Dr. Cornelius Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Wichita St. and ORU got the worst draws according to CBS Eye on College Basketball: Akron at Oral Roberts: Oral Roberts is steamrolling through the Summit, sitting comfortably with a 12-0 record. If the Golden Eagles do run the table in the league and lose in the championship, a game against Long Beach State or Wichita State would have come in handy. Instead, they get Akron. That could really bump us down come seeding time if we make the NCAA tournament. Brutal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 These pairings are a joke.....who made them?....George Carlin?.....oh yeah, can't blame him....he's dead...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTex Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I don't like the matchup either, but let's not get too carried away. Akron is 13-7 with an RPI of 58 (currently one spot above Nevada per realtimerpi.com), and leading the MAC. A win will certainly not hurt our RPI, and they will be the best team we've played since December. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTex Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 And, they should be 18-7 and coming off a soft part of their schedule by the time we play them. Here's their upcoming schedule, with predicted outcomes, also from realtimerpi.com: 02-01 Toledo 8-11 (2-5) 284 84-60 W - Scouting 02-04 East. Michigan 9-11 (5-2) 208 82-61 W - Scouting 02-08 at West. Michigan 9-11 (4-3) 144 72-71 W - Scouting 02-11 Northern Illinois 1-16 (1-6) 338 89-58 W - Scouting 02-15 Miami (OH) 4-14 (1-6) 257 86-60 W - Scouting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 The ONLY reason I didn't want Akron was marquee value. But otherwise, why are we complaining? We're at home, on one of the two major ESPN channels, we're not playing at midnight, and we got an opponent with a very good RPI who we should be able to compete with. I'm sorry, but aside from the name, what's not to like? Be thankful we didn't get shafted like Wichita State, a legit bubble team who has to travel 1500 miles to play a dangerous Davidson team that if they beat will only damage their RPI, and if they lose to will ruin their at-large hopes. Or Missouri State, with an RPI in the 70's, drawing Old Dominion and its 132 ranking. What's their motivation? Or how about Nevada, scrambling to get a flight right now to a game at Iona that none of their fans can attend? Or any number of home teams who got no TV at all? While we get to sit on our big butts in Mabee Center as the whole college basketball world watches us try to take out a very competitive opponent in a great atmosphere. Am I missing something here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wakeflip1 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 If they lose one of those games, I would expect their RPI to drop like a lead balloon. If they win all five games, I still expect their RPI to drop, but more like slow sinking quicksand. Regardless, I predict their RPI to be in the 70s or 80s by the time we play them. As for game attendance, I'm sure the buzz of ESPN2 coming to the Maybee will draw in 7000+ fans. I know if we go undefeated in the Dakota's, I'll be jumping on a flight to Tulsa from Orlando. I miss me some Los Cabos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BasPlayr Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I thought the televised BB fames were supposed to attract viewers? As i look thru that line up, uh nope. Agree that the matchup and the game times will not help attendance. However, keep winning and go into that fame on the hot streak, and that will help some. It will make it difficult for me to work my schedule to try to catch both the TU & ORU games now. But its better than if you had gotten the later games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Oh yeah, Akron is definitely a good team that could come into our building and win.....TheEagleman was just hoping for a more marquee matchup with WSU, Nevada, or LBSU.....this will be a contest where ORU definitely will have to bring the A game....,also hoping we can get a big crowd at Mabee for the ESPN audience....Minyard has some work ahead of him....how about a GOLD OUT??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Well, with the game in the afternoon, I still get to take my girlfriend to the prom that night!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meatloaf Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I dont like this matchup at all. Ive seen both teams play here in Morgantown, btw arriving back from our worst showing ive seen in a while, Pitt made us look slow and lazy.... Hope you guys saw Tim Tebow's face blown up on ESPN tonight during the game, that was me. To my take.... Akron runs through Zeke Marshall. He had foul trouble in Morgantown, and never really got going. You attack him, you will win that game. He has a 7'5 inch wingspan, very long and tall 7'0 im pretty sure. Their guards did not look good that night either. I was really hoping LBSU would end up in Tulsa, would be a GREAT matchup of two teams playing similar styles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 On a personal note, at least I will have a relatively close game to go to next year with my family in tow, when the Eagles travel to Akron. As for Akron itself, I think it is a seriously misunderstood and quite frankly under appreciated university. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Just visited the Akron message board, and here's basically what they're saying: 1. Oral Roberts? 2. We got screwed. 3. We deserve a better opponent. 4. Nobody respects us. 5. ORU not a bad team, just no sex appeal 6. ORU doesn't look that impressive on paper, we should beat them. 7. We need to beat ORU badly, to show everyone what a mistake "they" made. Gee - sound familiar? Zips Nation Message Board Maybe we ought to all get over ourselves, and just play the game... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue82 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 In retrospect, this isn't an awful draw - except that we've played them recently and they don't have significant name recognition. That said, a 59 vs. 49 RPI isn't bad at all. Pity Missouri State (79), Ohio (70), and Weber State (90) - who host opponents with RPIs of 131, 129 and 136. Oakland's got a beef, too. A two-time defending NCAA participant doesn't get a TV game, while three teams below them in the RPI get the exposure (probably because Oakland has a slimmer chance of going to the dance this year than those selected). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManiacAlum Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 All of the matchups are just kind of a big "Meh". The only teams who look to benefit are Long Beach State, who ESPN loves for some reason, and probably Davidson. There are no resume boosters for any team that could be considered a 'Bracketbuster'. Selfishly, yeah I guess it's just because we missed a chance to get a really marquee name. Now, people will just say- "Yeah, but who did they beat? Akron and Depleted University (aka Xavier)." And because we played two against them not that long ago. But they are as good as getting Northern Iowa or Nevada. It's a winnable game, which is all that matters right now. Just keep winning games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Here is a little something to think about. Ohio played Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls on 12/20/11 and basically delivers a smack-down to the tune of a 76-59 win. Then on 1/14/12 Ohio plays Kron in the JAR and should have beat the Zips but instead lose the game 68-63. Of course Akron has to still play the repeat in the Convo and I do not think that they will escape with a victory this time. However, the point is everyone talking about NIU and the MVC in general which is a good conference across the board, but on any given night anything is possible. And as an aside, Ohio was in a funk and lost to both Akron and Bowling Green in basically the same week. Had Ohio won those two games, we would not be playing Akron now. In the end, I still think we can beat Akron and hopefully Mabee will be packed and rockin come game time. As someone else pointed out, this is a mid afternoon game on one of ESPN's two premier channels. GO EAGLES! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmh8286 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Just visited the Akron message board, and here's basically what they're saying: 1. Oral Roberts? 2. We got screwed. 3. We deserve a better opponent. 3. Nobody respects us. 4. ORU not a bad team, just no sex appeal 5. ORU doesn't look that impressive on paper, we should beat them. 5. We need to beat ORU badly, to show everyone what a mistake "they" made. Gee - sound familiar? Zips Nation Message Board Maybe we ought to all get over ourselves, and just play the game... Haha! Well done, OT! I was over there last night too, and you left one off - the post for those of us "creeping" on thier board - that they WON last time we played. Maybe we could save everyone a lot of effort and just go by that score. That way we could take a Saturday off. Probably just a regional thing, but it seems to me that ORU has gotten A LOT more press this season than Akron, so I find their "ORU who?" attitude amusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oruvoice Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 OT has it 100% right. Solid RPI opponent. Good time slot. And, on one of the 2 big ESPN networks. Sorry, but I like it and while the name 'Akron' isn't as sexy here in Tulsa, they are leading the MAC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 It is not Wichita State, but it could have been a lot worse. Akron is a good opponent and our guys should be motivated because we will be on national TV. The crowd should be good because it will be senior day as well as the bobblehead game (Domo). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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