skip-zip

If this season continues to go the way it has, we'll recover from a mediocre performance on the road to win convincingly at home tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if this is a 30 point blowout. Let's hope tonight is the boost to carry us through a very tough road stretch to end the season. Also (and I hate to say this)....Go Bubba!!!...and the Cats!!!

I was in school at the same time as Marcel Boyce. He was awesome!! Playing only two years probably doesn't allow him to get his number retired.But....isn't he the last Akron player to be a league MVP? Which happens to be the same year that he carried Akron from nowhere to an NCAA Berth.I guess he deserves some consideration if we are talking about some legitimate stars that have worn the blue and gold.

WOW...I can't believe I have forgotten about Mark Alberts. He ended his career here as one of the best 3-point shooters ever in college basketball, although I don't know where his accomplishment stands now. He was also a terrific ball handler. Roy Coleman was also a great player. Thanks for bringing back some old memories.Another Akron guard that I LOVED to watch was Tron Jenkins. Of course, his number will never be retired, but he was a real blue collar guy like Dials, and was a pretty darn good ball player. I'll miss Dru and Romeo also. But I'm sorry, I'm just not seeing elevating either of them to Jakubick or McLaughlin level status. With all due respect, Joyce is not in McLaughlin's league.

BlueandGold...Anthony Buford was the player that transferred to Cincinnati to go and play with Huggins. BUT, he did not transfer right away.Huggins coached him here as a freshman, and then he played his sophomore year here under Coleman Crawford, and did not transfer until after that season.Buford was the #2 guard on Cincinnati's Final Four team in Huggins 3rd year as their coach.

When you retire player's numbers, it's a very special occassion. It's one of those things where maybe the best player in an entire decade or two gets the honor. Are Dru and Romeo two of the best Zips over the last 10-20 years? No. BUT....I expect senior night to be a very emotional experience. They've been great contributors to Akron basketball, and they have a very long relationship with Coach Dambrot. They deserve our thanks for what they've given to our program.

That started playing sometime during the 2005-2006 season.

BleacherBum....I'm with you on your thoughts about the tie-breaker.When we only play the MAC West teams once, it's a significant advantage for the team that got the best team from the West at home. Not only did it give Can't a win, and cost us a loss. But now it affects the tie breaker too? Unbelievable.Just think, if we had gotten Toledo at home, and Can't had them on the road, the MAC East race would be OVER. Even if we both got Toledo at home, it might still be over at this point.And I still would like to know why the MAC gave Can't a home game against us to close the season, knowing that we were likely to be the two best teams in the East this year. That was a real disadvantage to us, and I saw that as soon as the schedule came out.I didn't realize that shooting just a "decent" percentage from the line would have won us a few more games already. Especially that Nevada game, which very well could have been a victory that would get us an at-large bid to the tournament. Thanks for those stats Rowdy.

I'll say this again. Coming up with at least one or two good conference wins on the road this year could have turned a good season into a great one. We've now wasted 3 of those 4 chances. We only have one chance left, at Can't.Free throw shooting finally haunted us. We knew this would happen all along. Let's stay on the positive side and know that we can beat any of these teams on a neutral court in Cleveland.Go Zips !!

Free throws were going to haunt us eventually.Same old story...can't win a big game on the road. As I said earlier, we're just another "good MAC team" if we can't do that.

Guys. This would be awesome!! I was a student back in 1986 when we last went to the BIG tournament. Watching that first-round game, with Akron in it, is an even better feeling than playing in a bowl game in football last year. Trust me.

BleacherBum...you're right. We felt as if we were in the easy bracket last year also. If I remember correctly, we were the #3 seed, who was lucky enough to get into the same bracket with the #2, which would have been the weak MAC West champ. But then #7 Toledo knocked off that #2 seed in the quarterfinal. How much more could we have asked for? And it still didn't work out. It's certainly more important to be playing well at the end of the season than it is to be concerned about when you play certain teams. If we do end up with that #4 seed, it probably meant that we lost both the Miami game and the Can't game on the road, and we certainly don't want that to happen. But if that happened, it might end up like this...#1 Toledo#2 Can't#3 Miami#4 AkronIt does create a more favorable semi-final pairing for us. And if Ohio gets the #5, we'd play Bubba and the Cats again in the quarterfinals?

Man, I don't want to play Can't in the semis. I'm still hoping we can get that #1 seed to avoid that. If not, could we really be that bad off if we get the #4? We know we can beat Toledo on a neutral court in the semis. Just some food for thought.

