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Heck, this is what the national prognosticators look at when they make predictions, so why not us? If this really is a good predictor, then it would appear as if we should be able to return to our dominant position in the East next year, and have Toledo as our major challenge on the other side. Our players will all get better if the coaching staff is doing their jobs.

Unless you had a bad football team for a few years, and were able to look at them as one of your best chances at a victory

I was thinking the same thing.

What would have been interesting is if the kid from NC had not called timeout, and would have launched a half court shot before the buzzer, and it was good. Could they have looked at the time and said that more time SHOULD have run before the buzzer and disallow the basket? Even thought the shot was released before the actual final horn sounded on the floor? That would have definitively shown whether this would have been ruled the same way in 2014 as it was in 2007. From what I recall, they were not able to change what had already happened. They were only allowed to adjust the remaining time.

I'm with you. He can certainly see the time on the backboard. How would he have known that it was wrong? Akron's situation in the 2007 title game was that, for whatever reason, the officials were only permitted to review how much time was remaining after the shot had gone in. They couldn't change the play that just happened. If any of you still have a tape of the game, you can follow the sequence of events that you wouldn't have known if you were at the game at the time (if you can even watch it again without puking). But to Ada Zip, who started this thread, I get where you are coming from. Somehow, it seems that 7 years later this type of situation is now handled differently.

Like I said, if his "dream" was to be closer to home, he would have been in a perfect position to pursue closer opportunities before he signed the extension with VCU.

Agreed. Turning down UCLA and taking Marquette would seem very, very odd to me. And who would have had any idea that Buzz was going to jump ship? If he really coveted being closer to where he was from (Madison), why would he have signed long-term with VCU ? None of this makes any sense.

I just wanted to tell our wonderful girls basketball players not to feel bad that OUR HOMETOWN newspaper put a big picture on the front of the sport page on Sunday, and claimed that the player in the picture was "Sina King" (yes, the girl who has not played all season due to injury). Don't fret. They did the same thing to the guys just a couple of weeks ago, when they called Ken+ State's #2 "Kwan Cheatham". Would someone please tell the folks down at the newspaper on Exchange St., just a few blocks from our campus, that maybe they should pay more attention to what is going on with Akron Athletics than just looking at a numerical roster?

Have there been some games that I've missed?

Maybe so. And you just reminded me of something else. I always see talk that we may have missed a window of opportunity to "move up" a couple of decades ago. And I can recall something that was talked about back then that still sticks with me today. There was a conference called the METRO. Does anyone remember it? It contained many middle-of-the-country city schools like Akron, such as Louisville, Memphis, and St. Louis. And the football programs played Independent, which was exactly what we were doing at the time (prior to joining the MAC). I'm not sure why this never happened, but many of the schools in that conference are now split up into some very good situations today, including Cincinnati and Virginia Tech, who had stints in the METRO as well. Could we have ended up being one of them?

I know that I love to always bring up CINCINNATI, but they are the model for Ohio success. Back when I was in college in the early 80s, NOBODY went to Cincinnati football games....NOBODY. Today, they are nationally recognized, and darn near put themselves in position to win a National Championship a few years ago. They also have truly carved out a loyal region of fans in SW Ohio who don't give a damn about the Suckeyes. In fact, they MOCK them, in their marketing material and their merchandise. So....does anyone want to analyze how they got there??? I'm sure it didn't just magically happen. And if elevating to a higher conference was the big moment for them, what did that do prior to that to attract a big conference? Did they possibly feed off of the 90s success of the Bob Huggins led basketball program?

That's the challenge, for sure. But as I have said all along, if others have done it, it shouldn't be too hard to examine those situations, and copy the formulas of those who have accomplished it before us.

I know our women's program learned one thing today: You're gonna need some beef to compete with programs outside of the MAC. They had a number of people they could put on the floor, even guards, who were big and tough. We had absolutely no answer. I love Rachel and what she has accomplished, but someone like her can't bang with those girls for 40 minutes. And even if she could, we still would have needed a few more people at least as capable. Even with our ability to run, which equalized things at certain stretches, we were no competition for that team. You could tell that the game was over after just the first few trips up and down the floor for each team.

