Leaderboard

What a bizarro week in the MAC. Buffalo upsets Akron 41-20 Ohio upsets Toledo 31-26 Miami upsets EMU 28-15 K.e.nt upsets CMU 27-24 (!?!?)

Missing the NCAA tourney happens occasionally to the elite. But that does not mean I must be OK with Akron missing this tournament. I will not make excuses. Better effort by this squad vs. WVA, and we would not be having this conversation. Ken Lolla was rumored to be fired last year for missing the tournament. Louisville came to their senses and rightfully retained him. Notre Dame completely restructured their soccer recruiting after missing the tournament in 2011. Coach John Kerr at Duke can save his job by making the tournament this year, after missing the past few (3?). Elite programs do not quietly accept bad seasons. Nor should we. Should Zips miss the NCAA Tournament (God forbid), then some rigorous reassessment of the program need follow.

Boise and Navy both lost yesterday. I believe the initial CFP rankings come out this week, but it appears the path is all clear for WMU to get that New Year's Day bowl game.

What is the total of D1 Football combined with D1A? I can research that should I choose. Never mind. Zips MSOC should first be compared to elite MSOC programs rather than to other sports within our school. Missing the NCAA tournament will never be acceptable at Maryland, NCarolina, Notre Dame, Virginia, Indiana, etc. Should we consider Akron MSOC among the elite? I firmly believe we should. So Skip, do not feel guilty. You are right to be dissatisfied. Grumble! It is what good fans do. Thanks for helping me distill my thought.

Football has far less than that, in our case. There's only 128 football programs who qualify in the rankings. D-1 is split up in football, and we're in that top division.

There are many more Football and Basketball programs in the NCAA than there are Soccer. There are less than 300 DI MSOC. And Zips may fall out of top 30 this week. Not that polls mean much this time of year. RPI is king. Keep the standard high. We have been to the mountain. Nothing less will suffice. Do not be satisfied with this.

I know. All unexpected results. I'm sure I would have thought that all 4 of those games would have gone the other way. Unfortunately, the real impact is that Everyone in the MAC East won....except us.

It's actually turning out to be the exact opposite with Toledo and C.Mich. losing to Ohio and Kent. Miami may beat Eastern as well