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Zayden Laing-Taylor Senior Highlights, season isn't over they are playing not only in the playoffs just for a state championship they are the number 3 team in the country and their trying to go for the National Championship! http://www.hudl.com/v/2JicXk

Congrats on winning the MAC Regular Season, Akron! Your prize is to play one more game against WMU because we're a pathetic conference that, instead of just sending our regular season champion to the NCAA Tournament, we're playing a 1 game playoff. I didn't even realize they ditched the MAC Tournament, and that this was for the MAC Title Game. I. Hate. The. MAC.

Last year, I went into the season wanting and needing to see a lot of development from guys that had been here for a couple years. I was most concerned about how Ali, Trimble, Freeman, Dawson, and Bandaogo would take the next step after a few years in the program. Mixed results, I would say. The big thing, of course, was replacing LCJ's production, which was essentially everything. This year is quite different. While technically losing the leading scorer, we did not lose our most important player. I also feel much better about the structure of the program and the team itself, though I am disappointed and a little worried about losing Dawson coming into the season. We have a lot of fun looking new guys to look forward to. I think Hunter has the potential to be the most impactful. I like having a proven MAC shooter in Hankerson. I'm eager to see how the redshirts from last year perform. And I'd like to see a freshman or two get some time. As far as returners, I feel we know what to expect. Rique will be Rique, X can hopefully put a full season together after a slow start last year and an awesome finish, I'd like to see Clarke go from role player to game-changer, I'm hoping Tribble can develop into a stronger finisher and more of a serious threat on the offensive end. I love the opponent. This team knows how to win games. And their schedule this year is a gauntlet. On back to back nights early in December, they play at Kent and at Bama! This is one of the better nonconference teams to come to the JAR in a long time, and I'm hoping some of the public has taken notice of both the Akron program and what is has become under Groce, and the quality of opponent coming in. As far as the game goes, I am not going to get too up or too down based on the result in the W/L column with 35 of these things to go. I think it's a fantastic early season test, as is Friday, but I'm not really concerned about RPI and at-large bids in November. Maybe I should be, but I really couldn't care less. As high as my expectations are for this season, I realize that this is a new team that may not be playing the same slow, low possession style anymore. There are new pieces that may take time to make things work. It was a thrill last year to watch the ups and the downs as the team worked out kinks. Groce & Co. put together a masterpiece that came to fruition in March. I look forward to another fun, long, sometimes sad, usually happy journey to Cleveland. GO ZIPS!!!!!!

I wonder if that February matchup would be similar to bracket busters where they try to match up similar ranked teams? Both conferences should have some good teams near the top, but really lack the depth needed for any team to have much of a chance of building an at-large resume. Assuming a MAC team or Sun Belt team is close to being on the cusp of an at-large, getting a top 50-60 win against another similar caliber opponent would certainly help provide a boost. Obviously what the MAC has been doing hasn't been working as it's been 20+ years since our last at-large. It's nice seeing we're trying something different.

Put me in the camp of "the conference with one of the most respected and successful college soccer programs should not be a revolving door with AQ pending year in and year out, and the member school that is one of the most respected and successful college soccer programs should take their ball and find a new conference that will properly support them."

I'm trying to find it, but I saw a stat that 3rd/4th and 1 had a decent amount more of success from shotgun vs under center. Just don't remember if that was a college or NFL stat

I'm pumped to watch some Zips hoops

1st step achieved.

Before last night's game, the zips were #14 in RPI After all of last night's results, the zips are #13 in RPI Before the game 10. Lipscomb .6149 11. Tulsa .6125 12. UNC- Greensboro .6061 13. Clemson .6057 14. Akron .6021 strength of schedule (SOS) for Akron was 53 Opponent SOS was 48 15. Penn .6006 16. FIU .5996 after all of last night's games were complete Clemson, which had been #13...jumped all the way up to #7...with a .6252 rating Clemson last night defeated Duke 2-0 (duke was #4 in RPI before last night's loss) 10. Vermont .6189 11. Lipscomb .6177 12. UNCG .6074 13. Akron .6039 (improvement from .6021) SOS improved from 53 to 27 Opponent SOS dropped from 48 to 56 14. Tulsa .6030 Tulsa had been 11 at .6125 they lost last night 2-1 in 2 OT's in conference tourney to Memphis 15. Penn .6005 16. Maryland .5978 I still think that the zips must win the conference tournament match to get a top 16 seed if the zips go 0-1-1 in their last 2 games against Western Michigan, they will not get a first round bye

We’ve made it! Happy Gameday!

