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#13 seed Akron gets to travel to Portland, Oregon to play #4 seed Gonzaga. Almost a home game for Gonzaga while Akron gets to travel across the country. This could have been us. Just another lousy NCAA selection.

I don't think this is a MAC thing. It's a "low seed" thing. Low seeds never get priority to where they play.

Akron got an absolute gift at a #13 seed. The way the MAC was this year, I'm surprised anyone from the conference could get over a 15 seed. Plus, I'm convinced that Gonzaga is overrated this year. If Akron gets their s*it together and doesn't buy into the hype, this could be a surprise upset

I was surprised to see Akron get such a high seed. I figure we would have been a similar seed had we made it. I always take Thursday & Friday off for the tourney, and when we make it I will definitely be making the journey to the game.

But boy Portland would have been a LONG drive and tough for me to make it there in time for the game, had that been us playing there! I would have found a way, but it would have been tough.

Regarding the subject I started, I did not mean to infer that the NCAA committee deliberately tried to make it difficult for the MAC. It was a general statement considering travel and other conditions during recent years. Akron is the only 13-16 seed in the tournament that has to travel across 3 time zones. Very few 13-16 seeds in the Midwest, East, and South brackets have to travel 1 time zone and 3 in the west bracket have to travel 2 time zones.

Now on to some possible politics regarding the 2002 Kent State vs Indiana game. If you watched the game, you probably would have came to the same conclusion I am about to discuss. I watched Stan Heath, the Kent State coach, on national televiosion the day after their loss to Indiana. He was cordial and respectful in his discussion about Indiana and did not want to take anything away from their performance. He stated that "when we entered the arena, all I could see was a sea of red. I would like to know how in an arena that seats 22,000, they got 17,000 tickets and we received 450". He then proceeded to discuss where Kent State had to sit. This is what he said on national television. Would Indiana have performed as well in a different environment? I will let everyone draw their own conclusions as to why this may have happened.

murphdogg wrote:Akron got an absolute gift at a #13 seed. The way the MAC was this year, I'm surprised anyone from the conference could get over a 15 seed. Plus, I'm convinced that Gonzaga is overrated this year. If Akron gets their s*it together and doesn't buy into the hype, this could be a surprise upset

I was surprised by the 13 seed. Based on RPI alone, I thought that Akron would get a 14 seed (Akron has a better RPI than 10 teams in the tournament).

I don't think that Gonzaga is overrated nor "overseeded" at a 4. Undoubtedly, travelling to play Gonzaga in Portland will make it extra difficult for Akron.

Akron was a FIVE seed in the MAC tournament and got what amounted to a several home games for them in the tournament. I don't think they, or the MAC, have any gripes coming. Seeded 13th when they were a five seed in their own, very bad conference shouldn't be viewed as getting jobbed.

I think they got a gift. I think Gonzaga is way overrated and is the worst 4 seed IMO. Don't read to much into them getting shipped out west, Purdue has to play on the west coast and they are a 5 seed.

I expected a 14 seed for Akron as well, but 13 is still reasonable. I don't think Gonzaga is overrated and I can see them making a run. They have tremendous talent (Daye, Pargo, and Bouldin come to mind). I expect the zaga to lose to UNC in the sweet 16.

BG71 wrote:#13 seed Akron gets to travel to Portland, Oregon to play #4 seed Gonzaga. Almost a home game for Gonzaga while Akron gets to travel across the country. This could have been us. Just another lousy NCAA selection.

Making BG an 8 seed and having to play at #1 Creighton (in Nebraska), isn't exactly a "gift" to the MAC either.... though not as bad as when they sent us to UTAH vs. BYU the last time.

BG71 wrote:Regarding the subject I started, I did not mean to infer that the NCAA committee deliberately tried to make it difficult for the MAC. It was a general statement considering travel and other conditions during recent years. Akron is the only 13-16 seed in the tournament that has to travel across 3 time zones. Very few 13-16 seeds in the Midwest, East, and South brackets have to travel 1 time zone and 3 in the west bracket have to travel 2 time zones.

Now on to some possible politics regarding the 2002 Kent State vs Indiana game. If you watched the game, you probably would have came to the same conclusion I am about to discuss. I watched Stan Heath, the Kent State coach, on national televiosion the day after their loss to Indiana. He was cordial and respectful in his discussion about Indiana and did not want to take anything away from their performance. He stated that "when we entered the arena, all I could see was a sea of red. I would like to know how in an arena that seats 22,000, they got 17,000 tickets and we received 450". He then proceeded to discuss where Kent State had to sit. This is what he said on national television. Would Indiana have performed as well in a different environment? I will let everyone draw their own conclusions as to why this may have happened.

Serisously man? How did IU get so many tickets? Probably because they have a much, much larger fanbase, basketball is everything to them, shorter drive for them. More IU fans to buy the tickets from the Duke fans who were getting rid of them after they lost in the sweet 16. More UK fans that were there became IU fans after IU knocked off Duke (like I start to root for whoever beats knocks off unc). If they played at the Q, IU would still have more fans present. That would be like Radford fans complaining that there are more unc fans in greensboro on Thursday. You need to relax man, There is no conspiracy against the MAC.

BGSUVA wrote:

BG71 wrote:Regarding the subject I started, I did not mean to infer that the NCAA committee deliberately tried to make it difficult for the MAC. It was a general statement considering travel and other conditions during recent years. Akron is the only 13-16 seed in the tournament that has to travel across 3 time zones. Very few 13-16 seeds in the Midwest, East, and South brackets have to travel 1 time zone and 3 in the west bracket have to travel 2 time zones.

Now on to some possible politics regarding the 2002 Kent State vs Indiana game. If you watched the game, you probably would have came to the same conclusion I am about to discuss. I watched Stan Heath, the Kent State coach, on national televiosion the day after their loss to Indiana. He was cordial and respectful in his discussion about Indiana and did not want to take anything away from their performance. He stated that "when we entered the arena, all I could see was a sea of red. I would like to know how in an arena that seats 22,000, they got 17,000 tickets and we received 450". He then proceeded to discuss where Kent State had to sit. This is what he said on national television. Would Indiana have performed as well in a different environment? I will let everyone draw their own conclusions as to why this may have happened.

Serisously man? How did IU get so many tickets? Probably because they have a much, much larger fanbase, basketball is everything to them, shorter drive for them. More IU fans to buy the tickets from the Duke fans who were getting rid of them after they lost in the sweet 16. More UK fans that were there became IU fans after IU knocked off Duke (like I start to root for whoever beats knocks off unc). If they played at the Q, IU would still have more fans present. That would be like Radford fans complaining that there are more unc fans in greensboro on Thursday. You need to relax man, There is no conspiracy against the MAC.

I never stated there was a conspiracy against the MAC. I did state in a subsequent post "I did not mean to infer that the NCAA committee deliberately tried to make it difficult for the MAC. It was a general statement considering travel and other conditions during recent years". The original post was meant to be for information purposes and a general observation. I would change the title of the subject if I had to do it again. It is unforunate that anyone would have to travel 3 time zones to play in a tournament. Purdue and UCLA for example are in somewhat similar situations. Regarding the Kent State situation, I did not post my conclusion and merely stated the facts and what may have been inferred by the Kent State coach. Your analysis is reasonable, but it does not mean there wasn't or has never been a bias (not a conspiaracy)against the MAC. This is my last post on this subject matter as I do not intend to further explain my original intention of this subject.

Akron has a chance to win this game...their D can be smothering at times and they're playing well lately. I hope they pull the upset...