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That seems to make sense. We're now down to #63 this morning. Our SOS is now 129 also, but that should improve slightly over our final stretch of games. Although I don't understand all of the inner workings of the RPI, I'm still not seeing how winning the remainder of our games could possibly put us in the 20s or 30s in RPI.

I think it's fair to say that his ability to hit that shot has deteriorated. The question is, how will Keith truly handle the situation? Remember, this is the same coach who let Humpty keep launching 3-pointers a couple of years ago when he was accumulatiing a stretch of something like 24 misses in a row. He may have a desire to curb his desire to take those shots early in the game, so that we can establish some other things. But, based on what I said above about Humpty, I'll be a bit surprised if he gets the instructions to "just stop taking that shot". In fact, at least as of tonight, it may even already be obvious that he's continuing to get the green light.

Believe me. I wish the 100th best team in the country was not much different than the 10th best team in the country.

Why are some people even questioning whether LeBron likes the Zips? It's obvious. Have some of you forgotten the game at Ken+ that he attended a couple of years ago, where the Ken+ fans hated on him as he jumped up and down for the Zips? And then ran into the Zips locker room after the game to celebrate with them? Short memories? Or, just blind denial? What do some of you expect him to wear to a game in Cowlumbus? He was at their game. Is it a big surprise that he wore their hat? He Tweets about the Zips, congratulates them on wins, talks about working out with their team and hanging out with thier coach, etc., and MILLIONS of people see it. We can't buy that kind of publicity. Ever.

Here's the problem. He is the only player capable of filling in for Zeke right now. So, using him for too many minutes elsewhere is a big, big gamble if Zeke gets in foul trouble. I think the fact that you never see Zeke and Treadwell on the floor at the same time is by design.

Attendance: Awful. It was particularly sickening to see the tons of no-shows in the lower sections. And a sparse attendance in the upper sections. With the no-shows that were actually counted in that 3,000 "announced attendance", I bet there may not have been 2,000 people there tonight. Absolutely pathetic for a Top-60 team. Charlie's Meltdown: I have no idea how he got nose to nose with an official and tongue lashed him for a good 30 seconds, and did not get a T ???? And I sure wish I knew what Charlie was saying to Quincy. He started pointing his finger and really was yelling at him. All I know is that Qunicy turned away and laughed. I really thought Charlie was going to have another heart attack.

There's the big difference maker !! WVU joining the MAC in soccer will get about Zero attention from sports fans across the country. But, it does have the potential to upgrade the overall play in the conference, which could help Akron's seedings, and possibly produce multiple seedings come tournament time. It would be nice to shake that "Akron plays in a weak conference" label.

Whoa!! Since we'd likely face someone seeded around #2 to #4, meaning that they are somewhere between the 5th to 16th best team in the country, I would say that they would be quite a bit better than Ken+ or Buffalo Actually, our kind of seeding would tend to get a more winnable matchup in the 2nd round. Because, we'd then be facing the 5,6 or 7 seed that the 2,3, or 4 would have played, if we had not upset them.

That would be unbelievable if we could make that happen !!

Agreed. No new information in this article that I didn't know already, and nothing to get excited about right now.

I always love your posts on this topic. Harsh, but a reminder of some of the idiocy that exists among Cleveland sports fans. Probably the biggest celebrity in all of sports loves to talk about the Zips. We couldn't be more fortunate. You forgot to mention that Cleveland fans could actually use this as an opportunity to thank the guy for spending 7 years of his Hall of Fame career playing for the team that resides at the Mistake on the Lake.

Cincy, do you live in Cincy? You may not be accustomed to the Cleveland sports fan mentality. Great post.

It does increase our chances of winning the regular season title, but it failed to solidify our chances of finishing no worse than the #2 seed. It was a tough call, but I still would have rather seen Ken+ take the loss since we still have our own chance to beat Buffalo again oursleves, since we have them at home.

