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It's hard to get past wanting the worst for Can't, even when the worst for Can't ends up hurting the Zips.

We have to be more focused on what's best for the Zips, even if that occasionally means sucking it up and rooting for the Golden Felons.

The higher Can't is ranked when the Zips beat them, the better it is for the Zips' RPI.

The higher the Zips' RPI, the more likely the Zips are to get a higher seed in the NCAA tournament.

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To add to today's bad news. Mississippi State also lost their third straight game. The Zips now have no top 50 wins. In fact, going by RPI, Marshall (55) is now the Zips' best win. Mississippi State is ranked 56.

Between the Zips' loss, the MAC's poor showing and losing that lone top 50 win, not a good day for Akron.

There was one good thing, though. ESPN had a "Back to School" segment with Bobby Knight on SportsCenter. The University of Akron Wayne Campus sign inside Orrville's gym was clearly visible. Hey, got to find some bright spot. Well, Can't did lose too (even though it doesn't help Akron, still not something I'll get too worked up over.)

Also, the Akron-ORU game made the highlights, though it consisted of two plays ... the ORU big man's behind the back pass that resulted in a dunk, and his reverse layup. But I guess that also could've been worse. They could've shown Quincy's missed dunk and Brett's quick-trigger three that came up a couple feet short.

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Unfortunately, we are not as good as we thought we were. The conference lost a lot of respect so our 11-1 conference record is not that impressive and neither is our Miss St win.

Our losses to Valpo and CSU are looking really bad and the loss to ORU will hurt too. I am affraid that if we win the MAC, we will get no better than a 15 seed and have a very tough matchup.

I am sorry if I sound like a downer, the reason I do that is because I will puke the next time I hear fans talk about the NCAA hating us and the committee's conspiracy to get Akron. You know what is even worse? when KD complains to the media about his team not having the respect and not being considered in at-large consideration. You EARN respect on the hardwood, you don't BEG for it in the media.

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Unfortunately, we are not as good as we thought we were. The conference lost a lot of respect so our 11-1 conference record is not that impressive and neither is our Miss St win.

Our losses to Valpo and CSU are looking really bad and the loss to ORU will hurt too. I am affraid that if we win the MAC, we will get no better than a 15 seed and have a very tough matchup.

I am sorry if I sound like a downer, the reason I do that is because I will puke the next time I hear fans talk about the NCAA hating us and the committee's conspiracy to get Akron. You know what is even worse? when KD complains to the media about his team not having the respect and not being considered in at-large consideration. You EARN respect on the hardwood, you don't BEG for it in the media.

Thats not being a 'downer' thats just being realistic. Until the MAC starts knocking off some of the big boys during the regular season AND wins a game or 2 in the NCAA,please don't expect the powers that be to leave out the power confernece schools or the really good mid-major schools for a second MAC team. The loss to VCU and the loss to ORU seem to be pretty indicative of where the Zips and the conference are at in the pecking oreder.

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Unfortunately, we are not as good as we thought we were. The conference lost a lot of respect so our 11-1 conference record is not that impressive and neither is our Miss St win.

Our losses to Valpo and CSU are looking really bad and the loss to ORU will hurt too. I am affraid that if we win the MAC, we will get no better than a 15 seed and have a very tough matchup.

I am sorry if I sound like a downer, the reason I do that is because I will puke the next time I hear fans talk about the NCAA hating us and the committee's conspiracy to get Akron. You know what is even worse? when KD complains to the media about his team not having the respect and not being considered in at-large consideration. You EARN respect on the hardwood, you don't BEG for it in the media.

:rolleyes:

“I want to win the rest of the games because I think we could get an at-large bid,” he said. “No one’s talking about us, but if we win the rest of the games that would make us 24-7 and that would mean that we went 21-2 after starting 3-5 and we’d have some quality wins.” - Keith Dambrot prior to the OR game

That's "begging"...? What do you want him to say? If they had won out, why wouldn't they have been under consideration?

