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Z-Pouch...Do you not recall that having well over 20 wins was not good enough last year, BUT ALSO HAS NOT BEEN GOOD ENOUGH ON MANY OTHER OCCASSIONS IN THE LAST FEW DECADES??Akron would NOT have gotten an at large bid just for winning a couple more games. Not with a schedule strength down near 200. So YES, you would have to darn near win all of your games. And I can speak from experience that it's a very tough position to put young kids into....the pressure of having to darn near win your entire schedule from the outset of the season. You bring up Can't's "historic" philosophy on scheduling being the same as ours. I don't know what Can't's "historic" scheduling philosophy is, but I do know that they certainly have scheduled good enough to put themselves in a position for an at-large, and we have not. It's as simple as that. And the real difference appears to be that they are willing to put a couple more high ranked teams on their schedule, and we will not play those teams because they won't give us a return trip.If our philosophy is clearly NOT to play teams that won't give us a return trip...then how can you say that the two schools look at scheduling the same way?By the way...Can't just lost. I think this puts their at-large chances in serious jeoprardy. But like I said earlier, that really doesn't matter. I commend them for getting to the 30th game of the season, with the right combination of wins and schedule strength to put themselves in a position to get a shot at an at-large.Hey....feel free to join with those who seem content with sitting here year after year winning 20-25 games, and wondering why nobody gives us any respect.If there is any "historic" lesson here...it's that we'll keep getting the same results if we keep doing what we're doing. As fellow Zips fans, I wish I could agree with you that the problem is something else other than what it is. But, you're "beating a dead horse" with a viewpoint that has gotten us nowhere, and will continue to do so unless it changes.

I'd much rather still have a chance to win the MAC East, than fret over the fact that we won't have a top-25 team coming to the JAR March 9th. Plus, I just love when Can't State losses

Here we go again...the "I don't think we can get an at large bid, so why should we try?" mentality.Blue and Gold...you are correct. Doubtful that Can't would get an at-large if they lose two more games.BirdZip....bottom line...a schedule strength down around 200 is not even remotely close to what you need to get the job done. Even if we could have pulled out a couple more wins (the same old argument every year), it's simply not enough to get it done. And again, that's the entire problem, we are putting ourselves in a position where we have to win just about every game. And with a bunch of 20 and 21 year old kids, that's a very difficult road to go down.

I've been reserving a Rubber Bowl Trough ever since they announced the new stadium. And I want at least one bathroom stall (with no door, of course) with the paint peeling off of it, an ice cold toilet seat, and an old fiberglass bleacher section to go along with it.Don't worry guys...there will be plenty to go around for everyone. There must be about 20 of those throughs in each bathroom.

Nice picture Captain. Can you tell this is a topic I am quite passionate about? Just a lot of years of frustration piling up. bigzipguy...That Miami vs. OU game is key. If we beat Buffalo, and Miami also wins, it takes the pressure off of us for the rest of the regular season. Miami should play well. They are fighting for their last opportunity to get the #4 spot. I'd rather us not have to go to OU in a "must win" situation for the #3 seed. And that #3 seed is going to be a HUGE advantage over the #4 this year.

Guys...come on. As much as we hate Can't, they are the first MAC team in quite some time that has put themselves in a strong position for an at-large bid. And they've had good enough teams to get at-large bids before, but ended up getting the automatic because they won the MAC tournament. Just look at the 2007 Zips, and the 2008 flushes. They've both won well over 20 games. But, one of these teams won well over 20 games with a weak schedule, and the other won well over 20 games with a respectable strength of schedule.Why wouldn't we at least be wanting to explore the possibility of playing just a few more high-profile teams a year to have a CHANCE to put ourselves in the same position?If not, we'll keep experiencing some of the same March frustrations that we've faced over the last 20+ years. I'm just not understanding this "just keep doing what we're doing" philosophy. It's not working.

Here's my question....isn't it a pretty remote chance that a guy gets drafted by a team when they didn't consider him to even be worthy of an INVITE to the combine? My guess is, that puts you pretty far off the radar. Jabari has talent, but I have never considered him a legitimate pro prospect because of his suspect hands. But, I guess there's always a possibility that he gets a shot at a team as a free agent after the draft. Now Nate....that would surprise me if he is given any shot at the NFL, based on what I've seen of him at Akron. And if he is indeed pro talent, I'd be wondering why we never saw it here.

Great find. I hadn't seen an update on Vic in quite some time.Although he played long after I had graduated from Akron, he was a certainly a reason to go to games. For quite some time, he served as our only real significant contributor in the NFL. It actually made me want to watch Jets games.

