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I agree about Finley. If he’s in form, we’ve got a shot to take one of—if not both—Wyoming and UAB. Instead, we wrapped up non-con play with the same record we always seem to have against P4 opponents. We’ve been waiting on Murphy for a while now. If the portal hits us the way I’m expecting, 2026 may be the perfect window for him to finally come into his own. I haven’t heard anything about White either. I’m assuming it was a season-ender since he never came back. He’s already used a redshirt, but he should be able to get a medical one if he chooses. Getting him back healthy would be huge, especially if we’re operating under the assumption that DeWalt is out of eligibility.

Fundamentals cost them the game. 20plus TOs, Missed 18 FREE THROWS! and up 3 with 5+ seconds to go everyone knows you foul. Dont allow a streak shooter to even attempt the tying shot. Not to mention that was against a team that had fouled out SIX! yes SIX players!

Yale won. UMass and Charleston are tied with 11:30 to go

One might imagine 8 hours in a plane and the Virgin Island resorts are a distraction for some of these youngsters.

2004 first season. 6-5 overall. Finished second in the MAC East behind Miami. The key to that season was not an Owens recruit, but Brett Biggs coming off the bench against and giving the program some life in a loss to Middle Tennessee. The program did well the next two seasons as Brookhart brought more of his own people in.

Yale is struggling to put away Green Bay

Would’ve helped but Troy has some head scratching loses already. They’ve been all over the place this month

another one from the players....

Last week we saw power conference programs play in a ballroom in West Virginia. This arena has to be an upgrade over that.

Gym looks a little better than the Cayman Islands, still not great. It’s gotta be funny to be some of the best players at their level and go play some of the most competitive games of the year in a gym like this

Sad thing is ... a win here, combined with San Diego State likely puts Troy solidly in the at-large picture if they don't win the Sun Belt. Great game. Great performance. Brutal Loss.

5.5 hrs...just sayin https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Blacksburg,+VA/Pittsburgh,+PA/@38.8273651,-82.1803206,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x884d950adc06dcc3:0x86ceb8ea4842da2d!2m2!1d-80.4150745!2d37.2300668!1m5!1m1!1s0x8834f16f48068503:0x8df915a15aa21b34!2m2!1d-79.9972352!2d40.4386612!3e0!5m1!1e1?authuser=0&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MTExNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

I would think the 8 weeks are important in the sense that even if you're able to retain 2 or 3 of the offensive lineman it puts you in a much better position to succeed than needing to replace all 5. Some guys will perform at such a high level that we will never be able to afford them. We saw that with Nate Johnson in basketball. We need to at least position ourselves to keep a few guys below that tier so at least we have a foundation to build off of.

I caught that too! This might be a situation to where JoMo/Goodrich sits and waits for NIL Funds to actually happen, JoMo runs out his contract to get a extension(he would have to win 8 Games+ IMHO for that to happen), or the Administration decides to do nothing(Worst case scenario).

BTW I may be in the minority but I said this last year when all the Joe rumors were swirling. Very similar this year. I absolutely agree with whoever mentioned it in the past few days .. the rumors are all being generated by Joe’s agent. Watch other rumors pop early in the search cycles for OCs in the NFL etc. I believe Joe’s options to leave for bigger and better pastures are extremely limited. I don’t believe James Franklin will look at him as a first choice or maybe second/third based on how he’s building his staff. I also think he remains comfortable from the standpoint of family life, nice house in Hudson, grandkids around - his son is off next year to play college ball and he has his routine at Akron down to where maybe he can keep a better eye on his son’s career va working his ass off as a OC for some other program with less familiarity. I could be completely wrong but this is my gut feel.

Good point, I didn't even think about that side of it.

No contract extension out of the gate and included in this letter definitely signals this IMO

As the AD of a school whose football program is currently experience academic hardship, it's an easy line to throw in to show that academics are still a priority (even if every common-sense-having human being on this earth knows that academics haven't been a priority in revenue-generating athletics for years across the country).

Some thoughts... - Love that Goodrich took the time to craft this letter. Not sure I recall any recent ADs doing something like this. - I do wonder if the importance of the next 8 weeks silently refers more to JoeMo's decision rather than the other categories mentioned. Fundraising is really the only other crucial component to the next 8 weeks. The NCAA has a new 1-window transfer portal from Jan. 2-16 which only means players have to be in the portal by the 16th (recruiting doesn't end on the 16th). Talent hasn't been the issue, at least not nearly as big of an issue as coaching and financials have been. Every school is going through talent overhaul YOY. It comes down to financials and coaching as the key denominators between programs. - I re-read Goodrich's bio. Something that stands out is he negotiated the JMA Wireless Dome naming rights agreement at Syracuse and the Yuengling Center naming rights deal at South Florida. If I'm not mistaken, the football stadium's naming rights deal ends within the next 5 years. I wonder if he'll be here to negotiate another naming rights deal for his resume. That could be a big step in the financial health of the football program.

That's a completely different scenario in which academics were the priority, and it was pre-NIL. It was also about one in a million that it happened at Akron. Nice story nonetheless.

Has anyone heard the little known story of a guy that came to UA on an academic scholarship and then just happened to try out for the basketball team? Haven't heard it told in a little while

I think it eventually stabilizes a bit. But certainly there will always be some that are going place to place.

It sucks, but that's the life of things. The thing hopefully Akron can do a bit to help is to get the amounts these guys end up getting elsewhere. Akron isn't going to be able to pay much NIL no matter what happens. But I would think there's something there with "we can develop you, and look at the cash our guys are getting elsewhere." Clearly, they did some developing this year with guys. Could almost convince me that Moorhead is the guy for this, haha

"...many new faces who are eager to join the Akron Zips footbal program in pursuit of a...University of Akron degree" WHAT?!?! How many players will be joining with intentions of staying four years and earning a degree? They are after the money, the opportunity to perform with field time and prove they belong at a higher level, and ultimately chase the dream of playing in the NFL. Do any guys sign with a program out of high school with intent of being there four years and earning a degree? In football and men's basketball, the days of "student-athletes" are over. I'd be surprised if that the percentage of those who stay for all four years of eligibility and graduate is over 20%. Does anyone have numbers on that outcom?

BAD! No excuses, Ball State lost 90% of their production to graduation and still look as good as ever.