kreed5120

I don't have hard numbers, but I would guess Akron is averaging around 8k-10k currently. An extra 5k-7k fans (to get us to 15k) per game isn't going to suddenly make Akron financially competitive at the G5 level. Especially when you consider the majority of those extra ticket sales would be GA, which last I look are about $15/ticket, or students who get free admission. Edit: That's not to say it wouldn't be great to have more fans at games. What would get people's interest is winning games that matter. Joe Akron isn't going to care about Akron trying to pad its win totals against cupcakes, like New Mexico State, just so that it can backdoor its way into a 6-6 record and irrelevant bowl game that only hard-core fans or degenerate gamblers care about. What could get their attention is beating UM in the Big House, which we nearly did. You only have those opportunities if you schedule those games. App State had a lot of success at the FCS level, but their win over Michigan is what everyone remembers them for.

Its not just college sports. The MAC schools have to compete with pro and minor league sports as well. Using northeast Ohio as an example, we have the Browns, Guardians, and Cavs, multiple minor league baseball teams, the Lake Erie Monsters, and Cleveland Charge. Not to mention whatever other entertainment options. People only have so much available time and only so much disposable income. I believe Cleveland is the smallest metro to have 3 major pro sports teams. Many of the SunBelt schools are in the middle of nowhere. Those schools have less to compete with for live entertainment.

The problem is 10, 15, 20+ years ago we could have competed. Not at the OSU level, but at the upper level of a G5. Back then if we had more than 1 P5 school on our schedule it was because we were hosting a school like an Indiana or Iowa State. Those are the type of schools, if you're aspiring to be an upper echelon G5, you need to schedule and on occasion beat. For the bulk of two decades we experienced extreme ineptitude on multiple levels and failed to capitalize. Fast forward to today and the landscape of college athletics has vastly changed as has Akron's financial situation. We can't compete with the upper half of the G5 financially any longer. Even EMU collective a few years ago reportedly made a $1 million offer for a QB. Meanwhile we can't even afford a training table...

Define long time because its only been relatively recent (the last 6-8 years) that we started scheduling more than 1 of those games a year. It's not like we were exactly thriving before that.

Women's hoops seems to be growing in popularity over the last 2 years or so. I don't follow Women's hoops at Akron and am by no means informed on what kind of funding Akron provides it compared to our peers. I do know several schools, like Toledo, seem much more invested in it. It makes me wonder if Ryan would have the necessary resources to compete even if he's as great as some of you say.

The MAC added UMass, which is an 11 hour drive from Athens, but lost NIU which is an 8 hour drive. It's further travel, but not enough to validate leaving a conference for. Especially considering they would have to fly to most of the SunBelt conference schools. The TV deal would need to be substantially better than the MAC's for them to make that move.

The Pacers brought in some competition for the position. They traded a 2nd rounder to Memphis for Jay Huff, a 7'1" C who shot over 40% from 3 last year.

What they can afford is irrelevant to the conversation. Why pay Akron $5 million when they can just pay Youngstown State $500k? They can still get that $5 million sponsorship you speak of, but instead pocket the $4.5 million difference. Perhaps use it to sign a heisman contending QB.

Football generally is what drives realignment. In that case the dead weight you speak of shedding would likely be Kent and sadly Akron.

Looking at last seasons NET numbers is pointless, especially in this transfer era. Even Akron, which was much less impacted by the portal than many, is looking at 4 new starters in their lineup. It's very much going to be a different team compared to last season. Many mid-majors are turning over half their roster. From my understanding the first round teams are matched based off preseason expectations. That would mean expectations are that Old Dominion and JMU are projected to be 2 of the Sun Belts better teams. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will play out that way as preseason predictions are educated guesses. It's the 2nd round that uses NET to determine match-ups.

The bigger impact of the Haiburton injury is it made their decision to let Turner walk to avoid the luxury tax easier. His departure to Milwaukee opens up both a roster spot and an opportunity for Freeman to earn minutes.

Season opener against JMU announced for November 3rd. Only 125 days away.

Spradlin did an excellent job last year in year 1 as their head coach. He inherited a 32 win team, but much of their roster was turned over. He still managed to lead them to a 13-5 conference record after an understandably slow OOC start. I haven't followed their offseason, but with a full year of recruiting I imagine they should be one of the better mid-majors this year. A nice home opponent for the schedule.

Other than Kent, I'm not sure there is an opponent that's in the should win category (excluding FCS). There are certainly teams we can contend with and beat, but nobody I can say with confidence that's a win. In the grand scheme of things until we prove otherwise Akron is just above Kent in the food chain and below ~120 other teams. We are the cupcake that other fans pencil in wins against when they're projecting their teams win totals.

The college basketball season will expand from 31 to 32 games starting in 2026-2027 season. https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/ncaa-set-to-allow-college-basketball-schedules-increase-to-32-game-season-beginning-in-2026-27/

The thing is if you eliminate it you have to put something in place to replace it with. RPI was an even worse system IMO. Whatever new system gets lobbied for I'd say make it reward teams more for winning on the road against quality opponents. Teams have become too complacent at loading schedules with homes games against cupcakes. You get what you reward.

Maybe he wants an opportunity to actually play in a bowl game

Money meant for taxpayers has long found it's way to athletics in SEC. The difference before that money was used on facilities. Case in point the Mississippi scandal that Brett Favre was in the middle of.

I'm not even opposed to sin taxes. To me this just more so shows where the priorities lie for the state. Instead of investing in improving their education system, which is ranked in the bottom 10 nationally, they're prioritizing paying 18-22 year old kids who can throw or catch a football. I suppose it's an easy sell to those politicians voter base who care more about sitting in front of a TV watching football than they do about developing well paying industries in their communities.

EA Sports paying schools based off of how frequently the team gets played in the game. https://www.si.com/college-football/ea-sports-pay-schools-based-game-usage-college-football-26

It's challenging in the men's game as well. Guards and wings have always been easier to come by as they're more plentiful.

Didn't he have a similar title at Akron? It seems like a lateral move on the surface. I know there were comments about what Akron was achieving with a very small support staff. I wonder if feeling overwhelmed play a part in his departure.

I see they raised general admission ticket prices. It's still not a bad value when you break it down by game. It comes out to ~$6-$7/game depending on how many home games there are.

Not intending to throw shade, but being the first or second guy off the bench is probably a better fit for him at the P4 level.

Billboards and radio advertising I've heard frequently.