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I might have to suck on a white towel while watching that UNLV game.

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

A UA assistant told me earlier this year Ali admitted it was the wrong decision, especially to go where he did, and Ali took it upon himself to make sure the team would welcome him back. And they did with open arms. Whether he plays or not this year, he’s already added tremendous value in being able to practice with the team and provide guidance to the young guys. Things most people don’t think about. I much prefer this move instead of getting another Maishe Dailey or Trimble.

Since we are talking history..,..... Quantum physics says that for every decision made in a universe, there are an unlimited number of outcomes. That means the following. Somewhere out there is a universe where hiring Faust resulted in a success program. Jim Dennison knew how to run an athletic department, Lee Owens continued on as head coach, the Zips never win a MAC Championship with JD, the Zips are full of only players from Ohio coached by Jim Grobe hired by President Jim Tressel, Coach I won six games in three years and Arth has a successful career as an underwear model like Jim Palmer. But, here we are. How's that for another universe?

From my understanding, the last few years, pretty much since Covid, the NCAA has been very lenient on giving out waivers for 2nd transfers. All you had to do was claim some kind of hardship and your waiver would be approved. Earlier this year, they announced that they were going to be a lot more strict, but only after many players transferred assuming they would get the waiver. It is the same issue that affected Aziz in Cincy and the Kent WR that transferred to UNC. I understand why it is annoying for people who are losing out, but I am happy that the rules seem to be more uniform once again and it doesn't feel like the NCAA is playing favorites.

Playing Ohio State should be a yearly occurrence, and I would like to see us play Pitt, MSU, IU, Penn State, among others. There is plenty of good competition in the surrounding area. And if we really do need to schedule a "lesser" opponent, keep the old MAC schedule alive and play Western Michigan or Bowling Green

I had to pay $10 for the S. Miss game. Carrol Street deck.

Just a head's up- the game is at 7:30, not our usual 7:00. They must have known I have a vet appointment.

THANK YOU. RPI, which includes strength of schedule, among other factors and therefore is not as biased as polls and a team's fans supports Pitt and Kentucky making the NCAAT ahead of our Zips. I wanted our team in the NCAAT as much as anyone, but they were not snubbed or overlooked. Their resume was not good enough.

Using RPI numbers, Pitt's strength-of-schedule was #1, Akron's was #85. Pitt's best win was over #15, Akron's over #24. Pitt's worst loss was to #27, Akron's to #99. https://rpiupdatemenssoccer.blogspot.com/2023/07/akron.html https://rpiupdatemenssoccer.blogspot.com/2023/07/pittsburgh.html

💯 I clicked over to FloFC to cancel my subscription a month earlier than I had hoped I would. 😢 *Didn't cancel b/c FloSports is also carrying the men's basketball Cayman Islands Classic. So I'm gonna hold on to it for another 9 days.

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.

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!

Just wait until they see what we do to Heidelberg!

I'm guessing some grades from Akron did not transfer to Butler ... but it probably didn't matter because it was his first transfer. There's Scuttlebutt Ali was not at his best, academically, at Butler. Am guessing many of his Butler grades did not transfer back to Akron ... HOWEVER ... his old Akron grades are now back in play. The issue could now be two-fold. 1) Ali needed to get grades to be eligible, which was likely accomplished over the summer and first semester. 2) He could also need the hours to qualify as a grad student. IT'S ALL JUST A GUESS ... but what else do we have to work with. He could be 'eligible' but the NCAA could deny waiver because it is his second transfer. The easiest way to beat the 2nd transfer rule is to be a 'grad student.'

I'm going to tell them to put my parking on NWAkron's tab.

I'm case anyone wants to feel old today

If you park by Infocision it is free. No one take my spot though

Anyone have an idea of what they'll charge us poor general admission peons for parking now that it doesn't come with a season ticket?

And if things keep going the way they're going, you'd think we'd get JMU in the 2nd round of the MAC/Sun Belt challenge as well.

Agreed. Here is the ABJ's brief article about the Zips not making the NCAAT. But, like you said, I don't agree with the title.

