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Merry Christmas to all on this board, even those who I have blocked! I am very grateful for this forum. Thanks to the creators, moderators and thoughtful posters. I look forward to accessing this site each day. I believe the best is yet to come. And yes, Virginia, there is a winning football team coming to Akron.

Joe and coach Rodriguez do seem to find talent. But the unfortunate thing is It always seems to take 3 or 4 games to figure things out . We are competitive after that but having 3 or 4 losses before jelling makes a 6 or 7 win season pretty difficult

The crew from 2022 is certainly on the naughty list.

Just watched Wright State hold on at home vs EMU. I can't decide if I wish I was blind so I could never see that, or if I'm now going blind with how bad that game was.

I do not know how you found that..

The state of Ohio seems to be doing quite well when you consider there's over 350 D1 schools and only two from Ohio are in the bottom half. Also, love to see that one of them is OU.

Is it gameday yet? This week off plus the final exam week is always the longest boredom stretch of the season 😭

In grand scheme it doesn't really matter. We play them in a week. If we win they will no longer receive votes.

Forget Santa, talk to the refs and hope they are listening.

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope santa brings you an #11 NCAA seed or better.

Indeed. I don't put much stock in bowl games but I will say the MAC isn't as bad as some think. There isn't much difference between a mid level ACC school and a top level MAC program. If not for the financial need of suicidal schedules, most records would be much better.

Toledo had a mid-season ranked Louisville on the ropes yesterday and Ohio beat UNLV who was in the running for a playoff spot late in the season. On top of what WMU did to kennesaw state, feels like a very strong showing for the MAC so far.

Man this is going to happen to us every single year barring some likely unrealistic elevation of the program. College sports are not in a good position right now, especially for the “have nots”.

The dangers of Elon Musk's X, where anyone can get themselves verified.

Elite offensive team (look between the Yale and Baylor logos).

If Wayne Campus had a team and beat Kent we'd never let them hear the end of it

Feels that way. The difference, though, is there’s plenty of potential returning, albeit with limited production at some positions. The roster JoeMo took over was badly depleted in both talent and depth across a number of positions. On top of that, a good handful of the returning players who had upside never developed and left after JoeMo’s first year. On the bright side, other teams across the MAC are losing starters and all-conference players as well, which could lead to 2026 being wide open again.

Yet another one developed by Coach JRod who had few to no offers coming out of high school, now heading out the door to get paid. What really stings about losing Morris is his ability to adequately play anywhere on the OL when needed.

This might be BGs year

Concord's?

UMASS opens their first conference game with a 10 point loss to Kent State. OU down by 15 mid-way through the 2nd to BG. Have to think this might be Boals’ last season with the program if it keeps trending this way.

Watching Halligan last night and he reminds me a lot of Brian Walsh. Similar game and almost identical size. I like what his size brings to our rotations.

It's better than Gunsmoke reruns.

I can’t wait to watch him work through his mistakes this season, blossom into a 2nd team all MAC OL in 2027, and transfer to Pitt or Purdue! #fourtypercentzip #barelylearnedthefightsong

The Zips get a 10 days Christmas break before Concord comes to the JAR on December 29th. Concord currently stands at 6-3, playing a bunch of teams that belong on Captain’s list of teams he’s never heard of, including Frostburg State. In the confusing geography department, they’ve also played California of Indiana and Indiana of Pennsylvania. Kraig Gilbert, a 6’8” sophomore forward leads the Grapes in scoring at 19.2 ppg. 6’8” junior forward Boubacar Djigo averages a whopping 14.2 rpg to go along with 14.2 ppg. He played for Lutheran West in high school.

I would imagine we would see the same starters as last game, especially since it’s against concord. It seems like it would work out for a 2 game trial and then revert back to the original if it won’t stick

I would stick with the new rotation. At least for now. I don’t trust that the new defensive effort is here to stay just yet.

BuT tHeY'rE uNdEfEaTeD (With one of the worst SOS in the country)

Can't look past this one.

Merry Christmas. I'll take the first ever NCAA Tourney win, if Santa is still listening.

Can't wait to shed the dead weight.

Yes, I would imagine since they're hosting the next round they will be the favorites in most of these matchups.

Here is where the schedule sits in NET now that the OOC is behind us. Q1 Purdue 7 Loss Yale 45 Loss Q2 Murray State 69 Loss Q3 Iona 147 Win Tulane 225 Win Q4 James Madison 216 Win Princeton 294 Win Evansville 268 Win Milwaukee 206 Win Bucknell 322 Win EMU 188 Win James Madison, Princeton, Tulane, and Milwaukee are the most disappointing teams on the schedule. All were expected to be top 150 teams IMO, and none of them are. Iona is the biggest surprise. Let's hope The disappointments find their footing and become what we thought they'd be.

