Ferrise gives six reasons for Zips victory

Men's basketball

Although I'm fairly certain Nevada is the better team, I will defer to the Buchtelite's new sports editor Adam Ferrise.

On his new blog, he provides six reasons Akron will knock off the Wolf Pack. He predicts a 67-60 Zips win.

• The PD's Elton Alexander brings up some interesting points in his game preview, including the fact that Akron's RPI will rise, win or lose.


• Keith Dambrot told the Nevada Appeal he will use a variety of tempos and schemes against the Wolf Pack. Nick Fazekas said he is excited to see what Romeo Travis is capable of, since Travis had a bad game in the teams' matchup last season.


• Danny Sheridan is going with Akron by 1.5 points.


• The line moved to Akron minus 2.5 points in some sportsbooks.

One thing is certain: Akron is getting respect. The fact that the Zips are favored to beat a top-25 team shows where Dambrot has taken the program. A win tonight would almost have MAC Championship implications in terms of fan support.

I just don't think Akron will do it tonight unless they hit 50 percent of 3-point attempts and force about 20 turnovers.

Prediction: Nevada 78, Akron 71.