Akron Zips v Kent State Golden Flashes: The MAC Championship

[Joe Akron]

2 minutes ago, Hilltopper said:

Hey, you keep your eyes off my neighbors daughter!

 

For Your Eyes Only? 

[Sergeant Zip]

WKYC article on the missed opportunity

[zippyfan34]

Sounds like someone in Wadsworth did not want to watch the game!

[kreed5120]

Figured I'd post some of the attendance figures for the MAC and of its competitors in regards to Championship game attendance.

 

MAC - 10,376
C-USA - 6,176
SunBelt - TBD (Played in 10,000 arena that was not even close to being full)
CAA - 6,342
Horizon League - 5,929
WCC - 8,179

B1G - 12,902

MVC - 11,744

 

The B1G only beat us by ~2,500 fans (can blame Kent for not pulling their weight) and we outperformed our peers besides the MVC who we were a shade behind. Good job Zips Nation.

Edited March 14, 2017 by kreed5120

[skip-zip]

34 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

Figured I'd post some of the attendance figures for the MAC and of its competitors in regards to Championship game attendance.

 

MAC - 10,376
C-USA - 6,176
SunBelt - TBD (Played in 10,000 arena that was not even close to being full)
CAA - 6,342
Horizon League - 5,929
WCC - 8,179

B1G - 12,902

MVC - 11,744

 

The B1G only beat us by ~2,500 fans (can blame Kent for not pulling their weight) and we outperformed our peers besides the MVC who we were a shade behind. Good job Zips Nation.

 

That's great.  The matchup helps a lot.  Keith commented last week about how people complain about the MAC Tournament being in Cleveland, and how much it helps Akron and Kent.  But, playing in an NBA Arena has helped this tournament immensely.  I know plenty of people who go to this, and they aren't even MAC fans.  They love the idea of going to a D-1 Conference Tournament.  And Keith even commented about all of the crappy venues in Toledo and Detroit where they used to play this.  

 

The MAC tournament has come a long way.   

[LZIp]

3 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

Fingured post some of the attendwatch figures for the MAC andNothi of its competitors in regards to Championship game attendance.

 

MAC - 10,376
C-USA - 6,176
SunBelt - TBD (Played in 10,000 arena that was not even close to being full)
CAA - 6,342
Horizon League - 5,929
WCC - 8,179

B1G - 12,902

MVC - 11,744

 

The B1G only beat us by ~2,500 fans (can blame Kent for not pulling their weight) and we outperformed our peers besides the MVC who we were a shade behind. Good job Zips Nation.

I dont have the number and Im not going to look IIT up as Im on a tablet and Its a pain to even type this, but I watched the AAC final and I guarantee we blew them out as well. NothINg like SMU and Cinci playing In Hartford, CT.

[kreed5120]

9 minutes ago, LZIp said:

I dont have the number and Im not going to look IIT up as Im on a tablet and Its a pain to even type this, but I watched the AAC final and I guarantee we blew them out as well. NothINg like SMU and Cinci playing In Hartford, CT.

You are right we did. 6,856 was their attendance. 

[skip-zip]

14 minutes ago, LZIp said:

I dont have the number and Im not going to look IIT up as Im on a tablet and Its a pain to even type this, but I watched the AAC final and I guarantee we blew them out as well. NothINg like SMU and Cinci playing In Hartford, CT.

 

Funny.  I guess proximity of the schools far outweighs the status of the league.  

 

I'd say that if NIU and Central were playing in the MAC Final, they probably wouldn't exceed 3k.  

[Blackburn]

Even if another rivalry, like Miami and Ohio would play in the final, they probably wouldn't exceed 3-4k.  Akron and Kent draws!

[kreed5120]

Toledo-WMU had like 5,300 in 2014. There are a lot of Ohio alumni living in NEO. I'd say Miami-Ohio would at the very least meet that.

[zippy5]

8 minutes ago, Blackburn said:

Even if another rivalry, like Miami and Ohio would play in the final, they probably wouldn't exceed 3-4k.  Akron draws

Fixed that. OU would have had twice as many fans as Kent did

[skip-zip]

Without looking back, how did the OU games with Akron in 2010, 2012, and 2013 compare?  Were they actually higher than a Kent/Akron matchup if it seems that OU brings more people than Kent?  

[zippy5]

12,102 in 2013. Don't really care to look further because I know they had more fans than Kent did Saturday. I'd wager we had a fair amount more of our own fans than 2013 as well. Now I feel like an OU fan talking about attendance

[Blackburn]

21 hours ago, zippy5 said:

Fixed that. OU would have had twice as many fans as Kent did

 

I was talking about rivalry games... Not individual teams. 

[ZippyRulz]

Too late and too many commercials....I'll check in the morning whether the MAC team was able to pull off the biggest first round upset..

 

[NWAkron]

The Norse hung in their longer than the Flashes.  Kent game was closer than the score.  UCLA was lazy and "above it" for the first half +

[K92]

It's 12:05

[skip-zip]

[1981 grad]

I watched the Kent UCLA game and Kent played very well and was with 6 with about 10 minutes left in the second half.  Kent had numerous offensive rebounds and forced UCLA to double Hall.  UCLA then went through a stretch late in the 2nd half where they made 10 or 12 straight shots to build up a 20 point lead.  Kent played great basketball during the tournament and peaked at the right time.  The final score did not reflect the true nature of the game.  (like our game with Gonzaga).  I may not be in the majority but I was routing for Kent to be competitive because it reflects on our conference.  We will never get a second bid for our conference as long as we are always one and done when we get to the conference tournament.     