Blue and Gold....You might be right. In fact, I've always been frustrated with how the "power" conferences get 6-8 teams into the tourney, and Akron gets left at home with 20+ wins. That's exactly why I have made the comments I have made on this thread. JUST WINNING GAMES is not going to get us an at-large bid. We already know that. Someone commented about taking a look at Can't's schedule. And someone else has commented that the difference is probably just a matter of putting a couple more high ranked opponents on our schedule. But, with our current philosophy of not wanting to play road games without a return trip, can we get that sos high enough to gain some merit with the selection committees? I don't know, but I do know that some people on this thread are indicating that we'll have a much higher ranked schedule next year. We'll see. I can see that Can't's strength of schedule ranks about 50 positions higher than ours. I'm sure that's helping their chances right now. Of course, we don't know if they will get an at-large bid, but they've certainly hit the right combination of wins and schedule strength to get national attention, and put themselves in a position to do so.

This shouldn't come down to a debate over whether Can't will, or will not, earn an at-large bid. The point is, they've put themselves in a POSITION to get an at-large, and we have NOT.And it's certainly not a question of record, because we already know that 26 wins got us rejected by BOTH tournaments. And our 20+ wins have fallen on deaf ears before. So, some people can talk all they want about "we shouldn't play top-notch teams because we'll just get beat", but it's obvious that schedule strength is a HUGE factor in the reason why we are not getting enough respect on a national stage, and have difficulty impressing post-season selection committees. If our philospophy doesn't change dramatically, and we don't take the chances necessary to improve our standing, we'll simply continue to get the same results. It appears that maybe a couple of you seem perfectly happy with that.

Ramtastic...I didn't think some of your innacurate and insensitive comments warranted a response, but here goes anyway...... 1) Yes, we know there's a couple of plump girls. Do you think we don't notice that? But please don't make that comment a generalization. That's just being unfair, inconsiderate, and mean-spirited. 2) The JAR is NOT an old arena. It was built in the 80s. 3) You can try to make the point that your officials are bad "in general", but the fact remains, there were 4-5 bad calls down the stretch, and they ALL went against ONE team. 4) If you really believe that VCU is a well-recognized basketball program, you're delusional. Most people don't EVEN KNOW IT'S A SCHOOL. So, stop with the "it must be an Akron problem because people in Cleveland know who we are".

ahhh....those 1970s Saturday Night Live skits represent an unforgettable and timeless collection of comedy.

Ok..back to the topic of this thread...I'm looking forward to the Can't game more than ever. How sweet would it be to knock off a top-25 team, in front of a roaring JAR Arena crowd, and it just happens to be Can't State??We DO have a good enough team to beat Can't. Why wouldn't we? Does someone really feel as if Can't has made that much separation between themselves and the rest of the teams in the MAC? Of course not, it's the MAC. And we only lost by a few points to them on their home floor. Come on detractors.....Can't might be the best team in a MAC this year, but I think it's silly to even remotely consider them to be unbeatable.

I'm sorry, but I'm an old man, I've been around this program for a long time, and I get a little fired up about this topic of scheduling.Believe me, I respect the negative opinions about upgrading the schedule. And sure, if we had only won those games, we might be in Can't's position right now. BUT THAT'S EXACTLY THE PROBLEM. Our inability to prove our worth with even a "respectable" strength of schedule FORCES us to pretty much win all of our games to get into consideration for an at-large bid.As much as I hate to compliment those guys to the East of us, they seem to understand that you can't JUST WIN GAMES. You also have to show that you've played a fairly difficult schedule. And putting just a couple of marquis programs on your schedule, WIN OR LOSE, goes a long way towards accomplishing the 2nd half of that equation.As I've said before..."if we keep doing what we're doing, we'll keep getting what we've always gotten." And I've witnessed countless post-season snubs, going all the way back to the beginning of our D-1 era, and they've all happened with 20+ win teams.Here's a question for everyone to think about:Even if you don't necessarily agree that upgrading the schedule is worthwhile, isn't it at least a better alternative than sitting here year after year, with 20+ wins, and wondering why nobody will give us any respect?? Or, should we just keep doing what we're doing...and our predicament never changes??Although it ticks me off, Can't State just showed us how to get it done, even with so many people on this board vehemently professing all season long that nobody from the MAC can get an at-large bid. With our current schedule strength, just winning games is not going to get it done....unless we darn near win them all. And that's a lot of pressure to put on a bunch of 21 year old kids.

At first, I was miffed when I heard that Can't was in the top 25...but then when I came to my senses I said, "that would make a win over them that much more sweet". mivid12...you're exactly right. Can't is in position for an at-large bid, and the formula for getting there is pretty obvious.

bigzipguy....good analysis. It would be comforting to know that we didn't HAVE to win the OU road game and the Can't game to get the #3. Better yet, do you know if we'd win the tiebreaker over OU?? If so, our win over Buffalo, and a OU loss to Miami would actually CLINCH the #3 seed for us.

