GJGood

I have no idea which team will show up in this one. The Zips haven't won a true road game this year. They did win in Charleston against South Carolina which was a neutral site game technically, but not geographically, so I think they can win on the road. We all know the Zips matched up quite favorably with the Broncos earlier this season so the confidence level against the opponent should be decent. This is also the first time the Zips have faced road environment games back to back. Will the Zips wilt in that scenario or does playing two in a row benefit them in the second one as it seems to do with some teams? Let's hope the Zips go in and play well today, giving them more confidence as we move on in the schedule.

When was the last time a Zips player scored more than 30? I know Romeo had 30 in 2007 against BG but McAdams had 31. Who is the last to do it? Has it happened in the Dambrot era?

Completely agree with everything here. I actually think 14 teams, with all ten conference champions, is the ideal number for a playoff. It would allow the top two to get byes. I always liked the race for the top 2 in the BCS system. I just didn't always think they got the right two as the top two.

Doesn't have to be 16. It can be less with byes but all ten conference champs need to be included. otherwise it still is not decided on the field. It never will be as long as you have to be chosen by someone to get in.

OK, so for the MAC it may not make much difference as to an at-large invite. I do, however, think playing an early road game that you should clearly win is a good thing as far as team building goes. As far as a conference challenge goes I personally wouldn't want it to be with the Horizon League. I say this only because the two conferences already schedule each other so much anyway. I think the matchups in a challenge type event should be a little more unique than what a MAC-Horizon challenge would offer. Is there a conference that is a little less in our region of the country that may also fit the bill? Maybe the MAAC or a conference in the west or south?

I get the fact that 20+ win seasons may help recruiting. I have to admit I am tired of seeing teams with 300+ RPIs on the schedule though. I am not saying I want them to go crazy with scheduling an impossible gauntlet opponents or anything. I would just like to see opponents ranked between, say, 170 and 260 more often. Also, if we are going to schedule that many cupcakes at least make them different cupcakes each year. How many times do we have to play UAPB? Nothing against them but variety would be nice. As far as things like RPI and other rankings go, do teams get rated higher for road wins than home ones? If so, I wouldn't be entirely against playing a non-conference team that Akron should have no problem with at all as a road game. I have always believed that road games early in the season help a team "grow up" or "gel" more than home games do. So why not have a near sure thing road game very early on in the season? I remember a few years ago there was talk of the MAC getting a challenge together with another conference, like the Big Ten does with the ACC and the Big XII does with the SEC. Anybody heard anything about something like this lately? If it were to happen what conference should the MAC be paired with to try to get close competitive games from top to bottom of the leagues?

How do the Zips match up with the Broncos? Focus should always be sharp when it comes to conference opening games but do the Zips have a little extra incentive after the MAC semis last year?

In saying "Auburn offense" do we mean the one being run now by the Tigers or the one Bowden himself ran at Auburn? I, for some reason, took it to mean the latter but most of the discussion here seems to assume the former.

NDSU also had a head coaching change. I admitedly don't know much about them this year but they could be learning a whole new system compared to seasons past. This is Akron's final return game from the BracketBusters series. I really miss that event. I always made the trip to Akron to see the home games for BracketBusters. I just liked seeing the variety of opponents at our level that it let us go up against. I hope in some way shape or form that some type of event like this comes back into the fold.

Don't forget North Dakota State. It has to beautiful in Fargo this time of year.

With teams like Pitt, Illinois, and Virginia Tech getting into bowl games it would have been nice to see at least one of the MAC's bowl matchups be against a team from a Power 5 conference. At the very minimum every Group of 5 conference champ should get a shot at a middling power conference team.

If the black and gold chrome is going to bring in recruits or help the program in any way then I am fine with it. I still would prefer the traditional Akron font for the names and numerals however. Why couldn't that be incorporated?

I don't fear any one particular game. My thoughts were 'bigger picture' than that. I was merely stating that the first three games next year will mean the Zips will face one of, if not the, toughest schedule they have ever played as a program. If the way we are measuring progress of the program is by winning records and/or bowl berths I think the non-conference games next season make that progress much more difficult to achieve than it would have been this year. I understand that the model we are following is FCS at home, payday game on the road, and two FBS home-and-home opponents. I actually like next year's scheduled teams, just not the fact that the "pay day" game comes first or that the FCS game is all the way down at Game #4. Those first three weeks will be tough back-to-back-to-back and we aren't likely to catch a team like Oklahoma sleepwalking through a 'trap' game if it's their home opener.

