Game 10- Tulane

[clarkwgriswold]

The Zips head to New Orleans Saturday to face the 6-2 Tulane Green Wave. 

 

The Green Wave was chosen to finish 3rd in the AAC preseason poll.  Redshirt junior guard Rowan Brumbaugh was chosen as the AAC preseason player of the year.  Asher Woods, a senior guard was named to the second team.  Brumbaugh leads Tulane at 19.1 ppg and averages 4.5 rpg.  Curtis Williams, a 6’6” junior guard and Georgetown transfer is second in scoring at 15 ppg while leading the team in rebounding at 5.8 rpg.  Woods averages 11 ppg.  On defense the Green Wave plays zone 40 minutes a game.  They average 76 points per game.

[Let'sGoZips94]

This one is big. Tulane is only 228 NET, but that will rise. They have Akron (42 NET) and UC San Diego (63 NET) as the big challenges left in their OOC. Add those and their AAC schedule (Tulsa, USF, Wichita St, Memphis, FAU, etc.) and this could end up being a Q2 opportunity since it's on the road. They are 8 deep and tall/long although a lot of their scoring production comes from the 6'3"-6'6" portion of their roster. 

 

Need to win this to help establish our legitimacy. Cannot be looking ahead to Vegas. 

[ZipsFan31]

This game, Yale, SBC road game are our 3 biggest winnable non conference games. 0-1 so far. Must win if we want an 11 seed 

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 hour ago, ZipsFan31 said:

This game, Yale, SBC road game are our 3 biggest winnable non conference games. 0-1 so far. Must win if we want an 11 seed 

 

Don't forget Murray State. 

[csims0917]

Desperately need quality OOC road games. It’s what we are missing every year. Princeton, Bradley, Milwaukee, UNLV, the list goes on. Tulane doesn’t score at will so I’m hoping to see the defense look a lot better

[Reslife4Life]

4pm tip. Freeze your butt off at soccer at 1, drive home to watch some hoops under 3 blankets at 4. Sounds like a great saturday

[clarkwgriswold]

It will be interesting to see how the Zips handle the Tulane match up zone.  The Zips often seem to have trouble in initially adjusting to a zone.  The Tulane zone is different than what they've faced.  I hope they can adjust quickly to it rather than get off to a slow start. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

43 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

It will be interesting to see how the Zips handle the Tulane match up zone.  The Zips often seem to have trouble in initially adjusting to a zone.  The Tulane zone is different than what they've faced.  I hope they can adjust quickly to it rather than get off to a slow start. 

 

The good news is most zones are mid game adjustments by the opponent, not necessarily their identity. The Zips have several days to fully prepare which should help. 

 

Just read Tulane's board. They want their coach fired yesterday. Here's to hoping we can help get that wish to the finish line! Apparently their coach is Ron Hunter. He's an Ohio native who played 4 years at Miami OH in the 80s.

Edited 23 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[Zips1991]

1 hour ago, Reslife4Life said:

4pm tip. Freeze your butt off at soccer at 1, drive home to watch some hoops under 3 blankets at 4. Sounds like a great saturday

This is the plan but it's only a great Saturday if they both win!

[Blue & Gold]

41 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Just read Tulane's board. They want their coach fired yesterday. 

Hmm. Tulane is 6-2 with wins over Samford, Texas State, Louisiana, and Boston College.

They did, however, get run off the court by New Orleans (85-63), so that has to rub the Tulane alumni the wrong way.

[Let'sGoZips94]

3 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Hmm. Tulane is 6-2 with wins over Samford, Texas State, Louisiana, and Boston College.

They did, however, get run off the court by New Orleans (85-63), so that has to rub the Tulane alumni the wrong way.

 

He has had 2 winning seasons in his first 6 years at the helm. Now, Tulane was an absolute train wreck under their previous HC, Mike Dunleavy, and they did not have much success prior to him, either. Tough spot to win it looks like and I'm sure the fan base is tired of seeing the program struggle to get over any sort of consistently successful hump. Also a tough conference to win in with Memphis, Wichita St., etc., but it's much easier than it used to be with Cincy, Houston, and others departing in recent years. 

