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You forget the rest of the story: 1) We had just played that VCU team to a 1-point overtime game the year before. 2) Alex was not the only guard we lost for that game. Deji was out with a back injury, and Walsh had food poisoning. Playing VCU with basically 1 Guard, who was a freshman (Carmelo) is a recipe for disaster. I'd love to play that game over again with Abreu, Diggs, Walsh, and Deji.

If he scores 15 or so over a few NIT games, that would be an incredible boost for the team. But, do you really want him to just start firing the ball after what we've seen over the last few weeks? That's an almost inexplicable disappearing act. He could have been the difference maker on Saturday. Antino will surely be honored at the beginning of next season before a home game.

Without looking back, how did the OU games with Akron in 2010, 2012, and 2013 compare? Were they actually higher than a Kent/Akron matchup if it seems that OU brings more people than Kent?

I love the idea of a (fairly) short and easy drive to Chicago. If this didn't happen, the Iowa State and Nebraska games might have prevented an OOC road trip that year for us.

Funny. I guess proximity of the schools far outweighs the status of the league. I'd say that if NIU and Central were playing in the MAC Final, they probably wouldn't exceed 3k.

Cinci: Load Bus, 3.5 Hr. Bus Ride, Unload at Hotel. Houston: Load Bus, Bus Ride to Airport, Unload From Bus, Check into Airport, Board, 3 Hr. Flight, Land, Load Onto Bus, Bus Ride to Hotel, Unload, Check In, Go to Practice. Try that after you just played a 3-Day tournament and got your butts kicked on Saturday night.

I want to see Jimmy whine and cry, because I didn't get to see that on Saturday like I've seen so many times in the past.

That's great. The matchup helps a lot. Keith commented last week about how people complain about the MAC Tournament being in Cleveland, and how much it helps Akron and Kent. But, playing in an NBA Arena has helped this tournament immensely. I know plenty of people who go to this, and they aren't even MAC fans. They love the idea of going to a D-1 Conference Tournament. And Keith even commented about all of the crappy venues in Toledo and Detroit where they used to play this. The MAC tournament has come a long way.

I hope we win and Kent gets their a$$es kicked. Sorry. But I'm with you on this one.

Well, this should clear up any thoughts that we might have any influence over anyone on the NIT committee, or had any desire to travel to Houston. Keith goes off on the way the NIT has treated us. http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/university-of-akron-basketball-traveling-in-first-round-of-nit-disappoints-zips-coach-keith-dambrot-who-reportedly-turned-down-offer-to-coach-at-south-florida-1.753335

I normally just let people fly with their excuses about why people don't come to the JAR. But I will comment because I've never heard this one before. Go to about 30 other arenas across the country, and then come back here and tell me how the JAR bathrooms stack up. I'd rate them pretty high to some of the smelly concrete-floored facilities I've trampled into. And they are no more difficult to find. I actually can't believe that our conversations on here over the years regarding the JAR have been reduced to how much we could increase attendance if only we had a few more toilets, and if only they made them more easy to find? I'l; repeat this again: If people WANTED to see Akron Basketball, they'd climb the stairs, sit on wood bleachers, and gladly take a few extra seconds out of their day to ask someone if they can't find the toilet. People don't come to Akron Basketball games because they don't want to go to an Akron Basketball game.

This is a great post. Winning the league by 2 games last year and 3 games this year, in conjunction with the dominance in 2013, tells us a lot about how we've grown in stature in relation to the rest of the conference. Certainly a wider and more representative sampling of how we compare vs. coming up a couple of baskets short in one game at the end of the season. What if Buffalo doesn't hit the 3-pointer last year with 1 second on the clock? If that one, single moment was different, does that actually make people view our coach differently? It shouldn't, in my opinion. I don't think any of us disregards the importance of winning that MAC Tournament Final because of it's attached ticket to the Dance. We're all bummed. In fact, I threw the Sunday paper in the garbage without reading it so I wouldn't have to look at Kent State. But our increased level of dominance in this conference over the last several years can't be ignored. Something we all need to continually keep in mind is that 2 of our own NCAA tournament appearances came when we were the 5th and 6th best teams in the conference that year. So, I'm not going to complain like Keith is somehow always taking the favorite into the MAC Tournament, and coming up empty.

Now that's funny. And I hated to laugh, but I couldn't help myself.

It's my pleasure. I enjoy it. And just for the record, you did better than me in my early 80s English classes. You're my kind of Akron fan. You need to come around more often

Some intelligent insight into the inner workings of Akron Athletics, Keith's other offerS, and the Arena? That's might win an award !!

I'm with you, dude. But apparently it's been a long time since those English classes at UA for you.

That's not true. The 2nd round games will be several days following the 1st round games, and several of those games will take place over the weekend.

I'm hoping everyone noticed one other huge difference between being a #6 and a #7 seed in this tournament. The winner of the 6/3 game plays the winner of the 7/2 game. If you are a 6 and you win, you play the 2nd round game at home if the 7 wins the other game. If you are a 7 seed, you have no chance of a home game.

Miracles happen. In 1983, NC State had already lost 10 games by the time their conference tournament rolled around, including a 3-game losing streak at one time in conference play. Then they came out of nowhere to win the ACC tournament, and rode that wave all the way to the National Title. I think the war will wage on forever in regards to whether the regular season champ or tournament champ is most deserving. But I will be biased for a second as an Akron fan and say that 2 of our 4 NCAA Tournament appearances (2009 and 2011) would have never happened if the Regular Season Champ was given the NCAA bid. On the other hand, we'd be in the tournament each of the last 2 years if the decider was regular season. The other 2 NCAA bids (1986 and 2013) would have remained the same. So, it's a wash for us.

Just for one second. Can you imagine the people on these committees, with everything they have to arrange in such a short period of time, studying Akron's roster and/or reaching out to Akron during the selection process to find out what our preference might be ? I'm sure our basketball people see the positives in Houston as a destination. But nobody would have "chosen" to take our team on a long plane flight for a road game at the end of the MAC tournament. I there was a choice given, I guess somewhere close to Cincinnati would have made the most logical sense so our Seniors could play near their hometown. But it doesn't matter. Akron wasn't asked to declare a choice or preference.

Again, who at Akron has influential connections to people in selection committees? And those people gladly welcome calls from Akron while they are sequestered making selections? And we're suddenly being contacted to be given a choice of where we want to go during this process? This is crazy anyway. Why in the world would we lobby for a cross-country travel after a grueling tournament with a tired team? There's no benefit here that in any way outweighs the desire to be in the best position to advance in the tournament.

Exactly. Last year vs. this year is not the issue. The issue is really what happened last year. It was pretty obvious. They plugged Akron and the Suckeyes into spots where they could create a local matchup in Cowlumbus, and putting Akron at 6 and them at 3 was deemed to be an effective way for them to get that done.

I'm trying to imagine that scenario. So, assuming that people from Akron have a direct line to influential people on the selection committee, we asked them to give someone else our more-deserved spot so that we would play a higher ranked opponent, and give us a lower chance to win a game, so that we could fly over 1,000 miles to Houston with an exhausted basketball team that just played a 3-day tournament? Just so a few guys can say hello to mom and dad and some friends? I'll rate that one at about 1.5% chance of probability.

Or, maybe we envisioned a Phi Slamma Zippa marketing campaign to promote the game. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that someone already tried to copy a Houston football ad earlier this year. So, that wouldn't be advised.