clarkwgriswold Posted January 25 Report Posted January 25 The Zips will head west to DeKalb, Illinois to face the Northern Illinois Huskies Tuesday. The Huskies are 5-14/1-6 and are coming off of their first MAC win of the season, a 76-66 win over Ball State. 6’5” sophomore guard, Quentin Jones, a Cal Poly transfer, leads the Huskies at 15.9 ppg while also contributing 4.2 rpg. 6’5” senior guard James Dent, a Western Illinois transfer, is the second leading scorer at 12.8 ppg while adding 5.1 rpg. Terry Copeland, a 6’9” freshman, is the team’s leading rebounder at 6 rpg. The Huskies were chosen to finish 11th in the MAC and so far are living up to that projection but the MAC has seen some strange happenings happen in DeKalb over the years. 1 Quote
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 Last required trip to DeKalb ever. Hallelujah. Quote
ewbrooman1 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: Last required trip to DeKalb ever. Hallelujah. Only the football program is leaving the MAC as I understand it. 1 Quote
MDZip Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 (edited) 14 minutes ago, ewbrooman1 said: Only the football program is leaving the MAC as I understand it. Without football the MAC will terminate their membership. Football is one of the requirements to be a MAC member (along with men's and women's basketball and volleyball). Their other sports will not go to the Mountain West but will likely end up in a conference that doesn't sponsor football. So yes, probably our last road trip to DeKalb. Edited January 26 by MDZip 1 1 Quote
zippy5 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 The northern Illinois road trip trap game of all Northern Illinois road trip trap games 1 Quote
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 10 hours ago, ewbrooman1 said: Only the football program is leaving the MAC as I understand it. They are considering the Horizon and MVC. I believe for their non football sports once the MAC boots them from the conference. Quote
zippy5 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 (edited) MAC doesn't even need to boot them. You literally can't have non football sports in a conference that sponsors football if your football program isn't there Edited January 26 by zippy5 Quote
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 (edited) 9 minutes ago, zippy5 said: MAC doesn't even need to boot them. You literally can't have non football sports in a conference that sponsors football if your football program isn't there The new Mountain West proves this to be false. It is a conference-by-conference basis. Edited January 26 by Let'sGoZips94 Quote
zippy5 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 5 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: The new Mountain West proves this to be false. It is a conference-by-conference basis. What FBS football team has football in one conference and non football sports in another conference that sponsors FBS football? Quote
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 36 minutes ago, zippy5 said: What FBS football team has football in one conference and non football sports in another conference that sponsors FBS football? I misunderstood what you were saying. You're correct in that sense, but it's still moving the way of a la carte. Quote
LZIp Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 (edited) 1 hour ago, zippy5 said: What FBS football team has football in one conference and non football sports in another conference that sponsors FBS football? Not disagreeing, but want to point out Notre Dame kind of fits this. Edited January 26 by LZIp Quote
LZIp Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 But anyways, why would the Horizon or MVC even want NIU for non football sports, or at least ones that people care about? Pretty putrid as far as I’m aware. Basketball would drag both the MVC and Horizon down. Quote
kreed5120 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 3 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said: They are considering the Horizon and MVC. I believe for their non football sports once the MAC boots them from the conference. I've heard the Horizon or Summit. No way the MVC would touch them with a 10 foot pole. It's a basketball conference and NIU has consistently been one of the MAC's worse basketball programs for several decades. 1 Quote
GP1 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 Run the score up on them and send them on their way. Quote
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 36 minutes ago, kreed5120 said: I've heard the Horizon or Summit. No way the MVC would touch them with a 10 foot pole. It's a basketball conference and NIU has consistently been one of the MAC's worse basketball programs for several decades. You might be right. I think initial discussions had MVC in the speculation, and that has shifted to the Summit. Ironically, the Summit is currently two spots higher than the MAC in KenPom. 1 Quote
GP1 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 1 hour ago, kreed5120 said: I've heard the Horizon or Summit. No way the MVC would touch them with a 10 foot pole. It's a basketball conference and NIU has consistently been one of the MAC's worse basketball programs for several decades. Am I understanding this correctly? NIU is leaving the MAC but doesn't have plans finalized yet for all sports? Quote
NWAkron Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 I don't think I can move on with my life until I know what conference is taking on the NIU basketball programs. 2 Quote
GP1 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 18 minutes ago, NWAkron said: I don't think I can move on with my life until I know what conference is taking on the NIU basketball programs. I think it would be funny if nobody did. Could end up being the worst decision since Akron moved to D1 without any idea of what to do next. Quote
LZIp Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 1 hour ago, GP1 said: Am I understanding this correctly? NIU is leaving the MAC but doesn't have plans finalized yet for all sports? Correct. At least based on what the public knows. Quote
kreed5120 Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 (edited) 1 hour ago, GP1 said: Am I understanding this correctly? NIU is leaving the MAC but doesn't have plans finalized yet for all sports? It's not publicly known. Who knows where discussions are at on the back channels. I would think they would have plans at least verbally in place on the back channels before making the move, but then again that just might be me giving them too much credit. If Chicago State could find a home, I'm sure NIU will find one as well. It's more of a matter of where. Edited January 26 by kreed5120 Quote
NWAkron Posted January 26 Report Posted January 26 Excellent round up of this week's action. In the "bread and butter" section are some good stats comparing the Akron Groce Era teams. https://open.substack.com/pub/akronzippedup/p/zips-mens-basketball-weekly-update-96e?r=4gotw8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email 2 1 Quote
clarkwgriswold Posted January 26 Author Report Posted January 26 Further proof of the coaching mastery of John Groce. 5 Quote
Illini Zip Posted January 27 Report Posted January 27 (edited) 3 hours ago, NWAkron said: Excellent round up of this week's action. In the "bread and butter" section are some good stats comparing the Akron Groce Era teams. https://open.substack.com/pub/akronzippedup/p/zips-mens-basketball-weekly-update-96e?r=4gotw8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email It’s ironic to me that we went away from the fast-paced, guard oriented system because we had a good (soon to be dominant) back to the basket post player. By the end of his career with the Zips, Freeman developed his all around game to a level worthy of being drafted to the NBA. Now he plays in a manner for the Pacers/Mad Ants that would be an ideal fit for the scheme Groce is running this year. Ugh!! I really hope Freeman’s success leads to the Zips landing some highly skilled and athletic bigs going forward. Edit: I should clarify because both Lyles and Okonkwo have had very impactful games and Lyles’ growth in the last year has been very impressive. There are exciting aspects to this offense involving bigs that I haven’t seen run in Akron just yet. Lyles is the player on the current roster most likely to implement them. Edited January 27 by Illini Zip 2 Quote
ZippyRulz Posted January 27 Report Posted January 27 22 hours ago, GP1 said: Am I understanding this correctly? NIU is leaving the MAC but doesn't have plans finalized yet for all sports? After what, 6 months since the MWC expressed interest in inviting their football team? Something tells me the MAC will let their olympic sports stay if they end up otherwise homeless. Quote
Captain Kangaroo Posted January 27 Report Posted January 27 3 minutes ago, ZippyRulz said: After what, 6 months since the MWC expressed interest in inviting their football team? Something tells me the MAC will let their olympic sports stay if they end up otherwise homeless. I don't see that happening. No football... no nothing. It's up to NIU to deal with the consequences of their decision. They wouldn't have decided to leave the MAC if they didn't have at least a handshake deal with the Summit, Horizon, etc. to accept their other sports. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.