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If you want to use that argument we should probably be spending more time reviewing our failing policies in Ohio and spend less time worrying about other states. By 2050 most counties in Ohio outside of Columbus or Cincinnati areas are projected to lose population. Some areas as much as 30% of the population. https://development.ohio.gov/wps/wcm/connect/gov/a9ee6aa5-cb22-4c35-8154-cf633daa6daf/State-of-Ohio-Population-Projections-Overview-2020-to-2050.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CONVERT_TO=url&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE.Z18_M1HGGIK0N0JO00QO9DDDDM3000-a9ee6aa5-cb22-4c35-8154-cf633daa6daf-oTi9Hac

If Groce had won an NCAAT game or two, I'd be concerned. At this point though, I am sure he appreciates what he has going and the stability it brings his family. He's done the P4 thing already and knows what that's like. I don't think it's worth his leaving at this point to get another high mid-major position either. The days of mid-majors going to the Sweet 16 are pretty much over, and the last two NCAATs provide data to this point. So, why would he leave? He can do all of that here.

According to Butler's fan forum, Holtmann interviewed yesterday, Shrews interviews today and it sounds like those are the 2 favorites for the job.

Conference realignment was the eye-opener for me.

I think the overall population being the largest in the country and the annual GDP being larger than most countries says that they're doing okay. I would think the population decline is likely due simply to falling birth rates and people wanting to get away from wildfires.

Bennett leaving I imagine is probably a combination of Gonzaga leaving, making the WCC most likely a 1 bid conference moving forward, and the growing necessity of NIL. Most coaches say their least favorite part of the job is recruiting. It can't be fun having to recruit an entire new team regularly because you find and develop them, but don't have the money to retain.

I agree with just about everything here, but I think he has to at least be considering Butler if it is offered to him. The fact that we have had zero players publicly commit to Akron next year OR enter the transfer portal tells me they're all waiting to hear if he will be the coach or not. I don't think he'd leave for just anywhere, but he has several ties to Butler. He grew up in Indiana, he was an Assistant Coach at Butler, and was an Assistant Coach for Thad Matta in three different spots (Butler, Xavier, Ohio State) over an 8 year span. And Matta is reportedly part of the process in identifying their next coach.

So John's next endeavor is DePaul? Check flights from CAK to Aurora?

Whenever a MAC team doesn't have to play Sac State, that season should be referred to as a gelding.

It's weird because it's not code AUZ on FlightAware - it's ARR which is a muni airport west of Chicago (Aurora). Same airport, though, that has 3 different codes. https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/N536JA/history/20260324/0200Z/KARR/KTYQ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Municipal_Airport

#MACtion 😁

Looks like the Ball Sac battle will take place October 24th. 🤪

No Ball State either. I will let you put the rest of the joke together from there. 😄

There is no reason a conference needs to be that big other than to consolidate power. And logistically it doesn’t even make sense for USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington be in the Big Ten. Not a fan.

Interesting article here about the causes of the death of the Cinderella- https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-college-basketball/article/ncaa-tournament-if-cinderella-is-dead-who-or-what-is-to-blame-here-are-the-biggest-culprits-183114570.html

I didn't see Holtmann talked about much before. Glad to hear another strong candidate has entered the race.

I think I wandered onto Kent's forum. Whoops.

Typically when the MAC flies the pirate flag it indicates some sort of win over a power conference. Perhaps there is some sort of schedule release that includes contests against those leagues?

Thank you for posting the link. If you go to those projections, what you see is that Ohio has a high mortality rate (both relative to the past and to the national average) and a low birth rate. Surprisingly (to me), there has been a net influx of residents, people moving here, perhaps out of affordability? Still, it does not offset these natural drivers of population decline. This causes problems for UA because most of our students are local and the pool is shrinking. I think we need to start recruiting more students from out of state. These students would be more likely to attend sporting events than the current local student body, who tend to go home after class.

So we get the luxury of hosting a program like South Alabama or UIC? Yeah, I think I'll pass. We can schedule those teams in November or December if we really want to play them.

I don't feel the two are mutually exclusive.

They didn't used to. You have to understand, the people working in college athletics don't care about the average fan. They are catering to drunks and degenerate gamblers. Those two groups tend to get their days started later than most. Since they also tend to be life's failures, they don't have much to do on Monday morning.