mrelegazna

As a mostly-lurker, let me just say thanks for that, CK.Big Zip always seem to bring up fair points and I don't think Willy's obviously personal axe to grind is shared by anyone else and is getting a bit tiresome.Anyway, the half-full way to look at it is, maybe any of them can conceivably step up if it comes down to that. I agree with Preston. I might give Dials a chance to shoot the big three if needed. On the other hand, with as many bigger guys with range this team has, at least we should be able to get a shot off in a do-or-die situation, which not every team can do.

So is it that Bracketbusters is a well-intentioned idea that doesn't go far enough (ie., they need to put us not just on TV, but prime time), or the Bracket busters is a ruse they created to make us think they are trying to help us but only keeps us down?

Even undefeated, would they really break the top25?If Nevada were ranked, that might be different. If they would put Bucknell in the top 25 with three losses, what (other than the usual "because the media wants to keep us down!" self-fulfilling prophecy) makes anyone think they wouldn't rank Akron if they had a similar or better w-l record/SOS?

ZipAnalyst, the only way that would work is if everybody (with the possible exception of low majors like the SWAC or the Mid-Continent, but if they get that once-in-a-lifetime team that gets a high RPI, they would want included), all of 1A, kept that weekend wide open, in case they qualify. Not gonna happen.The article strikes me as "The Bracket Busters don't benefit my team, therefore it needs to be remade" take 3, 716.What neither the article nor Zip Analyst takes into consideration is logistics, which MUST play a huge part in something like this. Going into this year, all teams involved in both the premiere, televised Bracket Buster games, and the CMU-Morehead State clunkers is this: You will be participating, and you will be at home (or on the road).If they turn it into a thing where teams may or may not participate depending on how they do, it throws the logistics out of whack. Can we reserve the arena for this high school band competition for the weekend? Don't know. Might have bracket busters that week, might not. We'll just have to see. And that's just the beginning, just one example.The present format allows teams to plan around it, way in advance, as much as possible. They only last-second detail is the opponent. If you're not involved with logistical planning, it may seem easy to work around this stuff, but it's not. Hell, the NFL had to move hell and high water to move the freaking SUPER BOWL up a week in 2001 because of 9/11, and pay the Auto Dealers of America a boatload of money (IIRC) to have their convention another week. It's stuff like that that makes wait-and-see scenarios impossible.

....of non-area markets of those who receive Fox Sports Ohio on Directv.That makes me very, very nervous. I'd been able to watch all MAC games on FSO until this one. I'm HOPING it's because the game was also carried on ESPN Full Court. Otherwise, FSO has picked up the theme of the regional Fox networks that carry SEC and Big XII games and blacking out games if you don't live in SEC/Big XII country. I honestly don't understand why anyone does this except "to eff over our alumni who no longer live in the area." I'm going to see if I can find a phone # for Fox Sports Ohio and find if they plan on blacking out BGSU/Akron outside of Ohio on Tuesday. They're gonna get a serious earful from me if they do.

Any place at all worth its salt that calls itself a sports bar should have a satellite system and hence, ESPNU. Damon's, for starters. You may have to call them up ahead of time to request that they show it (and how sad is it that that might be necessary in the Akron area?)But, if I was in town, I would definitely go see it at the JAR.

That sucks about ESPN Full Court. And since I signed up for the Sports Pack as soon as I got directv, I didn't realize that it wasn't part of the standard programming. But no matter. If you get Directv and don't get the Sports Pack, sign up for it Friday and cancel it on Saturday... Thanks for dropping by and being a good ambassador, CLPack. Looking forward to the game, good luck the rest of the season.

I am still feeling ambivalent about this.On one hand: Not only is ESPNU not as good as ESPN2 or ESPN, but it gets worse: They designated two games for the ultimate bottom of the barrel, Internet-only, not-available-in-all-areas ESPN360. And which two bracket buster games were deemed to be so shitty they had to be moved to the internet? The Ohio and Buffalo games, of course. That said, ESPNU is a) Better than nothin', More widely available than Fox Sports Ohio or ONN, and c) I think moving it to a Friday was actually a nice consolation prize to not getting on ESPN/ESPN2. The only college basketball it will be up against will be Providence/Cincinnati, and only for the first half...if someone wants to watch live CBB from 10-11 that night, we're it. In terms of exposure, I'd rather have that than be lost in a sea of six other games, even if we did get on "The Deuce." If you are determined to see this game, you will....just go to any bar. It's on directv and Dish Network's package, and it's availabe on a growing amount of cable carriers.Nevada is very strong and while it may hurt tthe Zips to have to make this trip in terms of having enough gas for the rest of the season, a big part of me is excited and glad they got a real challenging opponent.That Marist/ODU game getting better billing is insanity, but really, UWM/Missouri State pretty much deserve it. Besides the RPIs, The MAC is freakin' 0-8 against the MVC, and although they have a winning record against the Horizon, UWM is the conference leader and incumbent champion.

