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zen...just don't fool yourself. Yes, the "lose and go home" pressure of the tourney will be there. But, all of these teams will be fighting, scratching, and clawing for as high of a seed as they can get.

Dr. Z....sounds like you don't feel that Allen returning, or not returning, will matter either way?

Blue and Gold...just a word of caution. Although the talent is there, I won't feel too great if we have to place our entire running game in the hands of two guys who have never played. I think Alex's healthy return....as the only experienced back.... is going to have a lot of bearing on our success this coming year. In fact, I think Allen is better than Kennedy. We'll see how it plays out.

TPS....assuming that Ball State is the West winner, they automatically get the #2 Seed. And, I had already been thinking about the idea of another West team still getting the number 3 or 4 seed since they close the season with 5 games against their own division. But, the West teams still have to play 2 more games against the East teams before they get back to their division games, so I am hoping that they eliminate themselves by then.

The Washington Generals were badder than bad, but I still think they'd be favored against NJIT...but only if the game was not in Jersey. I hear those few hundred people they get at home games can really get on you. Just ask the old OU coach.

Quickzips....since you are looking at the possibility of a 5-2 conference finish, I am assuming that you're hoping that we win these last two games against the West, and then win our home games, and lose our road games in our 2nd round of games against the East.If we can accomplish that, and everyone else in the East does the same 3 things....1) Wins their remaining games against the West2) Wins their home games against the East3) Loses their road games against the EastThen...Akron is the #3 seed.......And Miami, Can't, and BG tie for the #4 seed (not sure how the tiebreaker would work there).As I stated earlier, Akron and Can't have 3 home games left when we get back to our East schedule, and BG, Miami, and Ohio only have 2 each. That could be the difference maker. This also probably means that either Miami, Can't or BG would also be our quarter-final opponent...since the #4 and the #5 and the #6 seeds are likely to be distributed among the 3 of them, and we would play whichever one is #6 in the quarters.

South Dakota has Mt. Rushmore, and that's about it. I've been there

I had thought about this last night, and posted a comment.As long as Ohio wins their next game, there will be 5 teams within a game of each other for the #3 and #4 seeds in the MAC tournament. Any advantage anywhere? Yes. Akron and Can't State both have 3 home games when we get back to the East part of the schedule. Ohio, BG, and Miami only have 2 homes games each. Any disadvantages? Yes. Akron, BG and Miami all have to play Buffalo on the road. This might just be a wild finish to the regular season. And Buffalo has nothing locked up quite yet, although they had to be celebrating that Miami loss....and a little bit of breathing room.

With the emergence of their freshman center, this could have been a very good team this year if Newell didn't get injured. They will still win several more games this season, but I don't think they are as good as the MAC power rankings indicate.Hopefully now, it's obvious what can happen if you don't come to play, every night, against these MAC West teams. Two of our fellow MAC East competitors have narrowly escaped disaster, and two others have tallied 3 losses against them. Let's NOT be the next victim....but I anticipate that this team will give us the biggest challenge. I'd like a double-digit win, but I'll just take a win. Akron 68BSU 63

Knowing that we've taken JCs before, why would taking a few of them this year be perceived as some sort of "desperation" move? Lee...maybe you were much happier with JDs predecessor, who delivered a record of 20+ games under .500, was here a few years longer than JD, and won NO championships. Although I'm not happy with how the last few seasons have finished, I sure as heck don't want to go back to that. If this season is a failure, I hope we seriously start looking for a better coach. But until that happens, I'd find it pretty counterproductive for anybody who considers themselves to be a true Zips fan to be cheering for his demise.

Bleacher Bum.....the 75/25 split isn't what caught my attention. It was the thought that the Q would be full for a MAC Championship game against Buffalo. SK.....we maybe filled half of the Q for an Akron/Can't final. And I'm sure you're hopeful, same as the rest of us, but it's not going to happen. If a Buffalo/Akron final would even come close to equalling the attendance of a Can't/Akron game...that would be an extaordinary feat. The scenario you talk about as far as attendance next year is very similar to what we experienced between 1986 and 1987. Conference title...#15 seed in the NCAA tournament...eliminated in first round....and started out the next year on fire...and then even beat a Top-10 ranked team at home early in that season. I don't have attendance figures for the remainder of that year, but I was there, and can tell you that we didn't have any sellouts.I wish, more than anything, that we'll be turning people away from the JAR because we can't get them in the place. But, those "Joe Akrons", as someone calls them, aren't going to start helping us sell out the JAR with any kind of consistency until your scenario of being mentioned in the same sentence as Butler and Gonzaga happens. Until someone can do that, every team in the MAC will continue to be viewed by most Ohio sports fans as the teams from "that other conference that doesn't matter".

