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2024 MAC Tournament


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8 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Yep, it was a really poor coaching sequence by Pinky. I'm surprised his handler, Jim Christian, didn't tell him to take a timeout. 

On the other hand I love that Groce didn't use our last timeout to try and set something up... he simply trusted his veteran roster to push/rush the action & it caught Kent unprepared.

 

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6 hours ago, GJGood said:

Yes, I have been putting this travesty out there all season since the announcement.

 It Does look like BG has accepted a CiT bid and is also hosting. Must mean Schools like Toledo and Ohio declined. Sad state of affairs. Especially now with the NIT effectively shutting the MAC out we need a viable tournament for our top teams that just didn’t have it go their way in Cleveland. Make the regular season matter with a postseason berth somewhere.

Yeah, gotta make the regular season matter for more than just pride.  I remember Bob Knight didn't like the idea of a B10 post season tournament for exactly that reason.

 

On the other hand... just thinking out loud here... high school teams get all excited for league championships (and rightly so), celebrating, cutting down nets, winning trophies, etc., and in high school everyone makes the post season tourney. So the league title is simply for pride as well.  So maybe I'm over reacting. Idk.

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1 hour ago, Blue & Gold said:

On the other hand I love that Groce didn't use our last timeout to try and set something up... he simply trusted his veteran roster to push/rush the action & it caught Kent unprepared.

 

He said in the post game that he was trying to call a time out as the foul occurred. He just wanted the ball in the front court first. 

Edited by UAZippers
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Now that the MAC Tournament is over, I wonder what it's future looks like. Back in May of 2020, they announced the change to only the top 8 teams making it. A quote from the announcement back then:

 

“The plan covers four years and will be evaluated as the economic situation stabilizes and improves. The changes affect scheduling formats, post-season championship formats, and the elimination of post-season championships in select sports. Additionally, reductions will be made in championship operational expenditures,” MAC assistant commissioner Ken Mather said in a statement.

 

With this plan covering four years, the 2025 MAC Tournament would be the last under this plan. UMass will be joining for the 25-26 season, so that all adds up. 

 

Personally, I'd like to see at least the top 2 seeds get a bye again. In a one bid league, it gives your better teams over the course of the season a reward. The eight team format really doesn't offer any great advantage to higher seeds.

 

 

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49 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

Now that the MAC Tournament is over, I wonder what it's future looks like. Back in May of 2020, they announced the change to only the top 8 teams making it. A quote from the announcement back then:

 

“The plan covers four years and will be evaluated as the economic situation stabilizes and improves. The changes affect scheduling formats, post-season championship formats, and the elimination of post-season championships in select sports. Additionally, reductions will be made in championship operational expenditures,” MAC assistant commissioner Ken Mather said in a statement.

 

With this plan covering four years, the 2025 MAC Tournament would be the last under this plan. UMass will be joining for the 25-26 season, so that all adds up. 

 

Personally, I'd like to see at least the top 2 seeds get a bye again. In a one bid league, it gives your better teams over the course of the season a reward. The eight team format really doesn't offer any great advantage to higher seeds.

 

 

I like the 3 day format with no bye but I think the winner of the MAC should get some recognition.  If the team does not get a NIT bid, the MAC should pay for the team to play in another tournament such as CBI.

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8 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

I like the 3 day format with no bye but I think the winner of the MAC should get some recognition.  If the team does not get a NIT bid, the MAC should pay for the team to play in another tournament such as CBI.

I never heard this suggestion, but I wouldn't be opposed given the changing landscape. Ideally the MAC should be working towards their regular season champion being a top 60-70 team. That way they would be in line for an NIT appearance regardless.

Edited by kreed5120
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1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

I never heard this suggestion, but I wouldn't be opposed given the changing landscape. Ideally the MAC should be working towards their regular season champion being a top 60-70 team that way they would be in line for an NIT appearance regardless.

 

Adding UMass helps a lot with this goal. 

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18 hours ago, GJGood said:

Yes, I have been putting this travesty out there all season since the announcement.

 It Does look like BG has accepted a CiT bid and is also hosting. Must mean Schools like Toledo and Ohio declined. Sad state of affairs. Especially now with the NIT effectively shutting the MAC out we need a viable tournament for our top teams that just didn’t have it go their way in Cleveland. Make the regular season matter with a postseason berth somewhere.

It sucks that teams in power conferences that finish 9th or 10th (or worse) out of 12 get a nod over teams that win a mid-major conference regular season. 

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21 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Teams like St. Johns are declining the NIT. It's hilarious how pathetic that event has become. 

