2020 MAC Tournament

[clarkwgriswold]

Central had lost a whopping 9 in a row before beating Western to end the season.  I think OU Handles them without much trouble.  I think we may then face Buffalo.  I could see Ball State come out of the other bracket with Bowling Green in their slide.

[NWAkron]

1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Central had lost a whopping 9 in a row before beating Western to end the season.  I think OU Handles them without much trouble.  I think we may then face Buffalo.  I could see Ball State come out of the other bracket with Bowling Green in their slide.

I'm sure Kitten Nation is already reserving their hotel rooms.  Remember NIU has had Buffalo's # last two years.  And reality check, Northern Iowa 24-6 lost by 20 in the quarterfinals (Missouri Valley I think)of their tourney and will be heading to the NIT.

[Blue & Gold]

off topic but had to share.

carry on...

[NWAkron]

https://fox8.com/news/mac-and-ncaa-basketball-tournaments-to-go-on-as-planned-in-cleveland-amid-coronavirus-concerns/

 

Phew!  Akron fans have a lot of common sense.

 

Edited March 8, 2020 by NWAkron

[NWAkron]

https://www.cleveland.com/sports/2020/03/akron-men-central-michigan-women-take-top-seeds-for-mid-american-conference-basketball-tournament.html

[zippy5]

4 hours ago, NWAkron said:

https://fox8.com/news/mac-and-ncaa-basketball-tournaments-to-go-on-as-planned-in-cleveland-amid-coronavirus-concerns/

 

Phew!  Akron fans have a lot of common sense.

 

Thanks Daniel. A true wordsmith

 

"I do think the coronavirus is a serious threat, but I feel like, you know, this is a big sporting event, you know, like, we gotta come out here to support our team," said University of Akron student, Daniel Schullek.

[Zip JD]

Any word on if we are going to be a the Clevelander again?

[zippy5]

Pizza 216

 

https://gozips.com/sports/2020/2/19/mac-basketball-tournament-headquarters.aspx?id=4669&camefrom=EMCL_3245619_155970194

[NWAkron]

33 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

Pizza 216

 

https://gozips.com/sports/2020/2/19/mac-basketball-tournament-headquarters.aspx?id=4669&camefrom=EMCL_3245619_155970194

I think Zips fan block is in 107/108.  On the Rocket Mortgage map for the MAC tournament the "Home" bench is in front of that section.  Zips, god willing, would always be the home team.   I went through Travel Zoo for my tickets.   @clarkwgriswold  can be found camping out in front of the Verizon in Macedonia waiting to get his.  I prefer to pick out my own seats as opposed to the athletic dept doing it for me.  i saw ticket range from $13 up to $42.  $42 gets you in 108 or 106 and near the floor. 

Edited March 8, 2020 by NWAkron

[1981 grad]

46 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

I think Zips fan block is in 107/108.  On the Rocket Mortgage map for the MAC tournament the "Home" bench is in front of that section.  Zips, god willing, would always be the home team.   I went through Travel Zoo for my tickets.   @clarkwgriswold  can be found camping out in front of the Verizon in Macedonia waiting to get his.  I prefer to pick out my own seats as opposed to the athletic dept doing it for me.  i saw ticket range from $13 up to $42.  $42 gets you in 108 or 106 and near the floor. 

I also purchased my tickets on Travel Zoo.  I am a season ticket holder in the lower bowl and have been for many years and I am always upset when I buy tickets from Akron I always get sent to the upper level of the Q.  I have complained and my season ticket agent indicates that the seating is made by Akron and the big donors get the lower level seats near the floor.    

[Z.I.P.]

On 3/7/2020 at 9:14 AM, NWAkron said:

I'm sure Kitten Nation is already reserving their hotel rooms.  Remember NIU has had Buffalo's # last two years.  And reality check, Northern Iowa 24-6 lost by 20 in the quarterfinals (Missouri Valley I think)of their tourney and will be heading to the NIT.

I can't help thinking that Zips Nation somehow is overrating the boys from Athens.  Are we getting soft on our rivals?  Even from my comfort zone 5000 miles away I can see Ohio as a sub-par/sub .500 team that might have high expectations for the future but has not come close to realizing that yet.  Central -- along certainly with Toledo -- was very disappointing this year, but I think they have more to prove and will give those kitties all they can handle.  If I had to place a line (haven't seen an actual one), I'd guess Ohio might be a two or three point fave, but I might lean toward the Chipps given the circumstances.

 

Also, while Northern Iowa lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley, they were a near lock going in and should be still a 10 or 11 seed.  Joe Lunardi has them in a play-in game in Dayton.  They have victories over Colorado and South Carolina and their only OOC loss was to West Virginia by 5.  The Drake loss probably cost them a 9 or 10 seed.  Their NET ranking WAS in the 30s.  So, they'll sweat out the Conference tournaments and hope there aren't many upsets...

 

EDIT:  Oopsy daisy on my part!  I somehow forgot the first round is at home courts -- in this case the Convo.  That said, I still would only see OU as a 6 pt or so favorite.  CMU and Toledo are schools capable of winning on the road.  Both are top 5 teams on paper only -- disappointing seasons!

