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Zips Hoops Rankings


RootforRoo44

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Per gozips.com

For the first time in program history, the Zips appeared in both the USA TODAY & AP polls at the same time. The Zips received two points in the coaches poll and four points in the AP poll.

The Akron media guide says one thing but the polls from '06-'07 disagree:

2006-2007 final polls

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I think "just have to love" translates roughly to "take with a grain of salt." It has MTSU and Stephen F. Austin too high and NC State and Marquette too low.

Based on 2+ months worth of games, I'd put the Zips in the 45-55 range, albeit trending upward. That's not a bad neighborhood -- in with the likes of UCLA, Stanford, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois and Alabama. Taking another step up puts them in some rarified air.

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How much is the nation's longest winning streak worth, even if it's mostly against weaker teams? The latest ESPN mid-major power rankings show the Zips have now moved ahead of Bucknell, BYU and Wichita State, and trail only Gonzaga, Belmont, Middle Tennessee, Creighton and St. Mary's:

6. Akron (18-4, 9-0 MAC) – The Zips have the nation’s longest winning streak (14 games).

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How much is the nation's longest winning streak worth, even if it's mostly against weaker teams? The latest ESPN mid-major power rankings show the Zips have now moved ahead of Bucknell, BYU and Wichita State, and trail only Gonzaga, Belmont, Middle Tennessee, Creighton and St. Mary's:

6. Akron (18-4, 9-0 MAC) – The Zips have the nation’s longest winning streak (14 games).

And we beat Middle Tennessee head-to-head. If we can win three in a row against NDSU, Ohio, and Buffalo, look out!

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Breitbart story: Akron to Wisconsin - Alphabetical List of Who should Make it to March Madness

If the season ended today, these are the 58 teams (in alphabetical order) that should be invited to March Madness. The list starts with a newcomer in Akron - led by 7-foot center Zeke Marshall (20th best player at www.valueaddbasketball.com), 5-foot-11 Alex Abreu and 6-foot-7 Demetrius Treadwell - and ends with reliable Wisconsin.

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FWIW, Detroit and Princeton both lost today as favorites. Princeton was favored by double digits and fell at home.

Western Michigan also suffered their first MAC loss outside of OU and Akron while falling by 3 to Ball State in Muncie. Did I mention they too were favored? Bad day to be Akron's former foes.

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Detroit also lost. But these losses by teams the Zips have played doesn't appear to be having a major effect on the Zips' RPI. UA is still #52 on Live RPI, which automatically updates each time every game ends. RPI tends to have wild swings early in the season when not many games have been played, and then slows down later in the season when each new result is a smaller percentage of the whole.

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FWIW, Detroit and Princeton both lost today as favorites. Princeton was favored by double digits and fell at home.

Western Michigan also suffered their first MAC loss outside of OU and Akron while falling by 3 to Ball State in Muncie. Did I mention they too were favored? Bad day to be Akron's former foes.

This was a horrible day for Akron opponents, and, along with a horrible performance today by the Zips at Miami, one that will hurt the Zips overall image in the long run. Of course, Akron won, but really the last two games have taken them out of the at-large picture, especially now that the teams that the Zips needed to win all lost to lesser opponents (and we can indeed add Creighton to that mix now).

Overall, it probably isn't worth tracking what Akron opponents have done anymore in hopes for an at-large boost. For one, the Zips really needed to dominate their lesser opponents (on top of winning out) just to have a realistic chance at an at-large. Still, that would've hinged on what teams like Detroit, Creighton, Princeton and Western Michigan (all top 100 teams according to at least one of the reputable models) did from here on out. The Zips need those teams to be ranked as high as possible. Today didn't help in that regard. While Creighton will still likely wind up top 50, and Detroit can wind up top 100, I think this will be the last of Princeton and Western Michigan sniffing the top 100.

While it is all about Cleveland at this point, on the bright side, the Middle Tennessee State win and the OT loss to a surging Oklahoma State team (just from looking at the schedule, the Cowboys have a legit shot at winning the Big 12 regular season title), will probably be the two most eye-opening games the selection committee will consider in the KD era. While not enough to put this team in the at-large field, those are two games that could bump the Zips up a seed or two if they handle business in Cleveland.

Don't get me wrong, I want to see the Zips to win every game (regardless of tournament status). I'm just pointing out that even if this team drops a game or two from now until the MAC tournament, it's not the end of the world. ... And I'll admit, I was one of the people who thought this team still had a real at-large chance prior to Tuesday. Now, this team just needs to focus on continuing to get better (and they've digressed since the OU game) and playing their best ball come Cleveland.

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As predicted, the Zips ugly win plus other Saturday results combined to drop them a couple of spots to #54 in RPI and #53 in Pomeroy. For the first time this season, Pomeroy ranks the Zips defense higher (#52) than the offense (#58). They really need to regain the offensive performance they showed earlier in the season while continuing to tighten up the defense.

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