I normally am not an advocate of conspiracy theories, but I think the East Coast bias is in play here. It leads them to take non-East Coast teams lightly. That said, I don't think anyone was saying "How can we eff over Akron and the MAC? You know, keep them down?" I am also pretty sure that the MAC, over the last ten or fifteen years, has gotten two NCAA bids more often than one. If not, then it's at least got to be pretty close. But not in the last couple years...which is what you can focus on if you want to believe the world is out to get us or doesn't respect us...which is the prevaling theme on every single team's board in every single team's sport, college or pro.We should be celebrating tonight...Can't lost, and they only way anyone can truly stop making us play is by beating us.

Seconded. I don't find the banners/popups particularly distracting and I appreciate that they are necessary to preven the site from becoming a money pit. You may want to reconsider your browsing philosophy.

Great posts, everyone. As far as Zip37's doubts about making the NCAA's as an at-large, I still think it's possible, but it'll be an incredibly tall order. I don't think they can exclude a 6-loss Akron team, but they can (and IMO, will) exclude a 7-loss Akron team. If I'm right, it means, of course, that Akron must win out...and then they can "afford" to lose in the MAC tourney. But I don't think they are going to win @ Nevada (are we getting a game time for that any time soon, BTW?). Losing even one more regular season game means they gotta win the MAC tourney, although a 7-loss team should at least get the Zips a hard look. @ Miami and home to Can't will be toughies too. On the bright side, they can lose all three of those games and get bounced from the MAC tourney and still probably snag an NIT bid. Maybe even one more loss besides (ten total) might be good enough. So if just making it to some kind of postseason is the goal, they pretty much just have to hold serve and avoid a big slump.I pretty much agree with everyone's points. I do think Joyce, Middleton and Dials are athletic enough, they're just stretched very thin, as is RT. Futch and Linhart both need to amp it a bit and work on creating good shots for themselves. Preston needs to stay out of foul trouble. I would also like to see what Mraz can do...he's gotta be pretty cohesive with Joyce, Travis and KD himself, right? So with the Zips being very good but very thin, this trip to Reno is not exactly what the Doctor ordered. I think what we all are trying to say here is, this team still has a shot at glory (the NCAA's), but they gotta dig deep.

As awesome as this stunt was, it may be even more awesome than you think...the commentators on Fox Sports Ohio glowingly acknowledged the prank TWICE. That alone was worth all the money I've paid directv each month to still get FSO from outside the region.

I agree with Zipboy on almost every count. The only thoughts I have to add is on #3....at this point in the season, I fear if we don't shoot 40%, it'll be a dogfight against the lesser lights of the MAC as well, and on #4, Linhart...he just didn't have a good game yesterday, IMO. There was a couple of times where he turned the ball over in such a way that made me think, "If KD can pull him during the next stoppage, he probably should." Not that he really could though, with Preston in foul trouble and Futch banged up. We can't ask RT to do everything.

I'm sure I'm in the minorty, but I like Ryno's idea of trying gold jerseys, perhaps as a one-off. Like others have said, when I first laid eyes on their "new" jerseys, I though, "They're the St. Louis Rams." But really, there's a lot of differences. It's not the blatant, down-to-many-of the-little-details job that Iowa is to the Steelers.My only complaint (forgive me if you've covered this already) is the removal of last names from the jerseys. I know, you play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back, but I don't think last names on jerseys necessarily lead to big heads, and to my eye, it just looks high-schoolish not to have them.The best part about the Akron rebranding is the A/Kangaroo head logo. I don't think it's too busy or too simple, I think it strkes the perfect balance and is unique. I live in Delaware (the state, not the Cbus burb) and I try to put that image out there and into people's head as much as possible for people to see (my desktop at work, t-shirts I wear, etc).

