infofan

Most of you know the basics about the Vegas tourney- It is 4 games ( 1 at home- ORU on Jan 3rd) ( 3 at the Southpoint arena (4000seats) vs UALR, Stetson, and Miami FL) Three 20-win teams and three up-and-coming programs highlight the six team field in the 2010 Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic Multiple Team Event. In the MTE, all six teams will play four games with first-round games taking place on campus sites followed by three straight days of play on a neutral site at the South Point Arena in Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, the Hatters of Stetson University will open play versus Rice University on Tuesday, Dec. 21. Stetson, under the direction of 11th year head man Derek Waugh, competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference and returns 12.0 ppg scorer Ridge Graham. Meanwhile, Rice and third-year head man Ben Braun return all five starters to the rising Conference USA program. The second game of the day in Las Vegas on Dec. 21 features the University of Miami from the Atlantic Coast Conference and perennial Summit League power Oral Roberts University. The Hurricanes are coming off a 20-win season in 2009-10 and 7th year head coach Frank Haith returns his starting backcourt of Durant Scott and Malcolm Grant. ORU, another 20-win team from a season ago, returns first team all-league performer Dominique Morris. Head coach Scott Sutton is in his 12th season at the Tulsa, Okla. institution. The final first round game on Tuesday, Dec. 21 pits the University of Arkansas-Little Rock versus Akron University. The Trojans of UALR are coached by 7th year head man Steve Shields and return their top two scorers and four starters from last years squad. Akron, a 24-win team of a year ago, has participated in three straight postseasons under head coach Keith Dambrot and returns three starters from last year’s squad. The full 2010 Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Schedule is listed below with game times to be announced at a later date. Fans looking to purchase tickets can visit the South Point Arena website at www.southpointarena.com or check with their school’s ticket office. Fans can also watch live streaming video of the Holiday Hoops Classic by visiting the tournament page at www.sporttours.net. On Campus Games Stetson @ Miami Oral Roberts @ Akron January 3rd UALR @ Rice Tuesday, Dec. 21 Stetson v. Rice Miami v. Oral Roberts UALR v. Akron Wednesday, Dec. 22 Rice v. Miami Akron v. Stetson Oral Roberts v. UALR Thursday, Dec. 23 Miami v. Akron Rice v. Oral Roberts Stetson v. UALR

Visited campus today and a few observations- first on soccer stadium. It looks great and is coming along. 3 rows of chairback seats extending about 80% of lengthe of field. Grandstand is behind that with about 12 rows of bleacherback (not installed yet) seats and topped off with a platform probably to hold pressboxes. lowest level has 2 tunnels coming from field down to locker rooms. lowest level( sub seats is encased in red brick, which I assume will be extended up sides of grandstand. lights look great- tho not on yet. Scoreboard ( now in west end)has many loos wires sticking out- overall electrical work in progress. sloped pitch extends around end zones to plexiglass team benches on north side. west side is totally flat and has about 4 rows of bleachers. east side has traditional slope for AK-Rowdies and behind that is about a 5 row elevated bleacher running corner to corner. Most noteable thing is a plaque on side of lower level of grandstand that has a dedication to long time Zip fan Barb Hlivko. Secondly on the Info... Marching band was drilling on field and in both concourses. scaffolding still up above club seats where ceiling was falling. It looks to have been repaired now. Scaffolding holding it up till dry. Lowest level on street level of stadium ( where Welty construction signs were) is under construction. And Most noteably!!!----Team shop is well underway and very large sign on windows says " ZIPS TEAM SHOP COMING SEPT. 4th! " I took some pics on cellphone. If I can find a way to get them on here ( with help) Ill do so. GO ZIPS!!!!!!!!!!!