Michael Wynn off to a good start in Azerbaijan. https://basketball.eurobasket.com/player/Michael-Wynn/492364

Our last 5 home openers- Cleveland State, Chicago State, Malone, Cedarville and Point Park. South Dakota State is a welcome upgrade.

The new-look Zips begin the season @ Oakland tonight at 8:00pm. The Golden Grizzlies went 15-15 last year, going 1-2 against the MAC. They beat MAC-worst CMU and lost to Toledo and BGSU. This is a huge year for coach Jackson, needing to prove she can win without the best player in the league. This is a fun team, and a very easy group to cheer for. Go Zips!

Really. WTF? That's going to hinder much of the color commentary.

Matches the excessive stupidity from the MAC.

I'm pretty sure the MAC needs to add a 6th team next year to keep the automatic bid. I think a conference can only have under 6 teams one year and keep the automatic bid. So they'll likely just add a new team who is looking for a soccer conference in order to keep the bid. Like when they added Georgia State and Georgia Southern for one year, last year.

FWIW: Finally paid $20 for the advanced KenPom stuff. Pretty fun to read, and as the season goes on, I would imagine it gets more accurate. Preseason calculations have Akron winning tonight 76-70 (covering -4). The model has Akron going 21-8, 13-5 in the MAC with a 0.1% chance of going 18-0. The KenPom model also predicts a 15-game winning streak from 12/30 vs. Concord, ending with a loss at Toledo on 2/21.

From GoZips.com...The Akron Zips men's basketball program will open the 2022-23 season against South Dakota State at James A. Rhodes Arena on Monday, Nov. 7, as both the Zips and the Jackrabbits are coming off 2022 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Zips 122nd season and sixth under head coach John Groce is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m. Prior to the game, the program will recognize the 2022 MAC Tournament Championship with a ring ceremony and banner reveal.

The new uniforms are classic and straight 🔥🔥🔥 Btw, it's a white out tonight so try to wear white if you're going. I have new "A" shirts in gold and in blue... but not white

Sun Belt is kind of meh, but this is a better step for scheduling going forward. I hope there's some sort of method to matching up similar caliber teams.

Since early October of 2018, Akron has been a bottom 3 MAC team, and has not budged, spending most of that time firmly in last place. Evaluating the team throughout a lot of this time has been like searching for a needle of success in a haystack the size of the field house. For the first time since then, the team overall is performing consistently, from the standpoint that they score a decent amount, give up a lot but not as much as before, and usually come up with a one-score loss somewhere in the neighborhood of 33-30ish. I took a look at conference games since 2019 to see exactly how much closer they've gotten. In 2019 MAC games, Akron gave up 36.3 ppg, while scoring 8.3 (-27.9). In 2020, they gave up 41.3 ppg, while scoring 17.2 (-24.1). In 2021, gave up 37 ppg, scoring 20.3 (-16.7). This year, they have given up 35 ppg while scoring 24 (-11). The product on the field has certainly improved, but still has its fair share of ugly showings. I would love to see an advanced look at the sacks the offense surrenders. How much field position, yardage, and potential scoring has the offense given up just through sacks? Those numbers have to be so bad, I cannot even imagine. Eastern Michigan struggles a bit more against the run, and of course they've got Jose Ramirez leading the country in sacks. Offensively, they have some weapons with Samson Evans and Jaylen Jackson in the backfield, along with Hassan Beydoun, Tanner Knue, and Darius Lassiter out wide. They've beaten Arizona State, while also losing to NIU at home by 29 and Buffalo at home by 19. This is a tough team to get a read on. On a good night, I feel like they could roll into Infocision and win by 3-4 touchdowns. On a bad night, I could see Akron striking a couple times early and them not being able to keep up without consistent QB play. Austin Smith and Taylor Powell have combined on the year for 1,816 yards, 12 TDs, 10 INT. I think EMU will win by a score or two, unless the Zips can somehow force some turnovers. It's just so hard to win unless you get a couple more possessions than the other team. And Akron is far from good enough to score consistently while also constantly giving up scores on defense. They're always one step forward then two steps back. It will be a small crowd with some decent weather for November. A big thank you to the seniors for putting up with this unbelievable losing for their Akron careers. Shoutout to Shocky for taking a shot in your final year to be here, it's been fun to see him make some plays. Is one win too much to ask for? Go Zips!

