mes102

Listening to the end of the game and then the post-game interview, Coach Kest was not happy with the mentality tonight. The fact we still won this game after allowing 25 offensive rebounds and coughing up 23 turnovers is insane. Can't do that in the MAC and win. I know the non-conference slate isn't the toughest, but going 9-0 after losing the number of points(4,000), rebounds(2,000), and assists(all-time assists leader in program history) to graduation. The freshmen have all stepped up big at one point or another. Ball and Burry played well at times tonight. Can't wait to see how this team will do in the MAC.

Off to best start in program history. Can they keep it going and get to 9-0? I believe the game is a 4:30 start. I can't get off work until 6, so hoping to catch some on the radio before and after I get off work.

Wasn't there a rumor that NIU was looking to leave?

It's official. Pelini is heading to YSU. They preparing to move to the MAC?

First time reading the MAC/C- USA/Other debate, and here's my take on everything said here. -Personally, the MAC is more stable than C-USA. But why is that? I don't think it's necessarily because the MAC is a garbage conference. I think the majority of the schools in the conference are content with where they are as a brand, and are okay with not trying to expand/more national attention. Once schools in the MAC get uncomfortable with their brand in the MAC, the conference will become more unstable. Also, when you have more schools that are of interest to more "powerful" conferences, there tends to be more turnover within that conference(aka Conference-USA). In this case, stability to me isn't that big of an issue with C-USA. - As for strength of C-USA vs MAC, I looked at the RPI's of each conference and took the top 100. Football MAC- 7 (28, 42, 63, 71, 78, 92, 98) C-USA - 8 (23, 46, 62, 69, 75, 79, 84, 88) Men's Soccer MAC- 3 (23, 38, 66) C-USA - 6 (6, 24, 30, 32, 34, 49) Women's Soccer MAC- 2 (58, 98) C-USA - 3 (46, 62, 86) Volleyball MAC- 1 (44) C-USA - 3 (35, 73, 84) Men's Basketball Last season MAC- 2 (20,50) C-USA - 3 (12,33,36) This season MAC- 5 (43, 70, 85, 87, 96) C-USA - 3 (29, 54, 64) Women's Basketball Last season MAC- 3 (35, 53, 82) C-USA - 3 (19, 36, 46) This season MAC- 3 ( 43, 69, 71) C-USA - 3 (12, 13, 81) Baseball MAC- 1 (60) C-USA - 8 (14, 43, 64, 74, 78, 88, 90, 99) Softball MAC- 3 (68, 76, 95) C-USA - 5 (23, 40, 51, 75, 92) --- With that in mind, and the fact that recruiting is the backbone to any program, the better conference means better recruiting. The fact that we wouldn't be in the same conference as majority of our fellow Ohio MAC schools would give Akron a "fresh look" to recruits. I think that if we can get it to work out (C-USA North/South divisions), then I would be all for the move to C-USA.

MDZip, They can only work with what they have in front of them. Coach Kest has mentioned that they are having a hard time getting better opponents to come to Akron since programs are starting to notice the offensive style of play, and know it's not a "shoe-in" win for their program on the road. Why do you think Purdue went to Ball State? Or Michigan State playing at Eastern Michigan? They don't see them as much of a threat. Anyways, wins are wins. With a young group, building wins is a huge confidence booster for them. It solidifies what the coaches are telling them and what they're doing in practice, their habits, work ethic, etc. Do I think this team right now is going undefeated through non-conference? No, they still have to prove me wrong @ UCF. If they are undefeated in non-conference, do I think they can run the table in the MAC? Absolutely not. But can they finish in the top 4 in the MAC, and get anywhere from 20-25 wins this regular season? Absolutely. People are forgetting this team only has one senior. Everyone else will be back NEXT season. I would expect more out of next season than this season with the way the freshmen are playing. And the fact that Sefcik will be back from her injury by then. I believe she will be the 2nd best out of this freshmen class behind McMahan.

I think this will be an easy win for them. The only concern I have is that this is their first true road game. Also, the fact they've had 10 days off between games. They played in the Denver Thanksgiving Tournament, but both games were nuetral games. The first game there was their lowest scoring performance of the season to this point. I think they'll be okay though in this one. The games that concern me are @ UCF and @ Youngstown State. Ohio Christian and Bethune-Cookman are locked wins. They'll finish no worse than 9-2 into MAC play. Prediction: Lady Zips 78, Bethune-Cookman 64

Great piece on the women's basketball program: http://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-womens-basketball/2014/12/10/7353847/akron-zips-womens-basketball-update-end-of-first-semester-mac-jodi-kest

Michigan is looking really bad right now. A loss to NJIT, and now EMU? They caught them at the right time. Good for the Eagles, and good for the MAC.

