Basketball Rankings

[skip-zip]

Not necessarily wanting to refuel the ongoing scheduling issue, but I decided to take a peak at the RPI/SOS numbers, and also look at our first 9 games of the season. As far as how we've played so far, I don't see that it's far from what we should have expected. Even though I have to consider the Austin Peay game as somewhat of a semi-bad loss, especially since it was at home, the other two losses are no surprise. And we've beaten most of the "weaker" opponents by sizable margins, for the most part. I wish we were 7-2, but 6-3 is pretty close. So...how do we stand nationally for our efforts? I was somewhat surprised.RPI = 171SOS = 243Sandwiched right between powerhouses Jacksonville and South Carolina State....two teams with a COMBINED 4 wins between the two of them. I don't know about the rest of you, but we've pretty much done close to what we could have expected at this point, and we're looking at poor numbers like this?I'm sorry, but this scheduling is going to get us nowhere.

[Hilltopper]

Not necessarily wanting to refuel the ongoing scheduling issue, but I decided to take a peak at the RPI/SOS numbers, and also look at our first 9 games of the season. As far as how we've played so far, I don't see that it's far from what we should have expected. Even though I have to consider the Austin Peay game as somewhat of a semi-bad loss, especially since it was at home, the other two losses are no surprise. And we've beaten most of the "weaker" opponents by sizable margins, for the most part. I wish we were 7-2, but 6-3 is pretty close. So...how do we stand nationally for our efforts? I was somewhat surprised.RPI = 171SOS = 243Sandwiched right between powerhouses Jacksonville and South Carolina State....two teams with a COMBINED 4 wins between the two of them. I don't know about the rest of you, but we've pretty much done close to what we could have expected at this point, and we're looking at poor numbers like this?I'm sorry, but this scheduling is going to get us nowhere.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Only thing I have to say is no more St. Francis of a Sissy's anymore please and please no more Malones. I hate to say it, but even if we make the NCAA tourney year in and year out, we'll never win unless we get the experience playing these top teams.

[Jalapeño Zippy]

Look if we beat Austin Peay and compete against NC State, then maybe there would be a reason to schedule tougher. But until that happens, KD is going to schedule teams to get the confidence up. That will not change until we start winning the games we are supposed to win

[Quickzips]

Look if we beat Austin Peay and compete against NC State, then maybe there would be a reason to schedule tougher. But until that happens, KD is going to schedule teams to get the confidence up. That will not change until we start winning the games we are supposed to win

You lose 100% of the games you never schedule. Can't beat good programs, or even compete with them if you don't schedule them. It is that simple.

[xu9697]

I think we are on the cusp of adding a few bigger names. It takes time. I watched my alma mater, Xavier, slowly build it up. Akron is doing the same.Going into next year with Zeke as a sophomore and a solid core returning around him, you will see a few more big-time match-ups.

[Quickzips]

I think we are on the cusp of adding a few bigger names. It takes time. I watched my alma mater, Xavier, slowly build it up. Akron is doing the same.Going into next year with Zeke as a sophomore and a solid core returning around him, you will see a few more big-time match-ups.

I sure hope so. There is absolutely no excuse not to upgrade the OOC schedule the next few years when your core players are mostly Seniors (B.McKnight, McNees, Roberts) and Juniors (Humpty, McClanahan, Cvetinovic) with a talented Sophomore (Zeke).

[g-mann17]

Look if we beat Austin Peay and compete against NC State, then maybe there would be a reason to schedule tougher. But until that happens, KD is going to schedule teams to get the confidence up. That will not change until we start winning the games we are supposed to win

You lose 100% of the games you never schedule. Can't beat good programs, or even compete with them if you don't schedule them. It is that simple.

If that is true, then Duke, North Carolina, OSU, CSU have all lost to us because they never scheduled us.Quick call that in to the RPI people.edit* It's funny that you guys think we could even compete for an at large bid. 20 wins with 6 losses to Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State, and Kansas, get's us the same thing we have right now. No bids and getting ready to start the MAC Tournament. Until we are good enough to compete and beat top 30 teams, we need to have an easy schedule with some bench mark games so that we don't get beat up going into MAC play. It's gotten us to the Championship game 3 years in a row, and taking away poor Ref work, should have been two Dance Invites.