Edited March 8, 2020 by Z.I.P.
Add

[NWAkron]

12 minutes ago, Z.I.P. said:

I can't help thinking that Zips Nation somehow is overrating the boys from Athens.  Are we getting soft on our rivals?  Even from my comfort zone 5000 miles away I can see Ohio as a sub-par/sub .500 team that might have high expectations for the future but has not come close to realizing that yet.  Central -- along certainly with Toledo -- was very disappointing this year, but I think they have more to prove and will give those kitties all they can handle.  If I had to place a line (haven't seen an actual one), I'd guess Ohio might be a two or three point fave, but I might lean toward the Chipps given the circumstances.

 

Also, while Northern Iowa lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley, they were a near lock going in and should be still a 10 or 11 seed.  Joe Lunardi has them in a play-in game in Dayton.  They have victories over Colorado and South Carolina and their only OOC loss was to West Virginia by 5.  The Drake loss probably cost them a 9 or 10 seed.  Their NET ranking WAS in the 30s.  So, they'll sweat out the Conference tournaments and hope there aren't many upsets.

I would love a directional Michigan sweep on Monday and so would all the seeded teams.  As Groce said in his interview, it's about mental toughness.  Zips demonstrated a ton of that going back to the EMU game.  Hopefully, the meltdown at BG was a one-off.

 

Mental toughness and making 3s when it matters.  

[kreed5120]

21 minutes ago, Z.I.P. said:

I can't help thinking that Zips Nation somehow is overrating the boys from Athens.  Are we getting soft on our rivals?  Even from my comfort zone 5000 miles away I can see Ohio as a sub-par/sub .500 team that might have high expectations for the future but has not come close to realizing that yet.  Central -- along certainly with Toledo -- was very disappointing this year, but I think they have more to prove and will give those kitties all they can handle.  If I had to place a line (haven't seen an actual one), I'd guess Ohio might be a two or three point fave, but I might lean toward the Chipps given the circumstances.

 

Also, while Northern Iowa lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley, they were a near lock going in and should be still a 10 or 11 seed.  Joe Lunardi has them in a play-in game in Dayton.  They have victories over Colorado and South Carolina and their only OOC loss was to West Virginia by 5.  The Drake loss probably cost them a 9 or 10 seed.  Their NET ranking WAS in the 30s.  So, they'll sweat out the Conference tournaments and hope there aren't many upsets.

 

I think you're overlooking the fact that the Chipps started MAC play going 6-2 in their first 8 games, but finished 7-11. That means they went 1-9 down the stretch. I'm definitely buying Ohio winning that game. That being said, I'm not sure why people are scared about Ohio in Cleveland. I've seen them blow numerous double digit 2nd half leads this MAC season. They just don't perform well under pressure, which is what a single elimination tournament is all about. I think they will be great if Boals keeps them together in the next year or two, but right now they're too inexperienced.

 

Lunardi is one of the worst bracketologists out there. Bracketmatrix tracks 107 brackets per year and usually Lunardi places in the 70s or 80s when it comes to how close his bracket matches up with the committees. There are literally people who do their brackets as a hobby on wordpress that are better than Lunardi at predicting the field. Lunardi just gets the notoriety that he does because he works for ESPN.

Edited March 8, 2020 by kreed5120

[feetg10]

1 hour ago, NWAkron said:

I think Zips fan block is in 107/108.  On the Rocket Mortgage map for the MAC tournament the "Home" bench is in front of that section.  Zips, god willing, would always be the home team.   I went through Travel Zoo for my tickets.   @clarkwgriswold  can be found camping out in front of the Verizon in Macedonia waiting to get his.  I prefer to pick out my own seats as opposed to the athletic dept doing it for me.  i saw ticket range from $13 up to $42.  $42 gets you in 108 or 106 and near the floor. 

As I recall in 2017 for the championship game it was T mobile that gave away the tickets.  Did it switch to Verizon? Has anything been officially released about a ticket giveaway for this year?

[NWAkron]

33 minutes ago, feetg10 said:

As I recall in 2017 for the championship game it was T mobile that gave away the tickets.  Did it switch to Verizon? Has anything been officially released about a ticket giveaway for this year?

that's a bit of a joke between me and Clark.  You are right I think it was T Mobile, but I haven' t read anything about that.  Also, I think it was for the final game.

[NWAkron]

45 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

I think you're overlooking the fact that the Chipps started MAC play going 6-2 in their first 8 games, but finished 7-11. That means they went 1-9 down the stretch. I'm definitely buying Ohio winning that game. That being said, I'm not sure why people are scared about Ohio in Cleveland. I've seen them blow numerous double digit 2nd half leads this MAC season. They just don't perform well under pressure, which is what a single elimination tournament is all about. I think they will be great if Boals keeps them together in the next year or two, but right now they're too inexperienced.

 

Lunardi is one of the worst bracketologists out there. Bracketmatrix tracks 107 brackets per year and usually Lunardi places in the 70s or 80s when it comes to how close his bracket matches up with the committees. There are literally people who do their brackets as a hobby on wordpress that are better than Lunardi at predicting the field. Lunardi just gets the notoriety that he does because he works for ESPN.

