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Gaucho Dan of Big Soccer.com.....is predicting that the zips get in.... He thinks that Pitt, Kentucky and VCU will be left out of the tournament field. Gaucho Dan predicts that James Madison, Penn State and Akron....will be the 3 teams that get in....despite being below the theoretical RPI cut line. Akron actually has an RPI that is higher than 11 teams that won their league. Guacho Dan predicts that the zips will have to play at Memphis on Thursday night. Selection show at 1 pm.... Let's hope that NYC Zip and Gaucho Dan are both correct. Go, Zips

Probably need to stop the over reliance on backward passing and monkeying around inside our own penalty area. Build forward, connecting through the midfield to creative wingers and forwards who more often than not get into the other team's penalty area taking shots and second chance rebounds.

I don’t mind them scheduling a D-III team to open the season or maybe get back in the flow after finals. I do think two on one season’s schedule is a bit much. Also, why D-III and not D-II? That said I like one D-3 team on the schedule and if we want another tune up then pick a 270-320 NET type team. Or a 300+ but play them on the road

I would give my right testicle to win one (1) NCAA tournament team. Don’t ask what I would do to make a final 4.

Thank you for the college choice update for Hannah Pachan. Sounds like Virginia Tech will be getting a super player. Hannah is ranked 14th regionally by Top Drawer Soccer not in their top 200 ranking https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/hannah-pachan/pid-150513 One of the best players in the area this year....did not play high school soccer. Grace Jackson is ranked #57 overall in the class of 2024 by Top Drawer Soccer (TDS)....(yes, she is Will's younger sister) Grace plays Academy soccer for Internationals SC (run by the Nanchoff family) Grace had originally committed to play college soccer for Purdue Purdue fired their coach so Grace is now showing as going to Michigan State Grace is a midfielder and is rated 4 stars out of 5 https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/grace-jackson/pid-138745 Michigan State has done well in recruiting Ohio players #62 in TDS is Julia Belli from Dublin, OH....has also committed to be a spartan she plays academy ball for Ohio Premier https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/julia-belli/pid-1029063 in the class of 2024, Internationals SC has a player that is rated even higher than Grace Jackson her name is Katie Scott in the case of it's a small world...Katie is from Fairview, PA she is the sister of Nick Scott, who played for Akron men in 2020 and 2021 Nick tranferred to Charlotte after his sophomore year. He started 11 games for them in 2022. this year, Nick played in 14 games for Charlotte and started 5 of them. Charlotte beat SMU today to win the AAC. Nick's Charlotte's team is 14 in RPI Nick was a good player with the zips. I was sorry to see him transfer she is rated #31 by TDS and she has committed to Penn State https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/katie-scott/pid-133141 amazingly, the #1 ranked player in the class of 2025....also trains at International SC the #1 player in the country has committed to play for Stanford https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/eleanor-klinger/pid-131610 also in the class of 2025....is another player from Internationals SC she is ranked #37 in the country and has committed to play for Notre Dame https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-player-profile/tessa-knapp/pid-140745 I was amazed at the caliber of young female players coming out of Internationals SC.

I respect that approach. At least it is based on objective merit and not P5 bias, etc. I was hoping we would get in, but did not think we deserved to with the way the season ended...no wins in the last five games is highly underwhelming. For me, the whole point of the NCAAT is to crown a champion, so whether a team could win the championship should be the ultimate question in determining what bubble teams to invite. Early in the season I felt we were NCAA Championship worthy, but our offense became anemic and we stopped winning. Championship teams either find a way to adapt or run over such challenges with quality.

Probably need to ditch Niagara, Southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky for some better teams.

A goal against Xavier the first time, ND, Marquette, or even Butler could've been the decider

KENPOM this evening is interesting today ... https://kenpom.com/ No. 78 Duquesne .. 81 Akron ... 85 James Madison ... 108 Ohio ... 113 Toledo .. 114 Kent ... 115 Fresno ... 135 South Dakota State ... 150 Cleveland State ... 159 Southern Mississippi. Observation: Losing at home (Kent/South Dakota State) is a bummer while winning on the road (Akron/JMU) is a plus ... BUT .. doesn't explain JMU (2 quality road wins) below Akron and Duquesne (only home wins) ahead of Akron ... or Ohio over 40 spots ahead of CSU after head to head road loss. As I said ... INTERESTING