Trying to watch the live stream on iPad but every time I try to go full screen I lose the video entirely and have just audio. Anybody else having similar issues? Any suggestions?

Anybody have a scouting report on Tim O'Shea's Bryant club? What type of game do we expect? Is there a key player we need to stop?

I am also concerned with the non-conference schedule. Playing games at Oklahoma and at Louisiana may be just a little too tough at this point in time. Throw in the home game with revenge-minded Pitt and the pessimists may could easily be all over this team by the time they take the field in week 4 against FCS Savannah State.

I am most worried about the lines on both sides of the ball. I think the strength and conditioning program in the offseason will be key. I also think they need to take a long, hard look at Milwee's philosophy on offense. I am not sure of the answer there but if we could have an offense that even somewhat resembled what we had in Bowden's first year coupled with our current defense we'd be in the top half of the MAC at the very least and maybe even a title contender. I keep hearing those that sat out this year as transfers or redshirts are going to be really good. Is that finally going to pan out or is it just being overly optimistic?

That is what I have been thinking too. Bowden Ball is supposed to be fairly pass-oriented yet I have very rarely seen receivers running open down the field. D'Orazio seems to be able to get open but he is more of a possession type guy than a deep threat. I don't know if it's a WR talent issue or if it's on the coaches to do more to keep the opposing defense off balance. I guess because of the lack of open receivers I have been less inclined to assign blame to the QBs than many on this board, not that they don't make mistakes too.

With so much youth having to play for both teams, what should we expect? Anybody know a great deal about the Trojans this year? Who do we think the winner will play next?

I think this team has the talent to very good this year with or without Tree. The problem is having to quickly change some game planning and strategy in the short-term and the ability to overcome the bounty of youthful mistakes that are sure to come up this season with so much inexperience on the floor at any given time. it will be interesting to see how it plays out. One thing is for certain, though, this team should be playing its best ball at the end of the season, Tree or no Tree.

Why not have the Wagon Wheel game the day after Thanksgiving? It has happened before.

Another reason I'd like to see us get an at-large slot left open in the Birmingham Bowl. That game isn't until January, therefore even more extra practice time.

Interesting that the bowl in Alabama has been mentioned a few times. I assume this is a reference to the Carmelia Bowl in Montgomery, which is a MAC contracted bowl. I would like to point out, however, that it is also possible that the Birmingham Bowl may be looking for a team as it is quite possible the SEC may not have an eligible team to fill the slot. The CBS Sports website currently projects Akron in the Birmingham game, not that you can automatically put much faith in that.

I understand what you are saying but I still have a problem with a team not being chosen over a team they finished behind in conference and that they lost to in a head to head matchup. I understand the game itself is an exhibition and helps charities but going to a bowl also helps the program participating in it with added practice time and exposure. I hate to see a team CLEARLY more deserving of this reward being left out entirely in favor a team that did not earn it as much. I still remember screaming in 2004 that Akron should have been going to the bowl in Fort Worth over Marshall, a team Akron defeated head to head and had the superior record to when comparing the two as well. That year still stands out to me as being the one where we most got snubbed. If I remember correctly Marshall actually accepted their invite to that game before the Michigan State- Hawaii regular season finale took place. If the heavily favored Spartans would've won that game the Zips would have been headed to Honolulu as UH would not have been eligible. I have always wondered if Fort Worth just assumed Akron was going elsewhere and went ahead and grabbed Marshall.

As I understand it the winning record thing, if it even still exists, only comes into play when looking to fill slots that another conference's tie-ins could not fill. It is entirely possible that a 6-6 team could leapfrog a 7-5 or 8-4 team within its own conference tie-ins. That is how Temple got left out as an 8-4 MAC school a few years ago. There were other MAC schools that made bowls that year at a less impressive 7-5 if I recall correctly. There is no rule stating that if you're in the top 5 of your league and they have five guaranteed slots that you get one of them. I believe the conference champion, and maybe the other division champion will get bids by rule but beyond that it is up to the bowls themselves to invite whichever team they want. You can be third best and get passed over by a 7th best bowl eligible team. I hate that it can be done like that but I think thats the way it is. I wish the bowl selection process would be changed for many reasons.