With less than 20 seconds left in the Division I state semifinal, the Jackson High School student section began the chant they drove two-and-a-half hours to yell. “I believe.” “I believe that.” “I believe that we have won.” Over and over. The Jackson Polar Bears will play for their first state championship Saturday night against Cincinnati Moeller. Jackson whipped Gahanna Lincoln 62-50 as Josh Egner a team-high 23 points, including three monster dunks. One, an attention getter, in the third quarter, rocked Value City Arena. Tomorrow nights championship game is on sportstime Ohio. Check out the Bears and a future Zip!!

Where do these figures come from????????? I highly doubt this report. Cleveland state revenue of $1,952,828 from 1500 per game? Youngstown revenue of $982,205?? Coastal carolina revenue of $1,218,132 in a 1200 seat gym? Duquesne revenue of $2,401,354 on attendance of 3000 per game? ? Or just look at Akron alone..........this year our attendance was down but we still drew just over 50,000 fans at about $12 per ticket (average based on 10-35 range). That equals about $600,000, then add in concessions, our share of NCAA revenue ( small but something), our guarentees from the 3 big road games and you have conservatively $750,000. Theres no doubt we are in the red but I put no validity in this report. I also question the expenses.... Check out Butler- compared to us. And I think their coach alone makes close to $1 million.

It was already reported in Columbus Dispatch that Bassett and Groce had some run ins- and didnt see eye to eye. Leaving early was a distinct possibility and if that happens good luck to that young man. But the negative is like it or not OU's performance in NCAA vs Gtown elevated the MACs respect. Sorry to say no one else has done that since early 2000s . But whether Armond leaves or not- or even if coach Groce leaves or not the foundation is set for OU to be strong for years. Only 1 departing senior and 2 Kelloggs coming in plus a 6'10" big man. we lose C Mcknight, Conyers, and ( the unknown 3rd scholarship player) and it appears add 3 strong reruits. we can be optomistic that our success will continue but OU will be the team to beat next year on paper at least.

I dont know what the explative stated was, nor do I really care, but Im glad hes not happy. Im tired of the Brookharts of the world saying we tried hard, the effort was there, but the ball didnt go in. No better motivation than anger......frustration. His anger isnt just over a bad game in CBI. remember his contract.............................. From The Plain Dealer......................Failing to win the MAC tournament title cost Keith Dambrot a bonus of a half-month of his salary.The Zips (24-10) faced Green Bay on Wednesday in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational. • The contract: Pays a base salary of $200,000 ... stipulates that the coach get a year extension if his team wins at least two-thirds of its regular-season games or makes the NCAA or NIT tournament and achieves certain academic standards. • Among bonuses earned this season: $5,000 for 20-win season. • Among bonuses he could have earned: One-half month of base salary for MAC regular-season title, one-third month of base for making NIT, $2,500 per NIT win and $15,000 for NIT championship ... Also one-half month of base for making NCAA Tournament, and $5,000 per win plus $40,000 to reach Final Four and $100,000 for NCAA National Championship. By the way- did anyone go see Josh Egner at the JAR on thursday night?? Awesome shot of him dunking in the BJ today.

1st 2nd final Akron (18-14) 37 24 61 Wichita State (18-14) 26 41 67 Great 1st half but they ran out of gas in 2nd half like the men. Still a great year. Once again no mention of this is made on gozips .com.