[Quickzips]

Look if we beat Austin Peay and compete against NC State, then maybe there would be a reason to schedule tougher. But until that happens, KD is going to schedule teams to get the confidence up. That will not change until we start winning the games we are supposed to win

You lose 100% of the games you never schedule. Can't beat good programs, or even compete with them if you don't schedule them. It is that simple.

If that is true, then Duke, North Carolina, OSU, CSU have all lost to us because they never scheduled us.Quick call that in to the RPI people.edit* It's funny that you guys think we could even compete for an at large bid. 20 wins with 6 losses to Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State, and Kansas, get's us the same thing we have right now. No bids and getting ready to start the MAC Tournament. Until we are good enough to compete and beat top 30 teams, we need to have an easy schedule with some bench mark games so that we don't get beat up going into MAC play. It's gotten us to the Championship game 3 years in a row, and taking away poor Ref work, should have been two Dance Invites.

It isn't simply about earning that at large bid. In that respect you are probably right, we probably won't get an at large with a 20-6 season with losses against Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State and Kansas. What playing those teams does for us, outside of the potential that we could actually beat them, is generates at least a little bit of excitement for the program. Let's face it, no one gave a crap when we played Malone, UNCGreensboro and St.Francis in consecutive games, and the attendance numbers bore that out. No one is going to care next week when we go on the road to take on Wyoming. If a team wins 26 games and no one is around to see it, did they really win 26 games? Well, yeah, but it certainly doesn't do anything to help the program. I don't know about you, but I think it sucks that we can't draw more than 1,500 fans for our OOC games. That is truly a shame. Now let's say you do go out and schedule a couple more games, on the road, against teams like Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State or Kansas. Nobody that I know of has yet argued for the Charlie Coles method of scheduling all of your OOC games against powerhouses like that, but just a couple more. Now you can say, hey we went out and played some good teams. Teams that you want to see. And if you should beat one of those teams (see CSU over Syracuse last year), well then the flood gates open up. ESPN highlights, check. Increased attendance, check. Actually being able to win a game in the NCAA's, check. It isn't all about the at large bid. Playing a couple more teams on your OOC schedule that are worthwhile opponents has far reaching benefits.

[skip-zip]

Look if we beat Austin Peay and compete against NC State, then maybe there would be a reason to schedule tougher. But until that happens, KD is going to schedule teams to get the confidence up. That will not change until we start winning the games we are supposed to win

You lose 100% of the games you never schedule. Can't beat good programs, or even compete with them if you don't schedule them. It is that simple.

If that is true, then Duke, North Carolina, OSU, CSU have all lost to us because they never scheduled us.Quick call that in to the RPI people.edit* It's funny that you guys think we could even compete for an at large bid. 20 wins with 6 losses to Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State, and Kansas, get's us the same thing we have right now. No bids and getting ready to start the MAC Tournament. Until we are good enough to compete and beat top 30 teams, we need to have an easy schedule with some bench mark games so that we don't get beat up going into MAC play. It's gotten us to the Championship game 3 years in a row, and taking away poor Ref work, should have been two Dance Invites.

So, are you saying that 20 wins with maybe a 50 SOS wouldn't put us in a much better position than 20 wins with a 150 SOS?

[ZachTheZip]

Look if we beat Austin Peay and compete against NC State, then maybe there would be a reason to schedule tougher. But until that happens, KD is going to schedule teams to get the confidence up. That will not change until we start winning the games we are supposed to win

You lose 100% of the games you never schedule. Can't beat good programs, or even compete with them if you don't schedule them. It is that simple.

If that is true, then Duke, North Carolina, OSU, CSU have all lost to us because they never scheduled us.Quick call that in to the RPI people.edit* It's funny that you guys think we could even compete for an at large bid. 20 wins with 6 losses to Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State, and Kansas, get's us the same thing we have right now. No bids and getting ready to start the MAC Tournament. Until we are good enough to compete and beat top 30 teams, we need to have an easy schedule with some bench mark games so that we don't get beat up going into MAC play. It's gotten us to the Championship game 3 years in a row, and taking away poor Ref work, should have been two Dance Invites.

