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You're too dismissive of the portal. How do you expect someone to build a culture with the scraps we get after the annual player exodus? You can't fix stupid. Our financial position leaves us with the dummies of the world. Did Indiana fix their culture or did Mark Cuban just buy a bunch of star players? Indiana's coach wouldn't be winning with the crap they used to put on the field.

I'm going to take the word of John Groce and Dustin Ford as to what role Zack plays. The Zips weren't great and seemed to be missing something early last year, though the OOC schedule, and Groce mixed it up starting Zack against EMU in the home opener and it added a gritty element to the team to open the games thereafter. Zack's never going to a star, but good teams need gritty role players lie Kurt Rambis, Craig Ehlo, John Paxson.....that do the dirty work and keep up the intensity.

Yes, it was I who brought Toledo into this. I really have no reason to dislike them as much as I do. I just throw an occasional stray at them because their fanbase and head coach are both insufferable. Otherwise I would view them no differently than a CMU or Ball State.

Also, an important note for context on the standings I posted above...Xavier and UConn play each other on Saturday, so that should help Akron assuming the Zips take care of business against Villanova. And Creighton plays Georgetown (on Friday). So, Akron could be tied for the division lead by the end of Saturday.

They did rings for regular season?

AKRON #7 RPI

And that's why Eric was in at the end of games. He was better in that role while Zack was apparently better in the mix of the starters. You could aways tell who Groce trusted by who had in at the end of games, not the start.

Come on, how can you not love a guy who dives on the floor for the opening tip? I believe it was our home game against Can’t State.

Mount Union is a Division III powerhouse with 13 national championships and have actually beat both Akron and Kent State before. My son plays DIII ball at a university in Ohio and after seeing them play Mount Union last month ya damn right I would bet against Akron. They put over 720 yards on us. Unlike you I actually watch all football and speak and reference based on what I know. I put Mount Union WR Mason Ashby (Canton OH) vs anyone on our offense. FYI Mason Ashby just completed a binge of 5 straight 100+ yard games. 50 catches, 740 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns in seven games. Best believe a FBS team is scooping him up after this season. Like I been saying, right now Akron is no FBS team to me until they actually beat a damn FBS team.

Difference in Groce vs Ford for @Illini Zip Ford goes for a postgame Pepsi Zero, Groce was usually a Dr. Pepper guy

I was referencing Miami and their regular season ring.

Left over my ass. come on man. There is plenty of good talent out there. A great coach knows how to put together a good roster based on position and potential. Mount Union up the road with a much less budget has better talent than our Akron roster. The main issue is Joe Moorhead is not a Good Head Coach. Just because you were a great OC don't make you a Great Head Coach as it comes with more greater responsibility of scouting talent and putting together great coaching staff and roster and being a great leader and project manager to all. Hell Tom Arth is another prime example. Great assistant who is currently Steelers QB coach. Shitty head coach.

And since folks Love to only focus on Money lets look at our Soccer team in comparison shall we. No. 6 nationally in the October 27, 2026 United Soccer Coaches poll, with a 9–1–4 record.

He also spent quite a bit of time covering their 5'10" point guard. I think he's intended to be the stopper, guarding the other team's best offensive player regardless of position. Overall, I think the nature of this team will make it difficult to sort out definable positions for anyone other than the guards and Barrre/Burton.

Seemless transition from Groce to Ford. Exhibition so the refs were having some fun with it as well. First time I've ever heard "Win for Akron" at a basketball game.

ZIPS TO THE FINAL FOUR

The Zips head to Lafayette, Louisiana Monday to start there season in the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge against the Ragin Cajuns of Louisiana. The Cajuns were predicted to finish 6th in the conference in the conference pre-season poll. 6'3" redshirt junior guard Jamyron Keller was selected to the Sun Blet Pre-season third team. He is a transfer from Oklahoma State where he averaged 5.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists on the season , played in 38 games with 26 starts. The Cajuns were 11-22 last season. Here's a preview of the 2026-27 team- https://www.raginreview.com/articles/louisiana-basketball-preview-the-season-is-sneaking-up-and-quannas-white-has-work-to-do

You’re probably right. I didn’t watch the whole thing as I was trying to post on here during the timeout 😂

Finding someone who can score points in a game and play defense too would be preferable

It set the tone in terms of defense/effort expectations.

