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I think this is a really favorable draw. Zips will have no one but themselves to blame if they can't claw through this side of the bracket. Georgetown got a number 4 seed and we beat them once and should have beaten them a second time. Zips are a real sleeper team and without those terrible losses in the middle of the season, which seem like a year ago they would be one of the top 16 seeds. That's very dangerous when you are play-in team. Hopefully, this is our very first NCAA win in 6 years.

Happy to be in the tournament. Ecstatic to have a home match.

Akron has not won an NCAA match since 2018. We are lucky to be here. NO LOOKING PAST CURRENT OPPONENT!!!!!!!!

We are in….vs Princeton at home….

These results are quite respectable IMO. The field may prove to be better than anticipated.

FORTUNATE NOT JUST TO GET IN , BUT A HOME MATCH

This is the best we could have hoped for. We would not meet OSU or Georgetown until the final, and I honestly believe: 1) we are good enough to get there, and 2) there are no other teams that we can't beat, even on the road.

This is a good draw…what does everyone think?

more recognition for the incredible Emil very happy that Matt Dreas was recognized...... Matt improved so much from year 1 to year 2

Per GoZips.com, game time is 6:00 PM and it will be available on ESPN+.

My recollection of the Santa Clara game is that we dominated and they came from behind and scored on their only scoring opportunities. I remember leaving the stadium shocked and disappointed.

The AK Rowdies got revived last week, hope to have an electric environment Thursday.

I never heard of any of these teams and really was not looking forward to these games but those scores are much better than our score against St. Mary. This might be an interesting weekend. I hope we rebound better than last week.

Come on guys…that’s not how we roll here. Please stop with the name-calling stuff.

2 MS Degrees working in a building in DC you will never have access to lil one

Even though I don’t like how the Zips play against Horizon League teams, I think the Zips get a home game against Robert Morris on Thursday, and then have to go to West Virginia for the second round.

Game Thread and Preview: QB: Either former walk-on Tommy Ulatowski or true freshman walk-on Ruel Tomlinson will take the field against Akron. Ulatowski has completed 43% of his passes for 1,035 yards on the season. He has a 12 to 7 TD/INT ratio. When kept clean, Ulatowski completes 57% of his passes with 7 touchdowns to 5 interceptions. Under pressure he completes 26% of passes with 5 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. Tomlinson hasn’t played enough to give any true stat indicators. RB: Senior Ky Thomas leads Kent in rushing with 488 yards and a touchdown. True sophomore Curtis Douglas is the backup with 130 yards. Kent rarely utilizes the RBs in their passing game. WR: The Golden Flashes have two All-MAC receivers in redshirt sophomore Chrishon McCray and grad Luke Floriea. McCray is 8th in the MAC in receiving yards with 612 yards and 8 touchdowns. Floriea is 11th in receiving yards with 560 yards and 5 touchdowns. The rest of the receiving corps rarely see passes come their way. TE: Alabama transfer Charlie Skehan and Tiffin transfer Conner Muldowney are the starting tight ends. Both are used as blockers and have a total of 5 receptions between them. OL: Kent sports the worst OL in the MAC - by far. They have allowed 26 sacks in conference play, which is 10 more than the next closest team. They have also struggled to open running lanes for the backs. LT - Jimto Obidegwu (R. Jr.) LG - Mason Maddox (R.So.) C - Tony Georges (R. Sr.) (former Zip) RG - Chris Farrell (So.) RT - Dustyn Morrell (Jr.) DL: Grad Matt Harmon, junior Stephen Daley, and Buffalo transfer Kameron Olds rotate on the edges. Harmon has 49 tackles and 2 sacks, Daley has 43 tackles and 3 sacks, Olds has 39 tackles and 6 sacks. Kent State has become incredibly thin at DT. Notre Dame College transfer Lavell Gibson and Florida transfer Keenan Landry have combined for 22 tackles and a sack on the interior. LB: Grad Khalid Johns and true freshman Jayden Studio are the linebackers. They have combined for 81 tackles and an interception. DB: San Diego State transfer Dallas Branch and Monmouth transfer Jaylen Dotson are the cornerbacks. They have combined for 38 tackles and 4 PDs. Junior Josh Baka and sophomore Tevin Tucker and are the safeties. Baka is 10th in the conference with 73 tackles and also has 4 PDs . Tucker has tallied 50 tackles with 2 PDs. K: Junior Will Hryszko is 12 for 12 on extra points and 2 of 4 on field goals. P: Senior Josh Smith is 4th in the MAC in punting with a 42.3 average and a long of 61 yards. Offense - Kent is still working to find their “offensive identity.” Hard to do with a beat up OL that wasn’t that good in the first place. The Golden Flashes are also down to their 3rd and 4th string quarterbacks. Thomas, McCray, and Floriea can be offensive threats, but do not have much around them. Defense - Kent’s defense has the ability to rush the passer and are solid in the backend. However, they are horrendous at stopping the run and are extremely thin at defensive tackle. Summary: If there was ever a time to take advantage of a program at its low point, this would be it. Kent is beat up and struggling. They are dead last in offense and defense in conference play. This will be an opportunity to run, run, and run some more on a porous run defense. Will we take advantage? Kent has a few players on offense who can make plays, but they have struggled to score all season. Frankly, as long as our defense keeps the ball in front, Kent’s offense will likely find a way to botch it at some point during their drives.

very wise advice from a dedicated fan.....who was passionately follwing Zips soccer when George and Louie starred on the pitch. 1 game at a time. 3 years ago, all of us were absoutely ecstatci because we got to play patsy Santa Clara in the first round. This year, on paper.......according to RPI....;.the Zips are an underdog.... #34 Akron vs. #17 Princeton on Sunday, Princeton dominated the #6 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Ivy League had 3 teams rated in the top 25 by RPI. The Big East only had 2teams in Top 25 RPI. Seton Hall finished in the top half of the Big East. When Princeton played Seton Hall, Princeton pounded them 5-2 No looking ahead for our beloved Zips........Weather is going to be cold and slippery. The Zips need to come out ready to play against a top 20 RPI team

We thought the Info was a bad financial decision. Northwestern said, "Hold my wine..."

