kreed5120

It's just you. Purdue will probably be the only Q1 win opportunity. There might be another 2-3 Q2 win opportunities on the schedule. Most of these games that we feel are quality matchups will likely be Q3 games, which the committee doesn't care about (unless you lose) when picking at-large teams. Akron would have to go something absurd like 30-3 IMO to get an at-large. That would pretty much be 1 loss to Purdue and another in the MAC tournament. That would leave just 1 other hiccup the rest of the way.

Yes, there is still value in continuity. College football is not much different than the NFL now. The NFL teams that most often succeed are those who draft well, can retain their talent, and then look towards free agency (in this case the portal) to just plug a few missing gaps. Also, like NFL draft classes, you can't really grade how good they are until 3 or 4 later. Recruiting rankings are more educated guesses than a factual guarantee.

The margin of error is really thin in the SEC now that Texas and Oklahoma joined. There are at least 7 programs (Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, and LSU) who expect to be in the playoffs every year. There are another handful that expect to make the playoffs every 2 or 3 years. Then you randomly have programs like Kentucky or Vanderbilt who can surprisingly be good at times. When you consider only about 5 of these schools can make the playoffs each year there is going to be a lot of disappointment. The B1G is a different animal. In recent years only OSU, Oregon, and Penn State have been consistent top 10-15 programs. With Franklin gone who knows what happens with Penn State. That makes it easier for a program like Indiana to emerge. Maybe at some point USC and UM will get their sh** together and live up to their blue blood names, but right now it's much easier to succeed in the B1G vs the SEC.

The data AI looked at in my post included OOC play. Perhaps that's where the numbers differ.

I don't think anyone is arguing it wasn't a problem before, but it has grown worse. The average margin of victory this season is the largest it has been since at least 2000 based on what AI is telling me. Before if there were 4 or 5 games on TV at least 1, maybe two or 3 would be good. Now it's a struggle to find one game.

I wouldn't be terribly heartbroken if he decides to leave on his own free will. Getting to 5 or 6 wins is kind of his ceiling at Akron IMO. He comes off more as an old school coach and not the smooth talker who can get boosters to open up their checkbook. In this NIL era you need a salesman. Not someone who just complains about the shitty hand they're being dealt. Edit: All that said I'm also not cheering for him to leave either. We can and certainly have done worse.

Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Oklahoma aren't going to be able to raise NIL money like an OSU, Texas, Michigan, etc. can. Oklahoma also no longer has the benefit of building its resume by padding win totals against a weaker Big 12. Oklahoma probably can still fundraise enough to be relevant to make the playoffs fairly often, but they will infrequently be one of the favorites IMO. Wisconsin and Nebraska are even a step behind Oklahoma and likely need a homerun hire coach, like a Dantonio or Cignetti. Someone who excels at being able to do more with less. Even then I'm sure there are many P4 programs Dantonio's tenure wouldn't be deemed good enough given today's unrealistic expectations.

5-7 is a year I'll take, but he will need to follow it up with 6+ win season next year before I would even consider an extension. We wouldn't be in a position to buy out 4-5 years of his contract if he regressed nor could we keep a coach around for 10 years that has never made it to a bowl game. It would place the University into a tougher bind than it is already.

This forum? Never /s

That's the issue with having an odd number of teams in conference. It won't be an issue next year when NIU is no longer in the conference.

It's not an easy win. It would be if we were a better team. Still a game we should win and be favored in, but we can't expect to just show up and pencil in a win.

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.