A few tidbits concerning UA/UWGB game...................... Akrons RPI 89, GB 107, GB hasnt played since Mar 5th loss to Detroit Mercy Oregon state has the lowest RPI of all teams in CBI ( 199!) VCU was highest (66) GB is the only team besides Butler to play in post season from Horizon league( So much for its superiority!) Heres a news article from GB Press Gazzette........................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ ................................................................................ .................................... The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball team has a good idea what to expect from Akron Wednesday night: “They’re a very aggressive team on defense. They like to get up,” junior guard Bryquis Perine said of the Zips (24-10), who will host UWGB in a first-round College Basketball Invitational game at Rhodes Arena. “We’re going to counter that. We’re going to use their aggression against them.” But can UWGB (21-12) counter well enough to avoid another letdown like their 62-53 loss to Detroit on March 5? The Titans effectively stunted the Phoenix offense by limiting junior Rahmon Fletcher’s touches. Though Perine scored 22 points, backcourt mates Fletcher and Troy Cotton combined for 5-of-21 shooting and six turnovers. Guard play has been a strength for UWGB much of the season — Perine has been the go-to guy down the stretch, averaging 16 points while reaching double-figures in seven straight games — but coach Tod Kowalczyk made clear the entire group needs “to step up and play” in the postseason. “We’ve really got to concentrate on what we did wrong in the Detroit game, especially our guards,” Cotton said. “It’s such a big part of our offense and defense. It starts with the guards. So, with me and Rahmon and Bry’ and Seth (Evans) — what we try to do is we create the tempo, how we want to play. … We know everybody’s going to follow the lead.” (2 of 2) Akron’s rotation and approach bears a resemblance to another Mid-American Conference opponent the Phoenix has seen this season. Can't State forced 17 turnovers at the Resch Center back on Nov. 15 — another of the 10 games in which UWGB has given away the ball 16 times or more — but lost 87-86 as Cotton (25 points), Perine (20) and Fletcher (17) combined for a huge night on the offensive end. The Zips will counter that trio with 6-foot-5 swingman Jimmy Conyers (10.1 points per game, 39 steals), Steve McNees (8.3 ppg) and point guard Anthony “Humpty” Hitchens (8.5 ppg, 2.7 assists per game). They also are long and “much more athletic” than UWGB in the post, according to Kowalczyk, with 6-foot-7 Chris McKnight, his 6-foot-6 sixth-man brother Brett McKnight and 7-foot freshman Zeke Marshall. But perhaps the biggest challenge will be the one UWGB couldn’t overcome in its last game — which Cotton said was obvious when looking at the tape. “I saw we was very frustrated, especially when things didn’t go our way,” Cotton said. “We didn’t knock down the shots like we usually do. Also, on defense, (Detroit) really pounded us inside. We really got kind of distracted, I would say. “We didn’t stay together as a team and still try to get back in the game. Instead, I think we’d come up (and go) our separate ways.” The pressure will be on the Phoenix to keep its collective head Wednesday night. Next

The UA Zips were invited to 2010 WBI. As a #5 seed they will travel to #4 Wichita state for a 1st round game on thursday. Congrats to ladies but hard to believe GOZIPS.COM didnt feel it was worth posting!! Tom W- why does that happen??

Following up, apparently the great west conference winner has an automatic bid to the CIT ( who knew?). They( s. dakota) travel to Creighton. Northern Colorado is hosting Portland, and Appy state has been promised a home game against TBA on weds at 7. Southern Miss is at LA tech. and Fairfield is at Gerge mason. No word on UA but things are in motion.....keep your fingers crossed