A bit is made about Akron's football history with regard to John Heisman as a former coach. However, I am still amazed by how relatively under-celebrated this relationship is and how there is virtually no awareness about the deeper and more distant history of Akron sports and the University in general. I am currently reading Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss, which goes through some early college and professional football history. One thing that really stands out is who the Carlisle Indians opponents around the turn of the last century were. Their opponents included Alabama, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern, West Virginia, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Army, Navy, Lehigh, Lafayette, and all the Ivy League schools. There was not a single reference to Akron or another MAC-level team. So, Akron football has literally been trying to play catch up with the big boys for 125 years. We are not consistently at the level of the Big Ten, historically or now, and there is nothing wrong with that. Anyone expecting otherwise is ignoring history and not being realistic about the current or future. That is not to say we should accept mediocrity or worse in the MAC. Instead, we should be embracing the history we do have. Specifically, it is a mystery to me as to how I did not previously know that the owner of the first NFL Champion, the 1920 Akron Pros, was an Akron alum and former Akron football player, Art Ranney. He was also the first secretary and treasurer of the league and took notes of the league's founding meeting in Canton on Akron Pros stationary! A co-owner, Frank Nied was also an Akron alum and NFL co-founder. By my research, there are only four universities that can lay claim to having alums as founders of the NFL: Akron (Ranney and Nied), Dayton (Carl Storck), Notre Dame (Stan Cofall), and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (George Halas). Hence, Akron is the only university with multiple alums as founders of the NFL. Not Kent, Not Ohio State, not Pittsburgh, not Penn State, not West Virginia, not Michigan, AKRON! How is this not celebrated by the University, especially when the alumni and football program are starving for something to favorably change focus and momentum?! It makes me wonder, how many other alumni accomplishments are unknown or not publicized (and not just with regard to athletics)? How many Rhodes and Goldwater scholars have we had? https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/carlisle/head-to-head.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Ranney https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Nied

Noah v Miami. soft tissue? 🐑🐑you may want to write a strong letter to Coach Groce and AD Guthrie 🐑🐑

That's all they deserved. If the power structure existed in soccer like it does in football and basketball then the B10 would be the MAC equivalent. It seems to always be Indiana and seven midgets. That may change somewhat with UCLA and Washington joining next year. Even Maryland was better off as an ACC school for soccer. I was hoping to see Akron pop up but it wasn't to be. Is Jared Embrick's seat getting a lil warm I wonder. Akron made the NCAAs the past two years but the two before that were lackluster. From a few games I seen of Akron this year it always looked like the back line was getting beat over the top. Way to many runs where the Akron back line was chasing the ball.

The committee went almost completely by RPI.....to determine the last teams in. VCU was the only team above the cut line....that did not get in. James Madison was the only team below the cut line....that got in.

Well that’s a shame. A goal against ND probably would have been enough. Onward to 2024.

Against Heidelberg I would like to see significant minutes for Lyles, Prather, and the new transfers

But CSU wanted it more for most of the game. Isn't that what matters most? And you have to be happy for Kent. They beat a middling Mountain West team at home on a Saturday night. I have a feeling the Bulldogs wanted that one pretty badly, but I guess the Flashes wanted it more in the end.

Actually Georgetown and Xavier tied 0-0 with Xavier prevailing 5-4 in the PK shootout. https://goxavier.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2023

Some players make their choice based on the school itself. Others seek to maximize their chances at hardware. Some are loyal to a team they have followed since childhood. But most NCAA players come for the coach. Period. It is time for Simonetti to engage in retail door to door recruiting. Every quality player in NEO, and there are many, should know about opportunities with Akron Zips.

Whew…I was fearful YSU had flipped them.

