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Zips Mens Soccer to join the Big East


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From the release…

 

“We are excited to welcome the University of Akron to BIG EAST Men’s Soccer,” said BIG EAST Executive Associate Commissioner of Sport Administration and Championships Chris Schneider. “Its storied history and commitment to the sport of men’s soccer is a great match for our Conference. We look forward to seeing the Zips in competition next fall.”

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1 minute ago, LZIp said:

That's great. Outside of the soccer program taking a step up in competition, does athletics as a whole benefit in any way? Such as a piece of whatever Big East media money is or scheduling agreements in other sports?

College soccer doesn't generate TV dollars so I can't imagine we'd see anything financially from this. It might lead to more scheduling in Olympic sports since there will be more familiarity. Big East schools still won't come to the JAR for a basketball game though.

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18 minutes ago, LZIp said:

That's great. Outside of the soccer program taking a step up in competition, does athletics as a whole benefit in any way? Such as a piece of whatever Big East media money is or scheduling agreements in other sports?

 

We would have to join in basketball to see our share of the massive Big East deal with Fox Sports. 

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29 minutes ago, dre22era said:

 


Each team will play all five divisional members once, in addition to three cross-over matches each year. Overall, the league will transition from a 10-match conference season to eight matches.

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2 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

College soccer doesn't generate TV dollars so I can't imagine we'd see anything financially from this. It might lead to more scheduling in Olympic sports since there will be more familiarity. Big East schools still won't come to the JAR for a basketball game though.

I kind of imagined, was just hoping for something more to be excited about. At the very least, we are establishing a relationship with a conference that is an upgrade in just about (maybe every?) sport. Down the road, who knows......one can dream, and the MAC has shown the willingness to take on football only members in the past.

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2 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

College soccer doesn't generate TV dollars so I can't imagine we'd see anything financially from this. It might lead to more scheduling in Olympic sports since there will be more familiarity. Big East schools still won't come to the JAR for a basketball game though.

 

What's crazy is only 3 Big East basketball teams play their home games on campus. Almost the entire league uses larger arenas owned by the city, professional team or entertainment company like Madison Square Garden. Their on-campus arenas are all worse than the JAR. St. John's Carnesecca Arena is practically the same building.

 

Unfortunately we all know that the city of Akron will never build an arena and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse is way too far. 

Edited by akzipper
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I posted this in the MAC suspension thread last week, but will post it here since it still fits the conversation. I believe it to be mostly accurate despite being four to five years old. Interesting that NE Ohio is the "midpoint"

 

 

 

Edited by mes102
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2 minutes ago, mes102 said:

I posted this in the MAC suspension thread last week, but will post it here since it still fits the conversation. I believe it to be mostly accurate despite being four to five years old. Interesting that NE Ohio is the "midpoint"

 

 

 

I've been trying to think how this might effect Akron soccer recruiting.  In terms of Big East geography we pretty much own Ohio. It could effect -- in a positive way -- our ability to recruit the territory of the West Division of the conference.  But given that logic, maybe other BE schools look at recruiting our backyard.  Time will tell.

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6 minutes ago, Z.I.P. said:

I've been trying to think how this might effect Akron soccer recruiting.  In terms of Big East geography we pretty much own Ohio. It could effect -- in a positive way -- our ability to recruit the territory of the West Division of the conference.  But given that logic, maybe other BE schools look at recruiting our backyard.  Time will tell.

 

Here's how it affects soccer recruiting...

 

Recruit: "Hey Coach Embick. I've heard of your program - impressive history. Who do you guys play typically on your schedule?"

 

Coach Embick: "Our conference has Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Bowling Green, and whoever else the MAC can find. Right now it's Chicago State. But hey, we do play a lot of Big Ten and some ACC schools in the out of conference portion. We do need to win those to have any sort of respect since our conference blows."

 

Versus...

 

Recruit: "Hey Coach Embick. I've heard of your program - impressive history. Who do you guys play typically on your schedule?"

 

Coach Embick: "In conference, we have 2 divisions. Our division contains Creighton, Butler, DePaul, Marquette, and Xavier. Then we'll face a few from the other division, which has UConn, Georgetown, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Villanova. On top of that, we'll face some Big Ten, ACC, and other highly touted programs in the out of conference portion. You'll have a full schedule against the top talent in the country, plus a chance at a National Championship every year."

 

 

Otherwise, recruiting won't change much. We have quite the footprint to begin with.

Edited by Let'sGoZips94
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41 minutes ago, akzipper said:

 

What's crazy is only 3 Big East basketball teams play their home games on campus. Almost the entire league uses larger arenas owned by the city, professional team or entertainment company like Madison Square Garden. Their on-campus arenas are all worse than the JAR. St. John's Carnesecca Arena is practically the same building.

 

Unfortunately we all know that the city of Akron will never build an arena and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse is way too far. 

Where’s Nick Mileti when you need him?

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Excellent article from the Beacon

good quotes from Jared and Charles Guthrie

 

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2022/11/16/big-east-conference-welcomes-akron-zips-mens-soccer-team-ncaa-tournament-midwest-division/69651420007/

 

Ultimately the change could help in another area — recruiting, Guthrie said.

 

Guthrie said the program has what's viewed as a top-10 recruiting class for next year.

 

“Just talking to coach, the recruits that were on our fence are actually more intrigued now," he said. "So, I think this is actually going to ratchet up our recruiting, even though we've always done well in the recruiting scene on the men's soccer side.”

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5 hours ago, akzipper said:

Nice!

 

Now would the Big East be interested in adding a team for a few other sports? Maybe a basketball team that's pretty good but plays in a high school gym and draws a few hundred a game? Just wondering...

It seems the place to start is: Are there any other sports the Zips have that the Big East sponsors that the MAC doesn't?

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