Toledo Blade MAC Hoops Coaches Anonymous Most interesting excerpt for me... Thoughts on new MAC tournament format? ● “I’m for it. It rewards success in the regular season, and protects the top teams.” ● “I get the logic of trying to protect the higher seeds … but I’m still of the belief that every team should go to the conference tournament.” ● “Totally against it. All the basketball leagues around the country that do this are all gimmicky. Gimmicks don't work, man. The number one seed has to play in the quarterfinals. That's the way all the real basketball leagues do it. I voted against it, and I was very loud, but I'm just one vote. What we did to overreact because somebody’s upset the number one seed got upset in the quarterfinals, that's embarrassing.” ● “I’m against it. First of all, the first or second seed has won our conference tournament six of the last [eight] years. It feels like fixing something that's not broken. Two, I’d argue, most importantly, the essence of March Madness is UMass beating Miami in Cleveland. It’s [No. 8] Kent State beating Toledo. Why are we getting rid of March Madness and those moments?” ● “If you were to ask me what we should be thinking about as a league, it's … knowing that the expanded NCAA tournament could put the MAC more often than not in a play-in game, how do we not play the conference tournament final on the Saturday before Selection Sunday, and then have to turn around and play so quickly? If we want to invest in basketball — which we do — the team that’s going to celebrate and go to the NCAA tournament should reap the reward of having a week to galvanize their community and alums and fans. To win on a Saturday night and potentially play on a Tuesday is a really wasted opportunity.” I'm going to assume the bold answer is Steele. Pansy. I wish we had more coaches involved in this to get a better indication of the league wide thought process. This small sample size shows 1 for it, 3 against, and 1 non-answer.

Ford said in an interview that Halligan will be back and that him sitting out last night was precautionary. He was healthy enough to play if it was a meaningful game.

In the postgame presser, Ford said Halligan would've been available last night if it wasn't an exhibition. Said he will be good to go for Louisiana.

He did create the roster out of what's leftover when better financed programs get their guys. I'm not sure many Zips fans realize how behind the eight ball the program is.

I think it is a little more nuanced than this though. Even poor talent can and should have good discipline. This team obviously does not. Even if the budget does not change in subsequent seasons, discipline in eliminating bone head plays and penalties would go a long way to making this team competitive again, especially in the MAC.

I hate calling for anyone to lose their job because there’s a human element to it, but JoeMo just isn't it. Idk if firing him is the right move given our financial situation, but I understand everyone’s point that keeping him essentially means accepting the same losing, complacent, and broken culture. I genuinely thought things would change this year after how last season ended, but if they didn’t change this season, I don’t see why we’d expect anything different in his final year.

Just 1 step up from Toledo fans wanting to hang banners for regular season attendance.

Rumor has it they're putting Skaljac's jersey in the rafters to honor his Preseason 1st Team All MAC, too.

Dr. Steinbrecher did an interview at Ball State. He says that a new media deal is completed in principal, but they're still needing to dot the I's and cross the T's with the paperwork. He says details will become available soon.

They also dug up the old cartoon promo of Zippy beating up on the other MAC mascots!

It's all about building an enduring culture, something Moorhead has failed to do. Sure, the portal is an excuse, but I've seen too many occasions where a player has done something blatantly stupid without being held accountable. Culture is the characteristic that has made OU successful - look at the coaching changes they have had in the past five years yet they're still at the top of the standings. Payers go there to get better and they receive the coaching to accomplish that. It could be that Moorhead never wanted to complete his gig in Akron - he was expecting a relatively easy turnaround that would catapult him to a higher level, better paying program. This, he never put the cultural foundation in place.

not really. It's like a secondary fight song that's only been played at football games. Was just different hearing it at basketball.

Here's the seeding as of this morning. The two teams in bold text have played one fewer conference match due to postponements earlier this season. I did not look into tiebreakers for the order of any teams on the same number of points (other than Akron over Xavier since I knew that one 😉)

Tahj's game was the best 'first game' I've ever seen from a Zip. Even X Castenada had a rough outing his first go at the JAR & it took him a number of games to find his comfort level in the blue & gold. Tahj's game reminds me of X + a little trickier w/ the ball.

My way-too-early take on what I saw tonight is that I think we can be special if Evan and Kamrin stay eligible, and may be behind Miami if they do not. - Staveskie is the real deal. He has a smooth offensive game and played good defense, too (5 steals tonight!). He plays with a ton of energy and was active on the bench. An excellent find for Ford. - So was Oriol. He and Staveskie already have some great on-court chemistry, too. They could be the best backcourt in the conference. - Mahaffey looked like he made some improvements over the summer offensively to go with his always-elite defense. He's such a great leader - I hope he stays eligible. - Barre will likely be a work-in-progress, especially early on. The coaching staff seemed frustrated at his decisions around the rim (passing up shots or not going up strong), but he has the athleticism to be a difference-maker. - Pence seems like an elite athlete. Couldn't get his shot to fall tonight, but he will be OK. - Hammer Jr. will be a fan-favorite. Tough kid who hustles his tail off. Led the team in rebounding tonight and was often matched up against bigger players. - MMK was doing MMK things - defending, battling in the point, making hustle plays. And he made a 3! - White probably made the least impact on the new guys IMO. He looked a bit slow on both ends to me. Only one game, though. - Perkins looked much better than what I expected from him so early on. You can tell there's a ton of potential offensively and what he lacks in size on defense he was making up for on effort. - I was surprised Wilson didn't play more. - Burton, Halligan, Head, and Henderson were all inactive. I know an injury was mentioned for Burton, but unsure on the others.

Lots to like from what we saw tonight. There are certainly things to clean and tighten up but there's a lot of talent on this roster, especially if Evan and Oriol make it through the NCAA minefield. They are obviously bigger but due to their athleticism and depth they play at a pace equal to last year's team without as much of a reliance on the three.

