Holy Crap part two

[The Hip Zip]

Anybody watch Oakland take down the Vol's tonight ? This was no fluke either as they have played Sparty right down to the wire and also hung around a long time with Illinois. How does a team from the Summit league get so damn good? Not just good but scarry good ! I really think that they can play with just about anybody with the kids they have.

I'd kind of like to see some glimpses of that here someday.

[Dave in Green]

Check out the mid-major top 25 to see who the real power is:

Mid-Major Top 25

[RootforRoo44]

Check out the mid-major top 25 to see who the real power is:

Mid-Major Top 25

yeah now only if CSU would play someone who's good.

[The Hip Zip]

That poll is a joke and I'd take Oakland over just about anybody thats ahead of them.

Of their 5 losses the only "bad" one was at Wright St, which many would not consider bad at all. The other four were against very high major teams with three of them being highly ranked. Now, with Oakland notching a great road win at #7 Tennessee, I'll take their body of work over the others on that poll any day.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I thought this thread was going to be about Drexel stomping #21 Louisville, in Louisville?

C'mon Zips...beat Minnesota! Justify a high ranking in a mid-major poll! ESPN highlights aren't just for Zips soccer! Join the fun!

[Zipmeister]

We're # 50, We're # 50, We're # 50!!!!!!!!!

[Dave in Green]

So now we need to put Charlotte right up there with Oakland, right? Or do we need to lower the value of beating Tennessee?

Tennessee Loses to Charlotte

[Jalapeño Zippy]

UIC knocked off Illinois today. That's right up there with the other games we are discussing.

[Dave in Green]

Funny that the Zips beat UIC and UIC beat Illinois, but I doubt anyone here would give the Zips a prayer of beating Illinois.

[Zipmeister]

Perhaps the last time Illinois schedules an away game against a Horizon League team.

[GoZips]

Perhaps the last time Illinois schedules an away game against a Horizon League team.

You can be assured that Illinois was in Chicago for one reason only. Recruiting.

[zippyman23]

The game was at the United Center and the crowd was probably about 80% Illinois fans. Not exactly an away game.

[The Hip Zip]

So now we need to put Charlotte right up there with Oakland, right? Or do we need to lower the value of beating Tennessee?

Tennessee Loses to Charlotte

Would you not place much more value in Oakland beating the Vol's on their own floor rather than the 49's beating them in Charlotte? Huge difference, I would say. No doubt though, Tennessee has no business being in the top ten at this point of the season. Still, Oakland's season has been pretty damn impressive for a member of the Summit League. I think that we would both agree on that.

[Dave in Green]

Sure, a road win carries more weight than a home win. Both were upsets, but Oakland's carries a little more weight for being on the road. Oakland has had a pretty decent team in recent years, and has played a lot of good teams tough. Oakland gave Tennessee a wakeup call that should have had the Vols more prepared for Charlotte.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Presbyterian knocks off Wake Forest.

Look for ESPN to steal my line and start calling these upsets "Left Nut Wins" very soon.

Note - I would NOT give my left nut to beat Penn State in basketball, like Maine did tonight.

[skip-zip]

Once again, to beat them you have to SCHEDULE them.

Oakland has already played 4 ranked teams, and still has OSWho coming up.

[BirdZip]

Once again, to beat them you have to SCHEDULE them.

Oakland has already played 4 ranked teams, and still has OSWho coming up.

This year's schedule includes Dayton, Cleveland State, Temple, Minnesota and Miami (FL). Minnesota was ranked when we played them. Temple was ranked shortly before we played them. CSU is #1 mid-major right now. Your complaint is about a year too late.

[Dave in Green]

We don't need to look outside the MAC to find a team that always schedules a number of tough OOC games and usually loses them all, but occasionally wins one. Miami is 1-4 in their toughest 5 OOC games this season:

Nov 16 @Duke Lost 45-79

Nov 22 San Diego St. Lost 56-77

Nov 26 @Ohio St. Lost 45-66

Dec 1 Xavier Won 75-64

Dec 4 @Dayton Lost 58-70

The Zips OOC schedule this season is not as tough as Miami's, but I thought there was pretty general agreement here that it was at least somewhat better than previous seasons, and a step in the right direction.

[ZachTheZip]

We don't need to look outside the MAC to find a team that always schedules a number of tough OOC games and usually loses them all, but occasionally wins one. Miami is 1-4 in their toughest 5 OOC games this season:

Nov 16 @Duke Lost 45-79

Nov 22 San Diego St. Lost 56-77

Nov 26 @Ohio St. Lost 45-66

Dec 1 Xavier Won 75-64

Dec 4 @Dayton Lost 58-70

The Zips OOC schedule this season is not as tough as Miami's, but I thought there was pretty general agreement here that it was at least somewhat better than previous seasons, and a step in the right direction.

Akron's SOS is currently 30th. Miami's is currently 17th. That's out of over 340 teams. Not much difference at all.

Is playing a schedule rated in the top 10% of the country not enough for some people?

[Captain Kangaroo]

We don't need to look outside the MAC to find a team that always schedules a number of tough OOC games and usually loses them all, but occasionally wins one. Miami is 1-4 in their toughest 5 OOC games this season:

Nov 16 @Duke Lost 45-79

Nov 22 San Diego St. Lost 56-77

Nov 26 @Ohio St. Lost 45-66

Dec 1 Xavier Won 75-64

Dec 4 @Dayton Lost 58-70

The Zips OOC schedule this season is not as tough as Miami's, but I thought there was pretty general agreement here that it was at least somewhat better than previous seasons, and a step in the right direction.

You can also see that CSU backed off their Miami-esque Murder's Row schedule policy and reeled off 12-straight to begin this year.

Our schedule had been too soft in the past. It is ok now. If we really feel Zeke and Gilliam and Harney and Walsh and Treadwell + all these other guys are going to be something special, I hope we kick our scheduling up a notch next season too.

[Quickzips]

No reason at all to complain about this years OOC schedule. Here is where realtimerpi ranks our OOC opponents at this date.

Dayton-102

YSU-227

CSU-11

Detroit-171

UIC-203

Temple-16

Minnesota-23

Bethune-Cookman-250

UALR-148

Stetson-200

Miami(FL)-20

UAPB-285

Oral Roberts-152

That is four teams ranked in the top 25 by RPI as of today. Dayton, Detroit, UALR and Oral Roberts are all quality opponents judging by RPI numbers. Even UIC and Stetson aren't terrible. Those games with YSU, Bethune-Cookman and UAPB aren't real good for the RPI, but the hit we take there will be nothing compared to what we get when we hit the conference schedule and have to play Bowling Green (338) twice, Eastern Michigan (342), Central Michigan (286) and Toledo (260).

[Dave in Green]

Tennessee now has three straight losses, with USC joining Oakland and Charlotte in consecutive upsets.

[ZachTheZip]

The worst team we have lost to this season is 9-3 Dayton. Wrap your heads around that. I'm feeling that we're about to claim our own signature win. Zips have the hot hand in Vegas.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Siena beats Georgia Tech.

Even though Siena has had their share of recent left-nutters, I still givin' 'em one here.

[The Hip Zip]

I hope that the Golden Grizzlies have one more upset in the tank today ! I'd give 'em the right nut for this one.