kreed5120

I've never sat courtside, but that's a pretty incredible deal. Especially once you consider those will likely be 2 of the better teams we will be facing at home this season.

I think the initial term was like 20-25 years, but @Hilltopper once mentioned they refinanced and I assume extended the term of the loan to further reduce the annual payments. I'm not sure if any public record requests were submitted to confirm what the new terms are. My guess would be not as I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere.

Kent is an actual college town. It's the same reason why a place like OU also has a thriving atmosphere. Akron is in a urban, crime riddled area. The development you see surrounding Kent's campus isn't KSU owned businesses. UA isn't in the real estate development business. If there was a demand for it private investors would be doing it. You started to see some development from developers on Exchange, but that started just as enrollment began to decline so it stopped. Thankfully it was the developers money that was lost and not the University's otherwise we would be in an even worse position financially. The few properties we did buy (ex. Quaker Square) we ended up having to sell at a major loss. If Akron starts winning enough that you start seeing local businesses like Timken, Goodyear, Smucker's, etc take more of an interest in athletics then maybe some sort of major change (more than slapping paint and changing the jumbotron/ribbon board) becomes possible. I just don't see it being a reality under the current circumstances. At least not until after Infocision is fully paid off. Akron isn't in a position to pay a combined $8+ million debt servicing payments between Infocision and the JAR. That money needs to come externally.

The problem is both Blossom and Tom Benson Stadium are vastly better outdoor venues for things like concerts and both are within ~15 minutes from the stadium. There is no demand for a 3rd outdoor venue. Especially one that wasn't configured to host those type of events. There are only a finite amount of dollars the University and boosters have to spend. It's not that I don't like the idea of a major overhaul or a new arena. It's that I feel there are more efficient ways of deploying our limited capital to have more on the court success. Edit: I forgot to address a missing point. Part of why the team has been bad is because Infocision has been a financial drain to the athletic department. @LZIp shared Akron's football operating budget. We were dead last in football spending. If I recall correctly we were spending $2-$3 million less than the top spending MAC teams. That doesn't include Infocision, which costs $4.5 million per year. If we didn't have to service the debt on Infocision we would have the money to be more competitive on assistant pay or afford a training table, etc. Over development under Proenza is what got us in this mess as a University financially. Your solution is we should have spent more on developing? Money doesn't grow on trees.

The national TV schedule for the MAC has been announced. We'll at least the majority of the January games. February and March are on the usual 21 day flex schedule. https://getsomemaction.com/news/2025/10/23/mac-announces-2025-26-mens-basketball-national-tv-schedule.aspx

I honestly just don't see the value in ~$30+ million renovations unless the JAR was reaching the point of collapse. Bud is a smart man. $30 million in an endowment would generate $1.5 million/year (using a 5% withdrawal rate) in perpetuity. Having $1.5 million annually for NIL would do more to solidify the program than a shiny arena. Infocision has been a financial drain on the football program and athletics as a whole. Let's not repeat that with basketball. At least with football the Rubber Bowl was dilapidated and a safety hazard so our hands were kind of tied. I've never seen any reports that the JAR is in a similar state.

I was scratching my head a bit when some Europeans from low tier leagues were coming to college basketball. Evidently G League players are allowed too as well. What even are the rules to retain eligibility these days?

Official seems to be more in line with what I was thinking. The 671 number was probably scanned tickets.

I'm surprised that's even possible. I would have thought they would at least have ~3k+ season ticket holders.

The MAC released it's preseason poll and All-MAC teams. Akron was picked first getting 11 out of the 13 first place votes. Miami received the other 2. Tavari was given first team honors. Evan Mahaffey and Shammah Scott were picked for 2nd team. https://getsomemaction.com/news/2025/10/21/mac-announces-2025-26-mens-basketball-preseason-poll-all-mac-teams.aspx Edit: I believe coaches aren't allowed to vote for their team to win so Akron received 11 out of a possible 12 1st place votes.

