KangarooJake

Ok, and swap out Ohio State, Rutgers, and South Carolina for, say UTEP, Marshall and Southern Miss, we'd be in contention for a bowl. Progress is progress. At the beginning of the year, I said Joe has to go at least 4-8, 2-6 MAC. Well, we got 4-8 out of a rather brutal schedule for Akron (BG, Toledo, OU and NIU).

Perfect sum up. How many games did these seniors watch Akron hand them the game? When Toledo tied it and got the ball back, I thought "man, not THIS game." but they stood their ground. That's TWICE now against EMU and UT, they closed out a hard fought win against, to their credit, decent MAC teams. Progress is progress. With the non-conf schedule next year, I think 6-6, 5-3 is an incredibly realistic goal for the Zips.

I might be a broken record, haven't caught up with what everyone else is saying. What a win for Joe. For all the crap I've given him, he rightfully shut me up last night. That was hands down his best win at Akron, and outside of a couple poor drives, he coached a great game. Think about what this means for the seniors, after all the heartbreaking close losses they've gone through to be able to get a send off like that at home against a 7-4 Toledo team (who was projected MAC title contenders). Also, for the young kids. This gives them a lot of hope in the off-season. 4-8, with a BRUTAL non-conf schedule. Three conference wins, including beating your archival by 20, and sticking it to a solid Toledo team. I was at the game last night, much like some of you all. You could tell this team wanted that game BAD. Toledo's bench was all huddled on the heated benches, not really caring about what was going on on the field. Akron's sideline was jumping and moving. Seeing the team celebrate on the field for 10+ minutes in the freezing cold, knowing what that means for the seniors is awesome. Go Zips

Could be worse, could be 0-8 in Portage Co. We don't see many W's, especially where the program is right now, let's enjoy them when we can!

Biggest takeaway: Akron has a better record than Florida State by week 9

Thought of this, too. We're stuck with Moorhead I think. Akron fans have already seen the worst in the last five years, we're pretty desensitized to it by now. I imagine we'll win this game by 7, and then beat Kent State. Would be nice to get another win against Buffalo or something. 3-9, 2-6 MAC.

I'd like to think Akron is still the best team in the conference overall, and now is usually the time Akron kicks it into gear. Toledo, like others have mentioned, is a team I have no worries about in the tourney until they actually win it. Much like Ohio U in football. The last time the Bobcats won the MAC in football, the song "Fortunate Son" by CCR wasn't even a thing. (Ok ok, off topic) Kent and Ohio I think always have a chance simply because they have great history in Cleveland, and Ohio is a hot team at the moment.

Where I'm leaning. Kent, Colgate, maybe squeak one out against WMU or Buffalo. I'd say this is do or die year for JoMo, but at this point this program is so down that I think even if we get another 2-10 result, it is what it is.

It's also costing history at the expense of following the trends of CFP. Which, all this conference re-alignment mayhem has already ruined so much. Akron is a bit of a newcomer to the MAC, but teams like Kent, OU, Miami, BG, have been playing each other annually for about 70-80 years now. Now, that will be gone. I was hoping to MAC would be the outright rebel of the CFB world by straying away from expansion (we've done great with that), and sticking to the formula that's worked for nearly 30 years. Call me stubborn and old school, if you wish! Lol

Stupid move. I liked the divisions. Besides Miami is 10-2, Toledo is 11-1, I think the best teams in the conference are already the top dogs of their divisions. How about we move to 9 conference games, 4 crossover instead?

Firmly agreed, I wish we would bring a Sun Belt/MAC challenge to football. I'd be much more intrigued by seeing us do a home and home with someone like South Alabama or APP State then getting waxed by 3 P5 schools on the road every year.

Toledo fans for a while were bragging about high tailing to the Big East around '05 '06 if I remember correctly. Similarily, NIU fans were "rumored to be joining the Big 12" Aren't they sure glad they didn't? Exhibit A: Cincinatti, something I think all of us saw coming. UC is 3-8 and Akron is 2-9. Another thing, who would honestly take Toledo? Let's be real. Big Ten? Big Twelve even? Doubtful at best.

What a joke.

My guess is MU opens up at -14.5. This game will likely go one of two ways, we either get mopped the floor with and lose to a red hot Miami team something like 45-7, or we keep it close and build momentum and perhaps come out with a 27-20 loss or who knows an upset (Rufus the Bobcat better be wearing Jason Taylor's jersey the next day in gratitude). THIS week will be a great example to see what kind of coaches we have. Do we stick to what worked vs. Kent and keep the players motivated to pull off an upset? Or do we fall back into the pit of despair and look how we did vs NIU and BG? I'm hoping this is something to build on. Unlike last year, we have a few more games left, and I think EMU is very winnable. As I said, Miami is a worldbeater in the MAC right now and Ohio is holding on for dear life to try to get to Detroit. Let's see what Joe can build on.

Agreed, it seemed to coaching staff finally came around to doing what worked and not trying to get fancy about it. So guys, how bad are we beating the RedHawks next week? By 20-30? According to ESPN, our winning chances vs MU went up from 5.8% to 6% from last night. Zips are so back