2025-26 season in process

[Captain Kangaroo]

40 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

I see Cody Head stepping into Shammah Scott’s role for the next 2 years and then Jashawn Ladd after him.

 

And let me say we often talk about Freeman being the poster boy for skill development at Akron (and rightfully so) but Shammah Scott is a man on a mission out there. I’m so proud of how much he has improved and the way he plays. 

Look at Tavari...he was pretty underwhelming his first 2 seasons, and he's been lights-out ever since.

 

Lyles was a 5 mpg & 5 fouls per game center. Now he's dominant.

 

Lots of examples of guys who get better every season.

[kreed5120]

I will say Tavari as a freshman showed flashes that made you think he could be great. It took him some time to show he could do it on a nightly basis.

[Let'sGoZips94]

Akron down to 56 in KenPom with today's results thus far. The sky is falling.

[Illini Zip]

12 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Akron down to 56 in KenPom with today's results thus far. The sky is falling.

Unacceptable!! I guess we will just have to win big enough tonight to get it back. 

[csims0917]

[Zippy87]

We have seen a decent chunk of games now to start formulating some opinions on this year's team. 

 

Tavari Johnson has been fantastic. He's averaging 19/5, taking care of the basketball, and playing good defense. He has turned into a phenomenal player. Shammah Scott has been superb as well, averaging 14 a game while shooting 43% from deep (best in the MAC). Bowen Hardman is right behind him at 41%. Evan Mahaffey has been a difference-maker. His offensive game is limited, but he can create a bit for others and plays excellent defense. Eric is the future for Akron (assuming we can keep him). I think he'll be our 3rd best player by March after TJ and SS. MMK has done a great job, although I contend he will struggle to contain opposing 5s on good teams like Yale. But the effort and motor are valuable to this team. It's tough to judge much from Stankovic and Barre so far. Stankovic has shown flashes of enormous potential, and I expect a lot of growth this season. His defense has improved. I don't quite understand Barre's role here. He has good size and plays hard, and seems to fill a need for this team, but he's pretty clearly at the bottom of the depth chart. Maybe we will see that change over time. 

Halligan has brought good energy off the bench. Groce has played hard. We haven't seen much of Brisco. 

 

To me, the key players the rest of the way are Lyles and Young. We are going to need Lyles to rebound and play good interior defense to have a shot against good teams. We need the guy who averaged almost 10 a game in the MAC Tournament last year. Sharron just needs to find his shot - his shooting percentages are down from last year. He's provided significant energy off the bench, though, and I love the young man's heart. 

 

[clarkwgriswold]

Nice article on Terry Weigand and his son's battle with a rare cancer-

 

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2025/11/25/terry-weigand-family-optimism-cancer-akron-zips-mens-basketball/87271567007/

[Reslife4Life]

Just a note that Kenpom has us ranked 302nd in "Luck" with a -0.76. Don't really know how that number is calculated, but that must've shot way down after the yale game

[kreed5120]

22 minutes ago, Reslife4Life said:

Just a note that Kenpom has us ranked 302nd in "Luck" with a -0.76. Don't really know how that number is calculated, but that must've shot way down after the yale game

 

Yes, it pretty much means we've played much better than our record indicated based on our SOS. I think we would pretty middle of the road prior to the Yale game. 

[kreed5120]

Last year the first NET rankings were released the first Monday in December. If that remains true, we should see them Monday. 

 

Beware they are usually pretty puzzling the first few weeks since NET doesn't use preseason rankings to help smooth them like NET does. This will lead to a couple head scratching teams ranked very high. As we get into conference they will begin to sort itself out.

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

Last year the first NET rankings were released the first Monday in December. If that remains true, we should see them Monday. 

 

Beware they are usually pretty puzzling the first few weeks since NET doesn't use preseason rankings to help smooth them like NET does. This will lead to a couple head scratching teams ranked very high. As we get into conference they will begin to sort itself out.

 

I think Akron will be top 80 or 90 to start. 

[csims0917]

I’d agree on that estimation

[Let'sGoZips94]

This is a hilarious Wentz Financial Group promo. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRNi583ku8Y/?igsh=MWRzaWt5YW41OHZ5dA==

[Zippy87]

11 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

This is a hilarious Wentz Financial Group promo. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRNi583ku8Y/?igsh=MWRzaWt5YW41OHZ5dA==

 

The video packages in general are light years better this year than previous years. It looks like a professional production now. 