Interesting reading.................. Graham Couch column: Administration's decision to save money could prove costly for Western Michigan basketball program By Graham Couch | Kalamazoo Gazette March 14, 2010, 7:00AM CLEVELAND — In the midst of teary-eyed grief following a heartbreaking and potentially season-ending loss, one thought triggered hope and clarity from Steve Hawkins. Postseason play. “Oh, yeah — yeah, yeah, yeah,” Western Michigan University’s men’s basketball coach said, quickly perking up when asked about his interest in playing in a secondary postseason tournament. In seconds, Hawkins went from asking his fiancee for a tissue to dry his eyes to a look of boyish optimism. “It doesn’t matter to me what situation we play in,” Hawkins continued, shortly after his team fell to Akron, 66-64, Friday night in the Mid-American Conference tournament semifinals. “If we get a chance to play postseason, I hope we can, I hope we’re invited, I hope we get a chance to do it. I know the seniors don’t want their careers to end, and so if we get a chance to do it, we hope we can do it.” There’s a not-so underlying subtext to Hawkins’ thoughts on such an opportunity. It can be found in the phrase, “If we get a chance to play postseason, I hope we can.” Because the chance is likely to be there. But it’s not up to Hawkins. It’s up to WMU’s administration. The College Insider Tournament (CIT), a 16-team, four-round event that rivals the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), has expressed interest in WMU. Both are relatively new tournaments, both a step below the NIT. And both require host teams to pony up a significant sum of cash. In the CIT’s case, it’s $31,500 — the CBI calls for $60,000 — but the tournament covers 22 flights, the opponent’s meals and lodging, and the host school gets to keep anything it makes from the gate and concessions beyond the host fee. Even a moderately analytical cat with a journalism degree can do the math: Pull in 3,150 fans at $10 a ticket and it’s not a losing proposition — and wouldn’t be, in the long run, even if the numbers didn’t add up so easily. Somehow, that’s not the way the higher-ups at WMU see it. “We have talked to them,” athletics director Kathy Beauregard said of the folks at the CIT. “Very honestly, we know postseason is critical for us. We are not (based on planning) in a position right now to be able to commit to hosting a home game. It’s something we need to, and coach Hawkins and I have talked about it, put into our budget planning for the future. “You hope you’re always going for some sort of postseason play. We hadn’t planned for (the cost of the CIT). It would be a new expense even though we believe we can have some back. Right now, we’ve told them we are definitely interested in participating but we would not be putting that money forward right now to be able to host.” And that could be all the difference. Riley Wallace, chairman of the CIT selection committee, said Western Michigan was one of 8-10 teams “on hold” on the tournament’s bubble. The Broncos, with a record of 18-15 and an RPI of 150, might get an invitation regardless. Wallace called Hawkins “a good coach and a good friend,” which is significantly better than Hawkins’ relationship with the CBI, which two years ago he called “a joke” and accused of making deals “in the back of smoke-filled rooms.” But Wallace also made it clear that being willing to host “usually does” matter. “If they say they’ll host or host more than one game, that’s obviously a factor,” the former University of Hawaii coach said. What WMU decides — and this is well above Beauregard, who wouldn’t make such a bogus call, no matter how well she takes the hit for the company — says a ton about the university’s willingness to support its men’s basketball program and live up to its mantra of cherishing the student-athlete experience. WMU fired a women’s basketball coach and kept a hockey coach in large part because of this philosophy. Now it has a chance to extend the careers of three seniors, and the season for more than a dozen players, including its all-time leading scorer — and the possibility, even if unlikely, of losing one-tenth of what it immediately loses on a football bowl game may be how it thanks David Kool for four amazing years on the basketball court. Postseason is postseaon. Any mid-major college coach will agree it enriches their program and helps them sell it to recruits. At time when Hawkins and his staff are losing wide-eyed high school prospects because of languishing facilities and saw their scheduled overseas trip this summer canceled — at one time a selling point to any junior college big man — a decision to not play in the postseason, for a modest short-term price, would show a lack of long-term perspective. An article in Saturday’s Cleveland Plain Dealer lists Hawkins as one of Toledo’s primary targets for its head coaching vacancy. Hawkins isn’t going anywhere. But know this: Toledo, coming off a four-win season, is a better job — strictly based on facilities and financial commitment. You can bet the Rockets would pay to play in the postseason. We’ll probably know by late Sunday whether WMU is willing to really compete with the program at the bottom of its division.

Site is available sporadically. Probably being overloaded with hits. Best bet is probably channel 5s sports sunday tonight at 1125 or so. Ill bet KD will be on or at least theyll have info of where, when, if????? Some of you dont care if season is over ... I get that, but I personally hope they live to play another day for Jimmy and Chris.

NIT selection show is at 9pm. KDs post game show suggests theyve been in touch with CBI, and possibly hosting. the 16 teams will be finalized pretty quickly after the NIT show. In past I read you could host a game for 60K. Sounds like a lot but youd offset some of that with 2500 gate receipts and youd save cost of a chartered jet and hotel so while unlikely it is possible.

