GP1

When I first saw this topic, I thought to myself, "Self, that's awesome, someone has the door from the men's room stall on the home side of the Rubber Bowl." Then I thought to myself, "Self, that's a really stupid idea because there would be nothing to own."

It's amazing what a good coach Waters is. He can take a group of previously poorly coached great athletes and turn them into something good.Cedric Jackson was absolutely great last night. In big games, a lot needs to go right and you need your best player to be at the top of his game. CSU got both and now they are on to the second round.

For the first 30-35 minutes of the game, UofA played the most exciting brand of basketball I have ever seen them play in the KD era. They executed great on the offensive end and made open shots when presented. There was a little of everything last night and the game was fun to watch. If they play that exciting brand of basketball next year and people don't go watch, they will never go watch. It would be a shame if that happened because that is good entertainment. Well worth the money!

Zeke is one of the most talented players in the country. He should be placed in the starting lineup the second he walks into the first practice. It is his job to lose.I absolutely disagree. Look, noone is talking about redshirting Zeke or anything like that. But this team is built on 5 guys on the floor playing as one. No one player on this team is bigger than the rest of the team and that attitude shouldn't change just for Zeke. Now if Zeke comes in in Fall practice and earns the starting spot more power too him. But for now our starting lineup is Humpty, Roberts, Conyers/B.McKnight, C.McKnight and Cvetinovic. From what I understand of Zeke and his mindset and work ethic he shouldn't have any problem with this.I don't think we disagree. My point is he gets the starting spot at the first practice. If he is not up to the task or if he is simply out played by someone else, then someone else gets it. Either way, he has to earn it.

Zeke is one of the most talented players in the country. He should be placed in the starting lineup the second he walks into the first practice. It is his job to lose.

Fantastic effort by the Zips tonight. I don't know what else they could have done differently. Sometimes the other team is just better.

Yes it was. One or two plays per game can be the difference between a two point loss or a two point win.

Good! The Big Ten and Pac 10 do just fine without one.

The tournament should either have fewer teams and force teams to win their conference tournament or keep it the way it is. I like it the way it is. Expanding is not the answer. In the end, the cream TENDS to rise to the top in the tournament. Teams that get left out always cry about it. South Carolina threw a fit and they lost to Davidson last night in the NIT. They would go nowhere in the NCAA tournament.

The MAC is already insignificant. The league has been around since 1946.For those of you who think a president of the MAC can reform the league by negotiating better outcomes with BCS schools, answer this question. What bargaining power or position of strength does a MAC president have against the larger BCS schools? Below are the answers I came up with:1. Get mad2. Get really mad3. Stomp feet4. Pound fist5. Pound table6. Pound table and stomp feet simultaneously7. Hold breath until face turns purple8. Tell BCS ADs they are being mean

Wouldn't it be a lot better if the MAC just had 10 teams and they all had to play each other. That would only make three non-conference games. Every other year, it would guarantee five conference home games and each team could have up to seven home games with non-conference games. Every other year, they may only have six home games, but that is OK with me as long as six is the minimum. This whole last minute scheduling is a complete circle jerk. 10 teams and screw everyone else. If the BCS teams want cupcakes, let them pay through the nose for them.

If there was ever a fan that has earned this trip, it is ZipsWin! I'm glad to see you are going.

I know you won't like this answer but AMTRAK can get you out and back for $193 (before taxes I think) each way. 45 HOURS to do it each way so you'd probably have to be on the 3:45AM train that leaves in about 8 hours. Haven't checked Greyhound .$7.50 per hour in travel time savings.

Portland is almost sea level. They will actually have more oxygen there than in Akron.

You are one of the biggest BB fans out there. Shame on you for even asking. Pay the freaking money and go enjoy yourself.