After games were completed...as of October 29th, the zips were #30 in RPI. With the results of games played from October 30 to Nov. 3, the zips had dropped to #35 in RPI (before they took the field at Xavier).. The zips RPI percentage as of Saturday morning Nov. 4...was .5582 After losing to Xavier on Saturday night, the zips dropped to #38 in RPI RPI percentage dropped almost a full point down to .5488. Yesterday was not a good day for teams that played the zips during the season. The zips 3 strongest non league opponents were Notre Dame, FIU and Vermont. All 3 went belly up in their conference tournament quarterfinals. The zips really needed all 3 to win their leagues. Notre Dame was the top seed in the ACC tournament and they lost last night to #9 seed in ACC...Louisville. FIU lost in the American Athletic conference quarters to 5-7-3 Florida Atlantic Vermont lost in the American East conference quarterfinals to 6-7-4 NJIT as a result of those 3 tough non conference teams losing early, the ZIPS strength of schedule went down as of this morning, the RPI for the zips is #43 Zips RPI % is .5453 Davidson RPI is 44...they are still playing in their conference tourney...they would probably pass the zips with a semifinal win Yale is 47...they are still playing in their conference..they would probably pass the zips with a semifinal win From looking at the numbers, it looks like an RPI of 38 will be the last team in..... if there are 3 or 4 upsets in conference tourney, the last team could be an RPI of 34 or 35 23 conferences get automatic bids 25 at large selections. Pac-12 and West Conference are only 2 that don't do a tournament.... I will go alphabetically by conference....and then list the top remaining RPI teams....if the favorite wins the tourney numbers shown are RPI as of Monday moning American Athletic - semis on Nov. 9 28 Memphis vs. #4 SMU #101 Florida Atlantic vs #30 Charlotte 10-3-1 FIU is #27 and has 9-4-4 record conference will probably get 4 teams into tourney.... IF Florida Atlantic pulls off 2 more upsets, conference will get 5 teams American East - Semis on Nov. 8 #42 NJIT 7-7-4 vs #5 New Hampshire 124 Binghamton vs. #21 Bryant 14-1-2 Vermont is #24 and has 11-5-2 record if NJIT gets a non PK win over New Hampshire in the semis, I think that NJIT will get into tourney even if they lose in final to Bryant ACC - Semis on Nov. 8 14 Louisville vs. 26 Clemson 9 North Carolina vs. 22 Syracuse others certainly in tourney from ACC 2 Notre Dame 6 Virginia 12 Wake Forest 16 Duke 29 Pitt aCC will have 9 teams in tourney Atlantic 10 Semis on Nov. 8 85 Dayton vs. #44 Davidson 93 UMass vs #33 VCU 6-5-5 St. Louis is #35 ....lost on PK's to U Mass in quarters...St. Louis should make tourney unless there are 3-4 major upsets in the WAC, Colonial or Summit Fordham is probably on outside looking in for NCAA tourney...they are #45...lost 1-0 to VCU in quarters Atlantic Sun - semis tonight...1 bid league 141 Stetson vs 156 Bellarmine 129 Central Arkansas vs. 58 Lipscomb Big East - Semis November 9 55 UConn vs. #3 Georgetown #50 Xavier vs. #53 Providence Akron is #43 winner of Xavier vs. Providence could possibly pass zips in RPI with a semis win winner of Xavier -Providence game will have won 6 league games as opposed to 2 for Akron., if Georgetown wins the league, the Big east could only have 1 team in tourney Big South - Final Nov. 11 - 1 bid league 119 UNC Asheville vs. 88 High Point Big Ten Semis Nov. 8 56 Ohio State 6-6-5 vs. #39 Penn State 61 Michigan 5-5-7 vs. #32 Indiana on outside looking in...Northwestern led the league for most of year...they are 48 and won't make tourney Michigan State has very similar record to Akron 7-2-7....Michigan State also has win over Notre Dame Spartans are 59 in RPI If Indiana and Penn State win semis, they will both improve RPI Big West final Nov. 11 one bid league 67 UC Davis vs 70 UC Irvine Colonial final on Nov. 11 63 Monmoth vs. #8 Hofstra 12-3-4 Drexel is 49 with 9-2-5 record if Hofstra is upset in the final....that will lower the rPI for last team in ..as Hofstra will be in tourney Horizon semis on Nov. 9 - one bid league 157 IUPUI vs 127 Green Bay 161 Purdue Ft. Wayne vs 77 Oakland Ivy League - semis on Nov. 9 47 Yale vs 80 Harvard 105 Brown vs 41 Penn Penn and Yale should both rise in RPI with a win in semis Metro Atlantic - semis Nov. 9 - one bid league 52 Iona vs, 176 Manhattan 118 Siena vs 92 Rider Missouri Valley Conference - semis on Nov. 8 this is the league that W. Michigan, NIU and BGSU went to.....it will get more teams in tourney this year than the big east 98 N. Illinois vs. #20 Western Michigan 13-1-3 #34 UIC 11-4-3 vs. #23 Missouri State 10-2-3 if Northern Illinois were to win tourney, this league get 4 teams in Northeast Semis on Nov. 9 - one bid league 116 St. Francis vs. 160 Sacred Heart 112 LIU vs 91 Fairleigh Dickinson Ohio Valley Conference 183 Lindenwood vs. #46 SIU-E 14-0-3 197 Eastern Illinois vs 168 UIW SIU-E should win