So, are you saying that 20 wins with maybe a 50 SOS wouldn't put us in a much better position than 20 wins with a 150 SOS?

It wouldn't, but 26 wins with a 150 SOS might.

[zippy5]

Look if we beat Austin Peay and compete against NC State, then maybe there would be a reason to schedule tougher. But until that happens, KD is going to schedule teams to get the confidence up. That will not change until we start winning the games we are supposed to win

You lose 100% of the games you never schedule. Can't beat good programs, or even compete with them if you don't schedule them. It is that simple.

If that is true, then Duke, North Carolina, OSU, CSU have all lost to us because they never scheduled us.Quick call that in to the RPI people.edit* It's funny that you guys think we could even compete for an at large bid. 20 wins with 6 losses to Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State, and Kansas, get's us the same thing we have right now. No bids and getting ready to start the MAC Tournament. Until we are good enough to compete and beat top 30 teams, we need to have an easy schedule with some bench mark games so that we don't get beat up going into MAC play. It's gotten us to the Championship game 3 years in a row, and taking away poor Ref work, should have been two Dance Invites.

So, are you saying that 20 wins with maybe a 50 SOS wouldn't put us in a much better position than 20 wins with a 150 SOS?

i think he's saying with a 50 SOS we wouldn't have 20 wins.

[g-mann17]

I'm saying SOS doesn't matter if you don't beat the teams that gave you the strong SOS in the first place.Do you think the selection committee is like, "Oh look Akron has 20 wins and a top 50 SOS. We'll let them in."No, they look at it and see, "ok, they have 15 wins against MAC teams 5 wins against eh teams and they lost to every one of the top 25 teams they played. Forget them".Our conference isn't 1 bid because our SOS is so low, it's because our RPI is so low (meaning we and the other teams in our conference do not win against "great" teams). And yes "you have to be in it, to win it" as my coach used to say, but there is no point in playing teams you are going to lose to and getting your confidence in a funk (meaning poor shooting) and risking injury. The reason we play Gonzaga so tough was because the team had a heck of a lot of confidence after sweeping the MAC Tournament. Gonzaga's depth is what beat us.Right now, the focus is on MAC Championship, Invite to the Dance, win a game in the Tournament, get better recruits. It's how Xavier, Butler, Gonzaga, Memphis have all done it.

[GP1]

I'll repeat an earlier theme from today. You don't play the UNCs of the world to increase your ranking in any poll. You do it to rake in cash. New facilities have to be paid for.There was just a great Outside the Lines show on facility growth in college athletics and how unsustainable it is for most schools. Under our current "growth" plan for college athletics we need to decide if we are really going to pay for all of these sports facilities or are we going to just let them sit there while the taxpayers of Ohio pay for them.I don't want to cripple the bb program like the football program has been crippled, but it needs to generate some more cash for the sake of the entire Athletic Department.

[akronzips71]

I'll repeat an earlier theme from today. You don't play the UNCs of the world to increase your ranking in any poll. You do it to rake in cash. New facilities have to be paid for.There was just a great Outside the Lines show on facility growth in college athletics and how unsustainable it is for most schools. Under our current "growth" plan for college athletics we need to decide if we are really going to pay for all of these sports facilities or are we going to just let them sit there while the taxpayers of Ohio pay for them.I don't want to cripple the bb program like the football program has been crippled, but it needs to generate some more cash for the sake of the entire Athletic Department.

I was about to start the same thread.I looked at the RPI standings and just about threw up! We REALLY are playing better than that, even if some of the opponents suck.The HORRIBLE Football team plays Penn State and other BCS teams. With no chance of ever winning one of those games.But I seem to remember "barely" losing to Dayton and beating FSU and somewhat holding our own against Gonzaga in basketball.You can't complete against top 25 teams if you don't play any. Sh*t or get off the pot Akron basketball.

