MDZip

This is sort of like a confessional. I admit Akron was far from my first choice as a school when I went there. I'd done very well and could have been accepted a lot of places (and was), but no one could quite give up enough scholarship money to make it affordable to attend there since I paid for every dime on my own. Akron gave me enough to actually come out of school WITH money. Anyway, I regarded it as sort of Hilltop High, it certainly suffered from "localism" in my eyes, so I wasn't that excited to attend.After moving away (not a lot of jobs in Ohio in the mid-eighties) and really not paying much attention to what was going on there, I eventually realized what a great school it really was. I ended up working at a job where I worked with tons of people from "name" schools, and I used to gleefully point out that even with all the money they paid, we were working at the same job working in the same place. No one had ever heard of Akron then (I used to claim we were the largest unknown university in the United States), but eventually it was sort of like being "embarrassed" by your parents, until you realized just how terrific they really were. So I started really following the teams again around the time we joined the MAC (I thought that was a great move at the time, still do) and it was kind of like a badge of honor rooting for the little school (your school) that could. And the more I saw about the changes at the school, the more I fell in love with it. So it was a combination of having attended, seeing all the great things that were happening and believing that it was a school on the rise (the first year I attended it was still a Division II school, now that we're Division I and have had a little success, people at work here on the East Coast actually know who we are and bring us up when we do well). I might not have been initially, but now I'm really proud to say I'm a Zip. Thank you, Father.

Assistant Coaches (so why is Can't so bad?)Each of these teams in the AP poll is coached by a former Can't State assistant -- Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Nick Saban (Alabama) and Gary Pinkel (Missouri).

The Independence Bowl is supposed to be SEC vs. Big XII - how disappointed would those sponsors be to get the MAC vs. the Sun Belt? (Other than getting to host the Zips of course ). You have to give the site some credit though, they did some serious work on every team. They have us at 7-5 but not making the MACC, they have BG tying us so that they go and then lose to Ball State. That's actually some pretty in-depth work. I'm just so excited to even be able to discuss this right now. From a season that looked to be going nowhere to a possible bowl bid? How cool is that for the timimg right before opening Infocision. This is the part I hate most about being an out of towner and not being able to really be a part (especially on a Thursday night - grrrr), but if the Zips go bowling, I'm there and I will be there next September 19th!

And if you mouse over the picture next to it, it says "Rubber Bowl". Looks likes an amazing place, I'd like to see it. It looks closer to the Polymer Science building than the Rubber Bowl - does the Polymer Science building seat 70,000?

This actually could be a year in which the MAC could pick up a few extra bowl bids. I did a little fun analysis on the conference tie-ins and likely bowl participants. I counted all of the conference tie-ins to both the BCS games and others. I came up with the following totals (there are a few things that throw it off like a Big 12/Big East/ND all in one bowl in a few places, a non-BCS school (or two) making a BCS bowl, Notre Dame and Navy by themselves), but in general looking at the current standings here is what I see (also remember that 6-6 teams are not automatically in, 7-5 teams have to go first):I took conferences that have a few 4-4 and 4-5 teams and gave them one extra place but not more than that.Conference Bowls Eligibile_teams (projected solely by me )ACC - 9 - I think they get all ninePAC-10 - 7 - I think they get only 6SEC - 9 - I think 8Big 12 - 9 - I think 8Big Ten - 9 - Only 7 and this is pretty real, the 8th and 9th (Indiana and Purdue) are 3-6 and so will be at the bottom of the heap even if one wins 3 straight games and they both can't because they play each otherBig East - 6, I think they get them allMAC - 3 - already have three eligible and can get to five easily and probably 6 (the winner of us and Buffalo is bowl eligible - pretty amazing)WAC - 3 - probably will have 4 eligible, maybe 5MWC - 4 - probably just get the 4C-USA - 6 - may only get 4Sun Belt - 1 - probably have 2A few teams will sneak in at 6-6 that I haven't accounted for but at the moment, it looks like there could be up to five openings, so there is a chance for a lot of MAC teams if we can just pull it off (c'mon lower MAC teams do it for the good of the conference ).Of course you also have to worry about not playing your own conference and its likely the three bowls we have against the Big 10, C-USA and Big East, two of them will be a problem because the B-10 and C-USA will have trouble filling them so we can't get those.Other random observations:The Zips own the only two victories over the MAC West by the MAC East at this point. Thanks goodness for the scheduling gods there. Buffalo drew Central and Western.We scored 47 points against a team that held Michigan to 10.How great is it that we finish off the Rubber Bowl with a game that really means something and lucky we got this game at home!Do you think Andre Jones will go to class this week? :)Here's to bowl eligibility, a MAC championship and a really cool bowl game.

