Can't's RPI is 58, ours is 106

[Dave in Green]

Gonzaga played a conference game last night against Loyola-Marymount. That was the Gonzaga with the 21-4 record, ranked well into the top 25 in the country. And that was the Loyola-Marymount with the 13-13 record and ranked #197 in RPI. Gonzaga went cold in the second half and lost.Stuff happens in college basketball, anywhere, anytime, to anyone.

[Dave in Green]

Here's an interesting study in RPI. As of this minute, Real Time RPI has UA in a dead heat with the Charleston Cougars of the the Southern Conference, both teams with RPIs of 0.5376.Charleston has 5 top 100 RPI teams on its schedule this year -- Tennessee (17), Clemson (36), North Carolina (82) and fellow Southern Conference member Wofford (88) twice. They actually beat North Carolina, admittedly in a down UNC season. Charleston's 18-9 record against D1 teams is similar to UA's. But a bunch of games against 200+ RPI teams puts them right on top of UA in RPI. Their SOS rank is 198 compared with UA's SOS of 210.This would be an example where scheduling a few high RPI teams does not overcome the drag of a bunch of 200+ RPI teams.Charleston Real Time RPI

[Dave in Green]

..... Flat Earth Society? They still around (pun intended)? Since I am probably the only ZN person to haveflown above seventy thousand feet ( done in the Concorde and Navy F-4 Phantoms), I have personallyobserved that the Earth is round, or at least the curvature is apparent at that altitude.

I appreciate your service to the country, and envy you for flying in a Rhino.

[skip-zip]

The Zips do not need to change up from their lame schedule (there, I said it). The Zips badly need to stop making gacks. The two loses that killed RPI and any number of other things were the loses to Austin Peay and Eastern Michigan. Think about it. Win those two games and the Zips are 22-5. Plus, 11-2 in conference. In the driver's seat.

But that's exactly the problem....our schedule isn't good enough to allow us to absorb bad losses, and still have a good RPI. And college basketball teams play bad games. Yet, it seems that we continue to put ourselves in that same position.

[akronzips71]

Gaaaaaaak ... !!!!It is NOT about the RPI. It has never been about our RPI.The Zips are in the MAC. A conference where you can win TWENTY-SIX games and not even getan NIT bid. The Zips could had an RPI of 12 and stayed home. So long as selection committeesare composed of biased old men .. the cheating will continue. And, it does.Forget the stupid RPI. Only one team goes to the NCAA tournament from the MAC. The team thatwins the conference tournament.It is far more important to capture the NIT bid by winning the regular season. Thus, the loss toEMU is far, far, far more important to Akron then the silly RPI. I'll take an 11-2 conferencerecord over a 49 RPI any day. (btw .. a 49 RPI is fracking worthless; you still wont get selected).A win on Saturday at VCU could be worth a ton to the NIT selection committee.

+126 wins and a screwing by the officials on a shot that should not have counted (I had that game on my DVR and I sat there with a stopwatch all night and played it over and over - that shot DID NOT COUNT).And not even an NIT bid -which by the way generated a full page article in the New York Times and caused the NCAA to change the selection criteria.But yes, the MAC (and AKRON) does not get any respect.

[Zipmeister]

Gaaaaaaak ... !!!!It is NOT about the RPI. It has never been about our RPI.The Zips are in the MAC. A conference where you can win TWENTY-SIX games and not even getan NIT bid. The Zips could had an RPI of 12 and stayed home. So long as selection committeesare composed of biased old men .. the cheating will continue. And, it does.Forget the stupid RPI. Only one team goes to the NCAA tournament from the MAC. The team thatwins the conference tournament.It is far more important to capture the NIT bid by winning the regular season. Thus, the loss toEMU is far, far, far more important to Akron then the silly RPI. I'll take an 11-2 conferencerecord over a 49 RPI any day. (btw .. a 49 RPI is fracking worthless; you still wont get selected).A win on Saturday at VCU could be worth a ton to the NIT selection committee.Flat Earth Society? They still around (pun intended)? Since I am probably the only ZN person to haveflown above seventy thousand feet ( done in the Concorde and Navy F-4 Phantoms), I have personallyobserved that the Earth is round, or at least the curvature is apparent at that altitude.

