Just talked to Dambrot

Men's basketball

I've always thought of Keith Dambrot as an Akron guy, and he is.

But I've always assumed he'd coach the Zips for a long time, and that assumption got a little cloudier when I spoke with him today.

"I get frustrated," he said. "I can't say I won't get to the point where I wouldn't look (for another job). This is the biggest injustice I've ever been a part of."

Dambrot said he plans to call each member of the NIT selection committee to ask why his team was not invited.

"I owe that to my team," he said.

Dambrot also questioned Akron's membership in the MAC.

"The MAC hasn't used their brain," the coach said. "I've said before that I don't think the MAC is a good league for Akron."

I asked him to name some better conferences to suit the Zips and he named Conference USA, the Big East and the Atlantic 10 (although the A10 doesn't have football).

I also talked to Rick Boyages, associate commissioner of the MAC, who basically said the Zips needed to schedule some big-conference teams. As former interim coach at Ohio State when Nick Dials was there and a personal friend of Dambrot, Boyages seemed really sympathic to the Zips.

"It breaks my heart that guys like Travis and Joyce won't have one more chance," Boyages said.

I thought those nuggets might interest you guys. I'll have much more in my column tomorrow.

• Yahoo! Sports' Dan Wetzel also let the NIT have it, saying the tournament should disband if it's going to be all about politics.