Now......5 teams within ONE game of each other battling for those #3 and #4 tournament seeds.

skhorbotly...A #15 seed and getting our tails kicked will not fill the JAR for half of the home games next year. Maybe the Can't game sells out next year, if Can't is good. If not, a boost in attendance will happen because of Zeke-mania, but no sellouts. Sorry, we're just not going double the turnout in one year. NOW...Akron is mentioned in the same sentence as Butler and Gonzaga 3 years from now? And we're ranked nationally?...then I'll buy into having a few sellouts.

I have to answer this question 2 ways...1) I wasn't expecting this level of success this year, so it's already going to be a successful year for me.2) But, since we look to be one of the better teams in a weak MAC year, I now expect us to at least be competitive in the MAC tournament. Getting to the semis would be good, getting to the championship game again would be great, and winning it would be unbelievable.

At least it looks more accurate than last week. And if Ball State is indeed the best out West, then I am glad we get them at home.I'm a little puzzled about why they describe Can't as having limited resources. They lost their two senior post people last year, but Sherman, Mincy, Fisher, and Singletary have all been there before. And that sophomore center had a huge game against us. I think they have just played under their talent level until just recently. Lets hope they fall apart again, because I think these guys can be dangerous if they play together.

I'd love to make an argument for Chris to be POTY. As I anticipated in the off-season, he has emerged as the best player on our team. So, he's obviously very valuable to us. But, I'm guessing his numbers will prevent him from getting much notice from the voters.

I think most everyone has the right idea. A few "Joe Akrons" might notice what's going on right now....but I emphasize the word "few". And I know UAzipsMan is not talking about drawing enough people to fill the rafters, but it got me thinking about situations where people REALLY came out to watch a Zips game. I have only witnessed a few situations where the JAR was truly "packed". And that means you have difficulty finding a seat, even at the top of the bleachers behind the baskets. The OVC Championship game in 1986 The regular season game against Top-10 ranked Cleveland State at the beginning of the following year.Some games against Can't in the last decade or so.Senior Night when Romeo and Dru were playing their last game. Since we'll never host a conference championship game again, and may never have an Akron celebrity like LeBron again who's two friends come to play here..........we're probably down to Can't State games and games that have NATIONAL significance as our only real opportunities to pack the place in the near future. Although, I'd sure like to see us get a few good crowds early next year because people want to come see Zeke. That would be nice. Of course, if we were ever able to be nationally-ranked, EVERYONE would come out, and they'd all say "I've always been a Zips fan".

Oh my. You always hope a young kid doesn't have to deal with something like this. Our thoughts and prayers are with him.

Why not just get Rowdy Roddy Piper to come here for a game himself? His appearance fee probably isn't very much these days. If he's still around. We paid that gymnast to come here to talk to 900 people...so why not get Piper for a guys game? He can be an honorary AK-Rowdy for a night. Give him a shirt, and put him right next to that really big dude with the white sweatband on his head.Regarding Alexander's article....I think maybe some people have a tendency to call a team "veteran" because guys have been around awhile. If you look at guys like Nate, Chris Mc, Jimmy, Mike, and Steve, you see guys who have been in the program for at least 3 years, and have played at least 2 years. But I'm sorry, you can probably get away with "somewhat experienced", but "veteran" to me means a good number of juniors and seniors in the rotation, and we won't have that until next year. As far as who is the best in the MAC....Although Buffalo's record puts them in a pretty healthy position right now, I don't think anyone realistically thinks that they are as widely separated from the field as the record might indicate. All 5 teams in the East will be aiming for them in the last 5 games, and all of them are at least capable of doing it. And although 3 of those 5 games will be at home, they still have some work to do before it's all over. I'm hoping some Rowdies are making that trip up to Buffalo.