Having observed the moon on numerous occasions I can tell you that it is also round and no bigger than a nickle (I can completely block it out of view with my thumb.

[GoZips]

..... Flat Earth Society? They still around (pun intended)? Since I am probably the only ZN person to haveflown above seventy thousand feet ( done in the Concorde and Navy F-4 Phantoms), I have personallyobserved that the Earth is round, or at least the curvature is apparent at that altitude.

I appreciate your service to the country, and envy you for flying in a Rhino.

Thanks, Dave, I have to admit that a full military take off in an F-4 (F-4F in my day with the highspeed wing) is still the greatest thrill I have ever had. That includes being present at my daughter'sbirth (to say nothing of being there for her conception). I rode in the back seat as a REO. Cute Concorde story: When we were lining up on the runway the plane's pilot announced that thetake off would be just like taking off in an F-4. Those four Rolls-Royce Olympus engines have quitea kick. The take off set us back in our seats pretty good, but no where near what an F-4 can do.When it was my turn to view the cockpit I mentioned that I thought the Concorde launched more like a hot running Corvette. The crew agreed and we had a nice chat. I mentioned that this was the first time I ever went supersonic without worrying about getting my balls squeezed off. The old Navypressurized flight suit had a nasty habit of pinching you if you weren't very, very careful. We alllaughed. All four of the flight crew were former Royal Navy Phantom jocks.

[akronzips71]

We got a little bump to 105If we beat VCU, I think the break 100.Lots of big name schools behind us, so can't really complain.

[RACER]

every team has bottom feeders in thier divison.not every conference has a entire divison full of them.plus our rpi is not going to get us in post season play.winning the last three,and we are conf champs.we are worst case in the nit.

[Dave in Green]

Is it written anywhere that the regular season MAC champion is automatically guaranteed a spot in the NIT? I couldn't find anything that said that on the NIT site.NIT Selection Procedures

[MDZip]

Is it written anywhere that the regular season MAC champion is automatically guaranteed a spot in the NIT? I couldn't find anything that said that on the NIT site.NIT Selection Procedures

About the third paragraph down on that page, fourth bullet, Dave.The regular-season champion of any NCAA Division I conference (as determined by the conference's tie-break protocol) not otherwise selected to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship will secure an automatic qualification to the National Invitation Tournament.

[ZachTheZip]

Is it written anywhere that the regular season MAC champion is automatically guaranteed a spot in the NIT? I couldn't find anything that said that on the NIT site.NIT Selection Procedures

About the third paragraph down on that page, fourth bullet, Dave.The regular-season champion of any NCAA Division I conference (as determined by the conference's tie-break protocol) not otherwise selected to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship will secure an automatic qualification to the National Invitation Tournament.

It basically throws a bone to mid and low-majors. The high-major champions will almost certainly get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. If they expand the NCAA tournament to 96 and kill off the NIT, that post-season opportunity goes away for many teams.

[Dave in Green]

Thanks! I'm going to have to slow down my scanning speed if I continue to research data at the same rate I've been doing over the last few days. My eyes are starting to burn.The NIT is a consolation prize compared to the Big Dance. But it's a better consolation prize than the new pay-to-play tournaments, and definitely beats no post-season play at all. At least there's an opportunity to play against some of the also-rans from some of the power conferences, which can be useful experience for the younger Zips players such as Zeke.But, like everyone else here, I'm hoping the Zips can sweep both the regular season and MAC tournament championships.

[akronzips71]

Is it written anywhere that the regular season MAC champion is automatically guaranteed a spot in the NIT? I couldn't find anything that said that on the NIT site.NIT Selection Procedures

I am fairly certain that change was made as a result of the 26 win Travis team not getting a bid after that awful call at the end of the MAC tournament. There was big article in the NY Times, and then the rule was changed. THAT team really got hosed, they were the best in the MAC in every way and the refs hosed them. "Forgot" to start the clock.

[MDZip]

Is it written anywhere that the regular season MAC champion is automatically guaranteed a spot in the NIT? I couldn't find anything that said that on the NIT site.NIT Selection Procedures

I am fairly certain that change was made as a result of the 26 win Travis team not getting a bid after that awful call at the end of the MAC tournament. There was big article in the NY Times, and then the rule was changed. THAT team really got hosed, they were the best in the MAC in every way and the refs hosed them. "Forgot" to start the clock.

