2025-26 season in process

[ZipsFan31]

Akron comes in at 94 in the Preseason Kenpom! Kent is 125 and Miami is 127 

[Z.I.P.]

6 hours ago, ZipsFan31 said:

Akron comes in at 94 in the Preseason Kenpom! Kent is 125 and Miami is 127 

Do you have a link?  Would be nice to see our opponents, e.g., Charleston.

[kreed5120]

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

Do you have a link?  Would be nice to see our opponents, e.g., Charleston.

Kenpom.com

 

I personally wouldn't place too much stock in preseason ratings. Especially since we see so much roster turnover these days. 

[Zips1991]

Akron has added an exhibition game at Youngstown State on October 29.

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AqJdnhuDp/

[clarkwgriswold]

5 minutes ago, Zips1991 said:

Akron has added an exhibition game at Youngstown State on October 29.

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AqJdnhuDp/

$20 a ticket GA.  Hmmm.

[ZipsFan31]

I got my parking pass in the mail today, I got lot 8 which is an upgrade for me! No longer stuck in lot 1! 

[clarkwgriswold]

12 hours ago, ZipsFan31 said:

I got my parking pass in the mail today, I got lot 8 which is an upgrade for me! No longer stuck in lot 1! 

I'm still in 1 but I like the cover in the bad weather.

[GP2]

[Let'sGoZips94]

 

Come on CBS/ESPN - get your crap together regarding the JMU game. 

[clarkwgriswold]

On 10/13/2025 at 12:28 PM, Zips1991 said:

Akron has added an exhibition game at Youngstown State on October 29.

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AqJdnhuDp/

That will be a fun preseason week with the Tip-off Reception on the 28th and the YSO scrimmage on the 29th.

[Z.I.P.]

12 NOON tip for Princeton??  They DO know that's SIX A.M. where I live, DON'T they?!?  Yikes!  😬

[mrelegazna]

On 10/8/2025 at 4:39 PM, Let'sGoZips94 said:

. They have more money than anyone in the MAC, a better coach than anyone in the MAC not named John Groce and maybe Travis Steele, and the MAC is a significant step down from the A10 after the first few teams. 

Not sure I agree with the bolded part.  In ten years at South Carolina and three at UMass, he has zero NCAA tournament appearances outside the 2017 Final Four run, and he he's 26 games under .500 in league play in those 13 years.

My feeling is, he gets more hype than others because he's a Bobby Knight-esque tough guy (minus serious transgressions like choking players).  A lot of people love that type, a lot of people hate that type, and so the media is eager to cover him; he drives eyeballs.

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 hour ago, mrelegazna said:

Not sure I agree with the bolded part.  In ten years at South Carolina and three at UMass, he has zero NCAA tournament appearances outside the 2017 Final Four run, and he he's 26 games under .500 in league play in those 13 years.

My feeling is, he gets more hype than others because he's a Bobby Knight-esque tough guy (minus serious transgressions like choking players).  A lot of people love that type, a lot of people hate that type, and so the media is eager to cover him; he drives eyeballs.

 

Frank made the NCAAT 4 times in 5 seasons at K State, including an Elite 8 run in 2009-10. USC could've made the NCAAT in 2015-16, but ultimately peaked with a Final Four run in 2016-17. COVID-affected 2020-21 was his only losing season at USC after his first 2 years. He had winning records in 7 out of 10 seasons at USC. His UMass years haven't been the best, but that's a much larger reclamation project. UMass hasn't been anything special since the early 90s aside from a few sporadic years in the late 00s and early teens.

 

He gets hype for taking two lesser P5 programs to the Elite 8 and Final Four. Groce is the only other coach in the MAC with any sort of March success, so I will maintain that Frank Martin is at worst a top 3 coach in this league. 

[RoyalBlu]

58 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Frank made the NCAAT 4 times in 5 seasons at K State, including an Elite 8 run in 2009-10. USC could've made the NCAAT in 2015-16, but ultimately peaked with a Final Four run in 2016-17. COVID-affected 2020-21 was his only losing season at USC after his first 2 years. He had winning records in 7 out of 10 seasons at USC. His UMass years haven't been the best, but that's a much larger reclamation project. UMass hasn't been anything special since the early 90s aside from a few sporadic years in the late 00s and early teens.

 

He gets hype for taking two lesser P5 programs to the Elite 8 and Final Four. Groce is the only other coach in the MAC with any sort of March success, so I will maintain that Frank Martin is at worst a top 3 coach in this league. 

