GJGood

Any pass happy team on the schedule still scares me. I feel much more confident, though, when the Zips play a run-first type of team as I feel that plays into our wheelhouse on defense. I believe that Akron is better overall than teams like UMass and Buffalo but the style they play and the experienced QBs they have still worry me. I see those games as dangerous.

I am not saying he is the most talented of the QBs but I find it hard to give up on Kyle Pohl. He led our most successful drives against OKlahoma and Pitt this year. That may not be saying too much due to the overall offensive production in those games though. Still, he is the QB that led us in the Pitt upset last year and the near upset in Ann Arbor a year before that. If nothing else he seems to not get rattled in the biggest games. That being said I would start Woodson this upcoming week and have Pohl as the #2 if cleared. Pohl was not the same after injury in 2014 and that may be the case again in 2015. One more thing about Pohl, I know he may not be the runner that Woodson or Chapman are but everybody talks about his running like its a liability. Kyle is a decent running QB, a lot better than what we had before his arrival in the program, and I'd say he is probably a better runner than the only Akron QB to win a MAC title. I just never got the Pohl can't run sentiment, at least when he was healthy.

Wait, does this statement mean that Akron is more of a 'cupcake' than Youngstown State whom Pitt did open up against? Or were you referring to Akron rather opening up with Savannah State instead of meeting them in week 3? I guess I am not sure of who 'they' is in the last sentence.

The Zips offense has been below average with Pohl and downright abysmal with everyone else, still the opponent this week isn't just a mediocre FCS squad they are at the bottom of the FCS. I'll split the difference between the four and eight touchdowns mentioned above and predict that the Zips get 6 TDs and maybe a field goal or two.

Savannah State is 6-62 in their last 68 games and most of those games are against FCS level competition. This game has to be a win and a big win, doesn't it?

I always thought March was destined for the NFL. He should have been drafted. Still, I see no Zips on active NFL rosters to open 2015. That is disappointing. I was hoping to see Chase Blackburn back and maybe I just missed any news about him.

I agree with the first two paragraphs and the last paragraph but not the one about non-conference games being "preseason". When you need six wins to be postseason eligible and seven to make it likely and the non-conference win total counts toward this total then the games DO matter. This isn't basketball where ipostseason berths all come down to a few games in a conference tourney. The goal this year is a bowl game, that means 7-5 or 6-6 at worst and the non-conference counts.

Any Zips on active rosters for opening week 2015?

I wouldn't want to drive two hours each way just to see the Zips get soundly beat but I also do not want to make the trip too often if they are just going to paste one of the worst teams in all of D-1 every time I go either. The non-conference games I have travelled in for recently are against schools like Princeton, MTSU, Marshall, VCU, and North Dakota State. I realize some of those were part of the BracketBusters but not all of them.

I am not anti-creampuff, but do the creampuffs have to be so extraordinarily puffy?

This is true. I still like the option, though, of simply changing out at least a couple of the four lower end of the bottom low-major conferences games to either teams from better conferences or teams near the top of those lowest of conferences. How much harder can it be to get a game with the team projected to finish third in the MEAC than to get one with the team projected to finish tenth in that league? or How much harder is it to get a second division MAAC school than a second division SWAC school? Like was said earlier in the thread, losing the BracketBusters Series hurts. Maybe some of the conferences can take it upon themselves to get together something similar in the future Lose a home game or two to play higher profile teams if need be, especially when you feel that the team should have an excellent year ahead but I wouldn't want to put my team in too many situations where they are unable to compete. Fortunately I think Akron can be competitive with just about anybody right now, maybe not beat anybody but compete with anybody. .

Does the university require a certain number of home games be scheduled? How much are the vendors and arena workers considered when determining a number of home games? I think it this is probably a bigger deal at other schools and probably more so in football than basketball but I have often wondered how much of a negative economic impact would there be on businesses and individuals if fewer home dates were scheduled. Like I said, probably more of a football question but it goes along with home scheduling so I thought it may fit here as well.

I know it's not quite as local to campus but just 90 minutes to two hours down the road you can find a lot of talent in Central Ohio too. I know a lot of MAC school recruit Central Ohio and end up with good talent. I see no reason why Akron couldn't get in on some of the same kids that Ohio, BG, Toledo, and the directional Michigan schools do. I'd love to see the Zips be more of a factor down here. It's not like Akron hasn't gotten quality from Central Ohio in the past , just not the same quantity as many other MAC programs and looking at geographic proximity I have never understood why.

Anybody know if there will be any televised replays of the game? If it is on for free sometime later in the holiday weekend I may just try to avoid knowing the result until that time. If not, it looks like ai'll be listening to Frenchy on the radio call tonight. This PPV thing bites the big bologna.