I prefaced my remarks about the officials by saying that I usually do not think that a bad call here or there will untimately influence the outcome of a game.However, this game had so many bad call (or no-calls), most of which were at a critical time, and all of them favored one team. Plus, it was a slowdown kind of game where every possession was critical, and the game went down to the wire.Just ONE bad call could influence a game like this....but 4 or 5 ??

True...I thought we played horrible. But, in a game that close, a number of calls going one way can definitely change the outcome.

Are we definitely IN next year?The bracketbuster has commonly been a selection of teams that are viewed to be in contention for an at-large bid. I believe 5 teams from the MAC got selected this year. And I don't believe that the teams were selected until close to the beginning of the season.

I clearly remember all of the situations you mention. It's nice to know that they looked the same on tv as how we were seeing them at the game. Now, I would normally not be someone who would think that a bad call here or there changes the outcome of a game. But, when all of the calls go against ONE team????? And when many of them happen at a very critical part of the game?????I'm sure it's just a "coincidence" that every one of these calls (or lack of) favored VCU, and they just happened to be their own officials. Right.

I think some of us are commenting about different things here....Some are talking about the future, in general. But my comments were mostly about next year.I appreciate what GoZips says about the incoming freshman class, and the reshirted Swiech and Steward. This probably indicated that we might have another top-notch team in a few years. But in order to not break our current run of success, some big things need to happen between now and November.Nate will be the only senior next year. His immediate supporting cast looks pretty shaky right now in terms of having at LEAST another 2-3 more players that we are sure are ready to make significant contributions, every game. I'm not thinking that it can't happen. But, what I am seeing at the moment doesn't indicate that we are going to reach that point soon enough.

District....keep jawwing all you want about how "well known" your program is becoming. But the fact remains, we do draw larger crowds for recognizable opponents. And I'm sorry to say this, but most people I talked to in conversations last week and said "I'm going to the game against Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday" replied with....."Who"? As far as the game is concerned, I'm not sure if I would be continuing to brag about your high and mighty program after being taken to the wire by a team that shot 28%, and had injuries to it's top THREE players. This is not to say that you guys don't have a decent team, but you nearly got knocked off by a team that was depleated, and flat-out playing possibly it's worst game of the season. And that does not even take into account that we used YOUR officials.Beyond that....this game was virtually meaningless since neither school is getting into the tournament unless we win our conference tournaments.

Hey..the Chinese Unicyclist was one of the greatest halftime shows we have had...maybe ever. And I hang out with a bunch of other alums who have been going to games for 30+ years, and felt the same way.However....First, look at one thing...Can't State does NOT draw big crowds either, regardless of their 10 straight 20+ win seasons. But, they do get more respect on the national stage. We need more wins, and on a consistent basis. But you also need some NATIONAL notoriety. Which only comes from making major tournament runs, or knocking off some big programs. We've done neither to this point, so we aren't making up much ground. Truth is, Can't now has a legitimate chance at an at-large. Part of it is because of their record, part of it is because of their SOS, but also part of it is because they've had some past success in the tournament, and have knocked off some major programs. Like I've said before...as much as I hate Can't....we'd certainly see some benefit in following their example.

sk..that's a pretty fair analysis. We don't know where we go from here. Romeo is gone, Dru is gone, and Wood and Dials are about to be gone. And surely, that was the core of our winning ways the last few years.I have said this many times on this board, but I am not yet convinced that there is a significant number of guys ready to be productive come next November. I sure HOPE I am wrong. I like the thought that KD will stay here, and will bring continuity to the program. That does help recruiting. But, are the recruits coming along quickly enough to make us continue along on this path next year? Not sure. But I am betting on a down year, unfortunately.I do disagree with your assessment of a lack of success over the previous couple of decades. I was a student during the Huggins era. And we did have some tremendous success during that time. In fact, we ran off a string of 20+ win seasons during that time as well. And made it to one NCAA, and two NIT appearances during that time.Maybe you weren't quite referring to the Huggins era when you said "the last couple of decades".

Captain....I do recall the "weather" argument as an excuse. And my response to that was the following...I read an article FROM A COLUMBUS SPORTSWRITER right after the game who said that, after it stopped raining (which was very briefly in the 1st quarter), the humidity got very high (we could feel it where we were sitting), and that the humidity actually took a lot out of a Zips team that was not as deep.So...who really benefitted from the weather??? According to at least one Columbus sportswriter, it was AKRON who was at a disadvantage because of the weather conditions. Beyond that, if I were a Suckeyes fan right now, I would be much more concerned about your conference rapidly nosediving in notoriety. And what truly has escalated that situation is the barnstorming from southern schools that has occured before a national tv audience the last two years in the championship game. For God's sake, both of those games were pretty much over at halftime.