MAC Games 2015-2016

[The Hip Zip]

Bulls hang on to defeat the Flushes in Can't. That's never a bad thing. I have a lot of interest in the Eastern / NIU tilt today. Eastern was absolutely flawless in taking down CMU and NIU was very good as well against OU. I doubt if Eastern can play as well as they did and a home win for NIU stamps them as very legit Western Div. contenders.

[AyYo]

I thought CMU was supposed to be the "best team in the MAC" according to preseason expectations. Clearly, that's not the case right now.

[ace]

Cmu did just beat Bowling Green, not that that means much. Ohio tops ball state in the battle of hard-to-figure-out teams.

[The Hip Zip]

NIU wins pulling away late at home but the game was much closer than the score indicates. It was a one point game midway through the 2H. Still don't know about them taking the West but they defend pretty well. They have to be considered contenders but we'll see how they do without the home cooking.

CMU comes back to form with the road win at CMU. This game was marred by the presence of Kelly Pfifer. The same happy whistle that worked our game Fri. He probably called close to 75% of the fouls in the contest. He scares me because he can easily alter the results of a close game. I don't think CMU defends well enough to win it all. Still a dangerous outfit though.

Miami fought hard from 27 down to make things interesting vs. Toledo but they just don't have the horses. Toledo does not defend well at all.

Didn't watch any of the Ball St / OU game but looks like BSU was in it for all 40 minutes, Ball St is gritty, an improved team.

At this point the MAC is kind of like the old bizzaro world. Excluding ourselves, I think the top third of the teams from last year are down a notch while the bottom feeders of the conference , excluding Miami, have all pretty much raised the bar.

[skip-zip]

Hilltopper....my wife thinks I am starting to get Alzheimer's, but I am well aware of who hit the winning shot against us in 2007. The discussion was about their star player, Politz.

[The Hip Zip]

19 of the last 21 completed games have been taken by the home side. The only road team to break the current trend has been Ball State who won twice on the road in that span.

 

This will probably be the most wide open tourney ever. Nothing at all will surprise me and that includes top seeds falling in their first appearance 

[The Hip Zip]

Eastern had 3 technical fouls in the books today before their first personal foul. Top that one. James Thompson IV is no doubt a tremendous talent and guaranteed to be MAC freshman of the year but I think he's a punk and I'll bet he doesn't last 4 years in school. Just my opinion of course, but his attitude and body language just oozes thug. Murphy may not survive through this bunch.

[LoyalZIP]

1 hour ago, The Hip Zip said:

Eastern had 3 technical fouls in the books today before their first personal foul. Top that one. James Thompson IV is no doubt a tremendous talent and guaranteed to be MAC freshman of the year but I think he's a punk and I'll bet he doesn't last 4 years in school. Just my opinion of course, but his attitude and body language just oozes thug. Murphy may not survive through this bunch.

 

I think Thompson will eventually transfer.  His frustration is clearly visible in most games. 

[Glib Shanley]

58 fouls called in Beefalo/Bobkitties game, 36 on the visitors.

OU goes 35 of 49 from the FT line.

No reason to think "homer job" in that one.....

[Hilltopper]

4 hours ago, Glib Shanley said:

58 fouls called in Beefalo/Bobkitties game, 36 on the visitors.

OU goes 35 of 49 from the FT line.

No reason to think "homer job" in that one.....

Lamont Simpson was the head official so no surprise there.

[The Hip Zip]

5 hours ago, Hilltopper said:

Lamont Simpson was the head official so no surprise there.

Ahhh yes, that would be the same Lamont Simpson that I observed sprinting from the arena to his car after the '06/'07 championship game.  I think that his brother also worked that game.  He wasn't running to avoid traffic, he was in genuine fear. I'll never forget it.

Edited February 29, 2016 by The Hip Zip
cause I felt like it

[1981 grad]

1 hour ago, The Hip Zip said:

Ahhh yes, that would be the same Lamont Simpson that I observed sprinting from the arena to his car after the '06/'07 championship game.  I think that his brother also worked that game.  He wasn't running to avoid traffic, he was in genuine fear. I'll never forget it.

Thanks for the memories.  I just watched the video of the game winning shot and still wonder if the clock operator had started on time whether it would have counted.  It is weird in that we had a second controversial loss in a championship game when we tried to miss a foul shot and it looked like Zeke tipped the ball in and we tied the game.  Instead, they looked at the replay and ruled the shot went in without a tip and we lost the game.  I always wondered whether that play was reviewable.

[LoyalZIP]

10 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

Thanks for the memories.  I just watched the video of the game winning shot and still wonder if the clock operator had started on time whether it would have counted.  It is weird in that we had a second controversial loss in a championship game when we tried to miss a foul shot and it looked like Zeke tipped the ball in and we tied the game.  Instead, they looked at the replay and ruled the shot went in without a tip and we lost the game.  I always wondered whether that play was reviewable.

 

They got the rebound with 6.6 left on the clock and from rebound to the shot it was a little over 7 seconds, so no, it wouldn't have counted. I'll go back and check later but I'm pretty sure that's what it was. 

[1981 grad]

58 minutes ago, LoyalZIP said:

 

They got the rebound with 6.6 left on the clock and from rebound to the shot it was a little over 7 seconds, so no, it wouldn't have counted. I'll go back and check later but I'm pretty sure that's what it was. 

