Big OOC MAC Wins

[Captain Kangaroo]

Better late than never to start this topic...

Nice win by EMU over Michigan tonight. Wish it was us beating Ohio State, but happy for the former Hurons nonetheless.

[mes102]

Michigan is looking really bad right now. A loss to NJIT, and now EMU? They caught them at the right time. Good for the Eagles, and good for the MAC.

[LZIp]

I'm looking forward to our premiere OOC matchup against MTSU.

[RACER]

Michigan is looking really bad right now. A loss to NJIT, and now EMU? They caught them at the right time. Good for the Eagles, and good for the MAC.

good for emu.now go beat somebody other than n. j i t.

[MDZip]

I'm looking forward to our premiere OOC matchup against MTSU.

So USC, Miami, South Carolina and Penn State weren't good enough for you (of which the Zips won 2)? And that's just this year. And Mississippi State was a top 25 team when the Zips upset them. If EMU goes on to have a good year then the Michigan upset might mean something (but people will still downgrade the win right after NJIT also upset them - to whom we would even be mad if we lost to). Think you're barking up the wrong tree.

[zippy5]

So USC, Miami, South Carolina and Penn State weren't good enough for you (of which the Zips won 2)? And that's just this year. And Mississippi State was a top 25 team when the Zips upset them. If EMU goes on to have a good year then the Michigan upset might mean something (but people will still downgrade the win right after NJIT also upset them - to whom we would even be mad if we lost to). Think you're barking up the wrong tree.

I agree. I'm usually bummed about the Zips lack of "big" wins.. But this isn't the year for that complaint.

[johnnyzip84]

Perhaps LZip meant premiere OOC HOME matchup.

RACER, I'm not sure I understand your comment. Neither EMU nor Michigan beat NJIT.

EMU also hung tough with Dayton on the road. Maybe Rob Murphy finally has the horses to effectively play the 'Cuse 2-3 AND score enough to win?

[MDZip]

Perhaps LZip meant premiere OOC HOME matchup.

I thought of that as well but I will let LZip answer that. But EMU's win was in Ann Arbor - but since Ypsilanti is only about 10 minutes away maybe it was considered a home game?

[Captain Kangaroo]

EMU also hung tough with Dayton on the road. Maybe Rob Murphy finally has the horses to effectively play the 'Cuse 2-3 AND score enough to win?

EMU is for real. I watched most of the Michigan game, and EMU plays excellent defense. They will give the Zips all we can handle.

I'm glad to see it. EMU has been a blight on the MAC (which is really saying something) for over a decade. We need more strong teams.

I hope EMU/Toledo is on TV. That'll be a fun game.

[ZachTheZip]

I'm glad to see it. EMU has been a blight on the MAC (which is really saying something) for over a decade. We need more strong teams.

The problem with the MAC is that whenever a bottom-feeder gets good, some other good team falls into the abyss. It's cyclical.

[Captain Kangaroo]

The problem with the MAC is that whenever a bottom-feeder gets good, some other good team falls into the abyss. It's cyclical.

Is that OU this season?

[morris buttermaker]

So USC, Miami, South Carolina and Penn State weren't good enough for you (of which the Zips won 2)? And that's just this year. And Mississippi State was a top 25 team when the Zips upset them. If EMU goes on to have a good year then the Michigan upset might mean something (but people will still downgrade the win right after NJIT also upset them - to whom we would even be mad if we lost to). Think you're barking up the wrong tree.

Lets get real... the Zips have an awful schedule. They won 2 of those games?.. yes, and one was against what can be called a fairly pathetic USC team which has an RPI of 109... SC is a modest 61 in the RPI (which when you factor in conference champs and tourney champs, probably means they are a bubble NCAA team at best... They lost to PSU (50) and Miami (42). KD I am pretty sure is still paid on 20 wins, and he should again deliver... the schedule is loaded with bottom feeding teams, and no one that provides any help to a team seeking anything other than wins.

I saw that the Zips are ranked 9th in the mid major poll .... what exactly is that?... it strikes me as a poll of the best JV teams. Looking at it, I see that the top 3 teams are in the top 25 in the "real" polls--- great, but throw in the others getting votes, and the teams that just dropped out of the real polls, and you are about at 50 teams, and have yet to sniff another from the mid major poll. So where does that put Akron who is at #9?... outside the NCAA tourney without a MAC tourney championship... and some awful scheduling doesn't help them- every yr.

In my mind, the Zips need to go on the road and go on the road over and over, and play some schools that, A) help them if they can grab an upset, and maybe generate some recruiting interest because of the schedule they play. I am fairly certain, every basketball player worth his weight, would rather go on the road to play some real schools, then play Coppin St or Bluffton at home. ... The loss of home games is no big deal-- what 3000 paying spectators tops for the non MAC schedule?