When Netflix creates their "Akron - The Larry Williams Years" mini series, I want Bud to get the lead role.

GAMEDAY! I hope everyone comes out, students will be in force!

One of my favorite moments of the entire season! Bud does a ton for the program, and it's cool to have a big money guy like that get so into it. This is when Tribble got the And-1 to go up 7 before the media timeout. Unfortunately, a whole lot of people were texting me and jinxing the game at that point. Damn, so close!

Beals seems like the coach that will get this program into a prominent light. I love it.

I turned off the volume. That helped.

I don't know if it will help. I did call their customer service number at halftime and tell them about the problem Does ESPN Plus have a phone number? Visit their FAQs for common answers or reach out to their team directly. Customer Care can be reached via contact form or phone at 1-888-549-3776.

Forget this question. I was looking at a clock that had no been turned back. Go Zips! Win the MAC and roll thru the tournament!

It's not the NFL, but Almondo Sewell is still a force in the CFL as he had 2 keys sacks in the Montreal Alouettes 28-17 conference semifinal victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats today. https://www.tsn.ca/montreal-alouettes-advance-eastern-semi-final-hamilton-tiger-cats-1.1874238

I know the Zips are 1-8, but what an apathetic forum of posters regarding our team just over 48 hours away from the final home game versus EMU. Let's show some excitement and enthusiasm here and hope that the team will do the same. I know it will be a tough game, but we must keep up hope for at least one more win. Go Zips!!!

I don't follow the high school recruits or the transfer portal in any sport, although the scouting reports are exciting. With Coach Beals, I get the impression he looks at this program as one he can build from the ground up his way, with his type of players. And the transfer portal is a big kick in the butt to build the team quicker and better. Possibly there were too many cooks in the tOSU kitchen, too many contributors to appease, too many "suggestions" from the huge athletics department. His string of conference tournament appearances came to an end and I bet tOSU turned the heat up.

The game will be on ESPN3. Zips are 4 point favorites. SDSU will be an excellent challenge for us, so I hope we're ready. The Jackrabbits went 30-5 and were riding a nation leading 21 game win streak before falling to Providence in the NCAA Tournament last season. This is a GREAT out of conference game to open the season at the JAR. Go Zips!

Basketball tomorrow! Basketball tomorrow! Basketball tomorrow! Basketball tomorrow!

You may not be the only person that doesn't bet on sports, but I'm pretty sure your the only person who lives at a bar that doesn't bet on sports. You can bet that I couldn't handle living at a bar; the lack of privacy would drive me crazy.

I hope we come out this year with the same defensive intensity we ended last season with. Z-Fence!!!

Zayden Laing-Taylor's Miami Central team knocked off IMG Academy tonight. Looks like Steele Wasel can run the ball a little bit...

I'll take a Miami kid like Zayden Laing-Taylor any date of the week, and twice on Sunday. He's a starter on a HS team that's the 3-time defending 5A champ in Florida. They lost twice in 2021...to Bishop Gorman (Nevada State Champ) and St John Bosco (Calif.). His HS produced James and Dalvin Cook, amongst other NFL guys. If we want to win, we need to be successful recruiting Florida and Georgia. I think Joe's off to a solid start. As a side note - with the transfer portal, are kids like this going to see fewer P5 offers out of HS? Will the MAC schools become the 1st stop for P5-level kids who don't want to sit at a P5 program for a year or two and develop? They can play in the MAC in year's #1 and 2, and then transfer with immediate eligibility for their final two seasons at P5's?