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Drafted in round 5 by the Chargers. Congrats and good luck, Hitman!

Guess I'll be getting a Chargers jersey. Do us proud, Jatavis.

Should we strive for a P5 conference? Absolutely. Is it realistic? No. UConn has won the National Championships in Men's basketball the same amount of times as we have made the NCAA tournament and they can't find a home in a P5 conference. I'd love to move to the AAC if they lose a couple teams or look to expand. But we still need to raise our profile for that to be a possible option. Football needs to continue to improve and for men's basketball, that means consistent NCAA appearances and victories. That's why I want us to go out and schedule with an at-large bid in mind. It's not to be negative, it's just that I want to see the program take the next step. The "win three at the Q" attitude just doesn't fit for a program ultimately seeking a P5 conference.

I know. I'm laughing too. And where's "We Ain't Come To Play School" Cardell? I think it would be so funny and appropriate if Jatavis gets picked before OSWho's big "hero". But I still don't understand Miller going that high. What do you do with him? Try him out at receiver and cut him? Just like Pryor?

I think they lost S Eric Weddle to the Ravens in free agency. Perfect landing spot!

Blue & Gold, you're alright and I appreciate that your criticism. And I agree with some of it. I'm a huge advocate of presenting both sides, as you put it. Though on some issues by presenting both sides sometimes it can lead to distorting reality a bit if you follow an "equal time" formula; We landed on the Moon vs. Landing on the Moon was a conspiracy; or 9/11 conspiracy nonsense. (I mention those specifically because I occasionally as a science teacher, get asked about those two things by students and have to spend a considerable amount of time talking about the reality of those issues that, if given equal time to both sides, may not be so clear). I would like to point out though that Syed did mention that they have had some of the National Guardsmen involved that day as guest speakers before; "Previous speakers at the May 4 Task Force events have included political activists, those on campus in 1970 and National Guardsmen, he said." Now who they were wasn't included in this article, and I tried to do a little online digging and couldn't come up with anything, but I think we should take him for his word that they have had them there. Now I'll grant you it is entirely possible that the individual National Guardsmen selected may have been cherry-picked because they fit a narrative, but we may be reading way too far into the issue at that point. Perhaps the separation I would like to make is that I don't see them as calling the individuals involved out for their involvement, trying to shame them in some way (the police officer, or the National Guardsmen or the Police in general) but instead bring attention to the larger power dynamic involved with those situations, and bringing attention to them and analyzing them is how we find how to deal with a situation better. I will say that I think we both may be reading into it a little too much, but it is certainly good to talk about. I think sometimes people are just too darn stubborn to talk about things and articulate why the believe the things they do. Had people never done that, I'd still be the person I was in HS, who was very different person than I am today. Thanks for sharing a more articulated opinion, of which I do respect and agree portions of.

He's going to get picked up by someone, the question is who at this point. I really thought the Browns would take him late 4th, based upon how they've been drafting...drafting players who have had to overcome adversity and have a chip on their shoulder. Brown I think fits that bill perfectly, helping turn around the Zips.

I see him as a Troy P type of safety. He may need a type of redshirt year to learn the position but he is a natural football player.

Isn't this a Jatavis Brown thread? You really have issues.

I never said there wouldn't be demand outside your hypothetical power 4. All I said was there would be 9 conferences instead of the current 10. The ACC would collapse and every other conference would move up 1 spot up on the totem poll. There are 128 FBS teams so if you are saying all conferences are going to have 20-25 teams, that means there will only be 5-6 conferences total. Even if 20+ team conferences transpire, I feel I'll be long dead. Your entire concept is based off hypothetical TV dollars, but what you fail to realize is people are dropping cable. ESPN is currently gutting its staff because its subscription revenue is way down. The more people you add the bigger the pie gets, but also the more slices that need to get cut from it. Schools like OSU, UM, Bama, Texas, Florida, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, LSU, and Georgia would be better off breaking off from their current conference and forming a mega conference. All these teams pull the weight of their respective conferences and forming a conference that includes all the powerhouse names ensures you don't have teams like Wake Forrest, Vanderbilt, Purdue, etc. who offer the conference little, but get the same benefits as the teams that earn the conference the money.