I don't think bringing up last season is that useful for these rankings. What matters is what each team has returning and what new pieces were brought in. Based off of that Miami looks like the better team on paper. That said, there is a reason they play the games so who knows how things play out.

I've been critical of Akron football, but this statement might actually be true. Not because our offensive line is good, but because in prior years it has been far worse. At the very least they have been able to open up some running lanes for Gant and Patrick. We're on pace to run for about 300 more yards than any other of Moorhead's Akron teams.

The Franklin firing was especially egregious. He inherited a program that was still recovering from a national scandal and hadn't won a national championship since the 80s. He turned them into a perennial national contender. He literally had them in the semifinals last year, but the boosters said that's not good enough. That's another problem with NIL. Now that schools are going to alumni to fund their $20 million rosters the alumni are feeling entitled to titles now. Only one team can win a national title every year. Not even Joe Paterno (scandal aside) would survive in this college landscape.

The MAC deal with ESPN ends after the 2026/2027 academic year. There isn't any cause for concern. I'm fairly certain television coverage for MAC football was fairly late to be listed for ESPN+ coverage.

My sympathy goes out to his family and loved ones.

Dambrot took a far worse Duquesne program to the big dance while playing in the A10. Martin shouldn't be given a free pass at UMass. The success you're saying Martin had was ~15 years ago. An eternity in the sports world. UMass is spending serious NIL money for a mid-major. Probably 50% more than Akron and 2x-3x (maybe more) that of many other MAC programs. Even with that they finished #222 in kenpom last year. He's greatly underperforming given the resources he has at his disposal. IMO he's an old school coach and the game has passed him by. Being a hardass worked 15 years. It doesn't work today. In this day and age where players can move more freely, player friendly coaches, like Groce, are in a much better situation to succeed.

My distaste extends long beyond Akron. College football just isn't entertaining. So many lopsided games. The saving grace before was the regular season was like a 12 week playoff before so every game in the regular season mattered. With the expanded playoffs each regular season game matters less. Let's use OSU as an example. 10 years ago if OSU got upset by Rutgers that would mean OSU season would be on life support. Now it might just mean the difference between having a first round bye or hosting a 1st round campus game.

This is solid advice. I pretty much gave up following Akron and college football 6-7 years ago and my Saturdays are now much more enjoyable.

The main difference is the NFL is designed for teams for teams to average 8-9 wins over the long run. The Browns being as bad as they have been for as long as they have been is pretty unbelievable. College football is a completely different animal. Bad teams aren't rewarded by getting the option of having first dibs at the best high school players. Good teams aren't constrained by a salary cap. Edit: Partly why I feel the NFL is so much more popular than college football is most fans think their team has a chance. The Browns this year might be an exception as it was a clear rebuild year, but you have the Jaguars and Patriots who both picked in the top 5 of this past draft now sitting at 4-2. Last year the Commanders had a similar turn around.

Kenpom.com I personally wouldn't place too much stock in preseason ratings. Especially since we see so much roster turnover these days.

You can always call up the athletic department and offer up money to help pay the buyout if you want it so badly... This board seems to love spending others money. Crying about wanting a coach fired, but expecting other boosters to pay for it...

I would say we tried with a $60+ million stadium and whatever we spent on the fieldhouse as well. We have poured so much money into football, far more than any other sports, but it continues to be throwing more good money after bad.

Not directly, but indirectly. The athletic program relies on institutional support to make up any shortfalls in the athletic budget. If we have to come up with an extra $1 million that wasn't budgeted before where do you think if would come from? If no booster steps up it would likely need to come from the general fund.

This is even above the ADs head. The University is in financial distress. We're financially incapable of competing in FBS any longer. The cost to compete has grown exponentially over the last 5-10 years. In that time our enrollment has been nearly cut in half. Even as an Akron fan I can't support throwing away more taxpayer money to support a team that has no chance of competing. This isn't the NFL. There is no billionaire owner to eat the cost.

Are you volunteering to pay the $900K+ buyout? If so, I have no objections.