I hate to put alot of weight on this one, but it is really a defining moment for the Dambrot-era Zips.Do we show that we've grown into a team that can separate itself from the pack by winning a big game on the road?Or...do we play like we did at Toledo and Ohio, and show that we really aren't that much better than the other "good" teams in the MAC. This is a game (along with the season finale at Can't) that can catapult us to "MAC Elite" status, and position ourselves favorably in the recruiting wars for many years to come.Much like the home game against Miami earlier this season...I hope we just find a way to win !!We're better than we were in the first game, but low scoring games in Oxford can be so unpredictable. Akron 60-56

I know I spend alot of time talking about the negatives....No "good wins"A couple of "bad losses"poor SOSpoor RPIBut, if there is anything we have to hang our hat on right now, it's these two polls. There is always that chance that someone might say, "Hey, Akron is ranked high in these two polls, they deserve to be among the top 65 teams in the country".It's a REACH...but it's all we have right now.

Z-P...I know what you are saying. But, it's a coaches JOB to adjust during the course of a game. However, I'm really beginning to think that KD analyzes and makes adjustments better than most. The only option he doesn't have? He really can't go BIG. I'm hoping he finds that option in his recruiting over the next couple of years. What I like about this team? Ever since Bubba left, EVERY player on this team has a willingness to do the dirty work. They all dive on the floor for loose balls, and all work together defensively. This is certainly a reflection of the coach. When I am at games, I find myself cheering the defensive hustle more than the dunks. Who do I think most epitomizes this attitude?....Nick Dials. I really believe that he is the emotional leader of this team.

I'll be shocked if Getsy goes in the draft. He doesn't have enough football ablility. The only chance he has is if a team wants him for his brain, and will pick him to hold a clipboard. This isn't a cut on him. He's a great kid, and a great student, and knows football very very well. But, his physical tools just don't translate into an NFL career. I would LOVE to see Alleman in a Browns jersey. And hope that he indeed will be drafted in the 3rd to 4th round.

The point jump is better than I expected. The word must be getting out. It's too bad we didn't move up in position too.This 40th place ranking is really all we have to rely on right now if we want a remote shot at an at-large. So, let's keep winning, and keep the momentum going.

One of the assistant coaches tells me that Dambrot is reluctant to schedule the high-level teams because all they will do is give us one game at THEIR place, and not give us one here in exchange. So, his philosophy is to TRY to schedule the mid-majors who will give us a home-and-home. Apparently, we did not get enough of them this year to do us any good.Blue and Gold is right. We need to go after the Creighton's, Butler's, and Old Dominion's. The teams that will help us if we beat them.If not, as I've said, we're once again stuck playing the Binghamton's, and darn near have to go undefeated to get an at-large.I agree with everyone here....let's just WIN THE MAC TOURNAMENT this year, and we don't have to worry about it.

I know. It's unfortunate. But its the nature of the beast.Look at the SEC teams that they say are OUT. Arkansas, Mississippi, and Georgia. They all have decent records, and all play very tough schedules. Also, each of them has 3 wins over teams in the top-50.If by chance, it came down to us and one of these three schools for one of the last remaining at-large bids, who do you think they would pick?It comes back to one thing. We have to schedule better teams in the non-conference part of our schedule, and we have to post a win or two against those teams. Otherwise, we darn near have to go undefeated to get an at-large.Let's keep hoping....the MAC has not gotten an at-large in 8 years. Hopefully, somehow, this will be the year.

I think the point some people are trying to make is that Bubba doesn't know how to play smart basketball. Sure, he made some shots to help his team, but when it really comes down to crunch time, you don't want the ball in his hands. He only has one mode.......score as many points as he can.

Wow. That brings back memories. I was a student in the 80's, and remember it the same way. Everyone chanting "tacos, tacos, tacos". Then if they did hold the opponent under 65 points, they handed out the free taco vouchers at the bottom of the strairs on the way out.

We're not going to jump from 7 to 20-30 points in one week. In order to do that, we need a dozen more sportswriters to instantly jump on our bandwagon in one week, and it simply doesn't happen that way in the AP Poll. At this point in the season, these guys know who they like, and who they don't. And they simply don't waver very much from week to week.I just hope, if we can hold steady to that #40 spot, or move up a bit before the end of the season, that it will have a bearing on our chances at an at-large bid. Tough road game Wednesday. This could have a big bearing on where we go from here on out.

Question:Doesn't Jeremiah Wood have two more years of eligibility after this year? I think this is only the 2nd year he has played. Didn't he get a medical redshirt when he got injured at the beginning of last year?Someone help me out here. I have a bad memory.

Let's look at year by year......Next Season:Will anyone pick up the slack for Romeo and Dru? Guys like Linhart, Milum, Rybak, McKnight and Conyers need to step up, and quickly!! And where is the point guard out of ths group? Wood, Dials, and Middleton can carry this team to 15+ wins, but they need help. The Season After:Linhart and Wood will be counted on heavily to carry this team. This is when we'll really see if KD can recruit and develop players.

We could move up a little bit, you never know. Remember what I've told you guys all along. Historically, the teams in the lower level conferences only gain new votes a couple at a time, no matter how well they are playing.Thanks for the information. I sure hope this has an impact on our at-large chances. We just need to keep winning !!