I don't mind Charleston Southern at all and I think Lipscomb may have just had a down year last season. I know they have been better than that in the recent past. Its the other three that bother me. I guess I wouldn't mind playing one of them but playing all three is what really drags the RPI down. If the Zips could replace teams like Bethune and Coppin with teams expected to have RPIs closer to 175 or 200, and these could even be better MEAC teams, I think it would help the postseason resume more than many realize. Still, this season's schedule does seem to be better than ones in the past. The road games, and of course the MAC tournament, will end up being what defines the season.

I still don't know why nobody drafted March in the late rounds. He always looked like more of an NFL player to me than two thirds of the linebackers playing in the Power 5 conferences. He just never got the publicity outside of the game in Ann Arbor.

I understand and believe that scheduling teams from perceived lesser leagues like the MEAC and SWAC is probably going to happen. I just would rather that the Zips schedule an 18-14 Maryland-Eastern Shore over an 8-23 Coppin State and a 19-10 Alabama State over a 12-20 UAPB. At least play teams in the top three or four in those conferences that are not as strong. I would think this would have to help RPI and SoS somewhat while still providing opponents in the JAR that Akron should be able to get victories over.

technically it was a MAC semifinal appearance this year and MAC Final appearance in 2014, not that it changes the point.

Is KD under some quantitative obligation to schedule a certain number of home games? If so, it may be that many other good mid-major teams want home-and-home series or two-for one deals but that adding more away games to future schedules would prohibit KD from meeting his quota of home games. Therefore, the only recourse would be scheduling the types of teams that would not require a return trip. I have no personal knowledge on this subject. It is all speculation on my part. I have just always thought there was pressure to get a certain number of home games because of how many people it effects. Not only do the hardcore fans want to attend a certain number of games but there are also all the people who work in and around the arena on game nights that need to be taken into consideration I could be way off base but I've always thought that a minimum number of home games was probably part of the scheduling equation and I do honestly believe no power conference schools want to come to the JAR even if it is a home-and-home deal. That was why I always had hoped they would keep an event like Bracketbusters around but tweak it so that bubble teams from power conferences played a game (sometimes on the road) against bubble teams from non-power conferences somehow. Of course that would never happen because the upside is not really there for the power conference school.

I am not against playing a few teams from some of the bottom conferences in D1 but I'd rather the teams we play from those conferences be teams that are at least sniffing .500 or above. I am fine with scheduling a few 'not very good' teams but hope we'd keep away from scheduling many RPI killing 'terrible' teams. I have also always been of the opinion that teams benefit by playing an early season true road game or two against teams they should clearly defeat. I think road wins go a long way in establishing confidence and team chemistry.

Former Zips pitcher Chris Bassitt is starting for the Oakland A's tonight against the Indians in Cleveland. Given the events of the last 24 to 36 hours and the fact that he knows the northest Ohio fans will be watching I think it would be cool if he makes some gesture or does something to pay homage to Zips baseball. Either way since he is starting I am rooting for Oakland to give Bassitt his first MLB win of the season tonight.

While I realize that Akron is not likely to be able to schedule Power 5 conference teams or teams with a major national brand at home, I do wish that the home schedule did get upgraded a little. I have no problem with playing a 300+ RPI team or two out of conference but I would hope that they'd try to avoid scheduling three to five teams like that. It does seem that the MAC and Horizon League get together quite a bit but why can't the Zips get some of the middle to top teams in leagues like the OVC, MAAC, Ivy League, or similar conferences to come to Akron for either one game or a home-and-home deal? I would think that would be beneficial for both programs. I know it wouldn't generate the same buzz that having a Big Ten or even an American Athletic Conference team come in but it would still be an upgrade from what we have seen recently. A few years ago I was at the Akron-Princeton game and thought that the crowd was great as well as the action on the floor. I'd love to see more games like that. You don't need to totally eliminate the UAPBs of the world from your schedule (sometimes those help team psyche more than many realize) but maybe minimize how many of those you play in any given year.

I don't have any statistics to support it but it certainly seems to me that college baseball is starting to grow in popularity even as the Major Leagues are experiencing a decline in popularity nationwide. Maybe I am out of touch on that subject because I am a big fan of the sport though.

I like 6:00pm games on Saturdays better than the lunchtime kickoffs. 6:00pm is just about the perfect time for me, of course I understand that we should probably do whatever we can to keep our kickoff times as far away from the Columbus school's game times as possible as well for attendance purposes.

I attended the Marshall game and it was on a beautiful sunny Saturday. I do know that the BG game was played in a monsoon on a weeknight on one of the ESPN networks though. I was traveling for work and remember catching some of it in my hotel room.