Interesting…Phil Steele lists the Zips as a bowl team, or bowl caliber, team in this article about the MAC.
https://philsteele.com/2025-mac-hits-and-misses/
What I also find interesting is that it seems almost every MAC team has announced which of their players were mentioned as Phil Steele pre season All MAC honorees but I see nothing posted from Akron. Did I miss it or are they asleep at the wheel??