the tourney. If they did lose the finals on PK's , would the NCAA not give them a bid even though SIU-E would have no losses? if they lost finals on PK's , their record would be 15-0-4 Pac 12 - this is a league with no tourney 13 UCLA has 19 points with 5-0-4 record....one last game against San Diego State 25 Oregon State has 16 points with 4-1-4...they host Washington in last game 38 Cal plays at Stanford....if they win...Cal will jump in RPI 18 Stanford 40 Washington Washington is 5-6-6 and plays at Oregon State... if Washington ties or loses, they are sub .500 and won't make tourney if they get a straight out win, they will rise from #40 in RPI Patriot League - Semis Nov. 7 - one bid league 138 Colgate vs 79 Boston U 128 Lafayette vs. 62 Loyola MD So Conference - finals nov. 11 - one bid league 153 Mercer vs. 83 Furman Summit - Semis Nov. 9 #19 Denver 11-2-4 vs 134 Kansas City 60 Oral Roberts vs 151 Omaha Denver will be in tourney ...win or lose....an upset of Denver....would lower the last team in RPI Sun Belt - Semis Nov. 8 - super strong soccer league South Carolina was 5-8-3 before they upset top ranked Central Florida last night semis 101 South Carolina 6-8-3 vs. #7 West Virginia 13-1-4 #37 Kentucky 7-6-4 vs #1 Marshall 15-2-0 Kentucky has defeated West Virginia and Marshall in the latter part of the season other teams that could be in tourney Central Florida is now #10 in RPI after losing in conference quarters James Madison lost in conference quarters...they are #36 WAC - semis on Nov. 8 17 Seattle 12-2-3 vs 136 UNLV 114 Utah Tech vs 73 Cal Baptist similar to Summit league, Seattle is in tourney...if they are upset, the #38 and #37 teams in RPI are in trouble West Conference - no league tourney this is an interesting one...one league game left to play if San Diego stumbles in last game with loss or tie, Santa Clara could win league and 4 teams from WCC could get in 81 Santa Clara has 4-1-1 record in league 6-7-3 overall...plays Pacific 5-7-4 #31 San Diego is tied for league lead with 4-1-1 record 10-4-3 overall they play Gonzaga 3-8-6 San Diego beat Santa Clara 2-1...wins TB but if Santa Clara wins their game and San Diego ties.......Santa Clara gets NCAA tournament automatic berth #11 Portland is 4-2-0 and 11-4-0 ...they are in NCAA tourney our old friend Ryan Kingsford and Loyola Marymount are #15 in RPI...2-2-2 in league...at #15...LMU will get one of 25 at leage OK....what you want to see.......who will get 25 at large.... for all conferences....I assume that current Highest RPI teams wins tourney...I have UCLA and San Diego winning their leagues Atlantic coast conference - North Carolina is highest RPI team in semis 8 teams will get at large bids 1. Notre Dame - rpi of 2 2. Virginia 6 3. Wake Forest 12 4. Louisville 14 5. Duke 16 6. Syracuse 22 7. Clemson 26 8. Pitt 29 Pac 12 - assume that UCLA gets automatic berth 9. Oregon State - rpi of 25 10. Cal 38 - they could drop with loss to Stanford or go up with win 11. Stanford 18 Big 10 - assume that 32 Indiana and 39 Penn State play in finals...Indiana wins 12. Penn State - current rpi of 39...should improve if they beat Ohio State in semis if Ohio State and Michigan pull upsets in semis...Penn State is probably out of NCAA Sun Belt - super strong league...#1 Marshall is assumed to win tourney 13. West Virginia rpi of 7 14. Central Florida 10 15. James Madison 36 16. Kentucky 37 American East - a surprisingly strong conference...assume that #5 New Hampshire wins tourney 17. Bryant rpi of 21 18. Vermont 24 if #42 New Jersey Institute of Technology gets a clean win over #5 New Hampshire in semis (after NJIT upset Vermont in quarters), NJIT might get an at large bid even if they lose to Bryant in final West coast conference - I have San Diego getting automatic berth 19. Portland rpi of 11 20. Loyola MaryM 15 American Athletic - I have #4 SMU winning league 21. FIU rpi of 27 22. Memphis 28 23. Charlotte 30 Missouri Valley - I have #20 Western Michigan winning tourney 24. Missouri State rpi of 23 25. UIC 34 Atlantic 10 - I have #33 VCU winning league 26. St. Louis rpi of 35 Davidosn is currently 44...if they beat Dayton in semis and lose to VCU in league finals, Davidson should end the year higher than 44 I have listed 26 teams for 25 spots...as I do not know how #37 Kentucky, #38 Cal, #39 Penn State and #40 Washignton will do this week as I mentioned.....if these teams don't win their conference tourney, the last team in RPI will drop #3 Georgetown #8 Hofstra #17 Seattle #19 Denver what will committee do if #46 and undefeated SIU-E loses on tourney on penalties there will probably be upsets teams not shown in the 26 above......(could be on outside looking in) #40 Washington loser of #41 Penn vs. #47 Yale (if both win semis) #42 New Jersey Institute of Technology #43 Akron #44 Davidson (should improve with a win in A10 semis) #45 Fordham winner of #50 Xavier vs. #53 Providence (if winner loses to Georgetown in tourney final)