[g-mann17]

I'll repeat an earlier theme from today. You don't play the UNCs of the world to increase your ranking in any poll. You do it to rake in cash. New facilities have to be paid for.There was just a great Outside the Lines show on facility growth in college athletics and how unsustainable it is for most schools. Under our current "growth" plan for college athletics we need to decide if we are really going to pay for all of these sports facilities or are we going to just let them sit there while the taxpayers of Ohio pay for them.I don't want to cripple the bb program like the football program has been crippled, but it needs to generate some more cash for the sake of the entire Athletic Department.

And that's fine, but at what balance? You say that football scheduling cripples the program but they schedule maybe 2 "unwinnable" games a year. We'll call it 1.5 because for the most part we do Big 10 monster (OSU, Wisc, PSU) and then Big East/Big 10 minor (Cinci, Syracuse, UConn, Indiana) which under normal circumstances are about a 35% chance of a win (decent odds). That equates to 12% of the schedule. (you say that is crippling)Your 3 money games for baskeball would be roughly 11% of the schedule. How is that not "crippling"?

[GP1]

I'll repeat an earlier theme from today. You don't play the UNCs of the world to increase your ranking in any poll. You do it to rake in cash. New facilities have to be paid for.There was just a great Outside the Lines show on facility growth in college athletics and how unsustainable it is for most schools. Under our current "growth" plan for college athletics we need to decide if we are really going to pay for all of these sports facilities or are we going to just let them sit there while the taxpayers of Ohio pay for them.I don't want to cripple the bb program like the football program has been crippled, but it needs to generate some more cash for the sake of the entire Athletic Department.

And that's fine, but at what balance? You say that football scheduling cripples the program but they schedule maybe 2 "unwinnable" games a year. We'll call it 1.5 because for the most part we do Big 10 monster (OSU, Wisc, PSU) and then Big East/Big 10 minor (Cinci, Syracuse, UConn, Indiana) which under normal circumstances are about a 35% chance of a win (decent odds). That equates to 12% of the schedule. (you say that is crippling)Your 3 money games for baskeball would be roughly 11% of the schedule. How is that not "crippling"?

Good question. 35% is way to generous, but it is the holiday season. Look at it as the overall percent of ooc games. The football team played really 2.5 of their 4 ooc games last year against teams they shouldn't be able to beat. That's 62.5% of the ooc games. Let's look at reality though.In order for the bb team to play that percentage of ooc games against BCS level competition, it would be between 8-10 games. Just as crippling as what the football team does. If the bb team plays 15 ooc games, I don't think it is unreasonable for them to go to the ATM three times a year. That would only be 20% of the ooc games. BTW, the football team should only go to the ATM 25%.Right now, our bb program is good enough that they can weather that storm and destroy the crap that is the MAC. It's time for them to start contributing to the bank a little more.

[Jalapeño Zippy]

Look if we beat Austin Peay and compete against NC State, then maybe there would be a reason to schedule tougher. But until that happens, KD is going to schedule teams to get the confidence up. That will not change until we start winning the games we are supposed to win

You lose 100% of the games you never schedule. Can't beat good programs, or even compete with them if you don't schedule them. It is that simple.

If that is true, then Duke, North Carolina, OSU, CSU have all lost to us because they never scheduled us.Quick call that in to the RPI people.edit* It's funny that you guys think we could even compete for an at large bid. 20 wins with 6 losses to Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State, and Kansas, get's us the same thing we have right now. No bids and getting ready to start the MAC Tournament. Until we are good enough to compete and beat top 30 teams, we need to have an easy schedule with some bench mark games so that we don't get beat up going into MAC play. It's gotten us to the Championship game 3 years in a row, and taking away poor Ref work, should have been two Dance Invites.