While the Zips deserved a spot that year, this rule still wouldn't have helped them. They were not the regular season champ that year, Toledo was. The Zips were the #2 seed. As a matter of fact the Zips have never been the #1 seed in the MAC tournament (and #2 only that one time). Here is hoping that streak ends this year.

[Dave in Green]

Zips now up to 100 RPI, and Can't is way up to 50 RPI, making a really nice, fat target to end the regular season.

[hafner4430]

When we destroy cant state on march 5th, we will shoot way down, hopefully to like 80 or less

[RACER]

Can't has a low rpi.what has it done for them? they are not going to get an at large bid.it's nice they played five top 100 team, but only beat one of them.so i guess it's worth losing four games for an automatic bid you don't recieve.

[ZippyforPresident]

Zips now up to a 93 RPI rank, although K ent has moved up to an RPI rank of 49 as per CBS Sports Akron Zips RPI Breakdown.Although I am in favor of the Zips challenging themselves in the OOC some more than has been the norm, I really don't think this is even a conversation if Akron takes care of Austin Peay and Eastern Michicant like they were supposed to, AND if they could have swept k ent (or Buffalo) and got a W against Rhode Island and VCU. Assuming they can get a W at Anderson, that would have put them at 28-3 with losses to only N.C. State, Texas A &M, and either K ent or Buffalo... IF this were the case and this team at least makes it to the MAC championship game I think the NCAA selection committee would have a hell of a time keeping a 30-4 team out that has an RPI ranking (and I'm merely speculating) somewhere in the 50's or maybe 40's.In summation: Cut out the bottom feeder schools from the OOC and replace them with "upper MAC level schools" and beat all of your conference opponents (which the Zips do for the most part already) and they will be right there on the bubble. And if they get that marquee win against some bottom of the top 25 team at the time, or get that good bracket buster win (which is what the BB is supposed to be for) then an at large is not out of the question, nor is a top 25 ranking. Hell, K ent was able to do it in the 07-08 season (yes they played #1 UNC) but the rest of that schedule is not mind bogglingly difficult. Not to sound treasonous, but I think they've done an excellent job with their OOC scheduling for quite a few years. If they have a good team and get the wins it puts them right in the middle of the Tourney conversation. And if they don't have a great team that year, or have a lot of underclassmen (and yes, this is where the JUCO conversation comes into play), they aren't going to get murdered in the way that the Redhawks would with their balls to the wall OOC schedule.The Zips schedule doesn't have to change all that much really.. It's close, but could just use a little bit of an injection. Really the key is winning the games you're supposed to win and just continuing on the path in the conference that they have been on. Get rid of the garbage bottom feeder teams and this team is a perennial Tourney team. Of course, this is merely one fan's opinion. Coach Dambrot knows what vision he has for this team and has a much more comprehensive understanding of how to get this team to where it needs to go, as opposed to some crummy fan(s) on an internet message board.Go Zips! I'm just here to enjoy this crazy roller coaster ride!

[mes102]

Zips now up to a 93 RPI rank, although K ent has moved up to an RPI rank of 49 as per CBS Sports Akron Zips RPI Breakdown.Although I am in favor of the Zips challenging themselves in the OOC some more than has been the norm, I really don't think this is even a conversation if Akron takes care of Austin Peay and Eastern Michicant like they were supposed to, AND if they could have swept k ent (or Buffalo) and got a W against Rhode Island and VCU. Assuming they can get a W at Anderson, that would have put them at 28-3 with losses to only N.C. State, Texas A &M, and either K ent or Buffalo... IF this were the case and this team at least makes it to the MAC championship game I think the NCAA selection committee would have a hell of a time keeping a 30-4 team out that has an RPI ranking (and I'm merely speculating) somewhere in the 50's or maybe 40's.In summation: Cut out the bottom feeder schools from the OOC and replace them with "upper MAC level schools" and beat all of your conference opponents (which the Zips do for the most part already) and they will be right there on the bubble. And if they get that marquee win against some bottom of the top 25 team at the time, or get that good bracket buster win (which is what the BB is supposed to be for) then an at large is not out of the question, nor is a top 25 ranking. Hell, K ent was able to do it in the 07-08 season (yes they played #1 UNC) but the rest of that schedule is not mind bogglingly difficult. Not to sound treasonous, but I think they've done an excellent job with their OOC scheduling for quite a few years. If they have a good team and get the wins it puts them right in the middle of the Tourney conversation. And if they don't have a great team that year, or have a lot of underclassmen (and yes, this is where the JUCO conversation comes into play), they aren't going to get murdered in the way that the Redhawks would with their balls to the wall OOC schedule.The Zips schedule doesn't have to change all that much really.. It's close, but could just use a little bit of an injection. Really the key is winning the games you're supposed to win and just continuing on the path in the conference that they have been on. Get rid of the garbage bottom feeder teams and this team is a perennial Tourney team. Of course, this is merely one fan's opinion. Coach Dambrot knows what vision he has for this team and has a much more comprehensive understanding of how to get this team to where it needs to go, as opposed to some crummy fan(s) on an internet message board.Go Zips! I'm just here to enjoy this crazy roller coaster ride!

