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I think the "engineering solution" for the east and south stands should be to punch holes in the concrete every 15 feet or so and plant big-tree saplings so the hillsides return to scenic woods, breaking up and hiding the decay, and providing permanent stability for the embankments and road.

The death nail to UA was struck around 2013. The U was already in a precarious financial position; but around that time the Ohio Legislature pushed out tougher commands on the 6-year retention rate. What made these changes especially difficult on The University of Akron was the "part-time" students and "Summit-College" students. As both counted against the 6-year retention rate at the time. Summit-College was performing the service of a Community College, where students were admitted to The University of Akron where they normally would not have been, and counted against the 6-year retention rate. Stark State seems to be moving in to cash in on the void left by UA's phase-out of Summit College as it was back then. Basically the State of Ohio forced UA to give up that vital part of revenue/service to the community that it had served as for decades and now others are moving in to siphon it off. I remember vividly one of my last years on campus when we played the University of Tennessee (where my cousin went to school) I looked up the enrollments of the two schools. UA had a total enrollment greater than that of the University of Tennessee (Ours was about 30,000 theirs was about 28,000). At UA you can clearly see the steepest reduction is in "Pre-Major" and "Associate Degree" programs which would have been mostly serviced by Summit College; followed up by Master's programs which is likely in the overall deduction of programs at UA. You can see the steepest drop in any category at any one time is "Associate Degree" from 2013-2014 which is a reduction of 1,200 in one year...which was most likely a good portion of your Summit College population. I would have gone to UA for my Master's, and given them my money...except they've cut all the programs I could possibly use in my career (for those who were trying to understand the outrage over cutting programs)...and now all of my graduate $ are going to other institutions when I would have preferred to go with my Alma Mater if the option were there. At any rate...it's obvious that there needs to be a steep reduction in the cost of athletics. UA's financial woes have been both self-inflicted, short-sidedness from past decadent leadership; and unrelenting pressure from the State not considering UA's unique position of being a Major University and a Community college at the same time.

So, I read the Troll of an Interim President's comments on the upcoming cuts to athletics, and I was surprised to NOT see any discussion on it on ZNO. I don't subscribe to the Beacon and only got to read the article as one of my X amount of free reads on line, but it sure sounds like some sports are gonna get whacked, or some of the staff that works "Game-Day experiences" are gonna be gone, or have to work for free. But I really was concerned with his comments regarding teams that don't need to have as a goal to work towards national titles., and comparing the new baseball arrangement as a be-all-end-all to the budget crunch. How can you realistically recruit college age kids and their parents or guardians, if you have hanging over your head that the University Administration doesn't give two hoots if you gain national prominence at your level? And I thought the baseball arrangement was temporary until they could fund some scholarships? And Green's comments that by not giving scholarships and bringing in local non-scholarship student-athletes, we would increase attendance at games because people would like to come see their kids and neighbor kids play was simplistic at best and just plain stupid at worst. I'd be hard-pressed to let my son or daughter come to U of A no matter what sport they played, as long as this attitude of funding only national caliber sports persisted. Except, of course, our national championship e-Sports team! I think Green thinks this is the way all sports should be played....

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2019/06/05/college-basketball-three-point-line-moving-back-international-distance/1357922001/ Since 2008, the three-point arc has rested at 20 feet, 9 inches from the center of the basket. The international three-point distance had been tested in the National Invitational Tournament the past two years, and the results from the further distance compared to those from the regular season were negligible. Teams in the NIT converted long-range attempts at a 33 percent clip compared to a 35.2 percent mark in the regular season. The 32-team field attempted 23.1 3-pointers during the postseason tournament compared to 22.8 attempts during the regular season, too.

I think another thing to remember is that since this is now a P5 vs. G5 Bowl this bowl game has likely fallen to the very bottom of the B10 totem pole. If there is ever a year that the B10 fails to fill all their bowl commitments, this is probably the one that has to get back filled.

Two questions in 5 years! Your constant questioning is driving me crazy.

Starting in 2020 the MAC will become a primary bowl partner in the Quick Lane Bowl. Locking in a B1G vs. MAC bowl match-up I'd consider to be a win. https://getsomemaction.com/news/2019/6/4/football-mac-to-face-big-ten-as-primary-bowl-partners-in-the-quick-lane-bowl.aspx Edit: Also, I think McDonalds should assume sponsorship rights and name it the BIG-MAC Bowl.

Looks like everything on 247 is updated, at least for us. Notes: Class ended up ranked 112th in the nation, 9th in the MAC, and an average star of .7924. There was never a higher year in the Bowden era either in the nation or average star. Bowden did finish higher in the MAC (8th) in 2014, but about 1/3 of those recruits never made it on the team, including the highest-ranked infamous Anthony Clark out of Buchtel. 247 adjusted Corey Thomas' and Peter Hayes-Patrick's rankings. Corey Thomas is now the highest rated recruit in the class. Thomas and Hayes Patrick are now rated the 6th and 7th highest rated recruits all time (as opposed to 6th and 8th).

when are they going to find and name a permanent president? and they are expecting increased revenues from the gridiron team? Akron sports like soccer and track and field continue to do well...despite the turmoil and budget issues for the university https://www.ohio.com/news/20190607/ua-sports-teams-could-face-cuts-over-next-3-years?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GHM_Daily_Newsletter&utm_content=GTOH_ABJ&utm_term=060819