The conferences have flipped this year and the SBC is doing the MAC no favors this year with their NET rankings, much like the MAC has done to the SBC in recent years. Marshall 125 Arkansas St 128 Troy 140 Southern Miss 179 South Alabama 192 Georgia Southern 213 James Madison 216 Coastal Carolina 222 Old Dominion 240 App State 249 Texas St 266 Georgia St 326 Louisiana 346 ULM 356 Here's to hoping those top 8 or so continue to improve.

The OOC portion of the MAC schedule is pretty much done for all MAC programs. The only remaining DI games remaining are EMU @ Wright State tonight, CMU at Wisconsin tonight, and PCCC @ Purdue next Monday. The only potential win remaining is EMU, which would be a nice boost for Akron but nothing to write home about. With that being said, here is where the MAC sits in NET heading into the true MAC schedule starting next Tuesday... Akron 51 Miami OH 79 BUGS 83 Buffalo 136 PCCC 144 Toledo 164 UMass 184 EMU 188 Ohio 204 WMU 291 NIU 318 CMU 331 Balls 339 Miami OH losing Ipsaro probably eliminates them from being a top 100 team come season's end. We'll see how they regroup. This is the strongest the MAC has looked since pre-COVID, although a blood bath in the MAC could really screw this up if those bottom 4-5 teams pick up many wins. The MAC/Sun Belt Challenge is doing the MAC no favors this year, but I'll post about this in another thread.

Just keeps getting better and better for Michigan. 👍

While it is true the Zips have been 'clean' many years now. Let's be careful throwing stones. Even Groce - at Ohio, Illinois and early here - has his skeletons. I believe this rivalry can stand pretty tall, especially on the basketball side, without a running morality play. Let the past stay in the past. And let's enjoy what looks at this point like two (maybe 3) monster rivalry games that highlight the season. Just my opinion.

Gillespie can get the benefit of the doubt, but Kent has a track record of less than stellar character issues.

My guess is they feel there will be a solid enough base to make them competitive in 2026 with the retention of their 13–15 “quality” players, plus a decent recruiting class. I’d think this past year was more of a learn-on-the-job experience for their HC, where he found out football at the G5 level is a bit more difficult than at FCS. I don’t know if UMass has the right guy for the job or not, but I’d love to see Akron find a way to retain most of our best players.

Dang. Looks like we’ll be moving forward with a completely new starting 5..

It looks like there are several teams in the MAC with decent post players: Akron, Buffalo, EMU, Kent, Toledo, Miami and maybe one more I'm missing. At some point all of them will have a game where the whistle finds them early and they are sent to the bench. It will be interesting to see how the whistle blows against all these guys as the season wears on. Lyles-Gillespie should be a classic. Frankly, I hope the officials let those two guys officiate themselves. It should be a classic.

Thats a grown man game. Have to give Pinkie credit in one area - he tends to always have a flat out baller on his team.

Iona beat Vermont at Vermont! That’s impressive

Still a lot of MAC games to go. Based on MAC history, if UMass is indeed a top tier MAC team, a road win there will carry some weight in the standings down the stretch. Don't think Zips have to worry about that, and Kent already has come out of Amherst standing, but until the likes of Miami, Toledo, Buffalo or any other MAC contender walks out of there standing I'll take UMass at home most nights. As for Boals and TK ... still too early to write either of them off. Expect both to be above .500 on the season, albeit barely. The hot seat turns up next season, when their roster management/adjustment will be exposed as they try to improve. Also. If BG builds up a head of steam, they could be a darkhorse in this race by the end of January. Just my opinion.

Bump for updates and a few notes. - EMU signed the largest class in the first signing period, with many of the signees being freshmen. - Toledo has lost nearly half their freshmen signees due to the coaching change. I don’t think that matters much anymore with the portal having become the more relevant recruiting source, but I thought it was worth mentioning anyway. - Supposedly, UMASS has used their NIL funds towards retention of 15 players, and 13 of them have indicated they will stay at UMASS. - I’ll continue to update this thread as I see more activity.

I was listening to the game while driving which can be distracting enough. Reading and responding to Zips Nation wasn’t prudent. But I don’t know what everyone else’s excuse is, shame!! Ha!! Great effort and response to the defensive challenge. Keep it going. Go Zips!!

I for one would be thrilled if the Zips are in a bowl game next year, regardless of where or who the competition is I will be excited....

Back with Minnesota