that the MAC will not be in contention for multiple NCAA bids, unless the Zips run the table.

What a night. It feels fantastic to have the Zips send home two huge crowds in a row happy. It is imperative to have a good showing against the West. As usual, it appears Akron draws the two toughest out west on the road in Ball State and Western Michigan. 5-0 or 4-1 is an absolute necessity to maintain 1st place. It starts with Ball State Tuesday, on STO. My wife and I will be making the trip to Mount Pleasant next Saturday to watch another good game. Hopefully KD keeps the kids focused, because in the past we've lost ground against the MAC's AA ballclubs.

The oddest part about this post as the link to the article still works, even though ZN changes the hyperlink from k-ent to can't. Weird.

Opening line gives K-ent 4.5 points, meaning the Zips are slight favorites beyond home court advantage. Seeing the game sold out of both student tickets and general admission more than 24 hours before tip certainly makes for a buzz in the area.