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FOY: Bass from CMU 6thPOY: Sullinger from Kent DPOY: Malique Jacobs POY: RayJ Dennis COY: Tod First Team: RayJ Dennis, JT Shumate, Sincere Carry, Xavier Castaneda, Enrique Freeman

Akron has never beaten an FBS nonconference opponent at Infocision Stadium. Akron has not beaten an FBS team in front of fans at Infocision Stadium since October of 2018. By my math, that is an entire 4-year class of Akron students that, even if they went to every minute of every home game, never saw the Zips beat a MAC or FBS team in person. I feel that the number will change for much better this coming season and looking forward, but that doesn’t change the past. You can only polish a turd so much. At this point, the only thing that can be blamed for the dreadful attendance is the futility. I love this program with all my heart and soul and even I leave most Saturdays (or I should say Wednesdays) wondering why I continue to torture myself year after year. Joe Akron hasn’t thought twice about it since the Gardner-Webb debacle. Every time he decides to come back, they lose to Ohio by 40 in a monsoon, then lose to CMU 14-6, then give up 350 rushing yards to App State, then get blown out by Miami on homecoming, then get smacked 26-3 by Kent on homecoming (that crowd really was a college football crowd for once), then lose 45-10 to a bad Buffalo team, then see Clyde Price gift CMU the game heading into Kent the following week.

My undergrad was during the Coach I years. It's literally impossible to get any of my friends to the games. Every year my friend group will go to the alumni tailgate for homecoming, but instead of making the short walk from lot 9 to inside the stadium at kickoff, they would rather just go to Euro Gyro to reminisce. That's what ~20 years of being a perennial 0-5 win team does to a fan base. You have a whole generation of alumni who are indifferent to Zips football. I can get many of these same friends to go to Zips basketball games or to the MAC tournament in Cleveland. Zips football likely needs to consistently win 8-10 games per year to make people interested.

https://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/2023/03/akron-kent-state-and-rest-of-mac-feel-the-heat-of-the-tournament-terry-pluto.html Pretty easy to see why Groce has had so much success in March. He's not focused on what's arguably fair or unfair - he's focused on winning. "Being judged by what happens in Cleveland is unfair."

More complete list: 2022-23 MAC Men’s Basketball Postseason Awards Coach of the Year: Tod Kowalczyk, Toledo Player of the Year: RayJ Dennis, Toledo *unanimous selection* Freshman of the Year: Reggie Bass, Central Michigan Defensive Player of the Year: Malique Jacobs, Kent State Sixth Man of the Year: Jalen Sullinger, Kent State All-MAC First Team Xavier Castaneda, Sr., G, Akron Enrique Freeman, Jr., F, Akron Sincere Carry, R-Sr., G, Kent State RayJ Dennis, Jr., G, Toledo JT Shumate, Sr., F, Toledo All-MAC Second Team Payton Sparks, So., C, Ball State Jarron Coleman, R-Jr., G, Ball State Malique Jacobs, R-Sr., G, Kent State Setric Millner Jr., Sr., F, Toledo Dwight Wilson III, Grad., F, Ohio All-MAC Third Team Jaylin Sellers, So., G, Ball State Curtis Jones, So., G, Buffalo Emoni Bates, So., F, Eastern Michigan Mekhi Lairy, 5th, G, Miami David Coit, So., G, Northern Illinois Honorable Mention Leon Ayers III, Sr., G, Bowling Green Anderson Mirambeaux, Sr., F, Miami Kaleb Thornton, Sr., G, Northern Illinois Jaylin Hunter, Jr., G, Ohio Lamar Norman Jr., Sr., G, Western Michigan All-Freshman Team Reggie Bass, Central Michigan, G Ryan Mabrey, Miami, G AJ Brown, Ohio, G Elmore James, Ohio, G Seth Hubbard, Western Michigan, G All-Defensive Team Enrique Freeman, Jr., F, Akron Greg Tribble, Jr., G, Akron Demarius Jacobs, Sr., G, Ball State Malique Jacobs, R-Sr., G, Kent State Sincere Carry, R-Sr., G, Kent State

fixed it.

Marshall series is over permanently, courtesy of Coach Beals.

This will be my 53rd year as a season ticket holder. I consider my two club seats a bargain. At $500 each I get a parking pass and great club amenities for 5 games. By comparison, I attended a Cavs game recently where a lower level seat went for the same price for one game! Zips athletic events are a bargain.

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He may end up there at some point. I’m guessing part of his recruiting pitch was that we have both cornerback (and nickel) positions up for grabs and that T. Thomas could come in and play immediately. We may have the best slot tandem in the MAC this year with Adams and Golden. I’m curious to see how Myles Walker and Anthony Williams fit into the equation. Also, will Gathings bounce back? I know A. Williams and Gathings weren’t in the slot, but Gathings looked good before his injury last year.

Buffalo had two chances to win and missed both times. Ugh.

Yes

don't forget 2009!

It would be sweet to send Brady & the gang packing tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing a fired up group tonight!