[kreed5120]

5 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

He has had 2 winning seasons in his first 6 years at the helm. Now, Tulane was an absolute train wreck under their previous HC, Mike Dunleavy, and they did not have much success prior to him, either. Tough spot to win it looks like and I'm sure the fan base is tired of seeing the program struggle to get over any sort of consistently successful hump. Also a tough conference to win in with Memphis, Wichita St., etc., but it's much easier than it used to be with Cincy, Houston, and others departing in recent years. 

 

It's easier to win in the American now, but it's also very much a mid-major. Before it was in an awkward position where it wasn't a power conference school, but still clearly a step above the rest. 

 

If you actually look at the top 2/3 of both conferences they're pretty much the same now. Those top 8 teams in AAC have an average NET of 122.5 while the top 8 in the MAC are 122. The only thing that separates the 2 conferences is the handful of teams at the bottom of the conference. The MAC has more dead weight.

[Let'sGoZips94]

11 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

It's easier to win in the American now, but it's also very much a mid-major. Before it was in an awkward position where it wasn't a power conference school, but still clearly a step above the rest. 

 

If you actually look at the top 2/3 of both conferences they're pretty much the same now. Those top 8 teams in AAC have an average NET of 122.5 while the top 8 in the MAC are 122. The only thing that separates the 2 conferences is the handful of teams at the bottom of the conference. The MAC has more dead weight.

 

Correct, although right now is an anomaly with Memphis, Wichita St., etc. struggling. Last year, the AAC finished as the 11th best conference in NET (the MAC was 23rd for comparison). It is still closer to that Next 5 tier than it is a bottom half/one-bid conference. 

[kreed5120]

9 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Correct, although right now is an anomaly with Memphis, Wichita St., etc. struggling. Last year, the AAC finished as the 11th best conference in NET (the MAC was 23rd for comparison). It is still closer to that Next 5 tier than it is a bottom half/one-bid conference. 

The MAC was a bit of an anomaly as well for the past several seasons. Prior to covid it was pretty consistently in or around the top 15 conferences. Last year in particular the bottom fell out.

[ZippyRulz]

2 hours ago, Reslife4Life said:

4pm tip. Freeze your butt off at soccer at 1, drive home to watch some hoops under 3 blankets at 4. Sounds like a great saturday

 

Then root for Indiana football at 8. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

2 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

The MAC was a bit of an anomaly as well for the past several seasons. Prior to covid it was pretty consistently in or around the top 15 conferences. Last year in particular the bottom fell out.

 

I view the last few years as the new standard for the MAC, due to poor vision and leadership. What has the MAC done to make anyone believe they are anything more than a bottom half mid major conference? Probably a conversation for a different thread, though. 

Edited 19 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[kreed5120]

3 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

I view the last few years as the new standard for the MAC, due to poor vision and leadership. What has the MAC done to make anyone believe they are anything more than a bottom half mid major conference? Probably a conversation for a different thread, though. 

 

I agree this is a conversation for another place, but I will add I think this is also the new American. Wichita State was only relevant under Gregg Marshall and he was forced out two coaches ago because of scandal. Before him you have to go back to the 1980s to find the last time they were really relevant and before that the 1960s. Every 20 or so years they seem to have a decent stretch.

 

Memphis could be better, but even then they would still most likely be a 1 bid conference. Their pathway to two bids is 1 team having a terrific season then that team losing in the conference tourney. The days of the American getting 3 or 4 bids are long gone.

Edited 17 hours ago by kreed5120

[Let'sGoZips94]

14 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

I agree this is a conversation for another place, but I will add I think this is also the new American. Wichita State was only relevant under Gregg Marshall and he was forced out two coaches ago because of scandal. Before him you have to go back to the 1980s to find the last time they were really relevant and before that the 1960s. Every 20 or so years they seem to have a decent stretch.

 

Memphis could be better, but even then they would still most likely be a 1 bid conference. Their pathway to two bids is 1 team having a terrific season then losing in the conference tourney. The days of the American getting 3 or 4 bids are long gone.

 

They still have 2 teams in the top 100 for NET, neither of which are any of Memphis, FAU, or Wichita St (Wichita St is 102). Completely agree they have not been a 3-4 bid league for a while, but their pathway to 2+ bids is much clearer than the MAC's or any other true mid major conference. I would easily rather player an in-conference schedule of AAC schools compared to MAC schools. Wichita St. is a solid CBB brand thanks to Gregg Marshall. Memphis is one of the top non P4 CBB brands thanks to Calipari and now Penny Hardaway. FAU is just 2 years removed from a trip to the Final Four. Their lowest rated team is 300 in NET right now. The MAC has 3 teams with 300+ NET and a 4th knocking on the door. Time will tell if the AAC continues to be a significant step up from the MAC as a whole, but as of today, it still remains true. 

