Men's basketball
The Plain Dealer's Elton Alexander picked Akron to finish third in the MAC East.
This is the defending MAC Championship team that only lost one player (not a franchise player, either) and brings in the preseason favorite for Freshman of the Year. Yet they'll finish third in the division, according to Alexander, behind Buffalo and Miami.
Miscellaneous
I took first place in my election for Stow City Council At-Large last night.
I appreciate everyone's well-wishes and support. It was a hectic four months, and I'm very excited to simplifying my life by watching Akron beat Kent State on Saturday.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Congratulations on the win, Mike.
I think Elton was just trying to be different. Everyone else is picking the Zips. Maybe he's just trying to get some conversation going.
Elton picked Akron first in MAC East Football. Look how wrong that turned out to be!
Now Zippy fans, don`t get your panties in a twist over PRE-SEASON rankings. As WE all know preseason rankings are pretty much worthless! We all know Zippy returns 4 starters but that does not mean they will win the MAC. Are they a serious contender? Absolutely. So all you Zip fans, tranquilo baby! Take a chill pill!
Elton gave his reasons…basically it's anyone's league to win this year and how high a team finishes in the final standings obviously doesn't mean they'll win the tournament. Remember, Akron did win the tournament last season, but they finished third in the East, which was pretty evenly balanced as I recall (so no, Akron is not the defending MAC Champions, they are the defending MAC *tournament* champions…big difference). And yes, these are pre-season rankings which really mean a bunch of nothing. I'd be interested to see how accurate a given sportswriter's pre-season selections are every year. And seriously, do you all get on Rasor when he makes his score picks for the football games each week? How many have been right? How many have been way off? In the end it's just someone's opinion based on what they see on paper and what they've seen play.
And PS Mike…congratulations on your win. I didn't realize until I read the article today that Stow is now going to a ward representative council instead of all at-large reps. Guess I always assumed they had one! Good luck!
Akron may very well be the best team in the MAC this season, and that's coming from a Kent fan. However, I don't know how much of a stretch it is to say they might not, either. Though Akron seemed to get better in the MAC Tournament, don't forget that there were five teams in the MAC East alone that had as good or better of a conference record as Akron last season. In addition, they did lose their last regular season game to Kent, even without Kent's best player. Had they met in the tournament, I would have given Kent the edge, depending on which Kent team showed up (there were definitely a minimum of two last season). This should make for an interesting year, but I wouldn't say Akron is a run-away favorite by any stretch of the imagination.
Congratulations on your win Mike. Congratulations to the No. 1 Men's Soccer Team, too! GO ZIPS! Finally, who cares what Elton Alexander thinks. It's just a preseason prediction.