To answer the question, yes it is winnable. On any given day, the Zips can beat any team in the tournament.I'm not so concerned about the Zips traveling west. I'm concerned that Gonzaga can take a bus from their campus to Portland.I like that the game is on Thursday and not Friday. I'm a big believer in momentum and the Zips have it right now. Hell, I'd like the game to be sooner than Thursday so we don't lose any momentum. I don't like that I heard a guy on ESPN radio say just last week that this is the best Gonzaga team ever.I like that I believe we have the best Zips team ever.This game is going to be a good test for the program. By the end of this game, we will know whether we are ever capable of being the Gonzaga of the east, or if we are just the best team in a bad conference. Either way it turns out, it will be a good dose of reality. I really don't mind being the best team in a bad conference. Let's just be UofA. Last night was a lot of fun and we need more of it in lieu of the pushing boulders up hill like we have been for decades.

I agree completely. If the Zips get blown out this week, the effect of last night will be over within a week. The Zips need to play really well this Thrs/Fri. I'm not saying winning is a must, but they need to play well. A win would be HUGE!After last night, I think the Zips will be much more entertaining for the average sports fan to spend their money on. They were fun to watch last night. They have some really young scorers on that team and they will be worth the money.

Sorry if my opinion breaks the usual paradigms on this board about the Zips defense. When I say it was average, I'm not saying it was bad. It was just feh. The Zips offense was playing so well last night I felt no threat when the Bulls pulled within 10. In fact, with 10 minutes to go in the first half I told my wife I thought the game was going to be a blowout. The Zips offense was rolling last night and it had nothing to do with great defense. Maybe average defense, but not great. Buffalo's inability to hit shots made the Zips defense look better than what it really was.

Last night, Buffalo couldn't throw the ball into the ocean if they had both feet in the water. The best defense the Zips played last night was early in the game. With 10 minutes in remaining, the game was over and from the close up looks on their players faces on ESPN, you could see they were finished. After the Zips offense burried them, they were done. KD could have put five of us knuckleheads out on the floor to close the game out at that point.

OK, we bring in two teams from the east coast and more people get to see the MAC. So what does that do? Has the conference been improved by adding them? NO. If so, how? All it does is allow more of the country to get a look at a bad conference and realize they really don't like what they see. Adding more bad teams like Army only reinforces the fact that it is a bad conference.In addition to what I have already posted, the MAC should also:A) Stop the week night games. The MAC playing on national TV is like Dollar General sending out video tours of their stores and then expecting people to come in and shop after seeing, for free, the crap they are selling. TV games are fine, but play all games on Saturday in the afternoon.

If this is true, the quality of UofA's defense is wildly overstated on this board.

i wouldn't argue against that....but last night, the D was a notch above...dare i say championship style DFor the first 5-10 minutes of the game, the defense was great. Beyond that, it was average. I know there is a lot posted here about the Zips defense and against most of the MAC it is probably great, but against a good team like Buffalo you need offense. Akron scored last night with a quality half court offense and making shots when they were presented. They scored some, but not a lot, off of turnovers.You can play average defense when the other team is shooting the ball off of the side of the backboard from the corner. Buffalo's offense was so bad at one point I started laughing out loud. I think they only made 32% of their shots and they had some really good looks at the basket. I can't remember the last time a team played as bad in the MAC finals as Buffalo did last night. Buffalo is a good team that was just not ready to play for whatever reason. The best team won last night.Late in the first half, KD went for more offense/less defense and it worked. #13 makes Akron a better offensive team (at least last night) and it appeared KD noticed this at half and went with more offense at the beginning of the second half. The game was over half way through the second half.Make no mistake about it 1940s basketball lovers and apologist for bad entertainment, UofA's offense won the game last night. Have any fantasy you want about defense winning championships, but points win championships and the Zips produced points last night putting pressure on Buffalo that they couldn't respond to. Next year, if Akron can continue to have strong offensive performances, the people of Akron will go to the games. If they revert to low scoring defensive games then people will not. Most of all, people want to be entertained at a sporting event. Defense is not entertaining. Watching the Zips score points and execute on offense was fun to watch last night. That is what the people of Akron will respond to.

Bracket party in case you were wondering is mentioned here.

After watching the game last night, there is no doubt they are the best team. At least they have the most athletic talent of any team with a lot of upside to a lot of the players. There are some real potential offensive stars on this team and we saw that last night early when they hit a couple threes and the great offensive display they put on at the start of the second half.

Charlotte ObserverGood slide show included.