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Absolutely!

Might as well begin this topic now with the list of players who will not be returning, or apparently will not be returning, in 2018 and the remaining roster. Starters not returning (or rumored to not be returning): F Sam Gainford (senior) F Stuart Holthusen (senior) MF Pau Belana (senior) MF Manel Cordeiro (senior) D Niko De Vera (senior) D Nate Shultz (senior) D Joao Moutinho (Generation Adidas, apparently) Others not returning (or rumored to not be returning): MF Dener Dos Santos (senior) MF Barth-Luther Muafo (senior) MF Nathan Brown (senior) D Nick Hinds (homegrown, rumored) Remaining 2018 Roster GK Ben Lundt GK Tor Saunders GK Nick Costa GK Codie Lynd D Daniel Strachan D Marc Alexander D Morgan Hackworth D Reggie Laryea D Shane Wiedt D Joe Korb D Alex Mapp D Declan Watters MF Skye Harter MF Christian Lue Young MF Jackson Crawford MF Faisal Ghaffur F Marcel Zajac F David Egbo F Ezana Kahsay F Braden Petno

No one is discussing our current team. Everyone (almost?) knows you're a pretty long shot to make a tournament with 9 active scholarship players, 5 of whom are Freshman. The discussion is regarding why some people think what's possible/expected for North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Ohio U, MTSU and on and on and on... is somehow impossible for The University of Akron.

Hell yes we do!

Sounds to me like you don't have to bet or root against "your" Zips, considering you've already written them off. A fellow MAC school recently advanced to the Sweet 16, two years after advancing to the second round, with our current head coach. Look at the financial numbers; there isn't much of a difference, except they teach budgeting down in Athens. Gonzaga, Butler, Xavier, Creighton are all private schools I believe, without football; I wouldn't use them as comps. Other schools to win an NCAA tournament game since 2013 (our last appearance): Stephen F. Austin (twice), Arkansas Little Rock, Georgia State, Northern Iowa, UAB, Harvard (twice), Mercer, La Salle (Sweet 16), Florida Gulf Coast (Sweet 16). How many of those teams would you expect Akron to beat in a normal, non-rebuilding year? I'm sure their financials are equal to, if not worse than Akron's basketball financials. The Xaviers, Butlers, Creightons, and Gonzagas of the world all came from the same place: nowhere. They came out of nowhere, built solid programs, enjoyed success on the national stage on numerous occasions, and now their private school budgets are bigger. Big whoop. Akron can be them, we just need the right leader to get us there and build the proper program culture.

Amen....

I predicted 20 also, including 2 wins in the MAC tourney. While it is looking dicey right now, I am also remaining positive about this season. We lost to USC, Princeton and Davidson in Hawaii, and followed it with a loss to preseason MAC West favorite WMU in Kalamazoo. Those are 4 tough teams. Hopefully the difficult road tests have set the table for a solid performance at Toledo. The follow up, Buffalo, is a daunting task, but we have them at home where we've been very good. Just as UA high school commits are blessed to receive a scholarship offer, Zips fans are blessed that Malcolm Duvivier decided to come to UA for his final year of eligibility. The kid brings it every night on both ends of the floor. Whatever win total the Zips garner in 2017-18, you can divide it by 2 if Duvivier weren't playing. I hope his toughness and will to win rubs off on the young guys.

I'm rooting for Dave to make a return. Before my hiatus he challenged me to come up with the meaning of a series of numbers which I didn't solve until "the bet" prevented me from responding. Turns out they were all the numbers to the combination locks on his his mail room locker in both Fortune 500 companies where he was employed.

I think it's much harder now because of the deliberate seeding to eliminate cinderellas early. While viewers like the underdog, a MAC school doesn't have the high $ fans.

Thanks ZippyRulz I visited my nephew and his wife in Munster IN over the weekend and he took me to a local brewery called 3 Floyds and I had an Arctic Panzer Wolf Pilsner that was freakin' awesome, plus high % content and I got buzzed on just 2!

Another great Zips #6 wearing same in the professional ranks. SWEET!

They've now exceeded 10 wins last night by knocking off GW to go 2-0 in conference play, and 11-4 overall. I'm sure everyone (even those who are so vehemently bashing Keith) expected some instant improvement. But, none of us probably expected the A-10 standings to look like this in January, especially when the real reinforcements are not coming in until next year. http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/conferences/standings/_/id/3/atlantic-10-conference

Doesn't Niko De Vera's sister play for GCU? EDIT: Yes... http://www.gculopes.com/documents/2017/7/18/GCU_WSOC_Quick_Facts.pdf

I don't think any of us are happy to lose Joao, but I'm sure those GA deals are too good to turn down. For those who wonder why it's so difficult to win the College Cup, look no further than MLS/Generation Adidas. Two rising stars, Jonathan Lewis and now apparently Joao Moutinho, gone after only 1 season, and one potential star, Wan Kuzain bin Wan Kamal, whom we never got to see with the Zips thanks to SKC/Swope Park. EDIT: I'll be damn proud to support Joao in the professional ranks along with all of our other professional Zips soccer players!

Zipmeister and ZipsWin post? Can GP1 be far behind? Happy to have K92 back.

OH WOW!! I saw the Grand Canyon women's team in August -- and noticed that one of their best players was a freshman from Green, Hannah Nichols. She played for the Cleveland Internationals while refraining from participating with my HS alma mater. Now I'm amazed to see that Blair Gavin was on the bench, and the HC is also an Akron grad! I guess Blair's name wasn't listed on the one-page roster, and I wouldn't have recognized Derek Leader's name. Blair has retired from playing now -- right? The other connection I have on the Phoenix Rising team is former Louisville midfielder Brock Granger, who was a member of Ken Lolla's memorable 2010 squad, and a grad of Iolani HS here in the islands.

Kostelac, is that you?

Dude should have been banned permantly. Just kidding. Welcome back K92. Love ya..

1. No argument. 2. Antino was already on his way out the door when KD left. Noah would still be here. Don't forget that Williams was leaving too. His departure had nothing to do with KD leaving. 3. Hughes had to have some major surgery on both of his legs and wouldn't have played this year anyways.

Dude, please pick something that has a much shorter clean-up time. Does anyone even eat tuna fish sandwiches anymore? You must be a very nostalgic guy.

Keep up the rah rah, but it's hard for me to get excited when I don't see the investment for improvement.

The Zips played better the 2nd half. You could tell the coach talked to them about their effort on the boards. This team needs to learn to find a man and box out. Utomi had a better 2nd half. We got just about nothing from the center position. Poke had a couple of nice games with post up moves and haven't seen an offensive move from him all night. Sayles has to be more aggressive. We are so young that it did not suprise me that we will have troubles winning on the road. Groce needs to teach this team to be more physical and tougher on the boards. The main positive for tonight is that we played a better 2nd half for the first time on the road.

There is also an 8 minute version...