They were indeed hot, and nearly made a run to the title game. I was pulling for them. That athletic department has a lot of struggles so it would have been a cool story. As for the 5-12 first round games, I could take them or leave them. While Groce’s 2010 would have been on the outside looking in, I think the current state of the league justifies the current format. Back then, the top 8-9 teams in the league were in the top 150 or so in D1. Now, the entire bottom half is 200 or below. I wouldn’t have a problem if they brought them back, but I kind of like the idea of the regular season having more stakes. Miami going on a run this year past the likes of a flailing BG and fraudulent EMU is better for the league than everyone getting a chance no matter what.

NWA must be blind with misery thinking about Thursday. Marshall got bounced in the Sun Belt quarters by the 11 seed Texas State.

Huh?

Forgot about that. So happy Marshall lost early in the Sun Belt.

Back when we were playing CSU and YSU in rotating years as part of that coaches vs cancer, those programs were cupcakes. YSU, excluding this year, pretty much has always been terrible. CSU goes through periods of being decent, but historically is normally middle of the road to bad. I much prefer our annual match-up with Marshall as they're consistently pretty solid. However, with the MAC-Sun Belt challenge starting that annual game might be going away so maybe we replace them with a CSU. I really have no desire to play both YSU and CSU annually unless both prove to be consistently competitive. We play enough cupcakes as is.

The transfers remind me of a story I recently heard. An area college baseball coach had one of his kids come to him and tell him "coach, I'm thinking about entering the transfer portal" in hopes the coach would beg him to stay. The coach's response- "I recruited you once, I'm not doing it a second time." He then promptly showed him the door.

All true statements. I think my main point was missed. Not saying anything negative towards the group. My main concern is the lack of an extension of even a year or two. I’ve never once said I was content with a record of middle of the pack. What I’ve repeatedly said is that this is a program that has been better, by all measurable metrics, for this coach’s tenure. It takes several years to gain a reputation in the MAC to build your recruiting status. In the last 5 seasons, and understanding how impossible the COVID year was for playing, the players, and mostly for recruiting, how well this program managed. I felt that her, and her staff, deserved another year or two to see where it was heading. we all know the university is struggling financially. Women’s Basketball is not a high priority for this university based off of its history with the program. So I don’t have a warm fuzzy feeling that this move was to create a better program. I’m just a fan. No kids in the program. I am friendly with the coach and her staff but that’s it. I want to feel good about where this program is heading. I love watching women’s bball. I wish we had a wnba team closer than 5 hours away. My loyalty to the MAC is Akron. I don’t feel any of us are owed some explanation for her departure. I just wish we could have a reason for hope and enthusiasm. So far it doesn’t look that way. Yes, all of the seniors that were planning a return are done. I know for a fact that Bass is the hottest commodity in the MAC right now due to Coach Jackson’s departure. I can only assume that she is looking at the possibilities that are out there. She has two years left to play for a title.

We have better ball movement w/o Ali. I'm sure that is a big part of X's development this season. I certainly do not miss the Ali Ali Dribble-Dribble-Dribble-Dribble-Turnover/Forced Shot offense. Once in a while Ali could get hot. Those were fun games to watch, but were too few and far between and were at the detriment of team-ism. And sometimes Ali couldn't throw it into the ocean. But Ali was a very versatile defender & having a 6-8 ball handler was pretty great. As has already been mentioned, I believe losing Dawson was the biggest gut punch. He's our junkyard dog, someone you simply can't punk, a tenacious defender who's pretty capable of hitting from 3. Hope he comes back next season fully recovered from his achilles injury 🤞🙏 Speaking of Tenacious D

I went ahead and added full classes and not just “players to know.” Only 4 high school commits and 10 JUCOs still need ratings for the entire MAC. I’m still pushing for those and think we’ll be able to get all the prep players rated, but the JUCOs are not as likely. The transfer portal is a different beast and I know all the players in the portal will not receive ratings.

10 years in the pros. Aodhan has consistently been one of the top players in the USL.

My renewal was $99 per season ticket, with no extra fees. Billed $198 for 2 reserved seats, including parking.

This board has given Sincere Carry a lot of criticism this year but he clearly outplayed X yesterday and his defense was exemplary. Also, I did not see him dancing a great deal and just a little mugging for the camera. The sportsmanship on the court was very good for both teams and I would be upset over the fathom call at the end of the game so I will give the Kent coach a pass on the T. I am hoping the 2 teams meet in Cleveland for round 3 between 2 very good guards and hope that X gets the better of him the next game.

I like the upper level seats for the view. My upper level reserved seats are $99 each (x2) and includes parking. That's essentially "free." I'll probably pay it until I die, or some future AD hires the next Ianello.

Everybody has different financial situations and has a right to spend their money however they want, but I'll just share my approach for consideration. I know I can only usually make it to a few games a year. Considering that and the games not being a "hot ticket in town", I only purchase GA tickets. Happy to up that to reserved seating whenever I feel its personally appropriate, but to me, the $120 for two GA tickets is more a show of support than anything. Obviously, the few games I'm able to make it to and the tickets already being paid for is nice too. Additionally, you can transfer them if you know of somebody else attending and you can't go. Unsure if they still do it, but a few years ago they'd let you transfer tickets from say a weeknight CMU game to a weekend Ohio game, so if you host a tailgate and have people attending who otherwise might not be, having tickets for them/maximizing your season ticket purchase is also nice.