Edited 17 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[kreed5120]

2 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

They still have 2 teams in the top 100 for NET, neither of which are any of Memphis, FAU, or Wichita St (Wichita St is 102). Completely agree they have not been a 3-4 bid league for a while, but their pathway to 2+ bids is much clearer than the MAC's or any other true mid major conference. I would easily rather player an in-conference schedule of AAC schools compared to MAC schools. Wichita St. is a solid CBB brand thanks to Gregg Marshall. Memphis is one of the top non P4 CBB brands thanks to Calipari and now Penny Hardaway. FAU is just 2 years removed from a trip to the Final Four. Their lowest rated team is 300 in NET right now. The MAC has 3 teams with 300+ NET and a 4th knocking on the door. Time will tell if the AAC continues to be a significant step up from the MAC as a whole, but as of today, it still remains true. 

I never was arguing that the AAC isn't better than the MAC. So yes, while a program like Tulane might now be able to win a few more games in conference, the reward for doing so isn't as significant.

 

The conference is now about on par with the MVC IMO, which is a massive step down from what it was before. Remember Wichita State left the MVC for the AAC because at the time they viewed it as a significant step up, which at the time it was.

 

I feel you're underestimating the impact of them getting raided by the Big 12. Programs like Cincy and Houston provided the tide that raised all the boats. The WCC will also regress considerably for similar reasons when Gonzaga leaves for the new PAC-12

Edited 15 hours ago by kreed5120

[ZipsFan31]

Does anyone know if this is a 1 for 1 is Tulane coming to Jar next season? 

[clarkwgriswold]

19 minutes ago, ZipsFan31 said:

Does anyone know if this is a 1 for 1 is Tulane coming to Jar next season? 

Home and away.  They come here next year.

[kreed5120]

I asked ChatGPT to help be breakdown this matchup. Below are some of the things that I thought I'd share. The strength of their team appears to be their guards and they do a decent job of protecting the basketball, which could prevent some of those run outs that we all love to see. Given they play a lot of zone it's no surprise to see they are a below average rebounding team. I think this is a game that Evan or Lyles can feast by cleaning up on offensive boards and getting some putbacks.

 

 

Tulane Green Wave

• Tulane plays at a more modest offensive clip (~ 76.0 PPG), but they shoot efficiently (~46.1% from the field) which suggests they look to get quality looks rather than volume. FOX Sports+1
• Their tempo and style seem more controlled, which can contrast sharply with Akron’s fast-paced, high-octane offense.
• On the roster, they boast a top backcourt — guards who can shoot from deep and create offense off the bounce.

Key Players & Matchup Difference-Makers

• Rowan Brumbaugh — The preseason 1st-team All-Conference guard is a difference-maker. He’s putting up nearly 20 PPG, hitting threes at a high rate (≈ 42%), and adding steals on defense. Tulane University Athletics+2FOX Sports+2
• Curtis Williams Jr. — Provides a strong second scoring option; his inside/outside ability and rebounding help balance the attack. Recently posted 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 steals in a tight win. CBS Sports+1
• Tulane’s guard-driven backcourt and ability to hit shots from distance — if their shooters are hot, they can slow down Akron’s transition game and make the Zips pay.

 

What the Matchup Looks Like — Key Questions

• Can Tulane slow down Akron’s pace? Akron thrives running and pushing transition; if Tulane can control tempo, get stops, and force Akron into half-court sets, they have a shot.

  Who wins the guard battle? The clash between Akron’s scorers (Johnson / Lyles) and Tulane’s backcourt (Brumbaugh / Williams) might decide the game — whoever gets hot probably swings the outcome.

  Three-point shooting & ball movement — which team executes better? Akron lives on threes and assists; Tulane needs disciplined defense and clean looks to stay in it.

  Depth vs. top-end talent: Akron has depth and balanced attack; Tulane has top-tier guards. Can Tulane’s stars overcome Akron’s overall team balance?