Edited 22 hours ago by Zippy87

[Illini Zip]

12 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

This is a hilarious Wentz Financial Group promo. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRNi583ku8Y/?igsh=MWRzaWt5YW41OHZ5dA==

Is it anywhere other than instagram?

[Hilltopper]

5 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

 

The video packages in general are light years better this year than previous years. It looks like a professional production now. 

They are being produced by the same group as last year.

[Zippy87]

43 minutes ago, Hilltopper said:

They are being produced by the same group as last year.

 

I should have been more clear in saying "past years" - I meant in the past in general. AO1Creative has done a great job since they've done it. 

[kreed5120]

NET rankings have been released. Akron currently sits at #42. Others of note.

 

UB - #87

Miami - #108

BGSU - #111

Toledo - #150

Kent State - #157

 

https://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/47272

[csims0917]

Yale is at 25 with means we now have 2 Q1 losses. 1-0 in Q3 and 4-0 in Q4

Edited 51 minutes ago by csims0917

[Let'sGoZips94]

Wow. That is much higher than I was expecting. Bart Torvik's NET Predictor had a 40s number on the Zips next to a 60s number - wasn't sure which one they were predicting. Turns out the 40s number was spot on. Keep it going Zips!

 

@kreed5120 did the top 5 MAC teams, but I want to expand on that so we can laugh at Ohio. 

 

Akron - 42

Buffalo - 87

Miami OH - 108

Bowling Green - 111

Toledo - 150

Kent - 157

EMU - 170

UMass - 208

NIU - 257

CMU - 285

Ohio - 287(!)

WMU - 292

Balls - 340(!)

 

 

For comparison, if I'm not mistaken, the MAC had 4 teams in the top 200 to end last season. If this trend of 7+ teams in the top 200 continues, look for the MAC to be both very competitive and highly thought of come March (in comparison to previous years).

 

Top 200 Teams by Non P4 + Big East Conference:

 

America East: 1

American: 7

ASUN: 2

A10: 9 (8 are top 100)

Big Sky: 7

Big South: 2

Big West: 7

CAA: 7

CUSA: 5

Horizon: 6

Ivy: 4

MAAC: 4

MAC: 7

MEAC: 0

Mountain West: 9

MVC: 8

NEC: 3

OVC: 3

Patriot: 3

SoCon: 3

Southland: 5

Summit: 3

Sun Belt: 6

SWAC: 0

WAC: 4

WCC: 7

 

The MAC is positioning itself to be in the top half of conferences, which is a huge improvement compared to recent seasons. 

Edited 25 minutes ago by Let'sGoZips94

[clarkwgriswold]

Buffalo is an interesting study.  They've held onto some of their better players while supplementing with transfer talent.  Their top scorer, Daniel Freitag is a Wisconsin transfer and is averaging 20 a game.  I'm curious to see if they hold up as the season progresses.  Their schedule hasn't been very difficult but it's much better than Miami's (whose isn't?).  They squeaked by Bucknell 73-71.

Edited 29 minutes ago by clarkwgriswold

[Zips1991]

42 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

NET rankings have been released. Akron currently sits at #42. Others of note.

 

UB - #87

Miami - #108

BGSU - #111

Toledo - #150

Kent State - #157

 

https://stats.ncaa.org/selection_rankings/nitty_gritties/47272

I believe I saw somewhere that NET does not take into account preseason expectations as a sort of starting point, while KenPom does. So, for example, Buffalo is probably higher in the NET ranking than KenPom because KenPom is essentially adjusting for them to "come back down to earth". Is this correct?

[kreed5120]

1 minute ago, Zips1991 said:

I believe I saw somewhere that NET does not take into account preseason expectations as a sort of starting point, while KenPom does. So, for example, Buffalo is probably higher in the NET ranking than KenPom because KenPom is essentially adjusting for them to "come back down to earth". Is this correct?

 

That certainly plays a part. The formulas also while involving many of the same criteria weigh things differently. I'm not sure where Buffalo would be ranked in kenpom without the preseason expectations built in. We will find that out in early to mid-January when it gets completely phased out. 

[csims0917]

Here's the OOC since im the OOC guy these days

 

JMU 177

Princeton 263

Purdue 3

Iona 168

Evansville 317

Yale 25

Milwaukee 222

Bucknell 304

Tulane 236

Murray State 93

 

Potential Sun Belt Opponents

South Alabama 117

Southern Miss 130

Marshall 132

Troy 133