Hey! There's a game tomorrow! Unfortunately it overlaps with the men's basketball game against Heidelberg. But, it is on CBS Sports so we should all be home from basketball in time to see the end of the 1st quarter 😉 Zips are +5.5. Kick is at 7:00pm EST. This guy has been blogging EMU football for a long time. He writes some good stuff. Here are his QB power rankings after last week, they may surprise you a bit: https://www.ypsi11.com/p/maction-qbs-finn-undercuffler If the Zips can go back to playing turnover-free football, they should be in this one until the end. EMU's offense has struggled mightily for most of the year. They didn't record a first down against Kent a few weeks ago until some time in the 2nd quarter. Hopefully Lingard is back. I think he will be. As for the passing game, who the hell knows. Go Zips!

I'm definitely optimistic for 2024 but contend that some poor habits need to be overcome. In addition to our 2024 recruits, I'm looking forward to seeing Caleb Borneo and Nathan Ferguson in action with our team. Edit: It is very disappointing to be talking about Zips Men's Soccer's next season this early in November.

None of my predictions are likely to make Zip fans happy. 1) Gathers draws not one but two unsportsmanlike penalties against Eastern. 2) Zips execute multiple plays that could contend for worst play of the year. 3) Numerous players, including 2 QBs and a K, instruct their people to start putting out under-the-table feelers in anticipation of the portal reopening in about two months.

💯🎯 (I'm out of reactions... per usual.)

No, I was making the point that Thorpe's "college" team did not play Buchtel/Akron, implying we were not considered a major football program then either, but that so many of the schools we are looking up to now were already established. We have been trying to play catch-up to the big boys since the early days of college football.

Great stuff, brother @UAZipster0305! I didn't know any of that. Are you saying Jim Thorpe's traveling football team also played Buchtel College? I was a little fuzzy at what you were getting at in your second paragraph. Great stuff about the NFL, Akron Pros, and UA alumnus Art Ranney! I didn't know any of that!

Count me as one who wishes we had a P5 on the schedule. This team is strong enough to garner Top 25 votes but I have a feeling they'll be difficult to come by without a win over a P5 on our resume'. When we've got a team this strong we should at least give ourselves the chance.

Bump. I'll bet we've all been pleasantly surprised with Greg hitting 2 3's in the first two games. One being a nasty cross-over step-back 3 while purposely draining the shot clock. Crossing my fingers he's still a moderately consistent 3-point threat heading into conference season.

Yup, injuries happen. Soft tissue injuries are most common in preseason/early season. Can't control the reward for the risk when it's pre-season, but you can control the reward when the season starts. Heidelberg is ridiculous and embarrassing, especially where there's an even lower opponent later in the season. I don't care if other teams schedule this crap - sick of the sheep mentality. Dare to be different. Get a D1 team on the schedule. I like this schedule overall, but these two non DI teams are atrocious.

speaking of power 5.....the Big Ten got 1 team into the tournament Indiana, the tournament champion

Yes, Kyan is fast. I am a big St Eds fan. I have watched him for a few years and can say he has good hands, can really go up after a ball. He is what call and elastic player. He can twist turn into all sorts of positions and then catch the ball. I've seen him drop a couple but not many. A real threat, glad he is coming here.

This would be the exact reason to not go there. You could be looking for another job after a year. The QB you all are thinking of that got hurt and Frye came in and took the job was Nick Sparks.