Did anyone else notice when Nicola came out of game KD patted him on back and Nicola yelled at him and yanked his arm away, then when given a water bottle he slammed it down. These are your teammates for gods sake. What does he say to them in locker room? That cant be good. And surprisingly whos trying to get him calmed down and focused a few minutes later? Humpty. Wow- nice to see him try to take a leadership role ( if hes ready to be that mature). With Euton, Green, and Egner coming in next year Nicks gonna need to be focused to get PT. Related notes...............Dakotah Euton into elite company Scott County senior Dakotah Euton has been through a lot during his career.The 6-foot-8 Euton started his career at Rose Hill and finished up his final two seasons at Scott County. He committed to the University of Kentucky only to later sign with Akron in November.Euton has been praised and there has been plenty of criticism through the years.Now, he's ending his career in Rupp Arena next week at the Sweet 16 after Scott County decked Lafayette on Tuesday night in the 11th Region final.Euton has also made his way into the state record books and joins some elite as just the fourth player in state history to have 3,000 points and 1,500 rebounds for his career.Euton has 3,049 points and 1,547 rebounds during his career. He joins Earlington's Harry Todd (1955-58), McCreary County's Tim Stephens (73-76) and Paintsville's J.R. VanHoose (94-98) as the only players in the 3,000/1,500 club.//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////Michael green.....fifth-seeded Dublin Coffman edged fourth-seeded and previously unbeaten Upper Arlington 50-48 yesterday in a Division I district semifinal in the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum because it was a little bit better this time. Like an inch or so better.UA's Carter Smith rimmed out a jumper with one foot on the three-point line in the final second that would have forced overtime."Actually, we didn't do a whole lot different today than we did in losing to them twice this year," Coffman coach Jamey Collins said. "We just didn't fall into such a hole this time, and we were more aggressive consistently throughout the game."Shamrocks forward Michael Green said revenge was a motivating factor."Them beating us on our senior night left a real sour taste in our mouth and gave us extra incentive," said Green, an Akron recruit. "We've been practicing especially hard and talking about this ever since that night."Green and Christian Heine scored 14 points each and Kyle Molock 13 for the Shamrocks (19-3). Also playing vital roles were Conner Viers, who converted three straight steals into baskets during a third-quarter run, and Chuck Carkhuff, who didn't score but provided stout defense on Upper Arlington center Jeff Vaughn.Go Zips.................

The officiating was beyond disgusting. I was screaming at the TV for most of the game. You gotta give the guys props for playing through it and coming up with the W.From my seat in section 125 I observed MAC head of officials and associate commissioner Boyages watching that sorry group of officials. How can they watch live, and see replays and not correct some of the blatant errors made by those 3 officials. For instance how do u eject a player for a flagrant foul ( on D Rob) when you didnt even call a foul on the play?? Isnt that admitting their mistake? Im sorry to say the MAC will remain a mediocre 15th rank conference until they improve quality of refs. How is that done? More money? Well guess what- No Can't in the final ( no I dont think that was due to officiating) and possibly no Akron means attendance of probably 4000 in final. Talk about lost revenue.

While I agree about the foul bias, I have to disagree about Coach Charles Ramsey. He admittedly lost it when told his guy was ejected even though he wasnt charged with a foul. ( how does that happen?). He virtually had the game wrapped up and he lost it ( can u say foul akron at end of regulation). But he had the decency to go over and congratulate KD on the victory before being escorted out. That was classy.

Not sure if I think the difference was Higgins or Hitchens- as in NO Humpty for that game. Either way it is revenge as a motivator for the 2nd round game. Eastern rallied from a 14 pt deficit to defeat NIU by 6 before a home (crowd?)gathering of 675. Interesting that both mens and lady Zips drew Eastern in 2nd round matchups.