+1

[Dave in Green]

Zips now up to a 93 RPI rank, although K ent has moved up to an RPI rank of 49 as per CBS Sports Akron Zips RPI Breakdown. .....

I like the CBS RPI better than the StatSheet RPI. But they both still rank Buffalo higher than the Zips, so they may both be a few days behind.Stat.Sheet.com RPI

[Jalapeño Zippy]

we are 100, right behind UNC, crazy season they've had.

[Zip Watcher]

Zips now up to a 93 RPI rank, although K ent has moved up to an RPI rank of 49 as per CBS Sports Akron Zips RPI Breakdown.Although I am in favor of the Zips challenging themselves in the OOC some more than has been the norm, I really don't think this is even a conversation if Akron takes care of Austin Peay and Eastern Michicant like they were supposed to, AND if they could have swept k ent (or Buffalo) and got a W against Rhode Island and VCU. Assuming they can get a W at Anderson, that would have put them at 28-3 with losses to only N.C. State, Texas A &M, and either K ent or Buffalo... IF this were the case and this team at least makes it to the MAC championship game I think the NCAA selection committee would have a hell of a time keeping a 30-4 team out that has an RPI ranking (and I'm merely speculating) somewhere in the 50's or maybe 40's.In summation: Cut out the bottom feeder schools from the OOC and replace them with "upper MAC level schools" and beat all of your conference opponents (which the Zips do for the most part already) and they will be right there on the bubble. And if they get that marquee win against some bottom of the top 25 team at the time, or get that good bracket buster win (which is what the BB is supposed to be for) then an at large is not out of the question, nor is a top 25 ranking. Hell, K ent was able to do it in the 07-08 season (yes they played #1 UNC) but the rest of that schedule is not mind bogglingly difficult. Not to sound treasonous, but I think they've done an excellent job with their OOC scheduling for quite a few years. If they have a good team and get the wins it puts them right in the middle of the Tourney conversation. And if they don't have a great team that year, or have a lot of underclassmen (and yes, this is where the JUCO conversation comes into play), they aren't going to get murdered in the way that the Redhawks would with their balls to the wall OOC schedule.The Zips schedule doesn't have to change all that much really.. It's close, but could just use a little bit of an injection. Really the key is winning the games you're supposed to win and just continuing on the path in the conference that they have been on. Get rid of the garbage bottom feeder teams and this team is a perennial Tourney team. Of course, this is merely one fan's opinion. Coach Dambrot knows what vision he has for this team and has a much more comprehensive understanding of how to get this team to where it needs to go, as opposed to some crummy fan(s) on an internet message board.Go Zips! I'm just here to enjoy this crazy roller coaster ride!

Maybe it's just early, but I'm not sure I understand this.What you're really saying is that if the Zips just won every game, the selection committee would have a hard time passing them up?

