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That note is so lovely to think about

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

We remember the last time we traveled to Marshall. These teams will still be a rough road trip.

Some NET rankings that may be of interest as of 12/22... State of Ohio Ohio State 49 Akron 51 Miami OH 79 BUGS 83 Dayton 91 Cincinnati 107 Xavier 122 PCCC 144 Wright State 148 Youngstown State 153 Toledo 164 Ohio 204 Cleveland State 349 Miscellaneous Duquesne 191 Conference Rankings (Avg NET SEC 49.56 Big 12 51 Big Ten 62.78 ACC 69.5 Big East 81.45 Mountain West 122.09 WCC 136.73 A10 138.79 MVC 147.73 WAC 156 American 163.69 Ivy 190.25 CUSA 191 Big West 191.45 MAC 193.23 CAA 193.92 Big Sky 197.60 Horizon 216.73 Southland 220.67 Sun Belt 228.43 Summit 233.78 Big South 240.22 Southern 246.70 ASun 251.42 MAAC 257.31 OVC 264.82 Patriot 283.70 NEC 295.50 SWAC 303.58 America East 305.56 MEAC 326.25 Interesting Note: NIU to the Horizon drops the Horizon to 22 with a NET average of 245.64 and the MAC would climb to 12 with a NET average of 182.83.

So OU is playing Miami-Hamilton. If Miami-Hamilton somehow beat them, would main campus Miami brag about it like they won a rivalry game (not the team of course, but like the barstool and student social accounts)

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.

We all knew this one was coming. Good luck Bruno.

Just keeps getting better and better for Michigan. 👍

He'll be fine.

Yes, it's definitely a big loss. He was 1st on the team in minutes, 2nd in points, and 2nd in assists. Not to mention he was an efficient scorer. Their ceiling today is definitely lower than what it was before, but like Akron their strength is in their depth so they are better positioned to absorb this loss than other MAC teams would be. I wouldn't be surprised if they still find their way into the MAC finals.

Typical American, wanting to spend others money but not their own. He makes $7.5 million currently. How about he takes a pay reduction to $2.5 million and instead of needing $20 million he would only need $15 million.

I missed this: This is Arizona States Coach basically begging for 20 MILLION DOLLARS! Good luck finding that in a City where just about everyone is form somewhere else..... https://x.com/Blakes_Take2/status/2002449117914804380?s=20

Wow. Knee injury. That's a big loss.

Isapro done for the season for Miami.

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.

I more just doubt they have 12-15 quality players worth building around, but time will tell. I do agree it's a winning formula if you have a solid foundation in place already.

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.

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.

Always open for good scuttlebutt: ... Went searching on the internet and chat-rooms and couldn't find anything - even a hint - about this or something like it. I checked KSU roster from last season and they did lose two guys, including the freshman kid from Akron. The other loss was a portal kid who started early, but was deep on the bench when he 'got hurt' during MAC play, then signed with a pro team in Brazil. He was injury prone before getting to Kent (never played a full season) so don't know how to read that one. Like above, willing to give the kid benefit of the doubt at this point.

I'm sure it's cheaper and easier to retain your own players than getting into bidding wars for others. It's probably the better long-term building strategy assuming you can bring in players that are capable of being developed. That said, UMass appeared to be a mid-tier FCS caliber roster last year. One would think if they have the deep pockets they claim to have they would at least try to jump start this rebuild by bringing in a few day 1 contributors. Someone on UMass board says they plan to spent $3 million in NIL for 2026. Without some outside talent I'm not sure how that money is going to get spent. Do they just plan to grossly overpay their current roster?

Groundhog Day. Waking up to JoeMo Year 1... again.