John Edwards- at Can't season age G MP FG FGA FT att RB Pts FG% FT% MP PPG RB Ass2000-01 19 KENTST 32 218 25 58 0 0 14 30 54 3 64 .431 .467 6.8 2.0 1.7 0.1 2001-02 20 KENTST 35 422 49 81 0 0 24 37 72 2 122 .605 .649 12.1 3.5 2.1 0.1 2002-03 21 KENTST 31 521 93 147 0 0 37 52 106 10 223 .633 .712 16.8 7.2 3.4 0.3 2003-04 22 KENTST 30 775 157 297 0 0 81 120 197 12 395 .529 .675 25.8 13.2 6.6 0.4 Career 128 1936 324 583 0 0 156 239 429 27 804 .556 .653 15.1 6.3 3.4 0.2 Chris Kaman- at CMU MIN FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG TPG BPG SPG PPG00-01 C Michigan 18.6 57.4 0.0 70.0 4.8 0.2 1.8 1.6 0.5 9.801-02 C Michigan 25.2 61.4 0.0 65.0 8.3 0.9 2.9 1.6 0.4 11.802-03 C Michigan 34.0 62.2 0.0 74.9 12.0 1.2 4.4 3.2 0.6 22.4-----------------------------------------------------------------------TOTALS 26.3 60.8 0.0 71.3 8.5 0.8 3.1 2.2 0.5 15.1Zeke Marshall- at UAstatistics GP-S min-avg FG-att % 3pt % FT-Att % offRB DRB tot avg F FO Ass TO blk stl pts avgMARSHALL, Zeke..... 31-24 496 16.0 60-131 .458 0-1 .000 28-60 .467 44 71 115 3.7 66 2 13 44 50 6 148 4.8 Conference-Only.. 16-12 253 15.8 30-57 .526 0-0 .000 10-21 .476 17 34 51 3.2 37 1 4 19 24 2 70 4.4In summary, Zeke averaged more points, rebounds and blocks than NBA draftee John Edward from Can't had until his junior year. More comparable to Chris Kaman in blocks, but his PPG and Rebounds were less. Lets remember hes playing with Bruce Weinkeins body so far- hell get bigger and stronger. And the year's experiance should be helpfull. No- hes not MAC newcomer of year or on all freshman team but hes got a huge upside.

I suggest that you carry a barf bag around with you. Whenever players run faster and jump higher than those they're playing against, and use those abilities to make their opponents appear slow and soft, the "A" word will be used frequently by douche bags and non-douche bags alike.The most "A" team doesn't always win. There are other aspects of the game that can compensate for lack of "A." But all other things being equal, the team with the most "A" will usually win.You are allegedly a writer. How would you grade another writer who uses one adjective? How interesting is it to read? If spoken, how interesting is it to listen to?If all one has to say about K.e.n.t.'s basketball team is "they are athletic...they are more athletic than the Zips...they have great athleticism...etc" then that person obviously has a shallow knowledge of the game.I like reading and listening to people that offer depth and insight. If all you bring to the table is "athletic," you're shallow and pedantic.Writing tip: If you don't write exactly what you mean, there's a high likelihood that you will be misinterpreted. Heck, on this forum, even when you write exactly what you mean there's a high likelihood of being misinterpreted.What you really meant to say was:8.) If I hear some douche bag use only the term "athletic" to describe K.e.n.t. one more time, I'll puke.OK, back to the regularly scheduled stream of insults.I know many knowledgable, long-time Zips fans who say that they do not participate on this site because of this very reason.I agree Skip Zip. I may be the next to leave. Really sad when disagreeing is a crime and when supposedly die hard fans turn on the players /coaches so quick.

Friday night hopefully has been put to rest for fans. As much as that is possible. In some ways looking at brackets we are better off as 3 seed. No- Im not saying Im glad we lost. But one team I really wouldnt want to play is Ohio. Which is who Can't plays thursday. Two others are Miami and Buffalo. I realize Eastern beat us but we played as poorly as a Can't game. And we were shorthanded- ( No Humpty). Another thought. Does anyone know if the brackets are set time wise or do the MAC officials play with them to split up UA and Can't State? Did they choose Can't for the evening sesion or does the higher seed play in evening? What did BG do last year?Another question- what was with the guy in a white tux and white shoes on our bench last night? until the fat lady sings. ( yes shes a Can't dance team girl)

My bad- thats 3pm till 730- when French and Dunn take over the airwaves.

