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I see it now too !! Isn't that 4 spots higher than last week? Now I'm even more anxious to see the Coaches poll.

It will at least cut the total number of people in the arena dramatically, therefore dampening the atmosphere. I think the fans of both schools will still be there.

Sure it means something. Polls come out on Monday. We don't play in Athens until 2 days later. Even if we lose in Athens, we would still be spending a week in the highest poll position that we've occupied in our D1 basketball history. So, regardless of what happens on Wednesday, this is going to be a historic week for Zips Basketball that we're sure to remember for a long time.

1) A passionate dislike for the teams we play against is a good thing. 2) OU is not the cause of our strength of schedule problem.

Dave, First, I am not going to get into a long rant over the history of what has happened in those selection rooms. It's unpredictable, at best. But, that would be a "body of work" comment, if someone in the selection room looked at our entire OOC slate, and stated that Akron's best OOC win was only a win over MTSU at home in overtime. Wouldn't it? I'm merely saying that I see this as a credential that could easily get us eliminated from serious consideration. And remember, we are only having this discussion because this situation would occur because we would be adding at least one more loss to our record. That additional loss could be what seals our fate as well. And just for the record, I think 5 losses should be good enough for us to get a chance at an at-large. I'm tired of the 12-loss teams from the "power conferences" getting those last at-large bids. I'll be yelling and screaming right along with you if we don't get a fair shake. I just think that there's enough missing from our resume for those old men in that room to give us the boot.

After what has transpired with OSWho the last couple of weeks, they are dropping quickly, and will be very fortunate now to be in a 3 or 4 spot. So, it seems very unlikely now that we'd get a matchup with them.

Good point. It's really simple. We need to beat schools that matter. And in order to do that, you have to have opportunities to beat those teams by putting more of them on your schedule.

You may not have seen that the recent posts drifted into football scheduling, and not basketball.

Bingo! We all know their strategy. OSWho football fans are just blind. They take their pre-season ranking, play a bunch of cupcakes, hope to keep winning, and hope that the better teams from the better conferences knock each other off. It almost got them to a national championship game again at the end of the tattoo and cheating season, but the pollsters finally saw the light and decided to pay attention to their #50-something strength of schedule.

That makes sense. We'll certainly need more Guards on the floor, especially at the defensive end.

Typical OSWho fan excuse. Unfortunately, your fellow fans choose to ignore the fact that the other schools from conferences that matter play enough games within their league to give themselves a good overall strength of schedule, even when they do play a cupcake or two early in the season.

Unfortunately, this is exactly where I see us being eliminated from serious consideration for an at-large bid in that selection room. Bottom Line: Our best OOC win isn't very impressive.

I recall that you've been overly optimistic in the past about Bracketbuster attendance. Some of those games ended up being major disappointments. But, if ever there was a time where an unknown opponent might draw a good crowd, this could be that time.

That's hilarious. But, don't expect the Buckeye Honks to stop defending their "sisters of the poor" scheduling anytime soon.

Dave, My post had nothing to do with Iona, nor was I making an argument about Iona vs. Drexel. I was simply stating what appeared to be Drexel's downfall.

I went looking for some information about Drexel missing the tournament that year. It appears that "not beating anyone noteworthy in non-conference play" is what is being listed as the cause. Aren't we in the same boat? You need to play good teams and beat good teams to get respect. If they aren't on our conference schedule, then we need to make sure that enough of those opportunities exist in our non-conference schedule. Some will argue that our OOC schedule is "getting better". That's fine. Maybe it is. But, if it's not good enough to get a team with 5 losses into the Big Dance, then shame on us for not making it good enough to accomplish that.

For me, the answer has always been the same: Significant upgrade of the non-conference schedule. It's the only thing we have any control over right now. As I've said many times, you can't expect to win all of your games in college basketball. This is a remarkable run, and it's still not good enough. I agree.

This one will be interesting. With a virtually unknown opponent this time around, will the momentum of the winning streak keep them coming? Or, was a well-know conference opponent and bobbleheads the difference maker?

Again, I am hoping that a combination of some teams dropping and the continuation of the "winning streak bandwagon" can move us up at least 5 spots this week. If that happens, I think Top-25 is still a possibility by the end of the regular season, if we go unbeaten.

Again, nobody is saying that. You just keep touting the "easy covering" of a double digit margin, and any basketball fan with a sane mind realizes that there isn't much separating these two teams right now. We've mentioned the two teams small difference in the national polls, and that Akron is trending upward and OSWho downward. And that Akron played better against the only common opponent this year. Isn't that enough for you to acknowledge that not much separates these two teams? Or, are you the typical OSWho honk who walks around this state with far more excuses for OSWho failures than facts.

Typical OSWho Honk. You like your "storied success"? You mean the fact that you haven't won a title since 1960 ?? OSWho has now lost 3 games in the last two weeks, got absolutely destroyed and mocked today by Wisconsin, and has only beaten 2 teams in the Top 50 all year. They're ranking is in the teens and moving downward. Meanwhile, Akron goes to 17 in a row, and will gain points this week, and will be on the cusp of the Top-25. So, other than just being a total Honk, where in your delusional mind do you see this astronomical difference between Akron and OSWho right now?

That's the way I saw it as well.

It's only a big story in our favor right now because we are at the top of the heap, and we've stayed there long enough for people to start paying attention. As a National story, the great Akron winning streak will go away the moment Memphis would go ahead.

I wanted to comment on this thread. First, I'm sad to hear that Memphis has the quantity of games over the next week or so to move us out of that "longest winning streak" category. That's stinks. With the AP poll, I am going to be curious to see how far we move with 2 more wins this week. I figure, if we can move up about 5 spots this week, then I would consider a Top-25 ranking as possible before the end of the season. As most people have mentioned, it's all about other teams losing. But maybe even more importantly, how many writers who have never paid attention to Akron jumping on our bandwagon. Looks like we might end up 1-2 quality opponents short of what it would have taken to get there. Same with the at-large bid. May the debate over our SOS continue.

I was thinking exactly the same thing on both matchups. This Oz character sounds like a typical, delusional OSWho honk.