It isn't simply about earning that at large bid. In that respect you are probably right, we probably won't get an at large with a 20-6 season with losses against Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State and Kansas. What playing those teams does for us, outside of the potential that we could actually beat them, is generates at least a little bit of excitement for the program. Let's face it, no one gave a crap when we played Malone, UNCGreensboro and St.Francis in consecutive games, and the attendance numbers bore that out. No one is going to care next week when we go on the road to take on Wyoming. If a team wins 26 games and no one is around to see it, did they really win 26 games? Well, yeah, but it certainly doesn't do anything to help the program. I don't know about you, but I think it sucks that we can't draw more than 1,500 fans for our OOC games. That is truly a shame. Now let's say you do go out and schedule a couple more games, on the road, against teams like Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State or Kansas. Nobody that I know of has yet argued for the Charlie Coles method of scheduling all of your OOC games against powerhouses like that, but just a couple more. Now you can say, hey we went out and played some good teams. Teams that you want to see. And if you should beat one of those teams (see CSU over Syracuse last year), well then the flood gates open up. ESPN highlights, check. Increased attendance, check. Actually being able to win a game in the NCAA's, check. It isn't all about the at large bid. Playing a couple more teams on your OOC schedule that are worthwhile opponents has far reaching benefits.

No one gave a crap when Top 25 Nevada came here. No one gave a crap when Dayton was here last year either so what does that mean? What was attendance 2500? (Not picking on you, just having a conversation)

[g-mann17]

I'll repeat an earlier theme from today. You don't play the UNCs of the world to increase your ranking in any poll. You do it to rake in cash. New facilities have to be paid for.There was just a great Outside the Lines show on facility growth in college athletics and how unsustainable it is for most schools. Under our current "growth" plan for college athletics we need to decide if we are really going to pay for all of these sports facilities or are we going to just let them sit there while the taxpayers of Ohio pay for them.I don't want to cripple the bb program like the football program has been crippled, but it needs to generate some more cash for the sake of the entire Athletic Department.

And that's fine, but at what balance? You say that football scheduling cripples the program but they schedule maybe 2 "unwinnable" games a year. We'll call it 1.5 because for the most part we do Big 10 monster (OSU, Wisc, PSU) and then Big East/Big 10 minor (Cinci, Syracuse, UConn, Indiana) which under normal circumstances are about a 35% chance of a win (decent odds). That equates to 12% of the schedule. (you say that is crippling)Your 3 money games for baskeball would be roughly 11% of the schedule. How is that not "crippling"?

Good question. 35% is way to generous, but it is the holiday season. Look at it as the overall percent of ooc games. The football team played really 2.5 of their 4 ooc games last year against teams they shouldn't be able to beat. That's 62.5% of the ooc games. Let's look at reality though.In order for the bb team to play that percentage of ooc games against BCS level competition, it would be between 8-10 games. Just as crippling as what the football team does. If the bb team plays 15 ooc games, I don't think it is unreasonable for them to go to the ATM three times a year. That would only be 20% of the ooc games. BTW, the football team should only go to the ATM 25%.Right now, our bb program is good enough that they can weather that storm and destroy the crap that is the MAC. It's time for them to start contributing to the bank a little more.

I think I can agree with you on this. Anyone know what a typical "money" basketball game brings in?

[g-mann17]

Look if we beat Austin Peay and compete against NC State, then maybe there would be a reason to schedule tougher. But until that happens, KD is going to schedule teams to get the confidence up. That will not change until we start winning the games we are supposed to win

You lose 100% of the games you never schedule. Can't beat good programs, or even compete with them if you don't schedule them. It is that simple.

If that is true, then Duke, North Carolina, OSU, CSU have all lost to us because they never scheduled us.Quick call that in to the RPI people.edit* It's funny that you guys think we could even compete for an at large bid. 20 wins with 6 losses to Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State, and Kansas, get's us the same thing we have right now. No bids and getting ready to start the MAC Tournament. Until we are good enough to compete and beat top 30 teams, we need to have an easy schedule with some bench mark games so that we don't get beat up going into MAC play. It's gotten us to the Championship game 3 years in a row, and taking away poor Ref work, should have been two Dance Invites.