Even much more than just the automatic BCS bowl bid. Simply the perception that the teams in that league are part of the group of teams that have a chance to win the big prize.

Right. There is no magic bullet. And Big East play won't "ensure" a sellout. But, let me tell you what it would do, even if we don't win games right away. The biggest problem we face is that fans on the fringes, and beyond the fringes, have never recognized Akron as a part of the teams competing on the national stage, regardless of the fact that we are all D-1A. This perception among those people would change INSTANTLY. And for the first time, those people would identify with Akron as being in the same league as other schools who have a chance to reach the ultimate prize in the largest division of college football. The Browns don't win, yet they still have plenty of fans. It's because they still begin every season as one of only a few dozen teams with a chance to win a Super Bowl.

If I had to choose between the 3 choices, I'll go with Blowout Ticket sales are going well for this game, but I think it would take alot to pack the place full on a Wednesday night when the Golden Felons are not the opponent.

What you are saying in the 2nd paragraph makes alot more sense. He's unlikely to reach 10 rebounds per game. Despite his size, he's just not a solid rebounder, for many of those reasons you mentioned. And although I do enjoy the fact that he's improved since he's been here, It's also not likely that he can reach some of the loftier expectations that some people had set for him when he arrived. As far as "hopes" (as mentioned in the thread title), I hope he can consistently score in double digits in his senior year, change some shots, and have some entertaining dunks and blocks for the fans. AND hopefully he at least earns some MAC honors which would validate that he's good enough to be mentioned with the better front line players in the league.

It's usually always best to have the team that you have to play AWAY lose an additional game. That being Ken+. We already have our opportunity to tack another loss on Buffalo since we have them at HOME. It's even better knowing that, as you state, another Ken+ loss pretty much guarantees Akron a #1 or #2 seed (no automatic #2 seed for the MAC West this year). Here's another factor: When looking at the trio of Akron/Buffalo/Ken+, the only one who has the other two at home is Ken+. That gives them a little advantage in the final stretch. Plus, who is going to root for Ken+ under any circumstances ??

We've fallen to #60 right now. For you statistical wizards, is there any reason why this is happeing.?

No way will the selection committee be impressed by that. And we have to have some people jumping up and down about the Zips in order for us to get a chance that we are even part of a serious discussion. Don't get me wrong. It's a step in teh right direction that we even have 10 Top-100 teams on our schedule. But, ya gotta win more than 3 of them. I'll keep repeating what I've said for weeks. With this schedule, we are 2-3 wins short of being a serious contender.

The storm elevated the number of no-shows in the lower sections quite a bit. I know there's nothing we can do about it, but it it was a quiet crowd considering what it could have been with the number of tickets that were sold.

There were a lot of STUNNED people that night. I believe that was the game that snapped a very looooong home winning streak too. Better not happen again. Zips 85 NIU 62

It should be. But, if you are an AD who is part of an athletic staff that wants to keep doing what you've been doing, but are being watched and need to put up some kind of facade that you intend to be more compliant, this would seem to be a good move.

Amen. I've been hoping for that for decades.

Carol, I know you haven't been around here much, but nobody is saying we don't want to win a MAC title. But, we all know the fragile nature of the MAC tournament. In the last 5 years, we've fallen on both the fortunate and unfortunate end of some crazy scenarios. Even when we've won the MAC title, you could point to a play here or there that would have knocked us out. This doesn't have to be our only option. And this year, with our improved SOS, and decent RPI, we might be closer than we've ever been to having that 2nd option. I think that's why you see the increase in discussions about this subject. As far as not being sure about whether we belong in the NCAA tournament if we do not win the MAC, I think many people would argue that your collective performances throughout the season should actually have MORE bearing on how you are judged, instead of just your run in a post-season tournament. To those who aren't interested in an NIT bid: Why not? What a great 3rd option to have in your back pocket, if the first 2 do not work out.