While Toledo is far from the best team in the MAC, lets also remember that they did knock off Michigan, and even if Michigan is in a really down year, that still means something. Next weeks game really means something - who would have thought that at the beginning of the year? And after last nights game, I really believe we can win it!

We will all be hoping for an extremely positive impact from both 44's. But that is kind of cool.

macreportonline did give him some press as a potential coach of the year in the MAC. If he goes 7-5 or better and wins the East I say he deserves it.

Did you notice the Nations Goals against leader in College Soccer News? Da Zips! 4 goals in 1500 minutes, what an awesome defense. It must be great for Evan Bush to see those guys in front of him and for them to know he's backing them up. Also, Steve is just off the country lead for both goals and points. I can't wait for the playoffs to start.

Getting back on topic, with 7 teams in the league now not only did the Zips get home field advantage for the tournament, but with the first seed locked up, they also will have one less game to play in the tournament. Just hold on for the next couple weeks and take take of business in the tournament and after playing a schedule that included Notre Dame, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State (and not losing to any of them), it will be interesting to see what our seed ends up being. Damn well better be a single digit below nine (and I'd prefer not to be in the same bracket with Wake until the Final Four, thank you).

Yeah but that was before the CMU game and they looked pretty good in that one. All of the games that are left are winnable, but the Zips are not going to have a walk in any of them.

Could Tom Hagen possibly be the Captain's alter ego? (Address to send horse's head to to be supplied later ... )

Also remember that the University only accepts a certain number of students for housing based on the number of available spaces. They turned away a lot of applications this year, but they also "overbook" based on historical cancellation rates since not everyone who signs up ends up taking a space. Some do it as contingencies while looking for other places. This year it just happened that the school got caught with too many that wanted to keep their spaces. That is where the 150 number came from. It doesn't mean that that was all of the students who wanted housing and didn't get it. With the way the campus is today with so many options and things to do, why wouldn't you want to be there?

I'd love this one - you guys can hang at my house.

College Soccer News released an article naming some of the top player combinations on college soccer teams in the country and called Akron's backline the most dominant. With their performance this year, hard to disagree with them. A group with one senior, a sophomore and two freshman, man, wouldn't you love to be the goalie for the next few years with these guys in front of you. I didn't think Akron soccer could get much better - I am proud to say I was wrong.http://www.collegesoccernews.com/index_files/Page14289.htm

Certainly appears that way - that's a huge win, if so. And it keeps the Akron-Michigan streak alive, home team always wins, so when if we meet them in the NCAA playoffs, it needs to be at home (or at the final four).

Well somebody somewhere stood at full attention because it has been fixed. What a mistake to have in there for a "topping-off" party. Thank you all for all of your "help".

I did that thanks, just hoping someone might have quicker access to get it fixed since as it is it is a rather embarrassing remark about our two biggest donors. I did pay attention in my UA English classes.

I was reading the story on Zips.com about the "topping-off" ceremony. Good story, fairly well written until I came across this (Dr. Proenza's remarks):“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to InfoCision Stadium at Summa Field. The progress being made is outstanding and this ‘Topping Off’ ceremony celebrates a significant milestone along the way. I want to recognize of course my colleagues Gary Taylor and Tom Strauss who are here and provided the initial impotence to get us moving. Thank you FirstMerit for your additional gift.Impetus, perhaps?!?! OMG, who can I contact to get that embarrassment off of there?