This is a young team (16th youngest in Division I). We know there would be growing pains this season. So did the coaching staff, which is why they took the Canada trip. We've dealt with injuries, suspensions, and players forced into playing out of their natural positions. They have also been faced with trying to gel a team with three new starters and four rotation players who didn't play college basketball last year.

With all of that in their way, they are 19-8 overall, 11-1 in the MAC, and in the driver's seat for the #1 seed in the MAC Tournament, while facing the toughest schedule in recent program history.

Not as good as we thought? This year scared the hell out of me to start with, and that was before it seemed like it was all falling apart (Abreu's injury, Harney and Treadwell's suspensions, etc). Many teams would have folded under the same adversity, but the Zips fought through it. Not as good as we thought? Bullshit...they're better than I thought they were.

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Don't get me wrong because I agree with much of the previous post, like 99% of it . However, I believe that the Zips would have made the Canada ( or wherever else abroad) trip no matter if they were a young or veteran squad. Under NCAA rules such trips can only be taken in a given period and it was simply our time to go. I could be wrong and have zero doubts that I'll be corrected if so. :lol:

Is it frustrating that we did not win at ORU? Certainly. Was it a shock that we lost ? Not at all. Toss in a dash of seasoning and poise and we'll beat 'em by 20 next season.

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Is it frustrating that we did not win at ORU? Certainly. Was it a shock that we lost ? Not at all.
Right on both accounts. I don't know why, but I was abnormally frustrated by this loss. I guess my expectations were getting up due to the proximity of the month of March. Back to reality.

And from the above comments on KD, I think he has been very realistic about an at large bid all year. If he gets excited about it and pumps it up in the media, so be it. That's his job. Good for him.

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Two years ago, Ohio was 7-9 in conference, had 14 losses overall, and their oonly top 100 wins were Can't (47), Illinois St. (76), Wright St. (80), and Akron (89). They got a 14 seed. I would expect the MAC Tourny Champ (assuming its Akron, Can't, Buffalo, or Ohio) to at worst be a 14 seed.

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Two years ago, Ohio was 7-9 in conference, had 14 losses overall, and their oonly top 100 wins were Can't (47), Illinois St. (76), Wright St. (80), and Akron (89). They got a 14 seed. I would expect the MAC Tourny Champ (assuming its Akron, Can't, Buffalo, or Ohio) to at worst be a 14 seed.

Good post. Agreed!

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Two years ago, Ohio was 7-9 in conference, had 14 losses overall, and their oonly top 100 wins were Can't (47), Illinois St. (76), Wright St. (80), and Akron (89). They got a 14 seed. I would expect the MAC Tourny Champ (assuming its Akron, Can't, Buffalo, or Ohio) to at worst be a 14 seed.

This is why it still bothers me that we got a #15 last year.

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This is why it still bothers me that we got a #15 last year.

After winning the MAC tournament two years ago, OU had an RPI of #98 and SOS of #117.

After winning the MAC tournament last year, UA had an RPI of #104 and SOS of #185.

In any case, there's not a lot of difference between the #4 14th seed and the #1 15th seed.

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After winning the MAC tournament two years ago, OU had an RPI of #98 and SOS of #117.

After winning the MAC tournament last year, UA had an RPI of #104 and SOS of #185.

In any case, there's not a lot of difference between the #4 14th seed and the #1 15th seed.

That's interesting, Dave. Thanks for the data. I may have focused on the records alone, and assumed that our 2011 team was in much better shape than the 2010 OU team.

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Don't get me wrong because I agree with much of the previous post, like 99% of it . However, I believe that the Zips would have made the Canada ( or wherever else abroad) trip no matter if they were a young or veteran squad. Under NCAA rules such trips can only be taken in a given period and it was simply our time to go. I could be wrong and have zero doubts that I'll be corrected if so. :lol:

Is it frustrating that we did not win at ORU? Certainly. Was it a shock that we lost ? Not at all. Toss in a dash of seasoning and poise and we'll beat 'em by 20 next season.

I can tell you with full confidence that the trip was taken this summer because of the need for extra "live game action" for our young team.

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