Leaderboard

Have you been to the Bahamas?

Amen. The woe-is-me attitude is annoying from Embick now and always was from Dambrot. These guys get paid six figures plus to coach a game and then complain that there's some injustice in the competition. Get over it! The only thing that is deserved is credit for prior wins. The rest is subjective speculation. The five seed was very fair. If we wanted a top four, we could have guaranteed that by not starting off the season with losses to inferior teams like Utah Valley and Denver. Winning one game on the road to get to the College Cup should be no big sacrifice for a team worthy of winning the National Championship. See Rule #76 as my tag below...

If you ordered tickets through the Zips ticket office they are available to pick up between now and 10 am Friday at Infocision box office. If you wait until Saturday they will be available at Ford Field gate C starting a 9:30 am.

Well, here we go again. I was feeling good about tomorrow night until I read that and 'Woe is me again ... we deserved the higher seed.' “I think as a team we felt like we probably did more in the regular season,” Zips coach Jared Embick said. “We were a little bit hotter at the end of the regular season than Louisville to deserve the fourth seed." Even Caleb Porter lamented this...and where did it get us, out of the tournament. Both this quote and the one UAZipster0305 pointed out are horrible for coaches to make. We "deserve"...no we don't. Nobody deserves. The seeding was fair. Now go show everyone that we are better than that seeding. That we are not finished yet; just getting started. Ugh!!!

My guess is Mobile if the Zips win Saturday and Montgomery if they do not. Its just a guess and I hope I am wrong and we can end up with a P5 opponent somewhere but I just wouldn't count on it happening.

I really like having Marshall on the schedule every year. There is history between the two programs and D'Antoni has turned them into an average to above C-USA progrum. It's also a manageable roadie for those who like to travel to away games.

Re question 1: First I eliminated the other MAC bowl teams since no bowl would pair Akron with one of them. Next I evaluated the win/loss record, Sagarin ratings, and other proprietary data data for all the rest of the teams participating in a bowl and concluded we would lose to: Air Force, Alabama, Appy State, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Auburn, Baylor, Boise State, BYU, Cal, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado State, Connecticut, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Houston, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas State, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, LSU, Marshall, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tenn, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Navy, NC State, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, San Diego State, South Florida, Southern Miss, Stanford, TCU, Temple, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulsa, UCLA, USC, Utah, Virginia Tech, Washington, Washington State, West Virginia, Western KY, and Wisconsin. On the other hand, I concluded that we had a chance of beating: San Jose State and Georgia State (who ended up playing each other in the AutoNation Cure Bowl, as well as Utah State. Re question 2: The Zips game against Utah State was televised nationally on ESPN. We got a win and some national recognition, perhaps not as much as if we got pounded by THE osu, but I'll take the win over nobody Utah State.

Akron had a nice recovery to the bad start. The seeding was fair as I would have ranked L ahead of UA too. Porter and Embick have done a nice job of scheduling up including highly-ranked teams at home. Tough to schedule to the level of an ACC schedule; the ACC is an excellent soccer conference. We've played very well down the stretch. Time to head to L and bring home the W - GO ZIPS!!!

The seeding was fair. The 2 early losses for the Zips did not matter. Top seeds should be judged by how well they did against top competition. Against the RPI top 25, Akron was 3-1-0, with wins over #8, #10, and #12, and a loss to #8. Against the RPI top 25, Louisville was 4-1-2, with wins over #3, #6, #14, and #22, a loss to #1, and draws against #2 and #9. If that was the only info you had, which team would you rank higher?

You are correct on the "youthful inexperience" thingy...also the "lack of situational awareness". No excuses, but in the past, the PA system was manned by a member of the A/V staff, but with budget-crunching it's now done by Sports Marketing GAs, who are also trying to do their marketing stuff. Also, it used to be that the fight song was played after a goal. Now, it seems the players...or staff...have asked for more upbeat stuff. And there doesn't seem to be a Tradition or Historical vision taught or discussed before season begins. Also, the athletes for the most part are picking the pre-match warm up music, and are always demanding it be LOUD. They forget that there are actual patrons who pay to get in to see the match and it might bother them. There is just such a turn-over, year after year, of the GAs and facility manager jobs that I don't think the students who take the jobs know the rich tradition and history of all our sports like us "old-timers" do, and no one bothers to teach them. Heck, a lot of them got their undergrad degrees elsewhere, and this is their first or second year here. The volume thingy, I think, will be taken care of, as time progresses and moneys are available. Think back to 2009....shared pressbox with baseball and 1 little speaker pointing down the long low bleachers. 2010....new stands and a portable PA system on the roof, that was only just sufficient. 2012....new sound sytem, a little better, but not quite there yet. 2015 permanent mounted speakers, and more VOLUME. 2017....too much volume. Things get tweaked eventually. The Ocacek Nat sound system SUCKED until 2 seasons ago. The Stile Field House system was terrible! and now it's pretty decent. The outdoor track system was the one used on the roof at Cub Cadet, and finally got changed last season to the old baseball system. The softball system was the same portable one used for soccer and track until they got a new one in 2014.

this is sour grapes....pure and simple.... Louisville did not lose 2 games to teams not in the tourney....Louisville did not lose to a god awful Utah Valley team Louisville played in a league with 9 teams in the tourney and they only lost 2 games all years Akron lost 2 in the first weekend...to teams not in the tourney.... Jared, you can tell your team in private...that they have won so many in a row...and are capable of winning it all....if they want it.... You can tell your team that Sam missed the first 2 games and that you messed up by starting Wiedt instead of Strachan in the first game....but they are still losses...get over it....the seeding was fair... But....for god sakes......don't say that the other team's experience is LOSING Be the ADULT in the room....and challenge the student athletes to prove the seeding committee wrong... STOP Whining, Jared !!!