Its fun to do but it has only been done four times this year - all four have been losses and since we win when we don't do it, I personally pledge not to start another this football season. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go tie my rabbit's foot to my upside down horshoe.

Now that would be fun, but I think the Wolverines have zero chance of being Bowl eligible this year (it will break a 33 year streak, longest in the country). They are 2-5, have Michigan State this weekend (who just dropped out of the rankings), then Purdue and three ranked teams (Minnesota, Northwestern and OSU). In other years that might have looked doable. I do not think so this year.

Seeing as how that's the area I live in I have heard a little about CJ, but he's doing average at best. He's averaging less tahn 100 yards per game, and I saw him play a little against Rutgers and he looked terrible. The MEAC is not known for really high quality football. With Jacq's performance this year, I think we kept the right one. Seen nothing on Hakes. And the crabcakes aren't as good this year, either.

They're probably just taking wohever happens to be in first in the MAC East as their "projection", but it is fun to see our helmet between Oklahoma, tOSU, Texas and Alabama. And East Carolina would be a fun bowl opponent. The Motor City Bowl is projected as Ball State/Wisconsin. That would be fun too. How about we win the MACC so we get another crack at Wisconsin on a neutral field?

If you're a BCS conference, that's probably true, a tough OOC schedule doesn't help you much because its just increases the chances for losses and your conference schedule is generally viewed as tough anyway. For non-BCS though, a schedule like ours was a good idea, one really tough game and two possible winnable ones in the BCS and one non-BCS (we'd have been getting some buzz if we won all of them - and looks like Wisconsin actually could have been possible and even with Syracuse being bad our beating them got some recognition for us). Look at the buzz East Carolina generated (they'd still be in BCS bowl discussion if they hadn't blown it in their own league). Then look at Ball State - with the exception of a Wisconsin like game, their schedule looked much like ours, but no one is giving them any chance of even being in the BCS bowl discussion - why? Strength of Schedule. I think an OOC schedule like the one we played this year (but we should have had two home games) is right about where we should be.

Of all of the teams in the division, Buffalo is the one that scares me the most. I think the division may well come down to the winner of that game. Buffalo has two league losses and they are to Western and Central. Bad scheduling break for them, but they were close losses. I believe Central won on a last second field goal. Buffalo is just kind of lurking but they are well within striking distance. Actually, it will be kind of nice to watch everybody pound on each other while we're off, so we can see what we need to do. I don't see much chance that there won't be a tie for first, so I looked up the tiebreaker procedure on the MAC website. Its pretty complicated and at this point there doesn't even appear to be a way to even put forth some possible scenarios but maybe it will be clearer after the next couple of weeks, but if I read it right, if we have to get to criteria 3, West crossover winning percentage, we may be in trouble. Anyway, here is the criteria:MAC Football Tiebreaker Divisional ChampionsThe divisional championship shall be decided on conference winning percentage. If two or more teams are tied for the championship, they shall be considered divisional co-champions. The following tie-breaking formula shall be used to determine which team will represent that division in the MAC Championship game:1. Head-to-head competitiona. In the event of a multiple-team (two or more teams) tie, the team with the best head-to-head record amongst the tied teams wins the tie-breaker;b. In a two-team tie, head-to-head competition will be the first criteria; c. If two teams did not play, the second criteria is used to break the tie; 2. Record of tied teams within the division [versus rank order, highest to lowest, of division teams]a. The above tie-breaker procedure is used to determine rank order in the division;b. Team(s) eliminated in the second tie-breaker criterion are not included in further consideration in the tie- breaking formula;c. Head-to-head competition is again used to break the tie between the remaining tied teams. 3. Comparison of conference winning percentage of cross-over opponents of tied teams;a. Tie-breaker is awarded to the team whose cross-division opponents had the best cumulative conference winning percentage;b. Head-to-head competition is used to break the tie between the two tied teams. 4. If multiple teams remain tied, the final tie-breaker is as follows:a. Record of tied teams versus cross-division opponents in rank order;b. Head-to-head competition is used to break the tie between the two tied teams.