It isn't simply about earning that at large bid. In that respect you are probably right, we probably won't get an at large with a 20-6 season with losses against Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State and Kansas. What playing those teams does for us, outside of the potential that we could actually beat them, is generates at least a little bit of excitement for the program. Let's face it, no one gave a crap when we played Malone, UNCGreensboro and St.Francis in consecutive games, and the attendance numbers bore that out. No one is going to care next week when we go on the road to take on Wyoming. If a team wins 26 games and no one is around to see it, did they really win 26 games? Well, yeah, but it certainly doesn't do anything to help the program. I don't know about you, but I think it sucks that we can't draw more than 1,500 fans for our OOC games. That is truly a shame. Now let's say you do go out and schedule a couple more games, on the road, against teams like Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State or Kansas. Nobody that I know of has yet argued for the Charlie Coles method of scheduling all of your OOC games against powerhouses like that, but just a couple more. Now you can say, hey we went out and played some good teams. Teams that you want to see. And if you should beat one of those teams (see CSU over Syracuse last year), well then the flood gates open up. ESPN highlights, check. Increased attendance, check. Actually being able to win a game in the NCAA's, check. It isn't all about the at large bid. Playing a couple more teams on your OOC schedule that are worthwhile opponents has far reaching benefits.

No one gave a crap when Top 25 Nevada came here. No one gave a crap when Dayton was here last year either so what does that mean? What was attendance 2500? (Not picking on you, just having a conversation)

I will even go one more. No one gave a crap that Can't played Duke, and it didn't help their attendance because you have to play a "money" game at the opponent's house.

[RowdyZip]

Bottom line for the apathetic city of Akron, Ohio is that it's going to take a monster run and an appearance in the top 25 to see a SIGNIFICANT boost in attendance. A lot of people in this city honestly don't realize/don't care that the Zips play division I sports, the same as all the other big schools. They treat UA like a minor league. People here are desperate for a winner. Not just an 8-3 with 8 wins over nobody team, but a 16-1 nationally recognized, nationally RANKED team. It's a lot more difficult for a school like Akron to get there in Basketball, but Coach D is the man to get us there. He cares and is determined to get us there. The man is intelligent. He has a plan. He wants to build something big at his alma mater. I think we see it happen in the next 5 years, our first top 25 ranking that is. This year it'd probably take another 10 straight wins and an 18-3 record to sniff that spot. Could it happen? Sure...but I'm not holding my breath.

[zippy5]

Look if we beat Austin Peay and compete against NC State, then maybe there would be a reason to schedule tougher. But until that happens, KD is going to schedule teams to get the confidence up. That will not change until we start winning the games we are supposed to win

You lose 100% of the games you never schedule. Can't beat good programs, or even compete with them if you don't schedule them. It is that simple.

If that is true, then Duke, North Carolina, OSU, CSU have all lost to us because they never scheduled us.Quick call that in to the RPI people.edit* It's funny that you guys think we could even compete for an at large bid. 20 wins with 6 losses to Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State, and Kansas, get's us the same thing we have right now. No bids and getting ready to start the MAC Tournament. Until we are good enough to compete and beat top 30 teams, we need to have an easy schedule with some bench mark games so that we don't get beat up going into MAC play. It's gotten us to the Championship game 3 years in a row, and taking away poor Ref work, should have been two Dance Invites.

It isn't simply about earning that at large bid. In that respect you are probably right, we probably won't get an at large with a 20-6 season with losses against Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State and Kansas. What playing those teams does for us, outside of the potential that we could actually beat them, is generates at least a little bit of excitement for the program. Let's face it, no one gave a crap when we played Malone, UNCGreensboro and St.Francis in consecutive games, and the attendance numbers bore that out. No one is going to care next week when we go on the road to take on Wyoming. If a team wins 26 games and no one is around to see it, did they really win 26 games? Well, yeah, but it certainly doesn't do anything to help the program. I don't know about you, but I think it sucks that we can't draw more than 1,500 fans for our OOC games. That is truly a shame. Now let's say you do go out and schedule a couple more games, on the road, against teams like Duke, Pitt, UConn, OSU, Michigan State or Kansas. Nobody that I know of has yet argued for the Charlie Coles method of scheduling all of your OOC games against powerhouses like that, but just a couple more. Now you can say, hey we went out and played some good teams. Teams that you want to see. And if you should beat one of those teams (see CSU over Syracuse last year), well then the flood gates open up. ESPN highlights, check. Increased attendance, check. Actually being able to win a game in the NCAA's, check. It isn't all about the at large bid. Playing a couple more teams on your OOC schedule that are worthwhile opponents has far reaching benefits.