The only thing I remember is that the refs added time to the clock and gave us .2 or .4 seconds to score inbounding the ball from under our own basket.  It made no sense.  I also remember watching the NIT selection show and they showed that shot and talked about how some teams were upset in the conference finals.  They then did not select Akron for the NIT.  I think we got some national press over that snub and that may have led to the rule change about conference champions getting an automatic bid.       

[ZachTheZip]

1 hour ago, LoyalZIP said:

 

They got the rebound with 6.6 left on the clock and from rebound to the shot it was a little over 7 seconds, so no, it wouldn't have counted. I'll go back and check later but I'm pretty sure that's what it was. 

 

It's ridiculous how many championship games have been decided in the last possible second.

Edited February 29, 2016 by ZachTheZip

[MDZip]

7 minutes ago, ZachTheZip said:

 

It's ridiculous how many championship games have been decided in the last possible second.

Wouldn't it make sense that Championship games would be generally good, close games that could go down to the last shot?

[NWAkron]

http://www.playoffsimulator.com/ncaambb/mac/

 

For any MAC Tourney geeks this is fun.  Looks like no matter what we will likely be seeing the Huskies again.

 

If we are (and we will be) we would play at Noon on Thursday, March 10.  Wonder if that would change if it's Akron.

Edited February 29, 2016 by NWAkron

[Blue & Gold]

29 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

http://www.playoffsimulator.com/ncaambb/mac/

 

For any MAC Tourney geeks this is fun.  Looks like no matter what we will likely be seeing the Huskies again.

 

If we are (and we will be) we would play at Noon on Thursday, March 10.  Wonder if that would change if it's Akron.

Buffalo (likely) in the semi-finals.

 

Both Ohio & KSUcks on the other side of the bracket.

[NWAkron]

I'd like to seeToledo on other side of bracket.

Edited February 29, 2016 by NWAkron

[akronzips71]

So wait!!!

 

We get then #1 seed and draw a 8-10 team, and the next three seeds can draw a 5-13 team? Something fishy about that.

[skip-zip]

19 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

It is weird in that we had a second controversial loss in a championship game when we tried to miss a foul shot and it looked like Zeke tipped the ball in and we tied the game.  Instead, they looked at the replay and ruled the shot went in without a tip and we lost the game.  I always wondered whether that play was reviewable.

 

You're talking about the 2012 title game, when Alex was shooting free throws at the end of the game.

 

Someone here posted a picture of one the of the OU players grabbing the rim on that FT attempt that bounced up in the air.  By rule, that's a Technical.  It was never called, and was not reviewable. 

 

But they DID look at the replay to determine if the FT dropped in, or came out and was tipped in. 

Edited February 29, 2016 by skip-zip
edit

[skip-zip]

32 minutes ago, akronzips71 said:

So wait!!!

 

We get then #1 seed and draw a 8-10 team, and the next three seeds can draw a 5-13 team? Something fishy about that.

 

Nope.

 

If Akron is #1, they get the #8 or the team that upsets them.

#2 gets the #7, or whoever upsets them.

#3 gets the #6, or whoever upsets them.

#4 gets the #5, or whoever upsets them.   

 

But to answer your concern, there's always a chance that there's an upset and someone could get a better Quarterfinal draw than Akron, since the teams are not re-shuffled after every round.  But, it's still to our benefit that we won't play a team any higher than #8, don't you think?

Edited February 29, 2016 by skip-zip
edit

[NWAkron]

8 minutes ago, akronzips71 said:

We get then #1 seed and draw a 8-10 team, and the next three seeds can draw a 5-13 team? Something fishy about that.

 

That's the standard 12 team single elimination bracket.  Didnt Cant have the #1 seed and get burned a couple of times.  The idea is that #1 isn't playing the #5 team.  But with the MAC this year...unless you are getting WMU or BG in the second round. its pretty open

[GJGood]

On ‎2‎/‎29‎/‎2016 at 9:57 AM, 1981 grad said:

The only thing I remember is that the refs added time to the clock and gave us .2 or .4 seconds to score inbounding the ball from under our own basket.  It made no sense.  I also remember watching the NIT selection show and they showed that shot and talked about how some teams were upset in the conference finals.  They then did not select Akron for the NIT.  I think we got some national press over that snub and that may have led to the rule change about conference champions getting an automatic bid.       

 

That was excruciating, going from the way the title game ended to then being snubbed even by the NIT was something I'll never forget.

 

Good point about the NIT auto bid for regular season champs. The next season was also the first year for the CBI. I remember when the creators of that tournament citing that 26-7 Akron team as one of the reasons college basketball needed a third postseason tournament.

 

Of course since then we have added the CiT, and now this year there will also be the "Vegas 16".

[MDZip]

1 hour ago, GJGood said:

 

That was excruciating, going from the way the title game ended to then being snubbed even by the NIT was something I'll never forget.

 

Good point about the NIT auto bid for regular season champs. The next season was also the first year for the CBI. I remember when the creators of that tournament citing that 26-7 Akron team as one of the reasons college basketball needed a third postseason tournament.

 

Of course since then we have added the CiT, and now this year there will also be the "Vegas 16".

At least this year while not making the NCAA's would be a disappointment at least it will be no worse than the NIT. Glad they put the conference champ rule into effect.