Although Pitino did state he didn't want to go to the also-ran tournament, most of the time when this happens its schools that feel they were snubbed by the NCAA and then basically take their ball and going home in protest.  That happens almost every year and has for a long time.   It's no different than when bigger programs declining bids to lower rung bowl games when the feel they deserved a better bid.  It just happens more with hoops.

 

With teams declining NIT bids, it makes it even worse that Toldeo got left out.  The MAC has been a one-bid NCAA tourney conference since the late '90's.  Now it has gotten so bad we are a one-bid conference for the entire post season.  

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36 minutes ago, Zip JD said:

Although Pitino did state he didn't want to go to the also-ran tournament, most of the time when this happens its schools that feel they were snubbed by the NCAA and then basically take their ball and going home in protest.  That happens almost every year and has for a long time.   It's no different than when bigger programs declining bids to lower rung bowl games when the feel they deserved a better bid.  It just happens more with hoops.

 

With teams declining NIT bids, it makes it even worse that Toldeo got left out.  The MAC has been a one-bid NCAA tourney conference since the late '90's.  Now it has gotten so bad we are a one-bid conference for the entire post season.  

I see both sides of it.  Toledo lost their last 7 first round games in the NIT.  The MAC was weak this season AND Toledo easily lost in first round to #8 seed.  They offered nothing to the NIT.   

 

Edit:  Akron would offer a bit more at 108 in NET and a star player with Freeman, but that wasn't going to be enough.

Edited by NWAkron
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44 minutes ago, NWAkron said:

I see both sides of it.  Toledo lost their last 7 first round games in the NIT.  The MAC was weak this season AND Toledo easily lost in first round to #8 seed.  They offered nothing to the NIT.   

 

Edit:  Akron would offer a bit more at 108 in NET and a star player with Freeman, but that wasn't going to be enough.

That's a very fair assessment and probably the correct answer.  I just hate the continued neglect of the mid-majors.  I liked the safety net of win your conference and get the NIT bid if you don't win the conference tourney.  The regular season should mean more than MACC seeding.  

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6 minutes ago, Zip JD said:

That's a very fair assessment and probably the correct answer.  I just hate the continued neglect of the mid-majors.  I liked the safety net of win your conference and get the NIT bid if you don't win the conference tourney.  The regular season should mean more than MACC seeding.  


The mid major conferences need to band together to create their own tournament for those who don’t make the NCAA tournament. Let the NIT die if the NCAA is adamant about stuffing it with teams that don’t want to be there. I hope Indiana State or one of the others dominates the P6 teams this year. After all, North Texas won last year.

 

The mid major conferences can sell the media rights to the mid major tournament to a streaming service hungry for content like Amazon or Apple and make a little much needed cash.

 

OK, now someone who’s not me take this idea and run with it! Lol

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3 hours ago, ClevelandZip said:


The mid major conferences need to band together to create their own tournament for those who don’t make the NCAA tournament. Let the NIT die if the NCAA is adamant about stuffing it with teams that don’t want to be there. I hope Indiana State or one of the others dominates the P6 teams this year. After all, North Texas won last year.

 

The mid major conferences can sell the media rights to the mid major tournament to a streaming service hungry for content like Amazon or Apple and make a little much needed cash.

 

OK, now someone who’s not me take this idea and run with it! Lol

The tournament you mention already exists (CIT). BGSU is actually participating in it. Nobody wants to watch it and teams don't want to participate. They couldn't even get 16 teams to fill the tournament and they had to of called every school. Alabama A&M is in it with an 11-22 record.

 

https://www.collegeinsider.com/tournament/schedule-results.php

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4 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

The tournament you mention already exists (CIT). BGSU is actually participating in it. Nobody wants to watch it and teams don't want to participate. They couldn't even get 16 teams to fill the tournament and they had to of called every school. Alabama A&M is in it with an 11-22 record.

 

https://www.collegeinsider.com/tournament/schedule-results.php

 

And let's be real ... nobody cares about those tournaments. They're just shameless money grabs. The ONLY one that matters is the NCAA.

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6 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

The tournament you mention already exists (CIT). BGSU is actually participating in it. Nobody wants to watch it and teams don't want to participate. They couldn't even get 16 teams to fill the tournament and they had to of called every school. Alabama A&M is in it with an 11-22 record.

 

https://www.collegeinsider.com/tournament/schedule-results.php


Very good points. I personally don’t care about the CIT because they get teams like BUGS, who even their fans would probably admit are the 5th best MAC team this year. If all the mid-major conferences would agree to not go to the NIT and agree to send their regular season champ and/or 2nd best team, that could be a much more interesting tournament than the CIT.