Ah ha! I was just getting ready to bring up the godawful Lions roar at Penn State. Talk about overused. The criteria seems to be any time PSU gains more than -10 yards on offense, or holds the opposing offense to less than 95 yards on a play. I also thought, "Isn't this too much like Purdue?" when I first heard about it, but I guess this will be more "factory whistle" than "train whistle." And we don't have the world's largest drum. That can't really be the world's largest drum, can it? It's not THAT big.

No...the talent level at Akron is way, way better than any team's in the NFL. If Akron would be allowed in the NFL, they'd go 16-0 and win the Super Bowl.

According to this,, the ABC/ESPN family of networks have decided every one of the NINE Big Ten/MAC matchups opening weekend is worth showing except, of course, Akron/Purdue. Indiana/CMU? Absolutely! Can't State/MSU? Bring it on! Ohio/NW? Why, we'll even put that one on ESPNU. Iowa/Ball State? You bet! Akron/Purdue? Eh, no on that one. Now, someone please tell me this a matter of paperwork or something being worked out, I will still get to see my Zips (I live in Delaware and subscribe to every college sports satellite program I know of) at the end on that day. Please?

Big Zip, You have one fact wrong that, fortunately, benefits the Zips. Hawaii and Northwestern play 12 games so they need SEVEN victories to be bowl eligible. If Northwestern (6-5) wins they are in, but Hawaii is only 5-5 with games left against Northwestern and Michigan State. If Northwestern beats Hawaii and Hawaii beats Michigan State (which isn't likely but it's very plausible), none of those teams go.

I thought I read somewhere HERE *before* Clemson and South Carolina bowed out that there were 60 bowl eligible teams for 58 spots? Doesn't this mean EVERY Bowl eligible team gets to go now? CFN.com seems to think so, as they have Akron, Miami, Marshall, BG, Toledo, and Northern Illinois ALL going to bowls.

Rifle, you put to words a fear that I dared not speak of...how long are we gonna have him for? The only way I see us losing him after next year is if we go 11-0 or 10-1 or thereabouts, and even I the ever-optimistic don't see THAT happening....so he should have at least two more years with us, and that means two more full years of not only Brookhart, but two more years of his assistants who will be (if they aren't already) big disciples and absolute authorities on the Brookhart way. So if Brookhart leaves, we may not experience too much of a dropoff if we just promote one of his assistants....pretty soon you're talking about a year-after-year run of excellence which has a way of perpetuating itself sometimes, regardless of your coach, once you've made your mark on the national landscape (I hate to say it, but Can't basketball is a good example). This is all a glass-half-full way of looking at it, but there you are.

Thank you, MU fans. You're platinum. If they do tear down the Rubber Bowl, it will be a sad day for me and anyone who grew up watching games there, lack of amenities and so forth or not.

I read somewhere that AD Thomas said, in hiring coaches, first looks for recruiting ability, and anyone who has read any kind of profile about Brookhart talking his way onto the Denver Broncos staff and all the other stories knows he can do that. THIS year, without having much of a chance to recruit, all he has done has taken lemons and made lemonade. I don't know if I've ever seen a gameplan, week in and week out, that so masterfully plays into a team's strengths and downplays its weaknesses. What I'm getting at is, we know from this year how well he coaches, and yet his tag upon getting hired is how well he sells and recruits. How scary good might we be in a few years? I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but it's hard not be really damn excited. And I think a decisive (8-3? 7-4?) winning record and a bowl game is a VERY realistic hope for NEXT YEAR, even without Frye. Who would bet against what Brookhart can do?

See how in the post I made that starts, "I'm hoping this..." See how "this" is a different color? Click on it. Too late now.

What a bummer....very typical historically for the Zips to do something like this (give up the last 6 points of the game and lose by 2). But, I remain optimistic...they were on the road against a team the media considers better than the MAC. I think they only lose to Dayton (although Wright State might be tough too) in the rest of their out of conference schedule, and then 10-8 in the MAC gives us a shot at the NIT, 12-6 (okay, not realistic, but...) would cinch it.

I'm hoping this station will stream it, but the listen live button is ambiguous because it only mentions one show....I can't check because I'm at work for another couple hours and our firewall prevents it. Guess I will find out later.... Zipster, thanks for the heads-up.