Let'sGoZips94

Curt Cignetti went 11-1 win JMU in 2023. They were in their 2nd year of FBS and not eligible for any bowl games. The NCAA ultimately removed that restriction due to national pressure at the end of the season, but I'm not sure how Cignetti was able to recruit, motivate, and win under those conditions (he also went 8-3 in his first season).

Joe won 4 last year with a schedule that included 3 P4s. The 5 wins this years with 1 P4 on the schedule is actually a step back in my eyes. I don't see the program progressing under Joe, so taking 1 step back to 2-3 wins to take multiple steps forward with hopefully a better coach is worth it in my eyes. We're going to lose however many players in the Portal and have a new QB. It's not like we can expect the same group of guys to grow together and hit that next milestone, and I don't see Joe as the guy to pick up all the pieces again and progress this program any further.

1) My expectations are to find a coach who loves football so much that he doesn't give a damn about the excuses. 2) If a football coach is worth their paycheck, they find a way to win 2-3 games within the first couple of years, then push .500 or better in years 3 or 4 - especially in the MAC. Terry Bowden went 1-11 in his first year, then 5-7 in each of his next 2 before going 8-5 in year 4. Sean Lewis at Kent went 2-10 in year 1 and went 7-6 with a bowl win in year 2. 3) What are we doing comparing Akron football to the Big Ten? Nobody is asking Joe to compete against P4 schools. 4) Joe is in year 4 at Akron. He faced 4 new HCs this year and a 5th who got canned weeks after our game vs. them. Joe's record in those games: 2-3, including a loss to our rival who had only won 1 game the previous 2 seasons. This schedule had 8 wins on it. Joe found a way to lose 4 of those and stole one vs. Buffalo. 5) The eye test of the discipline (or lack thereof) and X's & O's on the field aren't meeting expectations. Those two categories are completely independent of any financial troubles that allegedly plague this program. The play calling and execution sucks. The stupid penalties and mistakes we consistently see suck. Money isn't fixing that. 1 more practice a week isn't fixing that. If the 1 extra practice is a big deal, maybe someone should've raised Hell when the NCAA decided to only punish Akron despite several other schools in the same time period also failing the stupid APR metric. Once the program decided to roll over and accept the punishment, that can no longer be an excuse. As fans, if we continue to allow the program to use all of the excuses as crutches for their shortcomings, they will continue to fall short.

This year's squad would probably give Shaka's team a run for their money.

CMU with a horrendous loss to Loyola Chicago. In any other year, this is respectable; Loyola Chicago was 355 in NET coming into that game.

The MAC West needs to be challenging for CFB Playoff spots to justice their membership in the MAC with how bad their basketball is (EMU looks halfway decent). Balls is one of the worst teams in the country and NIU isn't much better. I'm surprised more MAC West schools haven't look to separate their basketball and football programs like NIU is doing, actually. Balls, CMU, EMU, WMU would be perfect for the Horizon League.

NIU lost by 35. To Lindenwood. The Horizon is going to love them.

NIU is in mid-season form, down by 20 at the half to Lindenwood.

According to this, Iowa's athletics lose money.

The only reason these numbers are being reported is because it involves Deion. All but ~10-15 programs are subsidized by other avenues of revenue.

College football is an unsustainable, dying entity in its current form.

Akron should find another 5-7 team to play a game in Hawaii or Alaska to get to 6 wins and push for bowl eligibility, or just call the 13th game the bowl game.

This never would have been upheld had Akron been bowl eligible. I guarantee the suits in the NCAA's legal department were sweating when Akron was making that comeback vs. Kent. Akron was low hanging fruit for the NCAA to flex its fake, tough-guy muscles one more time before they are completely rendered useless.

Strong company the Zips find themselves in.

Little bro probably thought he was scheduling Dayton.

The Sweet Spot.

Joe? Is that you?

Troy lost to West Georgia last night, dropping Kent's NET down to 165. Bowling Green is up to 63 in NET, putting them one spot behind Ohio State for the 2nd highest ranked school in Ohio.

Troy lost to West Georgia yesterday. I had to double check to make sure it wasn't some form of the Chad Powers led South Georgia Catfish.

Maybe so but I don't think 4 pts in 32 minutes vs Bowling Green is exactly the type of ROI K-State is looking for with their alleged 7 figure investment in Nate. If he was struggling vs Kansas or someone like that, sure, but Bowling Green?

What a win for Todd Simon and his BUGS squad. Got revenge on their former player, big man Marcus Johnson, and beat Nate Johnson in the same game. Nate got his bag, which is awesome for him, but Akron also gained a lot of freedom with his departure. I was never overly impressed with his game and often thought he was a detriment to the team with his style of play that commanded the basketball. Ball movement often died in his hands and there were moments where he was seemingly asleep at the wheel. I will forever appreciate his winning shot vs. Miami OH, but both parties - Nate and Akron - benefitted with him going to Kansas State. The MAC is looking mighty solid this year.

Very true, although I think the Big Ten re-ups with Lucas Oil for one more go-around since the area around Haslem's Playground won't be developed right away.

I personally love the gamesmanship and quite frankly, with how sad the last PK attempt by Bryant was, they deserved everything they got lol. With that being said, I like Akron being the more composed, controlled, and skilled team on Saturday with everything I saw from SLU.