I am floored by the rose colored glasses and the people that think this program is close to a Butler or a Gonzaga... hey, maybe get to the NCAA most years and WIN a game... or 17....or don't get blitzed.

You play in the MAC and you schedule relatively poorly, rarely playing big schools on their courts.. get your 20 wins...so you get MAC type players, miss the NCAA most years, and can't compete when you get there.

There are 8 schools to win 21 games each of the last 9 years.. Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, tOSU, Pitt, Syracuse ....AND Akron. Only one has never won an NCAA tourney game..... time to change it up... it doesn't work they way they are doing it at Akron.

[taxpayer]

Mr. Buttermaker - too bad the Zips don't have the $ to execute your plan; if they had they would have beaten PSU imo. If you want them to play against the big boys it will take some cash so they at least not play exhausted due their travel arrangements. As stated in another thread, I think we should forget about building a decent facility and fund raise for "charters" when deemed to give the Zips a chance to compete on a level playing field/court.

A previous poster is right, how much $ are the Zips playing in front of 2-3,000? Heck, Joe Akron doesn't care nor do 95% of the students. The charter fund will be dependent on supporters. I read an article recently where the UA athletic department is $21,000,000 in debt. There isn't going to be a new basketball facility unless LBJ builds and pays for it. The article stated all MAC athletic departments are multi-millions in debt.

[zippy5]

Not that I totally agree with buttermaker.. But taxpayer, road games are bought. Teams he would like to see us play would be paying us for the game..

[MDZip]

Lets get real... the Zips have an awful schedule. They won 2 of those games?.. yes, and one was against what can be called a fairly pathetic USC team which has an RPI of 109... SC is a modest 61 in the RPI (which when you factor in conference champs and tourney champs, probably means they are a bubble NCAA team at best... They lost to PSU (50) and Miami (42). KD I am pretty sure is still paid on 20 wins, and he should again deliver... the schedule is loaded with bottom feeding teams, and no one that provides any help to a team seeking anything other than wins.

I saw that the Zips are ranked 9th in the mid major poll .... what exactly is that?... it strikes me as a poll of the best JV teams. Looking at it, I see that the top 3 teams are in the top 25 in the "real" polls--- great, but throw in the others getting votes, and the teams that just dropped out of the real polls, and you are about at 50 teams, and have yet to sniff another from the mid major poll. So where does that put Akron who is at #9?... outside the NCAA tourney without a MAC tourney championship... and some awful scheduling doesn't help them- every yr.

In my mind, the Zips need to go on the road and go on the road over and over, and play some schools that, A) help them if they can grab an upset, and maybe generate some recruiting interest because of the schedule they play. I am fairly certain, every basketball player worth his weight, would rather go on the road to play some real schools, then play Coppin St or Bluffton at home. ... The loss of home games is no big deal-- what 3000 paying spectators tops for the non MAC schedule?

I am floored by the rose colored glasses and the people that think this program is close to a Butler or a Gonzaga... hey, maybe get to the NCAA most years and WIN a game... or 17....or don't get blitzed.

You play in the MAC and you schedule relatively poorly, rarely playing big schools on their courts.. get your 20 wins...so you get MAC type players, miss the NCAA most years, and can't compete when you get there.

There are 8 schools to win 21 games each of the last 9 years.. Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, tOSU, Pitt, Syracuse ....AND Akron. Only one has never won an NCAA tourney game..... time to change it up... it doesn't work they way they are doing it at Akron.

Shouldn't you be out making sure Kelly Leak is staying out of trouble? There have been innumerable threads about Zips scheduling explaining some of the challenges but do you want the Miami philosophy they used to employ where they played a murderers row of teams (and lost to every one of them)? How often do you think its possible to rise up and beat a top 25 team at their place - which unless you do the tournaments like the Zips do is the only way you're going to play them - I'd much rather do what the Zips do and have a chance to beat them on a neutral court (which happened two of three times this year). If you recall South Carolina destroyed the Zips twice last year, so the Zips get no credit for beating them this year? Oftentimes these games or tournaments are set well in advance and you have no idea how good the team is going to be when you actually play. EMU looks like they caught Michigan in a down year (unless you think good teams get beat by both NJIT and EMU at home in the same year), good for them, wonder how the outcome might have been a couple years ago during the year Michigan was National Runner Up? And I don't know who you think thinks the Zips are on a Butler/Gonzaga level but I haven't seen it. There are 340 D-1 teams and you're going to complain because the Zips played four in the top 109 and beat two of them? Good that your expectations are high but it probably needs to be tempered with a little realism.

