kreed5120

The size isn't the problem. The proposal is for a 6,500 seat arena, which sounds reasonable. It's all the extras that are running up the cost. There is talks of having 2 practice courts in this complex, a separate volleyball court/arena, and new athletic department offices. I'm sure there are lots of high end premium seating that is also running up the cost. They're telling people this arena will attract tons of concerts and other events, but Miami County barely has 100k. I'm not sure how many headliners are going to be eager to perform there. Maybe some B or C tier performers.

Another player being sued for breach of contract. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/48035774/cincinnati-sues-sorsby-1m-exit-fee-texas-tech-transfer

$280 million seems excessive. I really hope it's largely donor funded because that would be a lot of burden to place on tax payers or students if the plan is to use the general fund.

Probably an accurate take, but like in all things the vocal minority typically is what stands out. Even if it is a poor representation of what makes up the entire group.

Better following than I would have guessed. I was thinking more along the lines of 500. I don't really have complaints from Akron hosting. I was more speaking from a fan experience perspective.

This was my initial thought as well. Not so much because of grass/turf, but more because Cadet Field is already setup for soccer and the lower capacity won't make it feel so empty. Even when Akron football attracts ~8k in real attendance Infocision feels very empty. This might attract a few hundred.

I was hoping CMU would pull it out against Kent for multiple reasons. Obviously to see Kent lose. The other is I would find it absolutely hilarious for UMass to miss the MAC after their fans crap on how much of a stepdown MAC basketball would be from the A10. It would be a humbling experience for them.

If they bring it back maybe you can get another Matthew Wilson bobblehead to complete your collection.

That was my concern when watching it as well.

Things would have gotten really interesting had CMU not choked away a 7 point lead with ~3 minutes left.

It would seem to be the most probable scenario. I think it was discussed a year or so ago that the department is very understaffed and people were being asked to do the jobs of 2-3 people. I imagine once spring rolls around they have much more flexibility in their schedules.

It matters less at schools like OSU where the players are really majoring in becoming professional athletes. I had classes with several college football players in the college of business that were very bright. Most of Akron's roster is getting little to no money and unlike basketball there aren't 100 leagues around the world to play in so they will need to rely on eventually getting a 9-5. As @zippy5 pointed out I don't think it's an issue because it might impact someone only once if they stay a full 5 years. I'm more pointing out that even though many blow off school because they're really only here to play football that's not the case for all.

Every conference is different. Some conferences is an eat what you kill and others split it fairly evenly. I think the MAC gives some money to teams to help with travel, but the rest is split fairly evenly. They used to have some incentives to promote regular season success and meeting certain scheduling requirements, but frankly the MAC hasn't won many additional credits so that incentive pot has dwindled.

Yes, it does. Every game up until the Final Four gives a credit. Each credit is worth about $2 million.

I actually don't know the full contract details. When I said 5 years it was because that's what google showed when I searched. I'm not sure how much of the contract is actually guaranteed.

In my wish world Akron steam rolls them by 20

I know this was a joke, but considering he's only in year 3 of a 5 year deal I imagine his job is secure. I can't imagine Akron athletics would be eager to pay a buyout for a sport that it frankly doesn't invest heavily in to start with.

I mean it wouldn't really mean anything if a big schools came calling. Nate Oats signed a new deal with UB then bolted for Alabama like a month later.

Exactly, I don't understand the hate. If we were sending men's/women's basketball, baseball, volleyball, etc. I would understand it more, but we're not. They're paying us a ton of money and are covering the travel costs for each MAC school to fly out there once every 3 years. What's the downside?

If Miami makes the tournament as last 4 in that would be a heck of a consolation prize for them. Getting to play a winnable tournament game just ~1 hour away from campus in what would have a home game atmosphere.

A few teams have tried enforcing contracts. I know Mensah ended up settling with Duke that way he could transfer to Miami. I'm not sure what kind of compensation Duke ended up receiving. I'm also not sure if we've seen one of these contract disputes make it all the way through the legal system to see what the higher courts decide. There should be some sort of uniformity in these contracts and some governing body to enforce them. Having to fight legal battles everytime a player decides to leave school A to go to school B because school A pays him $50k while school B promises him $100k frankly clogs up the court system and costs taxpayers unnecessary money. We're both paying for the schools additional legal team needed to fight these cases and paying for the judges who have to hear them. The only real winners are lawyers and their billable hours.

Who would pay $100 for an Akron t-shirt? If you want to advertise the value at least mention what something comparable in the team shop or book store would sell for.

Why would we play 10 conference home games and 8 conference road games as you propose in your scenario? OU wasn't even a good team last year. They finished #195 in Kenpom. You can't just simply state well if you eliminate all the games we lost we would be undefeated. Well no crap. The game was played and we lost. We also didn't have to play @ Miami, who was clearly the MAC's 2nd best team last season, but nobody talks about that. The fact is over a long season you have slip ups. We had many last year. Milwaukee, Princeton, and Ohio were all teams that we had no business losing to, but still did. That great UB team a few years back should have beaten NIU by 20+, but lost. If Miami goes 18-0 in conference play this might be the only undefeated (in conference play) MAC team any of see in our lifetimes. If the MAC expands to 22 games that feat becomes even more challenging. No team will be able to easily replicate their run.

Yes, I'm still not penciling Miami winning out this regular season, but the pathway looks more manageable now. The last team to go undefeated in MAC conference play was Miami in 1958. Back then the conference season was only 12 games. People act like Miami has created this path that is easy to replicate. The fact is it's not easy to go undefeated in MAC play if it takes 70 years to happen. We've experienced some fantastic MAC teams, several even objectively better than this Miami team, and none of them were able to accomplish the feat. If going 18-0 in MAC play was easy we would have already achieved it under Dambrot or Groce.

Each unit is about a total of $2 million and is spread over 6 years. That means the conference gets about 333K each year. If that gets divided evenly it comes out to ~28k per team each year for 6 years. The Toledo Blade did an article last spring/summer and people around the MAC were estimating Akron has a $1 million roster. UMass collective claims I believe something closer to $1.5 million. A program like WMU would probably have to spend an additional $200k-$400k on coaches/staff and an additional $300k-$400k in NIL to just become a competitive mid-major. The MAC earning an occasional at-large bid isn't going to cover those costs.