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Groce did a good job explaining that our OOC schedule this season features some of the best mid-major programs this season. Ark St, St Mary's, N Kentucky and Milwaukee are all predicted to be March madness contenders. Sit back and enjoy the ride. By March we will be there too.

The Tip-off reception was a very nice event. As always, Groce worked the room like a pro. The team really seems to enjoy each others' company. As before, there was a lot of talk about character, selflessness and core principles. Nate was the player chosen to take the stage with Groce and answer questions. There was a discussion about how hard it is to get teams to come to the JAR to play the Zips. Most of the kids did a nice job of going around the room and interacting. Lyles looks much bigger through the chest and shoulders. Tavari looks like he grew a couple of inches. You could pass Seth Wilson on the street and have no idea he was a D1 basketball player. Josiah Harris moves and looks the part of a real player. Hardman, the OSU transfer, is purportedly the best shooter on the team with a great shot and a quick trigger. Eric Mahaffey was sporting a large knee brace for a sprained MCL and will likely be out another couple of months (redshirt?). Brisco is likely to redshirt. Okonkwo wasn't there as he was in class. The team will be very deep (10-11 players) and is looking to play at a very fast pace and will be able to mainatin pace due to their depth. Rebound the ball and off to the races. After the YSU game, the YSU coach called Groce and thanked him for showing them they needed more cardio as the Zips pace wore them down, while Groce thought the Zips had not played fast enough.

This is... AWESOME 🔥🔥🔥

That doesn't include Yale and Vermont, which are perennial March contenders. I love this schedule. Sure the "big names" aren't on it and there isn't even a flashy early season tourney, but the competition should be some of the best we've seen in recent memory. I laughed at the coach who said they haven't had anyone good enough to be plucked and paid. 😂

Enrique 4 - Bronny 2 😉

The full article.

https://247sports.com/player/ty-watkins-46146431/

Another frustrating 1-0 defeat. I am not a soccer expert but I am a loyal fan of both the men and women Akron teams. I was only able to watch the first half and, given the final result, have little desire to watch the second half replay. Akron had the wind in the first half but it did not appear to be a large difference-maker and EMU did not score when they had that advantage in the second half. Several thoughts- Akron played them even in the first half. We were not dominated. Every player for Akron at forward was a freshman. It seemed Akron committed a bit more to attack- specifically Morgan Pentz seemed to play more forward and it made a difference- IMO. The defense continued its tough play with effective use of body positioning, etc. The problem is that Akron simply has no goal scorers. Where are the goals going to come from? Which players would worry another team as potential attacking players? In this layman's view, there are four potential scorers on the roster and three didn't play (Pentz being the exception). Some of the freshmen display potential in terms of speed, hard shots, etc. but do not possess the touch, ability to put shots on frame, or skill with the ball to be productive- at least not currently. So- to win more- the other three have to overcome injuries and/or whatever is keeping them on the sideline and return. Next Akron has to find multiple players who can score at the MAC level and fast. Hopefully several 2025 freshmen can do that. In addition, I think the coaches have to find a transfer student(s) who can make the kind of difference that Emil has made for the men. The final piece that can turn their hard work into wins. Know they will not get someone as good as Emil but still she needs to provide the attributes that are missing currently with the other players. I think the current coach has the persuasive ability to make the sale! She needs to.

This was played at the reception and really made an impact. Good stuff.

So, for those of you out there that think that the current situation in women's soccer is "okay, just be patient", tonight should be a good test of your theory that they inherited a bad situation and it just takes time. May I remind you that they still have only scored 3 goals in MAC play, in 2 matches, with tonight's match the grand finale. Eastern Michigan is in, or was in a similar situation. They went 3-11-4 and 2-7-2 in MAC in 2022, 1-12-6 and 1-8-2 in MAC in 2023. Their coach left in December of 2023. New coach comes in. 6 recruits decide to de-commit, 2 seniors and a junior transfer out. In the new coach's first year, 2024, with not much time at all to try to recruit, they go 6-6-5 and are 2-3-5 in MAC play and have at least scored 6 goals this year. So tonight we get to take a look at how our similar situations pan out. 1 year with little prep work yields 2-3-5, and 3 years with two recruiting classes yields 0-8-2. Hopefully the staff and team will treat this as a stepping stone to 2025 and show they've got what it takes to move up the standings into a playoff spot next season, and to be granted another season at the helm. PS - I've watched closely this season, and I do think that Coach Simonetti is coaching well during matches, and with the injuries that all soccer coaches have to face. I'm convinced she can coach. It's the recruiting end that needs shored up. It's got to be tough to try to recruit to a program that hasn't won anything since 2009. But in watching MAC games, our team is sorely lacking the talent of other MAC schools. Don't give me the "only 2 classes" response. But it's not like a lot of other MAC schools have that much to tout over Akron with recruits. BG, Ohio, Miami maybe. Toledo? NIU? Ball State? EMU, with U of M next door? We need to recruit better players first.

Commit to the run again.Try to send a message that this team has gained some toughness that it hasn't had for weeks. Send a message to the O line that this is their game to win or lose. They had a 100 yd rusher last week so it can be done. The offense has to keep that defense on the sidelines as long as possible. Giving up too many 'chunk' plays. I realize that UB may defend the run better than the pass. So make them defend the run then throw it over their heads. If UB likes to run they will gouge the Akron D. Bullock may figure more prominently if they can put him on the field with Finley in some RPO situations. And, the first guy who gets an unsportsmanlike sits for a while.

It's a winnable game. Let's go win it.

I would say yes…show me the offense. Please!

The Akron/Bud Wentz Zips. Fearful his support will dry up when next recession hits.

An interesting read from the article is that it sounds like top MAC players are fetching offers between $200k-$400k to play elsewhere. The MAC will likely remain top heavy moving forward as only about 4 schools seem to care about investing in it.

We escaped the bottom 10!! Also, two of our OOC opponents next year (UAB and Wyoming) are on there. Lets start 3-1 next year... https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/42078475/college-football-bottom-10-week-9-give-us-liberty

Our basketball program is much further along than our football program. While our football program simply needs W's, I wish our basketball schedule was strong enough to allow us, with an upset or two, to be ranked nationally. The most buzz the team ever had (in my memory) was Zeke's senior year when we were ranked #25 for about a week.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brown-Demery work his way onto the two deep as a freshman.