[morris buttermaker]

Shouldn't you be out making sure Kelly Slater is staying out of trouble? There have been innumerable threads about Zips scheduling explaining some of the challenges but do you want the Miami philosophy they used to employ where they played a murderers row of teams (and lost to every one of them)? How often do you think its possible to rise up and beat a top 25 team at their place - which unless you do the tournaments like the Zips do is the only way you're going to play them - I'd much rather do what the Zips do and have a chance to beat them on a neutral court (which happened two of three times this year). If you recall South Carolina destroyed the Zips twice last year, so the Zips get no credit for beating them this year? Oftentimes these games or tournaments are set well in advance and you have no idea how good the team is going to be when you actually play. EMU looks like they caught Michigan in a down year (unless you think good teams get beat by both NJIT and EMU at home in the same year), good for them, wonder how the outcome might have been a couple years ago during the year Michigan was National Runner Up? And I don't know who you think thinks the Zips are on a Butler/Gonzaga level but I haven't seen it. There are 340 D-1 teams and you're going to complain because the Zips played four in the top 109 and beat two of them? Good that your expectations are high but it probably needs to be tempered with a little realism.

I think you need the tough ooc schedule...unlike Miami,you will get your wins in the MAC.

I do give the Zips credit for the SC win.. that is a nice win---- but when that is your "win" its not enough. As far as scheduling, the truly good schools--- the ones that I think the Zips should seek out, rarely are down ( falling into 40-100 in RPI). So you can schedule those road games... your easier away games should be in showcases IMO

[LZIp]

Really not about to go around this debate again. While getting wins over any P5 team is always nice, you guys need to realize that maybe 1 of the P5 teams we've played this season are going to make the tournament. Quote me on it. BTW- Miami wasn't even a guarantee on the schedule, we got lucky that we played our toughest opponent of the season. They weren't even picked to finish in the top half of the ACC. Luck had everything to do with that opponent.

Scheduling one, maybe even two regular top 25 programs if we are feeling REAL daring will not hurt anything. It gives us a chance to get more money, which people are starting to use as an excuse all of the sudden, get a premiere win..so you know...our whole season doesn't come down to one fluke game (two words: at-large), gives us a chance to see how we stack up against a similar caliber team we will be playing in the tourney (sorry, we won't play MTSU or NDSU if we make it) and make proper adjustments if we lose, gives our program national spotlight if we do knock them off (we have only ever had negative national spotlight), gives our team a confidence boost with a big win/close loss. If we get blown out, who gives a damn. I'd rather get blown out in a meaningless game and learn from it than lose by 50 and set some tournament history records (and not the good kind) to a team who loses the next round.

Literally the only negative of stepping up and going on the road and playing somebody is that we have a more likely than not 2.8% less chance of getting to that prestigious 21 win mark. Pros far outweigh the cons. I expect at least an effort for continuous improvement. You should too.

[zippy5]

Really not about to go around this debate again

Continues to write three paragraphs on the subject

Well done

[LZIp]

Well done

translation: I have nothing.

I've made my point.

[zippy5]

I didn't say I disagreed. I've said before the schedule needs upgraded. Didn't renew my season tickets.. Just thought that was humorous. Goosefrabah.

[Sportsjunkie330]

I didn't say I disagreed. I've said before the schedule needs upgraded. Didn't renew my season tickets.. Just thought that was humorous. Goosefrabah.

I haven't been to one game yet....no reason to. And next year my season tickets won't be renewed.

[Dave in Green]

... Didn't renew my season tickets. ...

I upgraded mine this season and am contributing more money to the program. The more aware I became of what it takes to be consistently competitive in D-I college basketball, the more I came to appreciate what Coach Dambrot has accomplished with what he's been given to work with.

[zippy5]

I upgraded mine this season and am contributing more money to the program. The more aware I became of what it takes to be consistently competitive in D-I college basketball, the more I came to appreciate what Coach Dambrot has accomplished with what he's been given to work with.

That's great. I appreciate everything Dambrot has done and the challenges he faces. I have an hour drive each way, and it's not worth spending 5 hours of my time to come see us run Western Illinois out of the gym.

[zippy5]

Non-MAC related but Incarnate Word beat Nebraska tonight. Wanted to get this thread somewhat back on track.

[Balsy]

Non-MAC related but Incarnate Word beat Nebraska tonight. Wanted to get this thread somewhat back on track.

I had to go look up Incarnate Word, because I thought you were making a reference (that I didn't know) to something. It's he mighty Incarnate Word Cardinals which beat Nebraska.

What is going on with the Big-10? And can we get some matchups against some of these mid-range/lower Big-10 teams?