I agree. Up until last year, I had been rooting for the guy, as an ex-Akron assistant. No more. I lost all respect for him last year, and I think his attitude and lack of respect may end up getting the best of him and ruining his career. Please Shaka, do yourself a favor and don't become Bobby Hurley.

Since people are often bringing up "chemistry" and offensive flow, I tried to watch the relationship between Tree and Q all season long. I've been told on many occasions that they may have had difficulty getting along with each other. And since one was the primary shooter and playmaker, and the other was the workhorse in the paint, that could very well be the easy explanation as to why this team never reached its potential. You can't have your two primary players battling over control of the team, if that was the issue.

Beautiful. It's already all over Facebook. In fact, I had it sent to me by someone who lives in NYC who has no sport allegiances in Ohio at all. They enjoyed it as much as I did

Huh? I never wish for a team to have an injury to a key player. But, I also don't wish for a team to be at full strength when we are about to face a very daunting task of pulling off an NCAA upset, especially when the opponent has the added advantage of playing on their own home floor. The NATION of women's college basketball will remember that Akron beat Purdue. Few will remember that a Purdue player was out. We've had a key player missing for nearly the entire season.

We all just witnessed something that should be a great moment for all Zips fans and every other school who plays D-1 basketball in the MAC and in Ohio. That Dayton win put a big smile on my face. Why? Because those jokers down in Cowlumbus avoid Ohio schools like the plague, and PUBLICLY admit to it. Even Clark Kellogg (a former OSWho player) had something to say about the way that they avoid Ohio schools. For the rest of us, this was the proof that we don't get very often which shows that the basketball landscape among the Ohio D-1 schools is more wide open than one might think. Look at how close we've played with Dayton in recent years? Look at how many years over the past decade or so that either Xavier or Cincinnati (or both) have had better teams than OSWho, like this year? Unfortunately, these postseason tournaments give us the only opportunity to show it, as long as they avoid us. Not getting a chance to play them since the 1989 NIT? That's just ridiculous. But, it allows them to run around pounding their chests about their supposed state-wide superiority since they can often end every season with a 0-0 record against Ohio schools. Not this time. Kudos to the Dayton Flyers!! You got the opportunity that most of us never get, and you took advantage of it. Enjoy!!

Lets be fair when evaluating our postseason flops and recognize the NIT wins against Florida State and Temple, on the road, during the KD era. However, I've said this all season long... I didn't like the way he handled this team. I WANT Keith as our coach. I think he's a very good basketball coach, and we're lucky to have him. But I want the old KD. I want the guy who demands a lot out of his players, and continually pushes for improvement. I don't want the "softness", I don't want the excuses, and I don't want the "well, that's just the kind of team we are" explanations.

You're asking a team of college kids, that has had some character issues all season, to get up for a road game that no basketball fans outside of Akron or Ft. Wayne will care about, against a virtually irrelevant opponent, at the end of a long season, for a program they play for that has had 3 recent NCAA tournament appearances. How can anyone really be surprised? I've been pointing to this potential embarrassment for several days. We were suckered for sure. We could have chosen to really get after them defensively at any time, and we didn't. We could have chosen to walk the ball up the floor at any time, and we didn't. We didn't care enough about the game. We were just capable of holding an explosive WMU team to 52 points in 40 minutes just a few days ago, weren't we ?

I'm shocked at how easily IUPFW is scoring by driving to the basket in the first half. Unbelievable. They move the ball very well too. Some things we could have used last Friday night: 1) Harney with 9 points 2) Zips 87% from the line. Didn't miss our first FT until right before the halftime buzzer. Five days too late

Wonder if it has anything to do with him getting hit in the face in that WMU game?

I love the baskets hanging from the ceiling with the stabilizing cables...LOL These guys "look" like a team we can beat by 30. I hope looks aren't deceiving. They look like John Carroll caliber athletes. Correction: When I just saw their little point guard elevate for a two-handed slam, I think I could be wrong

Why don't you read the rest of my post? It had nothing to do with the fact that they were easy dunks. It had to do with the fact that we had found a way to beat their zone defense, and were likely only a hoop away from blowing the game open again.

Thanks for the info. I think that shows we have a chance. I guess the only thing that could have been better is if we got a #12, which would mean we wouldn't have had to play the home team on their court until the 2nd round.