1350 AM radio daily talk show will feature the Zips all day/night friday building up to the UA /Can't game. The hosts Jon Marachino and Fish are going to broadcast live from Rhodes Arena on friday featuring Keith Dambrot, Jodi Kest, Rob Ianello, and Tom Wistrcill. While some people have sampled their show and rejected it as OSU fans who host a show in Akron they actually deserve some credit. Theyve been pushing Zips B-ball all week, and the fact is they talk about whatever their callers bring up. Have any of you called in?? Far too few callers bring up Akron, so they talk about what their callers DO bring up. cut them some slack- tune in on friday if you can- and better yet call in about UA.

NIT reality check, nobody cares about the NIT. It is a secondary tournament. A consilation prize (and not much of one) for those teams that get left out of the NCAA's. It draws little to no national media attention and is really only good for giving young teams another week or two of practice and playing time together before a long offseason. This team shouldn't be focused at all on the NIT's. NCAA's or bust.Im not twisting anyones words nor is this an afront to anyone . Quickzips your a great fan and welcomed to your opinion, my point was some people DO care about the NIT, it DOES receive media attenntion, and its ncaor (not bust) NI, or cbi. They wont sedulus so NIT i est chancewehave topotentially play and beat Dayton, Xavier, Cincinnati, or NC Charlotte. By the way- as of this morning NIT-ology.com has moved us up to IN the NIT after being the 8th team on bubble last weekend

For those of you simple minded people masquerading as zips fans who look down at the NIT I say to get real!! All year long we see the same rhetoric on here day after day- play a tougher schedule, drop malone and st Francis, dambrots flat lined- no improvement. Tougher schedule wouldnt have helped our record. Well I for one welcome post season play- year after year in any event, NCAA, NIT, CBI, whatever. How quickly you forget the feeling of losing to central Mich and Can't in MAC 1st round and Miami in final- or pretty much any year in the 90s or pre KD, where the term sudden death hits home. A lot of programs would love to have the "problem" of playing in a non NCAA post season tournament.It can be argued that the NCAA is 1 and done for a team like us ( probably a 13, 14 seed playing 3000 miles away) IF we made it. Yet the CBI and NIT offer the potential for 4 or 5 winnable games against good name- recognized teams and yes- potential national TV. Of course we all prefer the big dance but IMHO the NIT is still a reward not a penalty. It would be invaluable for zeke and others to continue the season and taste success.

Only 4, 151 showed up last january for UA vs Can't. Lets hope about 1600 more will come to their senses and witness the best of MAC basketball friday night. The nation and the world will be watching on TV. Forget all the debate concerning the lack of student support. This is their chance to jump on the bandwagon. a loud partisan crowd DOES make a difference! And dont forget to bring your BEAT Can't STATE towels! Updated RPIs as of sundayRPI Rk Mid-American Conf All RPI SOS Rk SOS East Division 48 Can't St. 12-3 21-8 0.5839 100 0.5317 85 Buffalo 9-6 16-10 0.5517 115 0.5254 91 Akron 12-3 21-8 0.5491 171 0.4940 133 Ohio 6-9 15-14 0.5205 114 0.5260 163 Miami (OH) 8-7 12-17 0.5083 82 0.5396 181 Bowling Green 6-9 13-14 0.4964 164 0.4993 West Division 165 West. Michigan 7-8 14-14 0.5081 150 0.5078 191 East. Michigan 8-7 14-13 0.4868 246 0.4668 207 Cent. Michigan 8-7 13-14 0.4799 228 0.4716 209 Ball St. 8-7 14-13 0.4768 226 0.4732 256 Northern Illinois 5-10 9-19 0.4455 181 0.4891 320 Toledo 1-14 3-26 0.3960 153 0.5057