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Ohio Basketball Topic
Topic: MAC Staying Power story from the Plain Dealer
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BobcatSports
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Posted: 4/2/2014 3:17 PM
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I've felt Toledo has the "home-court" advantage in the MAC. If the negatives to OHIO are Athens is "Green-Acre-ish", it's in Appalachia, it's hard to get to from there no matter where there is, it has no mall, no airport, little to no corporate base to draw support/funding from,has a very small non-university population to pull from, etc., Toledo has none of those.

Toledo is a Mid-Major Metro City(greater Toledo metro population 650,000) is very accessible by highway(Ohio Turnpike-Interstate 75), has an airport, has a couple of malls, has a recently updated arena, has a nice nucleus of corporations to tap for season tickets, luxury box sponsorships, merchandise sales, has a large non-university population to draw butts in seats from.

They have a pretty decent talent pool to recruit from within the Greater Toledo schools, a stones throw away from the Detroit talent pool, border Indiana's vast talent pool and are very accessible to the Chicago area talent base and for that matter Cleveland as well. That's a fairly nice recruiting edge.

That they have never maximized these "home-court" advantages has always baffled me.
OUVan
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Posted: 4/2/2014 3:20 PM
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Dexcat wrote:expand_more
With Akron and Toledo having locked up their coaches for the foreseeable future. 
 


Just because he signed an extension doesn't mean that Kowalczyk won't jump just the way Groce did.
Athens
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Posted: 4/2/2014 6:13 PM
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bornacatfan wrote:expand_more
I absolutely for a fact can state that NO ONE in my circles in Indiana or nationally see AKRON as the face of the MAC. Many know OHIO based on recent tourney success and upsets but AKRON is only regarded as the face of the MAC by those who have seen them in Cleveland. There is more buzz about Toledo in the MAC than anything. 

The only way to become the face of the MAC is to compete and win. Belmont, Murray State, WInthrop, Manhattan are all recognizable in their conferences as the up and comer in that conference. Horizon lost Butler and no one has emerged yet in that conference. 

We have the facility, the fanbase and the momentum to run this thing. AD is doing his job. Need Christian to amp it up and set goals ....if he leaves we need a real visionary hire to further the foundation that began in 08 and mobilized the fanbase. NO REASON not to run the MAC and be dominant. 

Agree 110%


Ohio69
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Posted: 4/2/2014 7:03 PM
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bornacatfan wrote:expand_more
I absolutely for a fact can state that NO ONE in my circles in Indiana or nationally see AKRON as the face of the MAC. Many know OHIO based on recent tourney success and upsets but AKRON is only regarded as the face of the MAC by those who have seen them in Cleveland. There is more buzz about Toledo in the MAC than anything.


Well, I get it.  But, Akron is dominating the MAC is is the face of the MAC.  The fact that they don't beat anyone outside the MAC pretty much sums up the problem with the MAC.  The face of the conference, the team that is dominating, ain't beating anyone outside the conference.

bornacatfan wrote:expand_more
We have the facility, the fanbase and the momentum to run this thing. AD is doing his job. Need Christian to amp it up and set goals ....if he leaves we need a real visionary hire to further the foundation that began in 08 and mobilized the fanbase. NO REASON not to run the MAC and be dominant. 


Agree 100%.  But, if the next coach makes it to the NCAA by this third year, he'll get poached too.  Tough road to haul for Ohio.  We have everything needed to win, and everything a coach needs to eventually land a big payday.
The Optimist
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Posted: 4/2/2014 10:48 PM
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Remember when we were supposed to suck this year when we lost our sick Senior class from last year??? We have a high-major atmosphere. That is where it starts. From there, we are spending like we should be in hoops. We will be OK. I really don't want to lose Christian, however, I think we have staying power even if we do lose him.

I trust Schaus. Also, if we ever lose Schaus, I trust McDavis. They both get it.
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