Play Like A Champion!

The Bahamas Bowl is a logistics nightmare getting equipment there not to mention poor facilities once you get there.....

https://www.ohio.com/akron/sports/university-of-akron/university-of-akron-soccer-zips-get-chance-to-prove-they-deserved-higher-seed-at-louisville “It works both ways,” Embick said. “They’ve been here, but they haven’t been able to get over the hump. We’re going to try to take advantage of the fact they have experience, but their experience is losing. Maybe we can draw upon that and get them to panic or have doubt that hey, it’s going to happen again if we get off to a good start.” I really wish Embick hadn't said that. Louisville is gonna be a tough enough out without them having billboard material as added incentive. Let's hope they don't come upon this before game time.

16 teams is too many. It would make the entire regular season mean less. Part of what makes college football great is every game matters. The last thing I want to do is watch conference championship games at the end of the season and think well this game is irrelevant, both these teams are already going to make the playoffs. The playoffs shouldn't expand beyond 8 IMO and I'd be fine with the top ranked G5 champ being included. Edit: Also, of note a 16 team playoff would require 15 games. This means it will fill 15 TV slots. The current playoff system only takes up 2. That alone could reduce the demand for postseason teams by 26. Many of those teams would probably be the 6-7 win G5 progams.

A Family Affair: Passion for soccer runs deep in Scott Caldwell’s household ...Scott knew from a young age that he wanted to be a professional soccer player, too; he just wasn’t fully aware that he was following in his father’s footsteps. He didn’t listen to his father’s instruction because he was a former pro player – he listened because he was Dad. “I didn’t really know growing up,” Caldwell said of his father’s playing career. “I just thought of him as one of my coaches, as my Dad. He was just always at the field with me or my older siblings, coaching our town teams.” Larry Caldwell must’ve passed on plenty of knowledge to Scott and his siblings – brother Keith and sisters Andrea and Amy – and perhaps some soccer genes, as well, because the Caldwells have earned a reputation as one of the most athletically-gifted families in the New England region....

Mocs is actually an abbreviation of "Mock Turtlenecks." You might have noticed they were wearing them in warm ups.

Purdue couldn’t win the MAC.

Nice chance to basically free tickets if you spend $50 on Zips gear.

"Terry Bowden has done an outstanding job rebuilding this program since he took over." I agree. I was really down on Coach Bowden earlier in the season, but it's pretty special seeing how this team has gelled, battled through adversity and injuries to significant players and, most importantly, how bright the future looks for this young team!

A freshman QB kicking their ass is what happened

Conference champions /= national championship contenders. I'd love to see all conference champs in, but the best we have to hope for is a shot at one spot, in my opinion. Toledo or Akron, Fresno, North Texas, Troy would be 30 pt dogs to P5 champs and would draw peanuts in TV ratings. It's just not realistic

Last night was just what the doctor ordered in my eyes. So far this season, we've had a come from behind win, a wire-to-wire win, a difficult road loss, and a win where we had a double digit lead slip away, but still held on for a tight victory. Talk about getting these young guys experience in multiple scenarios. I can't believe Utomi didn't play more last year. The guy is a pure scorer and all around player. He does it all from defense, to driving to the basket, to jump shots (especially beyond the arc). I think he will be the MAC POY, and will put us in a position to greatly exceed expectations and predictions. Sayles is going to be a stud. He looks so comfortable no matter where he is on the court, and he knows how to finish. A 6'9" 225 lbs freshman with athleticism and poise; I love it. This was Ivey's best game of the season, and he needs to watch, re-watch, replay the tape in his sleep, wake up, and re-watch yet again the replay of this game to see how he let the game come to him. Parrish had his worst game of the season, but that's ok. He's still a contributor and hit a huge 3 from the corner. Patton was quiet but fundamentally sound. Kostelac had a nice game. I think he's starting to get up to speed a bit more. He's definitely more athletic than most freshman big man we've had, it's just a matter of him catching up to DI basketball speed and developing. What I really like is the team's game plan doesn't change when he's in because he can run pretty well. Duvivier is the perfect veteran leader for this team. Cotton plays fundamentally sound defense, and I love it. His offensive game isn't quite there yet, but he'll be just fine. Again, congrats to Lamont Paris for landing this coaching gig with UT Chattanooga. He's going to be good for that program, and I hope we see them on the schedule in future years. Paris is nothing but a class act.