[Hilltopper]

Zips now up to a 93 RPI rank, although K ent has moved up to an RPI rank of 49 as per CBS Sports Akron Zips RPI Breakdown.Although I am in favor of the Zips challenging themselves in the OOC some more than has been the norm, I really don't think this is even a conversation if Akron takes care of Austin Peay and Eastern Michicant like they were supposed to, AND if they could have swept k ent (or Buffalo) and got a W against Rhode Island and VCU. Assuming they can get a W at Anderson, that would have put them at 28-3 with losses to only N.C. State, Texas A &M, and either K ent or Buffalo... IF this were the case and this team at least makes it to the MAC championship game I think the NCAA selection committee would have a hell of a time keeping a 30-4 team out that has an RPI ranking (and I'm merely speculating) somewhere in the 50's or maybe 40's.In summation: Cut out the bottom feeder schools from the OOC and replace them with "upper MAC level schools" and beat all of your conference opponents (which the Zips do for the most part already) and they will be right there on the bubble. And if they get that marquee win against some bottom of the top 25 team at the time, or get that good bracket buster win (which is what the BB is supposed to be for) then an at large is not out of the question, nor is a top 25 ranking. Hell, K ent was able to do it in the 07-08 season (yes they played #1 UNC) but the rest of that schedule is not mind bogglingly difficult. Not to sound treasonous, but I think they've done an excellent job with their OOC scheduling for quite a few years. If they have a good team and get the wins it puts them right in the middle of the Tourney conversation. And if they don't have a great team that year, or have a lot of underclassmen (and yes, this is where the JUCO conversation comes into play), they aren't going to get murdered in the way that the Redhawks would with their balls to the wall OOC schedule.The Zips schedule doesn't have to change all that much really.. It's close, but could just use a little bit of an injection. Really the key is winning the games you're supposed to win and just continuing on the path in the conference that they have been on. Get rid of the garbage bottom feeder teams and this team is a perennial Tourney team. Of course, this is merely one fan's opinion. Coach Dambrot knows what vision he has for this team and has a much more comprehensive understanding of how to get this team to where it needs to go, as opposed to some crummy fan(s) on an internet message board.Go Zips! I'm just here to enjoy this crazy roller coaster ride!

Maybe it's just early, but I'm not sure I understand this.What you're really saying is that if the Zips just won every game, the selection committee would have a hard time passing them up?

From what I've read, anything less than perfection is not acceptable to certain ZN members!

[ZachTheZip]

Zips now up to a 93 RPI rank, although K ent has moved up to an RPI rank of 49 as per CBS Sports Akron Zips RPI Breakdown.Although I am in favor of the Zips challenging themselves in the OOC some more than has been the norm, I really don't think this is even a conversation if Akron takes care of Austin Peay and Eastern Michicant like they were supposed to, AND if they could have swept k ent (or Buffalo) and got a W against Rhode Island and VCU. Assuming they can get a W at Anderson, that would have put them at 28-3 with losses to only N.C. State, Texas A &M, and either K ent or Buffalo... IF this were the case and this team at least makes it to the MAC championship game I think the NCAA selection committee would have a hell of a time keeping a 30-4 team out that has an RPI ranking (and I'm merely speculating) somewhere in the 50's or maybe 40's.In summation: Cut out the bottom feeder schools from the OOC and replace them with "upper MAC level schools" and beat all of your conference opponents (which the Zips do for the most part already) and they will be right there on the bubble. And if they get that marquee win against some bottom of the top 25 team at the time, or get that good bracket buster win (which is what the BB is supposed to be for) then an at large is not out of the question, nor is a top 25 ranking. Hell, K ent was able to do it in the 07-08 season (yes they played #1 UNC) but the rest of that schedule is not mind bogglingly difficult. Not to sound treasonous, but I think they've done an excellent job with their OOC scheduling for quite a few years. If they have a good team and get the wins it puts them right in the middle of the Tourney conversation. And if they don't have a great team that year, or have a lot of underclassmen (and yes, this is where the JUCO conversation comes into play), they aren't going to get murdered in the way that the Redhawks would with their balls to the wall OOC schedule.The Zips schedule doesn't have to change all that much really.. It's close, but could just use a little bit of an injection. Really the key is winning the games you're supposed to win and just continuing on the path in the conference that they have been on. Get rid of the garbage bottom feeder teams and this team is a perennial Tourney team. Of course, this is merely one fan's opinion. Coach Dambrot knows what vision he has for this team and has a much more comprehensive understanding of how to get this team to where it needs to go, as opposed to some crummy fan(s) on an internet message board.Go Zips! I'm just here to enjoy this crazy roller coaster ride!

Maybe it's just early, but I'm not sure I understand this.What you're really saying is that if the Zips just won every game, the selection committee would have a hard time passing them up?

Seems pretty straight forward, doesn't it?