zippyman23

Because you were on the committee? A fact? B) Go Zips!Yes, a fact. Bowling Green was already in the NIT from the MAC. Add that to Buffalo, who finished tied for 1st in the regular season, who also had a better RPI and SOS than us, did not make NIT. We wouldn't have made the NIT, that's just reality.

I never said it wouldn't get us in the NIT, it just leaves a very slim margin. I said we wouldn't have made the NIT last year if we didn't win the MAC tourney. That's a fact.

Obviously there are no guarantee's but our schedule isn't even giving us a chance (even if that chance is only 4 out of 30). It's not just about getting an at-large bid, it helps with getting into the NIT, and it also helps with seeding so that when you get in to the tournament you put yourself in a favorable position. Not to mention the increased exposure of program, and attendence to home games. All of which help in recruiting.The margin of error is so slim. In reality, if we didn't win the MAC tourney, we wouldn't have even made the NIT. Heck, a last second layup verse Toledo may be all that seperates us from the NCAA tournament and no postseason tourney at all.I guess things worked out last year, so we should all be happy should be happy with this years. But if we want to take the next step, we really need to schedule better.

While I'm hoping to see better, or at least tougher, non-conference schedules in the future as the program continues to improve, I certainly don't think that this years schedule is a downgrade from last years. Playing in the Glenn Wilkes tournament was a good move and they are playing Drake and NC State, plus this team scheduled Texas A&M and Wyoming. Last year it was Pitt, Niagara, and Winthrop. It amy not be a significant upgrade this year but I don't think its a significant downgrade either.Plus, I have a hunch that Valpo is going to be greatly improved this year as well as Rhode Island not being too shabby either. Also, with a good season the BracketBusters opponent could be an RPI boost as well if we can pull off a tough road win.We lose three Top 50 RPI teams from last schedulePitt - 2Dayton - 27VCU - 50The top three teams added to the schedule for this year to replace them.Texas A&M - 36Wyoming - 100NC State - 111That is a pretty obvious downgrade in my eyes.

I remember posting months ago that Akron and OSU don't compete for recruits because of the large gap in the level of media exposure between the two schools. Apparently I was wrong. This is huge for us since now we can legitimately say that we recruit top-level talent.Let's take a step back here. He was only offered by Akron, Bowling Green, and Eastern Michigan. OSU never offered. In reality, we were competing with Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan.

The thing that disappoints me the most is that the schedule is a significant downgrade from last year's schedule.Even if an at-large bid is long-shot, a better schedule puts us in a better position to get a better seed than a #13, which greatly increases the chances of winning a tournament game.

There's no way a new arena will be built for an ABA team. Your average high school gym is too big for an ABA team.

Yawn...

Agree. This is the real reason the title was written the way it was. Not a big deal.

Difference is Rhode Island is a home/home, and Cant's game with Xavier is a buy-game at Xavier. I think if we wanted a buy-game @Xavier we could have gotten one. Still hoping Dayton is on the schedule even though I believe they decided not to extend the series.I don't quite get this. Why wouldn't we take a buy-game from Xavier? They are a program that is nationally recognized, has made some deep tournament runs, they've been in the top-25 quite a bit, and they are close by. You think we signed a home/home or a 2/1 with Texas A&M? I have a hard time believing we will ever see them at the JAR. Is Texas A&M really that much better an opponenet than Xavier? Yeah, they are in the BCS/Big 12 and they are a pretty good team in their conference with some history of hoops success but are they really that far ahead of Xavier?No, I think Texas A&M is a buy game as well (at best a return game at the Q). I was saying that a home/home with Rhode Island is better than a one time deal at Xavier, which I believe we could have gotten, maybe not. Xavier also has buy-games verse Youngstown State, Bowling Green, and Sacred Heart. Last year Toledo and Ohio had buy-games at Xavier.Really I think it is either we are concentrated at getting home/home games won't accept the buy game (alot of mid majors are refusing buy games), or Xavier is looking for easier games for their buy games.

Difference is Rhode Island is a home/home, and Cant's game with Xavier is a buy-game at Xavier. I think if we wanted a buy-game @Xavier we could have gotten one. Still hoping Dayton is on the schedule even though I believe they decided not to extend the series.

That's fine. I'm not saying its going to be an easy game, but Drake isn't the team the were two years ago. They only have one guy left that played in their tournament game and are losing 2 out of their 3 top scorers from last year. Drake will be projected to finish in the bottom half of the MVC, so a loss to them would be disappointing.