The brand in the recruiting trail would change significantly too. A student-athlete in Ohio may see Ohio State as the pipeline dream. If not realistic, then Cincinnati. Then after that, they'll just pick a MAC school, which all the ones in Ohio always seem to be "blended" to recruits. No one really sticks out. If you replace the MAC label with a C-USA label, you will stick out from the rest of the current MAC schools in Ohio. That mentality alone may get you a few better recruits. Playing better competition will always draw better recruits as well. It's something different, and it may boost Akron in every sport in recruiting. I know this is football forum, but think about this for a second. Akron women's basketball is currently 7-0 and beating their opponents on average by 20+ points per game. And that's after losing three 1,000 point scorers and one of the best point guards in the country statistically the past two seasons(also the best class ever in women's program). Can you imagine what type of recruits Coach Kest could get if she's not "just another head coach of a MAC program in Ohio"? The above is just an example of what the recruiting could be like in every sport. Coaching is great, but student athlete talent level is where your program can improve the most. I'm all for attempting a change to C-USA.

With Ohio losing today at home to East Carolina, the Lady Zips are now the last unbeaten team in the MAC.

It's been incredible on what they have done to this point after graduating Tecca, Luburgh, Young, Cassell, and Guyton. You add in the fact that they play 4 freshmen with significant playing time, with one of those freshmen as your starting point guard. The fact that they haven't skipped a beat is really remarkable. I even think this team is better than last year's team when it comes to playing solid defense. They still have one more hurdle for me to completely buy into a "special" season. They have to win in Florida. They have their first true road games this season, @ Bethune Cookman and @ UCF. I expect them to win, but struggle against B-C. I expect the real test to come against UCF. They have 9 days off until that Bethune-Cookman game. Study hard, finish the semester strong, and get better in practice ladies!!!!

How was it for you? I had a meeting and couldn't make it, so i had the stream on my laptop during the meeting and the stream kept skipping and rewinding. I always thought it was my old technology, but maybe my technology is too advanced for our video stream...

Game Day today. Should be a win tonight for the Lady Zips, but they may have growing pains tonight. I expect them to have more trouble at Bethune-Cookman and UCF because those are their first true road games. If they are 10-0 going into the YSU road game, that could be an upset special since both teams are playing well right now and a little bit of backyard rivalry. Sometime tomorrow I will post a recap of how each team in the MAC is doing so far. Some interesting wins over big conference schools. Still looking for that big signature win from a MAC school still. Hopefully it happens this season.

Ohio defeated Morehead State 86-67.

In case anyone wants to see a couple of Akron's opponents, Morehead State plays @ Ohio this morning, with tip approximately 11:00am. I don't know if there will be video stream, but thought it would be good to watch if there is since Ohio has looked really good so far at 5-0(not surprising to me with the coach they have...he's really good), and Morehead State being our opponent on Friday.

Also, here's a few stats that will have your jaw drop a bit with what we know about the graduation losses the Zips WBB had this offseason. From their twitter account: - Anita Brown ranks 15th in the nation in scoring average(22.3 PPG). Sina King ranks 18th(21.7 PPG) - 14th in the nation in scoring(84.5 PPG) - 13th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio(1.41) - 17th in scoring margin(+23.2) - 21st in defensive rebounding(32.0) See you at the JAR on Friday!!!!!!

What draws me to the women's basketball game is the authenticity of the game. The men's game can have the fundamentals of the game overshadowed by athleticism. Women's game has athleticism too(just look at Anita Brown's reverse layup-and-1), but they use that to improve their fundamentals. The men's game seems to use the athleticism to hide their lack of fundamentals. Call me an old soul, but the men's game just isn't pure basketball to me anymore.

I found this:

MDZip, I can't thank the great Mack Rhoades enough for hiring Coach Kest. Akron has and will continue to benefit from Coach Kest being at the helm of this program. These freshmen are going to make a huge impact this season. Other than McMahan, the freshmen that would have made the biggest impact would have been Sefcik, in my opinion. She's been out with an injury, and I expect her to be redshirted. I'm expecting this freshmen class to become the winningest class in Akron women's basketball history in 4 years. I wasn't expecting much this year to be honest. I was expecting a down year, somewhere between #4-#9 seed in the MAC tourney with basically bench players from a year ago and incoming freshmen as the core of your team. I was expecting a lot of growing pains. However, she gets the most out of her players. They get better every day, game, and season. They hardly regress, other than injuries. I'm just glad some are finally seeing how this program has stabilized itself as a MAC contender every season. Especially where this program was when Kest took over the program. Hope to see more of you on December 5th against Morehead State, another top 50 RPI team in women's basketball.

Siena is off to their best start in over two decades, so someone's historical start to the season will end tomorrow. Let's hope we finish this trip strong!!!! #Finish #TurnUp #AllIn The next game for the Lady Zips after Siena tomorrow at 4:30, will be December 5th vs Morehead State...another top 50 RPI team...

Lady Zips beat Belmont 73-58. Mile High City, holiday tournament, and a young team on their first road trip were reasons why I think this is why they had a rough start today. Hopefully they grow from it and play a lot better against Siena. If not, the Lady Zips will lose their first game of the season.

I also forgot to mention that last night's victory was Coach Kest's 350th career win! Congrats to Coach Kest! Good luck to them in Denver!! Next game is 2:00pm vs Belmont...Looking to see if there will be a video stream or not...