 

1 hour ago, ZipCat said:

 

And let's be real ... nobody cares about those tournaments. They're just shameless money grabs. The ONLY one that matters is the NCAA.


They definitely are money grabs, but the power conferences got to where they are today with shameless money grabs. Mid-major conferences need to find some new income sources of their own if they want to survive and compete at a higher level.

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21 minutes ago, ClevelandZip said:


Very good points. I personally don’t care about the CIT because they get teams like BUGS, who even their fans would probably admit are the 5th best MAC team this year. If all the mid-major conferences would agree to not go to the NIT and agree to send their regular season champ and/or 2nd best team, that could be a much more interesting tournament than the CIT.

 


They definitely are money grabs, but the power conferences got to where they are today with shameless money grabs. Mid-major conferences need to find some new income sources of their own if they want to survive and compete at a higher level.

I wouldn't watch the tournament even if it had Toledo instead of BGSU. I didn't watch the NIT in years past when they gave mid-major auto bids unless Akron was playing. And even then I'd only watch the Akron games.

 

Outside of March Madness, the average American doesn't care about college basketball. There are already tons of college basketball games on this time of the year. People already spend all of Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday watching the tournament. They aren't going to want to do the same on a Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for games that don't matter.

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15 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

Great article on why people should boycott the NIT because of the money grab by the NCAA

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/the-nit-is-everything-that-s-wrong-with-college-basketball-also-here-s-the-bracket/ar-BB1k418w

The NIT is already dying. For the past several decades American media has been preaching if you're not first you're last when it comes to sports. Numerous teams are now declining the NIT. Players on NIT teams are entering the portal.

 

It's not just college basketball being impacted either. Minnesota booster had to pay their third string QB $30k just so they would have a QB for their bowl game. OSU was playing in the Cotton Bowl, which outside the playoff games, was one of the top 2 bowl games. Numerous players sat out or transferred. 

 

It's kind of funny how places like ESPN has been preaching that the only thing that matters is championships, but now they're shell shocked when fans don't care about games without title implications. I kind of view the NIT changes as they were trying to revamp it to make it gain interest. It has been dying for many years now. What would help it more than anything is if the NCAA moved the transfer window portal back to April 1st or so. By then 95% of the teams would be done playing.

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Last year was the first year I ever watched the NIT and it was to follow Aziz and Utah Valley. I honestly do like how the games are played at campus sites, reminds me of the NCAA tournament for soccer. And I know that they aren't really playing for a "championship", but if Akron were in it I would be all over it, gives the players a couple extra games together, the fans a chance to watch more games. The new rules suck, pretty ridiculous that Xavier, Georgia, and LSU make it, but Toledo just had no chance

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13 hours ago, ClevelandZip said:


The mid major conferences need to band together to create their own tournament for those who don’t make the NCAA tournament. Let the NIT die if the NCAA is adamant about stuffing it with teams that don’t want to be there. I hope Indiana State or one of the others dominates the P6 teams this year. After all, North Texas won last year.

 

The mid major conferences can sell the media rights to the mid major tournament to a streaming service hungry for content like Amazon or Apple and make a little much needed cash.

 

OK, now someone who’s not me take this idea and run with it! Lol

I honestly think this is where the CiT could come in. Bowling Green is hosting a CiT game.

The CiT is run by collegeinsider.com which is the same site that has the mid-major Top 25 rankings that seem to be widely accepted and used in the media.

Combine the CBI and CiT ( we don’t really need both) and find a way to not make the new tourney pay to play, more like the NIT format.... would also love a best of three final that the CBI had once upon a time.

Edited by GJGood
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9 hours ago, Valpo Zip said:

Speaking of Indiana State, wasn't the NET ranking supposed to be the criterion used for at-large bids?

How on earth was #29 Indiana State left out?

There are 7 conferences they really pay attention to. 
 

I hope the Sycamores make a deep NIT run.

Edited by GJGood
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12 hours ago, Valpo Zip said:

Speaking of Indiana State, wasn't the NET ranking supposed to be the criterion used for at-large bids?

How on earth was #29 Indiana State left out?

 

The committee has always looked at who you best and where you best them when selecting teams. The intention of the NET was to grade wins and losses, not to seed teams. Indiana St went 1-4 in Q1 games. That's why the committee left them out. 

 

All that said, I do believe they should have made the tournament, but it's pretty consistent to how the committee has always picked teams.

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