2025 MAC Tournament

[Reslife4Life]

Let’s all acknowledge that WMU has a record of 12-19 and is the 6 seed in the Mac tournament 

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 hour ago, mrelegazna said:

But NIU comes through for them! They got all of the elsewhere help they needed, with NIU and WMU both winning as road dogs.

Alas, they couldn't help themselves and had their doors blown off from go by a Miami team locked into their seed.

It is to laugh.

 

The most improbable component of their needs, and they don't even have the Balls to show up at Miami. Soft progrum.

[Zippy87]

My Predictions:

 

#1 Akron over #8 BGSU

#4 Toledo over #5 Ohio

#3 Kent over Western Michigan

#2 Miami over #7 Eastern Michigan

 

#1 Akron over #4 Toledo

#3 Kent over #2 Miami

 

Akron beats Kent for a third time this season to capture the crown. 

[Z.I.P.]

4 hours ago, MDZip said:

CMU chokes away their season losing to NIU in double overtime. So here's the bracket. 

Well, doesn't that figure/suck!  Just as soon as Ohio turns the clock, they schedule the Zips and BeeGees at 5 a.m. in my time zone!  That sounds like a midweek ESPN MAC football game!  Wake me at halftime?

[Zippy87]

9 hours ago, Reslife4Life said:

Let’s all acknowledge that WMU has a record of 12-19 and is the 6 seed in the Mac tournament 

 

#7 seed is one game above .500 and #8 is also below .500. Further support of my argument to cut this to six teams with the top two getting a first round bye. 

Edited Saturday at 02:01 PM by Zippy87

[NWAkron]

I like the idea of re-seeding the teams.  However, this year not much difference between 4/5/6/7.  If they allowed all the teams to play in, then the re-seeding would be a super benefit.

[clarkwgriswold]

7 hours ago, Z.I.P. said:

Well, doesn't that figure/suck!  Just as soon as Ohio turns the clock, they schedule the Zips and BeeGees at 5 a.m. in my time zone!  That sounds like a midweek ESPN MAC football game!  Wake me at halftime?

They always give the number 1 seed the earlier game time, purportedly as a reward for being the top seed, to give them a little more time between games.

[ewbrooman1]

1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

They always give the number 1 seed the earlier game time, purportedly as a reward for being the top seed, to give them a little more time between games.

I wonder if they took a poll that both the team and fans would prefer the second game. I know I would. Does the Corner Alley serve breakfast? 😉

[RoyalBlu]

16 hours ago, MDZip said:

CMU chokes away their season losing to NIU in double overtime. So here's the bracket. 

 

Zips should be a sure thing in my book opening round ...  the other three games all have some level of upset potential. Beware of Western ... they beat Kent, Eastern and Miami during the regular season.

 

[roopride]

25 minutes ago, RoyalBlu said:

 

Zips should be a sure thing in my book opening round ...  the other three games all have some level of upset potential. Beware of Western ... they beat Kent, Eastern and Miami during the regular season.

 

I like how the bracket shaped up

[mrelegazna]

13 hours ago, Z.I.P. said:

Well, doesn't that figure/suck!  Just as soon as Ohio turns the clock, they schedule the Zips and BeeGees at 5 a.m. in my time zone!  That sounds like a midweek ESPN MAC football game!  Wake me at halftime?

In fairness, the MAC website showed #1 vs. #8 as the noon eastern game for weeks now.

[NWAkron]

1 hour ago, roopride said:

I like how the bracket shaped up

Miami, Kent, OU, Akron in MAC blue blood semis.

[1981 grad]

10 hours ago, RoyalBlu said:

 

Zips should be a sure thing in my book opening round ...  the other three games all have some level of upset potential. Beware of Western ... they beat Kent, Eastern and Miami during the regular season.

 

No such thing as a sure thing except there will be a basketball game between the Zips and Bowling Green on Thursday.  And in 2020 that sure thing did not even happen.

[egregiousbob]

16 hours ago, NWAkron said:

Miami, Kent, OU, Akron in MAC blue blood semis.

No way OU beats Toledo without a healthy AJ Brown.

[kreed5120]

9 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

No such thing as a sure thing except there will be a basketball game between the Zips and Bowling Green on Thursday.  And in 2020 that sure thing did not even happen.

You don't even have to look far back to see an 8 seed beating a 1. Nobody had 8th seeded Kent beating 1 seeded Toledo last year until it happened. 

 

I will say Senderoff always has Kent playing a physical brand of basketball, which helps come tournament time. Toledo is soft both physically and mentally, which is why they underachieve year after year in the tournament.

Edited 12 hours ago by kreed5120

[NWAkron]

Zipped Up gives us an excellent preview of the MAC Tournement.

 

https://open.substack.com/pub/akronzippedup/p/zips-mens-basketball-weekly-update-964?r=4gotw8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

[Zippy87]

5 hours ago, NWAkron said:

Zipped Up gives us an excellent preview of the MAC Tournement.

 

https://open.substack.com/pub/akronzippedup/p/zips-mens-basketball-weekly-update-964?r=4gotw8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

 

This right here is my biggest concern:

 

"Defense has been an uphill challenge for the Zips all year. In a cavernous NBA arena, sometimes the only thing that travels is defense. A cold shooting night by the team immediately makes any game for this Akron team much more difficult."

 

Only three players of the ten in the rotation - Tavari Johnson, Nate Johnson, and Shammah Scott - have played in a game at Rocket Arena before (Lyles did not log any minutes in last year's tournament). 

 

Last year's team was built on defense, and they had to grind out wins in both the semifinals and final. This year's team is the exact opposite - built on offense. The two couldn't be more different:

 

2023-24

ORtg: 109.6 (108th of 362)

DRtg: 98.5 (47th of 362)

 

2024-25

ORtg: 115.1 (35th of 364)

DRtg: 101.8 (107th of 364)

 

Taking it a step further, here's Groce's other MAC Champion teams:

 

2021-22 Akron Zips 

ORtg: 109.8 (36th of 358)

DRtg: 97.3 (97th of 358)

 

2011-12 Ohio Bobcats

ORtg: 104.4 (116th of 344)

DRtg: 92.9 (27th of 344)

 

2009-2010 Ohio Bobcats

ORtg: 105.7 (96th of 347)

DRtg: 98.3 (114th of 347)

 

As Zipped Up says, defense travels anywhere, while offense doesn't always follow suit. But the Zips team that came closest to winning a tournament game is the one that most closely resembles this year's group. 

 

Let's hope they can lock in defensively and that the shots fall for us en route to a Saturday celebration.