AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron men's basketball team is ranked eighth in the preseason edition of the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, released by the web site on Monday evening. The Zips are the only team from the Mid-American Conference on the list, with Kent State and Miami (Ohio) sitting amongst the "others receiving votes".
Joining UA on the list is one of its 2009-10 regular-season opponents – Niagara (No. 10). The Zips and Purple Eagles will face off on Nov. 29 at Rhodes Arena. Gonzaga, which the Zips suffered a 77-64 loss to in last season's first round of the NCAA Tournament, earned the No. 2 spot. Butler was awarded the top place. Please, click the link at the top of this article to view complete rankings.
The Zips closed out last season ranked 25th in the poll, marking the fourth-straight year in which they ended on the list. The program has peaked as high as No. 5, doing so during the 2007-08 campaign.
In its 11th year of existence, the Mid-Major poll is made up of teams
from the following conferences:
America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial,
Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American,
Mid-Continent, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley,
Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Sun Belt and West Coast.
Voting is conducted by head coaches.
The Zips' 2009-10 season is one of the most anticipated in the history of
the program, as the team returns four starters and 13
letterwinners from last year's squad that went 23-13 (10-6 MAC)
and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, after winning its first-ever MAC
Tournament championship. UA was picked to finish first in the MAC's East Division
and was also selected as the league's overall preseason favorite as well as the
predicted conference tournament winner in a media poll released last month.
Akron faces off against Austin Peay on Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. ET in the
regular-season opener, and plays host to Mount Union in an exhibition
on Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.
Courtesy: Thomas Oliver Photography