Not exactly. Drake is far from being a "high mid-major"."Far from becoming a high-mid major?" Your argument is convincing...tough to find fault in any facet of your analysis. But I'll try.If you consider UA a solid mid-major, then what do you call Drake?2008 NCAA tourney - Lost on a miracle 3-pointer at the buzzer to Western K.e.n.t.ucky (who advanced to the sweet 16 that year).2008 - Won the MVC (a basketball conference light years ahead of the MAC)2008 - Beat a Top 10 team.2008 - Ranked as high as 13th in the national polls.I'd wear a Golden F.l.a.s.h. mascot uniform for a month to accomplish 1/2 of what Drake in '08.They were 17-15 last season, but played a very difficult schedule. Although they lost some key players, and their coach to the Big East, they still received a post-season bid. If you don't see playing an upper-echelon MVC program as a great measuring stick of the Zips progress towards becoming a high-mid major...you need to do some homework.One year doesn't make them a "high mid major" or even an upper-echelon MVC program. I think you are the one who needs to do some homework.Drake Basketball History Lesson1971 was last time Drake made the NCAA tournament before '07-'08.'87-'88 thru '05-'06 seasons: Drake did not have one single winning season. Not a single one. 18 straight years.'06-'07: (17-15) 7th out of 10 in MVC'07-'08: (28-5) 1st in MVC; Great Season, Davis leaves after one season for Providence'08-'09: (17-16) 8th out of 10 in MVC; Without Davis Drake starts on their way back to their normal selfSo yes, Drake is far from being a "high mid-major".

Not exactly. Drake is far from being a "high mid-major".

Was that a serious comment? A professional sports team doesn't care about which college team fans root for.I applaud those trying to spin this into a positive, but it is anything but a positive thing. I'm not sure how much it will negatively effect the Zips, but it won't be having a positive effect.

I believe we are out of scholarships for 2010.

Ohio State doesn't have to pull an offer from one of the other 5 stars. The plan is to get Payne to join their existing class.

If that's true... wow, there's a loophole you could drive a truck through. Man.Recruits talk to other recruits all the time, which also includes doing their own recruiting. Not a big deal.

Payne has all but eliminated Akron from his list.He has taken recent unofficial visits to Michigan State, Ohio State, Kentucky and continues to participate in open gyms with the Dayton players. He will be taking more visits but nothing is set at the moment.

Payne is nowhere near having a final three teams. Heck, he really hasn't even begun to sit down and strongly consider what schools he might want to attend. His reasoning on Payne eliminating Akron is a little flawed. Yes, Rivals did remove Akron but they did that to add another BCS school on his list. Rivals only lists 15 schools and Akron got the bump.

This is very true. Winston is looking out for his own benefits more than Payne's. It is a really sad thing to see. Everytime I see a quote from Winston I take with a grain of salt.

More up-to-date than this story? It's 8 hours old?! Unless you had breakfast with him, I'm thinking this is the most up-to-date account out there.The story is new, but the information is old. We knew he canceled his visit two weeks ago.What we did not know 2 weeks ago was - "Now that Jeff Boals is officially an assistant coach, the Ohio State men's basketball team will try again to recruit Adreian Payne, a 6-foot-10 junior from Dayton Jefferson."Either the guy is lying, or OSU is now recruiting him.We did know that and again, this isn't new information. The guy held off on the story until Boals was officially announced at OSU. OSU has been recruiting Payne for awhile now and now Boals will head that effort. Payne is still unlikely to attend OSU.

More up-to-date than this story? It's 8 hours old?! Unless you had breakfast with him, I'm thinking this is the most up-to-date account out there.The story is new, but the information is old. We knew he canceled his visit two weeks ago.Agree. This is old news and just a Columbus journalist reaching for a story.Fact is that Payne had an AAU tourney in Arkansas the weekend the visit was scheduled. Of course it was cancelled and it would have been cancelled even with Boals still at Akron. When the visit was originally scheduled in March, his AAU team was supposed to play in Pittsburgh, which would have made it easier to sneak a visit in sometime during the weekend.

Dayton has been listed on Scout as "low interest" for over a year now. It means nothing. The same with the update of WVU now being "high interest". I would beat that someone from WVU's site is the one that updated it. None of this information has come from Payne, so I wouldn't read much into it.

Haven't seen this mentioned on here yet, but I'm hearing Michael Green from Dublin, OH has verballed to Akron. http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect...mp;pr_key=94663