March has a way of revealing the best coaches in college basketball. The pressure rises, every possession feels heavier, and the teams that survive usually have someone on the sideline who understands how to manage chaos.
Year after year, one coach keeps doing exactly that.
Yet somehow, his name rarely comes up in the national conversation.
After leading the Akron Zips to another Mid-American Conference tournament championship, John Groce has quietly built one of the most consistent winning programs in the sport. Akron defeated Toledo 79–76 in the MAC title game Saturday night, securing its third straight conference tournament championship and another trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Three straight titles.
Four championships in the past five seasons.
At some point, success like that should stop surprising people.
Akron keeps winning when the stakes rise
Conference tournaments are supposed to be unpredictable. Three games in three days usually produce chaos. Upsets happen. Favorites fall. Teams get hot at the right moment.
But lately, the MAC tournament has felt different.
Because Akron keeps ending up in the same place.
The Zips have now won three straight MAC tournament championships and four of the past five. In a conference known for parity, that kind of run almost never happens.
Groce has built a program that understands how to win in March. His teams defend, rebound and stay composed late in games. They don’t panic when things go wrong, and that calm confidence tends to show up when the pressure is highest.
Saturday’s comeback felt familiar
The championship game against Toledo looked like it might finally break Akron’s run.
The Zips trailed 42–30 at halftime and struggled early to find rhythm offensively. For a moment, it felt like the magic might be running out.
Instead, Akron did what it seems to do every March.
They settled down.
They defended.
They started chipping away.
Forward Amani Lyles controlled the glass with 16 rebounds, and Akron slowly erased the deficit. By the second half, the momentum had completely flipped. The Zips outscored Toledo 49–34 after the break and closed out another dramatic championship win.
By the final minutes, the outcome almost felt inevitable.
Another comeback. Another title. Another celebration in Cleveland.
Groce has quietly built a powerhouse
When Groce arrived at Akron in 2017, the program needed stability. What he built instead was something even better.
Consistency.
Year after year, the Zips have stayed near the top of the MAC. Players develop in Groce’s system, teams improve as the season goes on, and by the time March arrives Akron usually looks ready for the moment.
That kind of sustained success is incredibly difficult in mid-major basketball. Rosters change quickly. Transfers reshape teams every year. Programs that win big seasons often struggle to maintain it.
Akron hasn’t.
Instead, Groce has created a culture where winning feels expected.
Eventually people will notice
Winning once in March can happen to anyone.
Winning twice might be momentum.
But winning year after year starts to look like something else entirely.
It starts to look like great coaching.
Groce has built a program that knows how to handle pressure, how to respond when games get tight and how to keep winning when the spotlight gets brightest.
And every March, the ending seems to look the same.
Akron celebrating.
Groce cutting down another net.
And one of the most underrated coaches in college basketball quietly adding another championship to the list.