[Zip JD]

2 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

I watched the Kent UCLA game and Kent played very well and was with 6 with about 10 minutes left in the second half.  Kent had numerous offensive rebounds and forced UCLA to double Hall.  UCLA then went through a stretch late in the 2nd half where they made 10 or 12 straight shots to build up a 20 point lead.  Kent played great basketball during the tournament and peaked at the right time.  The final score did not reflect the true nature of the game.  (like our game with Gonzaga).  I may not be in the majority but I was routing for Kent to be competitive because it reflects on our conference.  We will never get a second bid for our conference as long as we are always one and done when we get to the conference tournament.     

As much as I hate to admit it, I ALMOST agree with you.  That being said, seeing Can't make a tourney run would have been too much for me to take.  You can name just about any other MAC school and will I root for them in the post season, but I just can't back the Flashers. 

 

Off the top of my head, I think OU is the only MAC school to win in the big dance over the past 10-plus years.  I also recently heard (I think from Steve French) that no MAC player has been drafted by the NBA since 2003.  The days of Ron Harper, Wally World, Thunder Dan, Grant Long, Gary Trent, Bonzi Wells, even Chris Kaman, etc. are long gone.  Lastly, I believe the Zips are the only MAC school left in the post season as our conference already got bounced from the CIT (Toledo lost at GW) and the CIT (Ball State lost at Ft. Wayne).  Don't even get me started on how little respect we carry in any tourney when it comes to seeding.  Based on all of this as well as how much the MAC sold out to ESPN resulting in a horrible conference football schedule, I am now firmly in favor of the Zips looking to join another conference.  There is no reason to believe the MAC is ever going to improve or gain any national respect.  It is a one bid conference pure and simple in hoops and is abysmal when it comes to bowl games.  I don't want a rash move like how we exited the OVC in the 80's but it is time to look at our options.  If we can't improve the basketball schedule with better OOC games how about joining a better conference?  Winning a few more post season games and seeing some winning football games wouldn't hurt either.  Go Zips!

[LZIp]

12 minutes ago, Zip JD said:

As much as I hate to admit it, I ALMOST agree with you.  That being said, seeing Can't make a tourney run would have been too much for me to take.  You can name just about any other MAC school and will I root for them in the post season, but I just can't back the Flashers. 

 

Off the top of my head, I think OU is the only MAC school to win in the big dance over the past 10-plus years.  I also recently heard (I think from Steve French) that no MAC player has been drafted by the NBA since 2003.  The days of Ron Harper, Wally World, Thunder Dan, Grant Long, Gary Trent, Bonzi Wells, even Chris Kaman, etc. are long gone.  Lastly, I believe the Zips are the only MAC school left in the post season as our conference already got bounced from the CIT (Toledo lost at GW) and the CIT (Ball State lost at Ft. Wayne).  Don't even get me started on how little respect we carry in any tourney when it comes to seeding.  Based on all of this as well as how much the MAC sold out to ESPN resulting in a horrible conference football schedule, I am now firmly in favor of the Zips looking to join another conference.  There is no reason to believe the MAC is ever going to improve or gain any national respect.  It is a one bid conference pure and simple in hoops and is abysmal when it comes to bowl games.  I don't want a rash move like how we exited the OVC in the 80's but it is time to look at our options.  If we can't improve the basketball schedule with better OOC games how about joining a better conference?  Winning a few more post season games and seeing some winning football games wouldn't hurt either.  Go Zips!

It was shocking to me as I didn't even remember him as being an impact type of player and credit to him for sticking around so far, but Richaun Holmes from BG was actually drafted by the 76ers in the second round of 2015.

[Blue & Gold]

3 hours ago, Zip JD said:

Off the top of my head, I think OU is the only MAC school to win in the big dance over the past 10-plus years.  

 

3 hours ago, Zip JD said:

I also recently heard (I think from Steve French) that no MAC player has been drafted by the NBA since 2003.  The days of Ron Harper, Wally World, Thunder Dan, Grant Long, Gary Trent, Bonzi Wells, even Chris Kaman, etc. are long gone. 

Which is strange to me.  I started following the Zips closely the last year of the Coleman Crawford era (whatever year that was).  For the longest time it seemed like the MAC was the conference of the 6'5" Power Forward.  My initial impression would be that the conference, as a whole, has actually upgraded their mean talent level.  But it sure hasn't resulted in NBA draft choices or NCAA Tourney wins.

[Blue & Gold]

Btw, Jailyn Walker is only a sophomore.  Whew!  He's gonna be a handful over the next two years.

 

[kangaroo kid]

33 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

 

Which is strange to me.  I started following the Zips closely the last year of the Coleman Crawford era (whatever year that was).  For the longest time it seemed like the MAC was the conference of the 6'5" Power Forward.  My initial impression would be that the conference, as a whole, has actually upgraded their mean talent level.  But it sure hasn't resulted in NBA draft choices or NCAA Tourney wins.

NBA teams have gotten better at scouting the overseas talent pool, and you also see less teams drafting kids who stayed in school for 3-4 years. So, even though the MAC talent level has risen, there's less "spots" for them to get drafted.

[morris buttermaker]

IMO With more "one and dones", that means more top players will move thru top programs because spots open up. When the top players stayed longer, other good players were pushed to lesser conferences.