I believe our last NCAA tournament win was, unbelievably, when we beat Michigan State 5-1 in the College Cup semifinals in Santa Barbara.

I injected him because I didn't have anything more interesting to say.

How did Jim Grobe get into this conversation??

I live in Picktown!

Just looked at RPI's.... our first round opponent (princeton) has a better RPI (17) than the seeded team in the 2nd round IU has an RPI of 21...and gets seeded number 14 NCAA committee....has a mind of its own

Yes. We are talking about that guy. We used to talk about him a lot more.

you guys are weird. Are you talking about the 72 year old that hasn't coached D-1 football since 2016?

I know you hate Jim Grobe, but he rejuvenated a moribund program at OU in 2 years and UA would likely have 5 wins at this point of the season if he were coach. The program would be clearly on a positive trajectory. Would he be the long-term solution, given his commitment to triple option football? Maybe not, but the team would be a hell of a lot more enjoyable to watch. Attendance would be better as well.

https://gozips.com/news/2024/11/16/cross-country-kipchirchir-garners-ncaa-cross-country-championship-berth Kipchirchir qualfied for the NCAA Championship in the Norton, Ohio Great Lakes Regional. The team was not able to complete in the top of the MAC this year, but this is still a good thing for UA. Sadly, our top two runners will get plucked away by a larger program.

I was there as well but had recorded the game. Everything seemed to be stacked against the Zips that day. The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the stands. All that cold, cold, wet day.

Kent State still sucks!

lol, and acting like a jr high kid. I’m impressed…

I would gladly accept that scenario.

Soccer is such a hard game for the best team to always get the win. Let's look at the current RPI Georgetown is #3 overall Would you believe me ...if I said that Georgetown only WON 55% of their games this year? Georgetown is #3 in RPI and their record is 11 wins ; 4 losses and 5 ties.... Akron with a record of 11-4-4...has a better record than Georgetown Pitt is #4 overall would you believe me if I said that they lost almost 30% of the games played? Pitt finished with a record of 12 wins and 5 losses Denver is #2 and they only won 63% of their games they are 12-3-4 Personally, I think that the zips get in........ I think that the tournament is wide open this year....... If the Zips get in, I hope they get put on the opposite side of the draw from Ohio State. Ohio State.....is just so deep, so talented and so physical. It is going to be tough for any team to win a game this Thursday night and then go to Columbus on Sunday and beat a rested Ohio State team. Personally, I am hoping that Akron plays Michigan on Thursday night...with the winner...then playing Pitt on Sunday.

His deep dive did worry me a bit when I saw it. But I think it's putting too much weight on our non-conference play, particularly the losses to Indy and Temple. Due to those being two months ago, I think the committee will let us slide a little on those. Especially since we closed the season so strong.

I do not know who was the commentator....I was at the title game in Cary, NC. Very cold, very wet day. A dry field might have benefited the ball control team. A huge group of AK Rowdies made the trip down to Cary. I still remember the driving force of the rowdies....stting on a sidewalk outside the stadium.....uncontrollably crying. That 2009 team was 23-0-0 going into the semis. They did not allow a goal in any of the 5 tournament games and yet they did not win. Mikey was not healthy for that game. Ampai played but was nowhere near 100%. Virginia just beat the living tar out of Ampai and knocked him out of the game. 15 years later, Diego Restrepo still makes me mad.

yeah, I couldn't find much at all on him so I hope he's the proverbial diamond.

To add to the unbelievable nature of Gaucho Dan's deep dive......he has Fordham not making the tournament and he has Fordham as the 6th team out he has them no where near making the tournament according to the final actual RPI.... Santa Barbara is the last team in...26th rated at large team Stt. Louis is 25th rated at large team NC State is the 24th rated at large team UNC Greensbro is the 23rd rated at large team Akron is the 22nd rated at large team Oregon State is 21st rated at large team Michigan is 20th rated at large team western Michigan is 19th rated at large team Fordham is the 18th rated at large team and Gaucho Dan says that Fordham and Akron will not make the tournament (in his deep dive) who would take their place.....according to Gaucho Dan? High Point....the 28th rated at large team....according to official RPI and he has Monmouth as the last team in...Monmouth is the 31st rated at large team to normal people....Monmouth would be the 5th team left out of the tourney

Do you have a different President than I do? Who let the 7th grader onto this page?

Still bitter I am.

Joe Biden? He strikes me as a genius. Maybe not Him Grobe though.

Even if you have to throw up in your mouth a little. 🤮🤣

Not if Jim Grobe was coaching us.

Nice win for the Zips.

Here is an article about how the Pacers have had to rely on 2 way players this season because of injuries and how these players have stepped up. Includes a quote from Freeman. Good stuff!! https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonyeast/2024/11/13/indiana-pacers-surviving-while-relying-on-new-two-way-contract-players/

The Zips have cornered the Westerville recruiting market.

Here are my thoughts on the game. I'm glad I didn't see a play.

Sounds like we’ll be throwing it 50+ times…