UAZipsMan...I just wish those "Joe Akrons" would actually start coming to the games. Everyone with my group walked into the JAR yesterday about 10 min. before gametime, and all looked at each other with the "oh no" look when we saw the small turnout. And with at least half of the paid-for lower bowl seats empty, it wasn't quite what I had hoped for. And I actually think (some may disagree) that it was a good game time. It gave us enough time to go downtown to church, head out to lunch, and still be there in plenty of time. If the "reported" attendance numbers mean anything to you, we've gone from approx. 4,000, down to 3,000, down to 2,500 over the last 3 homes games. All games that were part of the win streak. I really can't explain it. The one that dissappoints me the most was the Can't State game. We had been drawing about 5,500 for that game over the last few years..even on a weeknight early in the conference season in one case....and it dropped to about 4,000 this year on a Saturday.If it's any consolation for us, we'll surely have higher numbers again for the OU, Miami, and BG games....as opposed to these past two games against the lesser-known West teams. But I sure as heck hope they are a lot higher if we're still in contention.

Thanks Dave. I like the last paragraph. If I can clarify as well, I particularly like that the "I have to do something myself...now" mentality...regardless of the situation....or the way the opponent is defending, appears to be dissappearing. I too would also certainly separate that mentality from that of taking a calculated risk to try to make a play. And by stating that "under control" doesn't appear to be his comfort zone, I certainly wasn't implying that out-of-control IS his comfort zone. I just know that his natural style of play is to try to make plays off the dribble...and sometimes rather carelessly. And he'd probably be apt to do it more often if, as you say, the coach isn't working to get him to "back off a notch". I was just very impressed with what I saw from him yesterday, and hope it carries over into future games.

Good thoughts guys...Captain...I'm sure the more offensive-minded players getting more playing time as of late has helped also, but the ball rotation and decision making has been a night-and-day improvement. Yes, I know it's the West, but it's good to see. Could it be that B Mc is playing better defense as of late? I'm sure his playing time wouldn't have increased without it. But I honestly have not been focused in on his play at the defensive end. I remember a KD comment in a post game interview about 10 games ago where he said something about how the guys who can score can't play defense, and vice versa. I'd be willing to bet that Mr. McKnight was in that category at the time. Zip Watcher...He certainly looked solid and made good decisions "yesterday". I'll gladly insert "lately" into that line of thought, but I think I'll wait a few more games in hopes that it continues.

If Keith can still will this team to 20 wins in the regular season, while playing most of the season without Ronnie....and while absorbing a number of bad performances and late-game letdowns, I think he's done an outstanding job, and should be a major contender for MAC coach of the year. Although, I can't argue giving it to the guy in Buffalo.

Hightower's name does indeed show up in the box score. Dave, I'm not sure exactly what your point is about playing under control and within your comfort zone at times, and trying to make a special play at other times. First of all, I don't think a player like Humpty is ever really in his comfort zone when he's playing under control. Without the coaches pulling in the reigns on him, I'm sure he'd be pushing the issue much more often, if it was up to him. And secondly, this team is scoring more points because they are turning the ball over less often, maximizing their possessions, and improving their shot selection. This is Keith's team....and not mine....but personally, I don't want to see anymore "I am going to try to make a spectacular play myself" mentality. Not at the beginning of the game, or the end of the game. It hasn't worked for this team. This leads me to comment about what Keith has said about our great depth compared to past years. I see his point. Even the good Romeo/Dru/Dials/Wood/Middleton teams didn't go 10 or so players deep...if my memory is correct. At least not with the same level of talent that we have that far down the bench today. A few less stars....but more of a contribution from everyone. And that helps this team a lot, because we don't win games because we have stars who play 35 minutes, and score 15-20 p/game. We win when we play great defense....and play total team basketball on the offensive end. Let's hope that the boys keep taking this one game at a time...keep improving...and can stay in the race for a first round bye.

I agree with those who feel that this was the best game Humpty played this year. For the most part, he was only taking what was there, and was efficient with the basketball. Very simply, his ability to help us is best when he is dribbling into that 12-15' area, and taking the jumper or dishing. He has seemed to have his biggest struggles scoring by either taking challenged 3-pointers, or trying to take the ball all the way to the basket and trying to launch wild shots over guys that are a foot taller. If he can continue to work on playing under control, and further realizes that he needs to adjust his style of play at this level, I think he has the potential to have a solid career here.