Boals is under a lot of pressure to get that team to Cleveland.  Groce did it his first year with a miracle on the road at Western.  If Boals his same caliber of coach, he will get them there.

[ewbrooman1]

11 hours ago, NWAkron said:

I think Zips fan block is in 107/108.  On the Rocket Mortgage map for the MAC tournament the "Home" bench is in front of that section.  Zips, god willing, would always be the home team.   I went through Travel Zoo for my tickets.   @clarkwgriswold  can be found camping out in front of the Verizon in Macedonia waiting to get his.  I prefer to pick out my own seats as opposed to the athletic dept doing it for me.  i saw ticket range from $13 up to $42.  $42 gets you in 108 or 106 and near the floor. 

**DISREGARD THE FOLLOWING INFO. THE SECTION NUMBERS AT THE ARENA HAVE CHANGED SINCE THE ARENA RENOVATION**    Since we're conference champs, we will always be the higher seed/home team. According to the info I have from 2016-17 and previous years that means sections 126/127/C126/C127 for Thursday and all others I THINK. 107/108 would be across from our bench, but assigned to the lower seed in the second game. I've used this as a guide over the years to buy tickets near our section on my own at times. At one time the info was available on line, but in recent years you needed a password to access the tournament manual. It hasn't changed much in recent years. I notice the arena website doesn't have a color coded seating chart by cost of seat posted yet, if they're going to do so.

Edited March 9, 2020 by ewbrooman1
Section numbers have changed since arena renovation.

[NWAkron]

2 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

I also purchased my tickets on Travel Zoo.  I am a season ticket holder in the lower bowl and have been for many years and I am always upset when I buy tickets from Akron I always get sent to the upper level of the Q.  I have complained and my season ticket agent indicates that the seating is made by Akron and the big donors get the lower level seats near the floor.    

To be fair, the athletic dept has a point system and $ and years of buying tickets earns points.  But I too got pissed when people who weren't at a game all year show up in CLE and snag the best seats.  Like you, I finally gave up on the randomness and bought my own through TZ.  Whether I'm with the other Zip fans doesn't matter too much.  (They spend most of the game yelling at the refs.  Seems to be a Zips fan calling card)

[clarkwgriswold]

17 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

To be fair, the athletic dept has a point system and $ and years of buying tickets earns points.  But I too got pissed when people who weren't at a game all year show up in CLE and snag the best seats.  Like you, I finally gave up on the randomness and bought my own through TZ.  Whether I'm with the other Zip fans doesn't matter too much.  (They spend most of the game yelling at the refs.  Seems to be a Zips fan calling card)

 

I resemble that remark!

[NWAkron]

Zips are #34 RPI and Bubba and Co started a thread about it on Kitten Attack.

[zippy5]

Lol

[NWAkron]

https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/college/2020/03/08/our-predictions-for-the-mac-basketball-tournament/stories/20200308003

 

Zips getting some love but hope the players aren't reading such things.

[ewbrooman1]

8 hours ago, ewbrooman1 said:

Since we're conference champs, we will always be the higher seed/home team. According to the info I have from 2016-17 and previous years that means sections 126/127/C126/C127 for Thursday and all others I THINK. 107/108 would be across from our bench, but assigned to the lower seed in the second game. I've used this as a guide over the years to buy tickets near our section on my own at times. At one time the info was available on line, but in recent years you needed a password to access the tournament manual. It hasn't changed much in recent years. I notice the arena website doesn't have a color coded seating chart by cost of seat posted yet, if they're going to do so.

***CORRECTION*** Sorry guys, I'm going to have to take back this info. Apparently they've renumbered the sections when they renovated the arena. The numbers don't line up the same as they used to.

[MDZip]

On 3/7/2020 at 6:24 PM, NWAkron said:

https://fox8.com/news/mac-and-ncaa-basketball-tournaments-to-go-on-as-planned-in-cleveland-amid-coronavirus-concerns/

 

Phew!  Akron fans have a lot of common sense.

 

The end of the article is incorrect.

 

"Earlier Friday, spectators were barred from attending the opening rounds of the NCAA Division III men's tournament at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

The university took the move after three coronavirus cases were confirmed in Maryland Thursday".

 

Spectators were not allowed after there were confirmed cases at one of the participating schools so they didn't want potentially infected people being part of the crowd. Had nothing to do with there being some cases in the state (which were not near Baltimore).  That's why no matter what happens in the Miami/Buffalo  game its a win-win since either Miami fans don't come to Cleveland or Buffalo loses (for those that don't know, Miami was suspected of having a couple cases but it turned out negative). I also saw a note from Ball State that said we should temporarily call Miami Southern Michigan since they and the three directional Michigan schools are the bottom four seeds.

Edited March 9, 2020 by MDZip

[NWAkron]

https://bustingbrackets.com/2020/03/08/mac-basketball-2020-conference-tournament-preview-predictions/7/

 

If only.  Total click bait for Akron fans.