Pitt is hosting a first round game. The committee felt that Pitt was one of the best 32 teams in the country. At large selections....that are having to play on the road....are Seattle, James Madison and Kentucky. Those 3 at large teams were probably the last 3 teams. As mentioned by Big Greent Truck and others, how a team finishes the year...matters to the committee. Kentucky had wins over Marshall and West Virginia late in the season. Akron finished the year 0-2-3. A win against either Butler or Marquetts probably would have earned the zips a spot in the tournament. Pitt also had a head to head win over Denver. Denver is also an at large team and they are hosting a home game.. Denver was probably one of the last 4 in. The Big East really had a down year this year. That hurt the Zips in RPI. Also, the zips had 9 wins. However, 3 of the wins were over 3 of the 17 lowest ranked teams in college soccer 211 teams in Div. 1. Akron had wins over N. KY (206) ; SIU (199) and Niagara (195). Cleveland State was 166 so that also did not help the zips. Depaul was 118. So, the zips had 9 wins...but only 4 wins over teams in top 87. The loss to #99 Creighton crushed the zips in RPI. SB Zip fan, Big Green Truck and I have tried to show why the committee liked Kentucky and Pitt. Just to be Slightly contrary....Akron and Pitt had one common opponent...Notre Dame. As YipaZip pointed out, the Zips completely dominated Notre Dame in a 0-0 tie. Pitt played Notre Dame in Pitt's last regular season game. Notre Dame beat Pitt 6-0. I suspect that the Zips will have a much tougher out of league schedule next year in case that the Big East has another down year.

Pitt deserves to be in the tournament; Zips clearly do not.

Kentucky has a win over #1 Marshall and #2 WVU. Once Johan Cedergren started coaching this years team and not trying to do what he done last year Kentucky started to actually play decent. Pitt is in solely on ACC bias, has to be.

That truly is a Mid-Major gauntlet. Are we getting a return trip from the Runnin' Rebels? That'd be pretty awesome (I'm showing my age).

They were going to play Vandy in Cancun before that event was canceled. That’s why we got the waiver to go back to the Caymans.

Specifically with Butler, it was a program in its first season with a head coach who had been out of the game for a few years, a program that’s been pretty bad for a few years, and was in the toughest league in the country. Bad bad mix.

We have no P5s but a potential gauntlet in mid majors. With SDSU, SM, Bradley, St Bodaventure and a road trip to UNLV ain’t easy. Plus whoever we draw in the Cayman Islands after FIU. There’s a really good drake team, Marshall and Utah State

Why do you say, "...especially to go where he did,"? And I agree. Him practicing with the team everyday is great for everyone, and with his transfer experience he could be one of our best recruiters.

It wouldn't be great but they would have him for next year. I spoke to him very briefly at the practice before they left for Puerto Rico. He and Groce came over by where I was sitting and Groce thanked me for coming. I said it looked like they were coming into shape and he said what a joy it was to coach kids like this, motioning towards Ali. I said "welcome back" and he responded with some sincerity "it's good to be back." I think he regrets that lost year at Butler and now realizes what he gave up.

You raise a good point. The renovation of Crouse Hall is very supportive of the students having the best learning environment they can. It looks great. Still I have a continued criticism of our buildings. That is they have no common architecture. From design to materials there are too many buildings that do not reflect a common vision. When Ted Curtis was our architect working under President Luis Proenza we started to get some commonality in new buildings with a modern brick, glass and metal theme. Buildings ad renovations after his time are different. Crouse is the perfect example. It would be nice to have a style that reflects our campus. This renovation was much needed.

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.

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.

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

Good post and I think the betting line is very close to accurate based on team statistics. Emu averages around three points more per game on offense than Akron and approximately three points less given up on defense. As embarrassing as last week was, Miami has a great MAC defense and getting shutout should not have been much of a surprise for anyone. Akron will play better. Football games are still win on turnovers, points off of turnovers and big plays (+40 yards). I know this is asking a lot this season, but if U can just get the ball from his hand to a receiver down field or maybe a Lingard long run, the Zips can win. The hard part in bad seasons is motivation once hope is lost for a bowl game. The Zips are playing for nothing and that's around the time when guys throw in the towel. Seniors and soon to be washout portal players are quick to give up. Emu can still make a bowl by winning their two final games. That's pretty good motivation for a Mac school. With all that said, take Emu giving up the points. You'll be waiting forever for U to complete a long pass and the motivation for Emu will be too great. Take the over, whatever it is. Disclaimer: I'm pretty good at watching college football and understanding what goes on in and around teams. I'm horrible at picking based upon betting lines. If you bet based upon my advice above seriously, you're an idiot.

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.

It'll cost me approximately $4. It's a chance to work on things for the team. I don't like these games but every team has them and it's a chance for a small school to play on a bigger stage (and Cedarville wasn't available). I think it is a positive in some regard as the Zips are on the other end with football where their top competition asks "why are we playing this team?"

The A-Roo flag came down for the year before High School Soccer even crowned a champion. Sad.