What have they done to the college sports I have known and loved? Too disillusioned to even spend time putting together a bracket.
Just waiting for shoes to drop.
Now get off my lawn. 
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I am not doing a bracket either for the first time in a long time. Also not rooting for Kent, purely out of spite for the NIT selection process. I will; however root mildly for Akron to win. In my past pools I always took the MAC participant in the first round, even when it was not advisable.
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Iām old enough to remember Brett Gabbert testing out the portal for a couple of weeks. If Craft wants to check his āmarket,ā thatās part of this modern world, and I feel reasonably good that heāll decide Miami remains his best option. If Coach Steele doesnāt want to burn bridges, Iād suggest that we donāt either.
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I usually root for Kent in the tourney. Screw them this year. I donāt root for Akron. I havenāt since Dambrot and the non-Brons and I likely never will. I might if success in the tournament actually helped the conference. It doesnāt. The MAC will be right back to its usual spot as a one-bid league whether the Zips get blown out by Arizona (I like āZona since the Snoop Bowl) or they go to the Final Four.
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Agree here, DG. Expect he will check out the NIL and try to see what Miami can do, and if heās smart, stay home.
What you say is true, MuHawk. I am an old timer from the era that thinking overall conference excellence might result in more respect (and maybe another occasional NCAA berth) , but not anymore.
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It is probably not great for our chances that I see the quote is from his agent. Agents generally dont recommend taking less money
It does. Teams earn a āunitā for every game in which they appear in the tournament, so the further they advance the more revenue they get. Last year, each unit was worth about $2m ā and the MAC, like most conferences, shares the unit revenue. The team that competes gets the largest share, but everyone gets something. I donāt know the exact distribution, but figure that an extra game for Akron in the tourney would result in an $80-100k windfall for Miami. Thatās like having an extra buy game in basketball.
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Can we just endorse the check over to Suder?
I was going to say, I could tolerate it if it keeps Suder and helps to convince Craft to return.
We havenāt reached the point (yet) where NIL can be paid directly by the university.
The unit structure also explains why some of the micro-conferences donāt mind the play-in. It gives them a winnable game at a good venue because Dayton puts on a great event. And the structure means at least two of those sixteen seeds will earn a second unit for their conference. For those leagues, thatās a big deal.
Suder McGavin
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I thought it had 8 days to prepare. Nope
Gabbert was coming off a season where heād played terribly and also suffered two major injuries. No P5 team was going to shell out major money for a guy whoād likely be competing for a backup job at that point.
Every single team in the country can find double digit minutes for a 6ā6 guard who shoots close to 45% from 3. Returning to Miami would reduce his earnings by at least 6 figures. If he were that loyal, he wouldnāt have entered the portal in the first place.
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My thought is Craft has a chance at a two time MAC player of the year. He could have two 1st teamers on his team with Suder and Byers, which could roll the MAC and get a decent seed into the Madness next year. I would stick with this crew and run it out, this offense if perfect for him and this coach uses him correctly for him to show his value. Canāt imagine a better situation for him than here, but who knows?
We need a bad ass rebounder and away we go!
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Toledoās Sam Lewis is in the portal. Leading scorer this past year.
UPDATED
Toledo
- Seth Hubbard - OUT (5th leading scorer)
- Javan Simmons - OUT (Former MAC FOY and 24-25 All-MAC Honorable Mention)
- Sam Lewis - OUT (Lead Toledo in scoring
Buffalo
- Ben Michaels - OUT (MAC All-Freshman team)
Bowling Green
- Marcus Johnson - OUT (BG Leading Scorer)
Central Michigan
- Jakobi Heady - OUT (2nd in Scoring, lead team in MPG)
Miami
- Kam Craft - OUTā¦for now
Ohio
- Elmore James - OUT (8.2 points, 37% from 3)
Western Michigan
- Markhi Strickland - OUT ( 11.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game)
Kam Craft should look at the guys who left Wright State for greener pastures after actually making the NCAA tournament and winning a play in game. One guy went to Virginia Tech and played. The other went to Ohio State and by the end of the season he was so deep on the bench he transferred back to Wright State.
The grass looks greener on the other side. But it doesnāt mean itās better.
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