I would say Boals and Oats (Buffalo) are the only coaches with any NCAA/March success for the MAC in the last 10 years while Groce has not won a March/NCAA game since 2013 (Illinois). Such is life in the MAC. Martin likely slots in the top third of the league, going into his first MAC season with a clear chance to climb a notch or two higher, pending initial MAC success. 

 

Until a MAC coach starts winning NCAA Tournament games, or even having consistent NIT success, I say there is no real clear No. 1 .... although we do have our favorites. Toledo's MAC titles (regular season) and Akron's titles (MAC Tournament) are great 'MAC' achievements. Until the MAC gets another true powerhouse program that steps up in March ... we (MAC) are who they say we are.

Edited October 17 by RoyalBlu

[clarkwgriswold]

There's only one Stan Heath.

[RoyalBlu]

4 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

There's only one Stan Heath.

How did his name get into the conversation?????

[Let'sGoZips94]

11 minutes ago, RoyalBlu said:

How did his name get into the conversation?????

 

The same way Oats got added to the conversation. 

[RoyalBlu]

Sorry, still confused??? Oats (2018, 2019) and Boals (2021) are the only MAC coaches to win NCAA Tournament games since Groce (2012). Heath was a decade even before that. Am I missing something?

[kreed5120]

3 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Frank made the NCAAT 4 times in 5 seasons at K State, including an Elite 8 run in 2009-10. USC could've made the NCAAT in 2015-16, but ultimately peaked with a Final Four run in 2016-17. COVID-affected 2020-21 was his only losing season at USC after his first 2 years. He had winning records in 7 out of 10 seasons at USC. His UMass years haven't been the best, but that's a much larger reclamation project. UMass hasn't been anything special since the early 90s aside from a few sporadic years in the late 00s and early teens.

Dambrot took a far worse Duquesne program to the big dance while playing in the A10. Martin shouldn't be given a free pass at UMass.

 

The success you're saying Martin had was ~15 years ago. An eternity in the sports world. UMass is spending serious NIL money for a mid-major. Probably 50% more than Akron and 2x-3x (maybe more) that of many other MAC programs. Even with that they finished #222 in kenpom last year. He's greatly underperforming given the resources he has at his disposal.

 

IMO he's an old school coach and the game has passed him by. Being a hardass worked 15 years. It doesn't work today. In this day and age where players can move more freely, player friendly coaches, like Groce, are in a much better situation to succeed.

Edited October 18 by kreed5120

[clarkwgriswold]

15 hours ago, RoyalBlu said:

How did his name get into the conversation?????

It's kind of an ongoing joke between me and a couple of posters.

[RoyalBlu]

2 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

It's kind of an ongoing joke between me and a couple of posters.

Fair enough ... I'll leave it be.

[clarkwgriswold]

16 days until Zips basketball.

[zippy5]

On 10/17/2025 at 4:45 PM, mrelegazna said:

Not sure I agree with the bolded part.  In ten years at South Carolina and three at UMass, he has zero NCAA tournament appearances outside the 2017 Final Four run, and he he's 26 games under .500 in league play in those 13 years.

My feeling is, he gets more hype than others because he's a Bobby Knight-esque tough guy (minus serious transgressions like choking players).  A lot of people love that type, a lot of people hate that type, and so the media is eager to cover him; he drives eyeballs.

Besides the final four run is a heck of a qualifier - who else in the MAC has a final four run?

[mrelegazna]

1 hour ago, zippy5 said:

Besides the final four run is a heck of a qualifier - who else in the MAC has a final four run?

Maybe too much of one, considering what he's done in all other seasons post Kansas State?

 

He did it as a #7 seed too, which on one hand, is more impressive than doing it with a #1 seed, but on the other hand, if you're saying it means he's an elite coach still, you're saying the four games he won in the 2017 speak more to how good of a coach he is than the the other 408 games he's coached since leaving KSU.

[Let'sGoZips94]

2 hours ago, mrelegazna said:

Maybe too much of one, considering what he's done in all other seasons post Kansas State?

 

He did it as a #7 seed too, which on one hand, is more impressive than doing it with a #1 seed, but on the other hand, if you're saying it means he's an elite coach still, you're saying the four games he won in the 2017 speak more to how good of a coach he is than the the other 408 games he's coached since leaving KSU.

 

3 losing seasons out of 15 in the Big 12 and SEC.

 

UMass is much more of a reclamation project than people are insinuating it is, and he was 20-11 just 2 seasons ago. I'm going to need to either see one heck of a fall off for Frank Martin or one heck of a rise by anyone else in the MAC to not put Frank in the top 2-3 coaches in the MAC going into the season.