There are only two non-redshirt players we haven't seen get much action this season - Lyles (2 minutes) and Prather Jr (1 minute) and I'd like to see them get some action in this one. Looking back to when Prather Jr signed, Groce said this: "Ryan is an extremely talented versatile guard with great size, length and toughness," Groce said. "He is an elite shooter that can create opportunities for himself and his teammates with his playmaking skills. Ryan is also a high-level defender that plays with motor and physicality." I believe someone here mentioned he was dealing with an injury over the summer but if he's healthy now, let's see what he can do. With Baker and MMK supposedly redshirting, we don't have much frontcourt depth - basically Freeman, Hunter, and Lyles. I'd like Lyles to get some time tomorrow too as you never know when injuries/foul trouble will hit and I want him to be ready.

5% of the way to the vaunted 20 win season!

I'll chip in my left nut for a complete set if it means a Final Four.

Exhibition for them, regular season game for Akron. Typically how it goes. I also don't believe things like NET and KenPom take these games into account.

I believe Kyan Mason actually plays at St Eds in Lakewood not Genville

I didn't realize Hannah Pachan was only a junior. Unfortunately she's already verbally committed to Virginia Tech.

VCU....currently 34....pros and cons record of 7-6-5 started their season with 1-1 tie against #7 RPI New Hampshire 2nd game ...lost badly 4-0 to #29 FIU....Akron defeated FIU early in season sep. 1 - 2-2 tie with American (American...ended the year with RPI of 108) sept. 4.....4-1 loss to #7 rpi...North Carolina sept. 9....1-0 loss to #16 rpi Missouri....state....they played a very tough non league schedule to start their season sept. 15 ...0-0 tie with #39 RPI St. Louis sept. 19 ...1-1 tie with Old Dominion (old Dominion ended the year 5-7-5 with an RPI of 111) did not get their first win until sept. 23...1-0 over U Mass (UMass ended the year 7-6-6 with an RPI of 105) sept. 27....they lost 1-0 to #1 RPI Marshall at that point of the year, VCU had a record of 1-4-4 ended the year 6-2-1....in their last 9 1-1 tie with league tournament winner Dayton (Dayton ended the year with RPI of 61) October 7 ...1-0 loss to Davidson (Davidson finished the year 10-5-1 with an RPI of 57) A10 tourney beat Fordham 1-0 in quarters...Fordham ended the year at 50 RPI) beat U Mass 3-1 in semis...again.....rpi of 105 lost 2-1 to Dayton in final.....again rpi of 61 other wins over loyola Chicago, George Mason, Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure Loyola chicago is their signature win...rpi of 47 no signature wins their strength of schedule is #2 in the country

Denver....currently 31...pros and cons record of 11-2-5 biggest win of the season ...is a huge win 3-1 on Sept. 1 ...over rpi #4 SMU 2 losses are to a top 10 team...and a bubble team 4-2 loss on sept. 15 to #10 rpi Portland 3-1 loss on sept. 25 at #30 RPI Pitt ties with aug 24 season opener with san diego st 0-0 (san Diego State ended year with rpi of 78) sept 4....2-2 tie with Creighton (Creighton has win over Akron).....if they compare common opponents for Akron and Denver Creighton ended the year with RPI of 99 2-2 tie with Seattle (Seattle is 26 rpi) 1-1 tie with 65 rpi Oral Roberts nov. 9 conference tournament...tie with #130 RPI Kansas City...lost on PK's

Briscoe, Young, Mahaffey.

Dwight Smith…Jason Taylor…Charlie Frye…Dominik Hixon…Luke Getsy…Ulysses Gilbert…etc. all came to UA under the same circumstances and things worked out well for them. It is a great fit for the right student athlete. We need program builders. We need guys who were getting a raw deal at their former school, or who were under recruited out of HS and have something to prove. We need local kids who want to play for a coach like Joe Morehead, but who don’t want to travel to the likes of Oregon, Happy Valley or Mississippi to do it. Examples of programs who’ve been where Akron’s at now and turned it around are endless. Joe will turn the Zips into winners, and respectable crowds will follow. If you want to walk into a situation where the crowds already exist and you win week in week out, the Akron program isn’t there. You’re better off elsewhere. If you want a great shot at early playing time, great facilities, great coaching, and want to help build something, UA offers that opportunity.

To think that SIUE and WMU got in to the tournament this year and Akron did not....