Tuesday night results.......are helping the Zips chances of making the Big East tournament.... St. John's was 1-2-2 before tonight....they played 3-2-0 UConn St. John's wins 3-2........so St. John's is now 2--2-2 (8 points)... UConn is now 3-3-0 (has 9 points after 6 games) UConn's last 2 games are against Xavier and Georgetown....so they are not likely to reach the Big East tournament. Seton Hall was 2-1-2 before tonight...with games remaining against DePaul, Providence and Villanova at 73 minutes, 1-2-2 DePaul....is beating Seton Hall 3-1......so it is likely that Seton Hall is not going to take advantage of their weak schedule.

Oriol just made a circus shot finish at the rim

Based on the ebbs & flows of the game, they feel like a Balls/Directional Michigan level opponent. Not an end of season threat but can be competitive.

Not much tonight. 3 points 2 rebounds.

MMK with a 3 the MAC is cooked

This is the biggest piece of evidence that this board has the ability to be annoying enough to have the athletic department do something. New head football coach next!

They just played it at the YSU game! You guys must’ve manifested it

Should sign today. Wolves Re-Signing Enrique Freeman To Two-Way Deal | Hoops Rumors https://share.google/9U20mvIGdolH9Okq7

It was great. No woman screaming for 4 straight minutes at every stoppage. I forgot what it was like to be able to talk to the person next to me during a break.

I found the full Big East table (12 teams, through Oct 24), which makes a real comparison possible. The national ranks I still have are the ones from Oct 23: shots per game 9th, corners 2nd, goals allowed 33rd, scoring 53rd. Akron vs. the Big East Metric Akron Conf. avg Rank (of 12) Shots/game 17.4 13.5 1st Corners/game 8.0 5.4 1st Shots on goal/game 7.07 6.0 3rd Shots on goal faced/game 3.43 4.98 2nd fewest Goals allowed/game 1.00 1.31 4th Goals/game 1.86 1.83 6th Shots on goal % 40.7% 44.2% 8th Conversion (goals/shot) 10.7% 13.6% 9th Goals per shot on goal 26.3% 30.7% 9th Goal differential/game +0.86 +0.52 5th The main problem is finishing, not creating chances. Akron takes about 29% more shots than the average Big East team yet scores only an average number of goals. With average finishing, its 243 shots would have produced about 33 goals, and its 99 shots on goal about 30. It has 26, so it is roughly 4 to 7 goals short. At 2.2 to 2.4 goals per game it would rank 3rd or 4th in the conference. Quality gap. Georgetown (3.13 goals/game), Creighton (2.94), and Marquette (2.33) convert 20% of their shots, nearly double Akron's rate. Georgetown gets more shots on goal per game (7.8) than Akron from 2 fewer shots. Part of Akron's gap is probably shot quality, since a volume style produces more low-value attempts. Its main shooters (Roman, Sullivan, Morck, Dreas) have taken 92 shots for 4 goals. The defense works by suppressing shots. Opponents get only 3.4 shots on goal per game, second-fewest in the conference behind Georgetown. Kaminski's .708 team save percentage is below the .736 conference average, so the defense is not riding on goalkeeping. Average goalkeeping would have saved about 1 more goal. Akron's four draws all came in games where it scored one goal or none. Offense is by committee. No Akron player is in the conference's top 10 for goals or points. Agunbiade (5 goals) and O'Rourke (6 assists) lead with 12 points each, while Georgetown's Baker and Van Horn have 25 and 26. That depth makes the attack hard to defend but caps the top-end production. Next: Akron plays at Villanova on Oct 31. Villanova's goalkeeper has a .844 save percentage and faces about 9.5 shots on goal per game, so the first game tests whether Akron's volume can beat a busy keeper. Akron then plays at Marquette (conversion 19.8%) on Nov 6. These averages include non-conference games, so they are rough benchmarks. I still couldn't get national ranks for shots on goal %, conversion, or saves.

Akron men's soccer is 9-1-4 through Oct 24, and its numbers are strong on volume but average on finishing. Metric Akron Akron opponents Benchmark (avg / good) Shots per game 17.4 8.0 PL-leading ~15.7 Shots on goal % 40.7% 42.9% ~33% / 40%+ Shot conversion 10.7% (26-243) 12.5% (14-112) ~10-11% / 13-15% Goals per shot on goal 26.3% (26-99) 29.2% (14-48) ~30-33% / 38%+ Volume is elite. Akron outshoots opponents more than 2 to 1, and its 17.4 shots per game is above the Premier League's top team. Accuracy is good. Hitting the target on 40.7% of shots meets the "good" mark. Finishing is the weak spot. Turning 26% of shots on goal into goals is below average. Three of the 26 goals were penalties. Defense is strong. Akron has allowed 1.00 goals per game, and the goalie has a 69.6% save percentage. Quick look and analysis of numbers

Well yeah, Akron has to instead pay FCS teams six figures to come to Akron in front of 4,700 people. There's just no choice but to get rid of these sorts of games.