Little National Love

[Dave in Green]

Eamonn Brennan on Twitter: RT @dandakich: Akron goes into Ohio and wins..locks up an at large no question..my national COY?? Keith Dambrot of Akron..no question .....

Coach Dambrot is more likely to win national COY than MAC COY.

[akronzips71]

Dave, how about some stats on comebacks?

We must be setting some kind of record for being down up to 20 points and pulling out a win.

[ZachTheZip]

A moment with Jim Tressel talking about Chardon and also the Zips.

[originalrowdy]

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballn...in-a-good-place

... 3. Akron might not have the profile to be a lock as an at-large NCAA team, but it would be a shame if the Zips don't get a bid if they can’t win the Mid-American Conference tournament. Akron won in overtime at rival Ohio on Wednesday to go to 13-0, 23-4 overall with three games remaining. The Zips haven’t lost since Dec. 15 at Detroit, winning 19 in a row. This is a team I want to see in the Dance -- and probably one many coaches don’t. Akron can win games in mid-March. The committee doesn’t need to change its prescription to see that this team passes the eye test quite well.

IMO, Akron is now a lock, assuming we don't screw the pooch the last few games. As for the above, strong National COY Dambrot, an Akron team w/ 19 consecutive Ws and counting, what the hell else do they have to do??? Seriously, I posted last night tweets about them being a lock. I'm sick of this back and forth stuff. PUT 'EM IN!!!

[Dr Z]

[odhgibo]

A nearby outsider's take on the MAC, OU, etc. -- Bob Hunter

[Dave in Green]

To be fair to Tree, he was asked by the media to speculate about playing OU again at the Q. So he worded his answer as if it was going to happen. It doesn't show up in Hunter's piece, but Tree quickly caught himself and told the media there were no guarantees that the two teams would meet again at the Q. Tree is not only turning into a great basketball player faster than many expected, he's also getting savvy about dealing with the media.

[ksu sucks]

College Chalk Talk

Cinderella Rankings for March Madness

[odhgibo]

What is irony? A retweet over the Diogenes quotation: "One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotings"--Diogenes of Sinope

[ksu sucks]

Tweets of the week:

Brian Walsh

AP Top 25

Lebron James

Dickie V

Chase Blackburn

[MDZip]

What is irony? A retweet over the Diogenes quotation: "One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotings"--Diogenes of Sinope

Clever catch.

[MDZip]

Cinderella Rankings for March Madness

Could have mentioned that they have now moved the Zips up to position #1, meaning the most likely to pull off an upset. Bleacher Report also had this story on how the Zips could do it which has some elements of stories I've read before but I don't remember this being linked.

[skip-zip]

Real Time RPI has us at #35 this morning, with the double upward arrows. That's the highest I've seen in any of the RPI rankings this year, unless I am mistaken.

However, Pomeroy still has us much lower.

[Dave in Green]

Up to #3 in ESPN's Mid-Major Power Rankings behind only Gonzaga and Middle Tennessee:

3. Akron (23-4, 13-0 MAC). The Zips cracked the latest coaches’ poll. They haven’t lost since Dec. 15.

[ksu sucks]

Could have mentioned that they have now moved the Zips up to position #1

And ruin the surprise?

[ZippyRulz]

Dan Dakich @dandakich

Akron goes into Ohio and wins..locks up an at large no question..my national COY?? Keith Dambrot of Akron..no question

[zen]

Could have mentioned that they have now moved the Zips up to position #1, meaning the most likely to pull off an upset. Bleacher Report also had this story on how the Zips could do it which has some elements of stories I've read before but I don't remember this being linked.

Most likely to pull off an upset = underrated = most deserving for at-large

[Dave in Green]

The Bracket Guru joins Dan Dakich on the Keith Dambrot National COY bandwagon:

3. Count me in as a member of the Akron bandwagon and Keith Dambrot for National COY award bandwagon. Wisconsin is just a terrible draw for them. Any of the other 5 seeds (Memphis, UNLV and Ohio St.), and Akron would be a very trendy sleeper upset.

[originalrowdy]

Nardone, Senior Writer for Rant Sports, lobbying hard...

http://www.rantsports.com/ncaa-basketball/...t-at-large-bid/

[odhgibo]

The Bracket Guru joins Dan Dakich on the Keith Dambrot National COY bandwagon:

3. Count me in as a member of the Akron bandwagon and Keith Dambrot for National COY award bandwagon. Wisconsin is just a terrible draw for them. Any of the other 5 seeds (Memphis, UNLV and Ohio St.), and Akron would be a very trendy sleeper upset.

FWIW (which is next to zero this early in March), Lunardi now has Akron up to a #11, playing Pitt. Both Pomeroy and Sagarin rate Pitt as worthy of much higher than #6 seed, btw.

[ksu sucks]

They were talking about Akron for a few minutes during the VCU/Butler game on ESPN2.

The Shaka/Dambrot connection was mentioned. As well as Akron's win streak and how Akron deserves more national recognition.

[mivid12]

They were talking about Akron for a few minutes during the VCU/Butler game on ESPN2.

The Shaka/Dambrot connection was mentioned. As well as Akron's win streak and how Akron deserves more national recognition.

I'm convinced regardless of what happens in the MAC Tourney Akron is in the NCAA Tourney....all this national chatter is great but puts an enormous amount of pressure to win at least one game. A first round flameout will be devastating. Having said that, I'm also convinced that is not going to happen. This years team has a different 'vibe' about it than years past.

[bUAkronG]

Talking about teams to watch in the tourney this morning, Chuck Booms mentioned Akron and how the Zips could make some noise in the NCAA tourney this year. He said the Zips deserve a berth if they lose in the MACC. Ken Carmen mentioned the 2006-07 team being 26-7 and getting hefted, so we will still have to see how it plays out.

FYI this is from Kiley & Booms on 92.3.

Btw as I'm typing this Mitch from Akron calls and promotes the Zips. Who was it on here??

[Sergeant Zip]

Link to recap, starts at about 6 minutes in.

[Dave in Green]

A new Associated Press story, College Hoops Season Filled with Surprises, features Akron as one of six surprise teams:

Akron. Coach Keith Dambrot has given the Zips an identity in Ohio and the Mid-American Conference, but it hasn't gone much farther. That changed this season as Akron ran off 19 straight wins, shining a spotlight on a town better known for being the home of LeBron James. The Zips had their winning streak — the longest in the nation at the time — end with a loss to Buffalo last Saturday, but bounced back to beat Miami (Ohio) Tuesday night and wrap up their second consecutive Mid-American Conference regular-season title. And with a good mix of size, strength and experience, Akron (24-5, 14-1) has the kind of team that could damage a few brackets once the NCAA tournament rolls around.