All Activity

My issue is not entirely about the one bid conference issue. It's more about the demands of a conference that does not serve us well.

What would make Akron attractive to a better basketball conference? Meh game attendance (6th in MAC?); zero NCAA tournament wins; smallish media market, particularly since there's largely zero coverage of the Zips by the Cleveland media; and a basketball budget that would be middling if not in the lower half of many other leagues. Bud Wentz's money can only do so much - and what if his financial business faces a serious downturn? I get the frustration with the one-bid issue, but the Zips have had that bid more often then not in recent years and done nothing with it.

Baseball starting pitchers.

In no other sport is a single position as important as QB is to football. How can the staff be in its fourth year and not have a viable backup when they know one will be needed? That's a failure of leadership plain and simple.

Why would it have to be a consistent multi-bid conference that Akron would have to go to? I would think everyone would agree that the MVC is better than the MAC for hoops. The MVC teams are typically seeded better in the tournament, win more games in the tournament, and on occasion get a 2nd bid. That would probably be more Akron's level for hoops. MAC hoops have drastically declined since covid and there are no signs of it improving anytime soon. The other schools are too busy checking the couch cushions searching for every last nickel and dime to throw at FBS football.

I'm not suggesting that there's a perfect conference for UA sports. I'm proposing that a conference that makes demands that are inconsistent with UA's needs may not be a good home, or needs to change to become a better home for its schools. That's even more true with the current direction of college athletics.

So,.you all know I find the number of support personnel and people running around with GoPro's on the field more than a little bizarre. In fact, I find it obnoxious. Yesterday I was at the WF vs GA Tech game. For the coin toss, there were four captains per team. There were 10 people with cameras filming it. What the Hell is going on in the world of college football that this happens? Is this what the money is being spent on?

Eh, I didn't want to repeat my thoughts from another thread. My beef is that he hasn't gotten his dual-threat to run his offense & here we are in Year 4.

Pick one of the multiple bid leagues. If fans want a multiple bid league, I have presented them. Pick the one you think is the best fit to be one of the multiple bid teams. My opinion is this. I go to 1-3 Wake Forest basketball games a year during the ACC schedule. Wake is a bottom third ACC school and I'm going to put this as kindly as possible. They would run Akron out of the gym. Akron is exactly where it belongs.

Yes. Thanks for asking. At least the MAC as currently constructed, especially if it demands what it currently does.

You must be tired of winning as well. I'll list the conferences that had multiple bids last year and you tell me which one we can finish with a winning record. This list is from Wikipedia. BidsConferenceSchools 14 SEC: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt 8 Big Ten: Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Oregon, Purdue, UCLA, Wisconsin 7 Big 12: Arizona, Baylor, BYU, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech 5 Big East: Creighton, Marquette, St. John's, UConn, Xavier 4 ACC: Clemson, Duke, Louisville, North Carolina 4 Mountain West: Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, Utah State 2 West Coast: Gonzaga, Saint Mary's The MWC and West Coast are not serious options because of travel. That leaves us with even less serious options in the Big Ten, SEC, Big East, Big 12 and ACC. All but the Big East require football membership. That leaves the Big East. Let's see, St. Johns plays in the most famous arena in the world. Marquette plays in an NBA arena. Xavier has their own palace. UCONN is a national power. I guess once every 10 years we could beat Creighton. Does leaving the MAC still sound like a good idea?

This conversation invariably brings the discussion about how UA can't be in the MAC without an FBS football team and the impact that could have on the basketball program. I say it's about time we started considering other alternatives to a one bid conference where half of the schools make no effort to put out a reasonable basketball program. I've seen enough Michigan directionals for the rest of my life.

I wish my great beef was the backup QB. He hasn't had a decent starting QB. The bar for fan expectation of Zips QBs is extremely low.

So probably not. But they're a lot closer to popping an FCS playoff berth every now and again than they are to an FBS bowl game.

This is where my greatest aggravation with JoeMo lies.

And with our best players leaving via the TP every year what else should we expect? With the current state of college football I think the best we can hope for is the possibility of catching lightning in a bottle once in a while.

You're right, it's not about the money. The central question is whether or not they want to be in the MAC. If that answer is no, it puts a lot of pressure on other programs that are performing well. The other question is, who would want Akron and why? If the answer is yes, they need to figure out how to get more competitive in 2026 and beyond.

Seems like a smart decision as the University tries to right size its footprint.

Wherever they can be competitive. Think they could compete against the S.Dakota, N.Dakota and Montana teams among others, in FCS? Personally I would question that also.

Not about 'saving money' after lierally decades of this. They have to play at a level where they can be consistently competitive. Now they are not.

I agree the program is in trouble without any NIL resources. If nothing changes, we’re basically going to turn into a developmental team for programs that do have them. We were tied for the most MAC players lost to Power programs this past offseason, and on top of that we lost highly productive guys like Norton, T. Williams, and G. Smith to other G5 schools. The staff has done an excellent job identifying talent, bringing those kids in, and developing a large portion of them, but the reality is we won’t be able to keep them for long with the way the current landscape is moving. On top of that, I don’t think our win total has matched the talent level we’ve built over the last few years. I was staunchly against the idea of moving to FCS. While that might solve a monetary deficit — and I can’t really speak to the numbers there — it’s certainly not guaranteed to field a more competitive product. Outside of Nebraska and Toledo, this team has been competitive, they just haven’t won, and that should rightfully sit uneasy with fans and stakeholders. My biggest issue with this year’s team has been quarterback play. Our starter hasn’t played up to his potential, and we don’t have a backup capable of keeping us in a game. How that’s the case in year four is beyond me. The defense had a terrible day as well, which just made things look that much worse. Back to the FCS conversation — I believe a split is coming with the haves and have-nots anyway, so we’ll end up being forced into a different division organically. Who knows what that will look like, but the SEC and Big Ten are in the driver’s seat while the NCAA loses more control by the day. I certainly don’t mean to turn this thread into one we basically already have going elsewhere, since none of us truly know what’s going to happen in the coming years and can only guess. That said, I thought I’d chime in because it does relate to our results this season and where the program is headed if nothing changes. Even so, I still believe we have enough talent to hang with every team left on our schedule, and I’m not giving this staff a free pass. We need to see better performances and results.

Were the two saves stellar or routine though? Having a great defense that only allows two mediocre shots per game can make any keeper look amazing on a stat sheet. Budler is no doubt one of the best in the country, but let's not discount excellent defense as a strong contributor to his eight shutouts.

That was always going to be the case. Even if the Zips won 6 or 7 games, like some of the blindly optimistic fans here predicted, we would still see an exodus of our best players. We can't financially compete in NIL against programs like Toledo or OU. Not to mention against the Mountain West, AAC, and the bulk of the other G5. Until that changes we will remain on the bottom of the food chain and be the punching bag for other middling programs.

At this point coach Moorhead is gone. The only question is how. We can't afford a buyout. Perhaps Joe would consider his resignation for his peace of mind and ours. This crap can't wear well on anyone, even an offensive genius. Regardless of what happens we need to accept that there will be another mass exodus of all our better players at the end of the season. Joe can't turn this around and a new staff will need time to turn it around. The better players will leave, and they should. The greatest single factor in achieving success is the people who lead. Akron football does not have the right leader.