Again, I 100 percent disagree. Even under a P4 setup, which you may think is crazy but lets see how things play out, there is still a demand for more college football (outside the P4, just like there is still a demand currently outside of the P5) and there are open time slots networks will want to fill. It was actually Wake Forest that I think will be left out (fourth-wheel in the state of North Carolina), but that's not important. Maybe the ACC "name" would fold and the league would continue under the AAC flag? But I believe, technically, the ACC name rights would belong to Wake Forest. But lets not get wrapped up in the name, but what products could be in the league. I think the TV networks (who do have a lot of pull behind the scenes in who goes where) would push for a new G5 league that plucks 20 (or maybe even 25) of the best of the leftovers, as well as schools that are located in bigger markets. You don't think that will be more beneficial than staying in the MAC? Especially as that new league would also go to a pod setup (meaning travel issues would be a lessened a bit). To put it in perspective, here is a quick idea of what the new ACC/AAC/or some new top-tier G5 named league all together could look like (I'm using 20 here and going by TV markets, along with some general geography) North: NIU (3), Temple (4), Akron (18), Old Dominion (42), Wake Forest (46) Southeast: Georgia State (9), South Florida (11), Florida Atlantic (16), Central Florida (19), Charlotte (22) Southwest: UT-San Antonio (32), UAB (45), Memphis (50), Tulane (51), Arkansas Little Rock (57) West: San Diego State (28), UNLV (40), Fresno State (54), Tulsa (60), Boise State (107) Granted, this is just a quick trying to match teams as best I could geographically (the SE is tough because that's where the underserved markets are), and I was also trying to get the biggest markets in it (with the exception of Boise, which would be an outlier since it is easily the most high-profile non-major). You can flip schools around (and take Akron out all together and replace the Zips with Ohio/Toledo/Buffalo/Marshall if you want), but don't you think something like this could land a pretty significant TV deal (especially since it would neuter the schools that are left out of this group)? Meaning the networks could simply lowball the 40-something left-out schools from the MAC/CUSA/Sun Belt, etc., to have their products simply on an ESPN3 (or other internet packages almost exclusively). It may not be a sexy list of schools, but one that could encompasses a wide region with a lot of potential viewers (which is what the networks want). It would take some time for some of the schools (like an Akron) to build up their programs (but jumping up a rank among the other Ohio MAC schools would speed that process up). BTW, why Akron and not Kent as the No. 18 Cleveland market representative? Simple, it's because of that $65 million stadium that some still like to complain about. Maybe something like this forms and Akron is left out and the Zips are forced to drop down to FCS status, and InfoCision is a complete waste of money. But maybe it is part of the reason (along with being in a big market with a ton of recruiting ground) that boosts this program up a notch... maybe not to "P4" status, but into the clear next notch below. And even if this league is left completely out of the playoffs (which it would be), there are still the marquee bowl games (with big payouts) that the league could work agreements with. It could be a concession. ... You guys stay out of the playoff, but in return, we'll guarantee you X amount of high-payout bowl games against P4 schools as long as your 12-0 playoff caliber champion decides not to try to tip our apple cart. Whatever, it's not like anybody in this group would ever make the playoffs anyway. But they could leverage it in a way that guarantees they won't make noise about getting in as long as the league has a certain number of big bowl game slots. And for basketball, that's at least a 2 bid league every year, more likely a 3-4 bid league.

I thought it was a good post, thanks Wadszip. It's better than three-line responses that do nothing to further a conversation other than to tear other members down. If you don't agree that's fine, but don't tear down someone for actually taking the time to write about something that contributes to the forum.

Buy a box in Greensboro to watch our Zips in the ACC tournament

Well, well, some good news. It seems that the Zips are not so poisonous to some quality teams. P5 teams that need to bolster their OOC Strength of Schedule are finding Akron a good choice. Explanation: P5 programs that are in the top one-third of their conference have no desire to risk losing to the Zips. Nor do teams in the bottom one-third. However, those teams that are "bubble" teams are eyeing the Zips as a way to improve their Strength of Schedule, And, win or lose it does not really matter. Creighton is an example. A couple of teams are close to signing a contract with Akron. High quality programs that will make for a good road trip as they are NOT coming to Akron. Details and names to follow.