No one gave a crap when Top 25 Nevada came here. No one gave a crap when Dayton was here last year either so what does that mean? What was attendance 2500? (Not picking on you, just having a conversation)

pretty sure the dayton game was a near sellout, and i think had more fans than the Can't game last year. just sayin.

[RowdyZip]

No one gave a crap when Top 25 Nevada came here. No one gave a crap when Dayton was here last year either so what does that mean? What was attendance 2500? (Not picking on you, just having a conversation)

Nevada: 3,302Dayon: 4,059

and the Dayton game was about 65-35 split in favor of Zips fans. Dayton travels well in-state.

[RootforRoo44]

No one gave a crap when Top 25 Nevada came here. No one gave a crap when Dayton was here last year either so what does that mean? What was attendance 2500? (Not picking on you, just having a conversation)

Nevada: 3,302Dayon: 4,059

and the Dayton game was about 65-35 split in favor of Zips fans. Dayton travels well in-state.

i cant believe Nevada was only 3300...it seemed like it was a bigger crowd. I can tell you that there were plenty more students at games back then.

[Captain Kangaroo]

No one gave a crap when Top 25 Nevada came here. No one gave a crap when Dayton was here last year either so what does that mean? What was attendance 2500? (Not picking on you, just having a conversation)

Nevada: 3,302Dayon: 4,059

and the Dayton game was about 65-35 split in favor of Zips fans. Dayton travels well in-state.

i cant believe Nevada was only 3300...it seemed like it was a bigger crowd. I can tell you that there were plenty more students at games back then.

1.) Survey the first 1000 people you meet at the JAR and as them where Nevada is ranked today. The Joe Akron, Nevada basketball is about as noteworthy as Akron basketball is in Nevada. Either way 998 or of 1000 say "I have no freaking clue."2.) Ask them if the names Ramon Sessions or Kyle Fazekas ring any sort of bell. Those names are as familiar to Joe Akron as Romeo Travis and Jeramiah Wood are to Joe LasVegas.3.) How was the Beacon's coverage of the Zips during that era?4.) Was the game held during winter break? How close to Christmas?5.) What kind of a noteworthy roll were the Zips on at that point? (ie. coming off some major wins...championships...undefeated...etc)?The fact of the matter is - the Zips drew 3,300 to see Nevada play the Zips. That's 60% of capacity, during break, three days before Christmas when they had accomplished nothing of note prior to merit more than a 60% attendance mark.I don't care if Nevada was ranked #21 or whatever they were at that time. It was Nevada. And unless the Zips are undefeated going into that game, with a #32-ish or better ranking themselves, and the game is promoted as a "Clash of the Titans," it is going to draw 3.300. The Zips took a big step forward last season with the NCAA appearance. But they laid a big fat egg with the Austin Peay home loss, and failed to win either head-turning games such as NC State or Texas A&M. Thus, to Joe Akron, it is "The same old Zips."The Zips need to reel off 10+ wins in a row to get people excited. Then, when we play a high mid-major in the Bracket Buster, we need to win that game. Not lose like VCU (both times) or Nevada (both times).There is a small margin for error with Joe Akron. If the Zips continue to take one step forward, and one step back, home attendance will never improve. Regardless of the opponent.And a final note - Per Elton Alexander in today's PD - THE Ohio State University is drawing 11,000 fans per game to Value City Arena thusfar in 2009. That is pretty much 60% of capacity. State's flagship school...Big 10 conference...beautiful arena...major city population...60,000 students...60% capacity.People need to quit whining about attendance. 3,300 people raced home after work, got their kids fed, put on their Akron gear, raced down Route 8 or up Route 77, in the middle of winter, to support Zips basketball. And we get chided.