GJGood

I wouldn't even be that against the BCS if it just included the champion of every conference with equal payout an had a set criteria where the BCS rank of each conference champion, and not the name of the school or conference affiliation determined the actual BCS game matchups.That at least would be a step in the right direction.

Orr with his BCS coaching background, leading of BG to the #1 seed in the MAC and Cincy ties actually could get in the mix I believe. I'm just not sure how much interest he would have in leaving BG right now. Although, if he were likely to go anywhere, wouldn't it be to "go home"?

I just want to see the MAC get better and us be a perennial power within it. Everybody keeps talking about jumping for another conference. I'd rather the conference we're in become more nationally prominent. That way we're not only good but we're loyal too.There needs to be a major shakeup and reoganization within the MAC offices and get some pepole in there that are going to take this conference to the next level and beyond.

That does look good. You make a great case.I still think it should be 24 teams with 8 getting a bye. But the 16 scenario that you showed actually looks better than I imagined it would.My 14 one would look similar and would not allow the very topped ranked teams to rest their starters at the end of the regular season because they'd want one of those top two seeds and a bye (in fact I would propose that those two universities host the national semifinals even if their teams get defeated prior to that round). It also wouldn't allow so many teams that didn't even win their conference in. 16 teams likely means you can finish second in 5 of the 6 BCS conferences. My way is only 3 of 6, or two if an independent qualifies.My first round would have looked like this (using the pre-bowl BCS rankings)1 Oklahoma (first round bye)9 East Carolina at 8 Virginia Tech13 Alabama at 4 Utah12 Texas at 5 Penn State11 Buffalo at 6 Boise State14 Ohio State at 3 USC10 Troy at 7 Cincinnati2 Forida (first round bye)I think those aren't too shabby and it allows a school like Utah or Boise State to get a home game, allows a northern school like Penn State to host a southern school, and creates marquee matchup potential like Ohio State-USC and Texas-Penn State in every round.

I say a 14 team playoff with the top two seeds getting byes (for those who like the chase for the top 2 the BCS now creates)...the 11 conference winners and three wild cards. Seeds 1-11 (or 12 if an independent reaches a certain level) go to the conference champs and the wild cards are seeded at the end. At least the first round would be played at campus sites. This allows for marquee matchups every week as the wild cards are liable to be national powerhouses AND would result in some non-BCS conference champs getting the opportunity to host a game since seeds 3 thru 8 (all conf champs) would start at home.That is just what I'd like to see. I think it creates a more level playing field that way and emphasizes winning the conference no matter what the name on the jerseys may read.

I want to be somebody like a Utah. Always near the top of their conference in the major sports and still able to be somewhat of a player on the national scene. I think there's is an overall athletic program we can model ourselves after, at least for now. the difference is Akron is situated in much more fertile recruiting ground than they have in Salt Lake City, so if we ever reached the Utah level we then may be able to look even bigger at that point.

Because it allows the MAC to get TV time. We aren't getting on TV on Saturday, that's just how it is. Friday, and mid-week games, allow us to get a game or two on ESPN network. That is a big plus for the school. I don't understand why so many people cry about a game behind on the weekday. You have to get up the next morning...ok?...You aren't going to be out there til 1 or 2 am. Im all for whatever gets the school, and this great new stadium, more exposure. Putting every game on Saturday would mean absolutely no national exposure. Which hurts the program.Buddy, I get that. In my scenario, we get 2 games on National TV (though many don't have ESPNU!!!). And then, hopefully 2 more with MAC Champ and bowl game. Throw in the fact that PSU might be on the main ESPN networks (or Big 10), IU game will be on at the very least Big 10 Net., etc.= plenty of exposure.Andy why do people "cry"? Well, it depends on your situation. I happen to have bought tickets for my family of 4, and it is a heck of a lot tougher to go on a weeknight, especially if it is cold. And, I live 1 hour away. Not to mention, there is nothing better than a college football SATURDAY!!!! There are PLENTY of reasons that weeknights, even Friday nights, suck!!!I don't know about the Indiana game being on the Big Ten Network. I don't know if anyone lese has notived this, but I have NEVER seen a live sporting event on that network that wasn't a home game for a Big ten school. It is like they are only allowed to broadcast from the 11 campuses and nowhere else.

As has been said by coaches and administration alike..."We have to think bigger than the MAC."I think the MAC just has to think bigger.

I agree about the best way to start off in the new stadium being with a solid 'W" but not against an FCS school. No FBS school should play an FCS school unless there are special circumstances involved. I am happy to see an opponent we should beat coming in for game one, but there are FBS programs (that carry the same number of scholarships as Akron's program) that can fill that bill. Why not play a bottom feeder from the Sun Belt, C-USA, or even the WAC?Oh well, at least we have the Carlton Jackson story. I just hope the game isn't competitive because we really are in a "no win" situation with this opponent. If we win people will say (and deservedly so) that we only beat an undermanned FCS school, if we lose or the game is even close then what will people say?Overall, it will likely be a landmark day for the University but it would have been with an FBS opponent as well.

In the Columbus and Central Ohio region I was forced to watch online at March Madness On demand. They showed the Clemson-Michigan game here. If you ask me something just wasn't right about that. I mean here I am in the same city as Ohio State and I have to watch Michigan when an Ohio school is playing at the same time.This fact is even worse when you consider that Linhart, the McKnights, Hitchens, and Ronnie Steward are all from central Ohio and some of their biggest and longest tenured fans had only a sporadic chance to see them.Somebody capable of showing multiple games on the tube without an extra charge needs to get the rights to the tournament, whether it be ESPN, NBC, FSN or whatever.

We can say the exact same thing. When we don't play well it seems that we are fundamentally sound but just half a step slow on defense. Our primary achilles heel, though, is cold shooting. In our first round game of the MAC tourney we went for an incredibly long stretch where we didn't make a single field goal yet somehow we ended up with 93 points after 45 minutes of play. That wasn't the first time by any means that we went on a prolonged scoring drought either.Our other issue at times has been rebounding, especially offensive rebounding. That problem seemed to go away for much of our run in the MAC tournament. In fact at times during the last week we looked pretty formidable on the offensive glass. That being said I think we will have problems in that area on Thursday simply because of Gonzaga's size. We went into this year considering it a rebuidling, or I guess I should say reloading, year. I think I can speak for most of us on here when we say we wouldn't have expected to be dancing this year any more than in the prior two years or in the next few years to come. The key for us will be taking care of the ball and shooting well along with playing our usual good defense. Anyway, you look at it though the Zips really have their work cut out for them in this matchup.

While we are carrying the mantle for the conference on the main stage, other MAC schools will continue playing as well.Bowling Green recieved a #8 (out of 8) seed in the NIT and will travel to Creighton.I have also seen that our arch nemisis from Portage County was selected to play in the inaugural CIT and will be travelling up to Oakland University in Michigan for a Tuesday night game.I would have to think that Can't State's inclusion in the CIT means that Buffalo will be in the CBI field and that there is a good chance Miami will be as well. As of this moment, the CBI website says nothing.So, will you all be cheering for all of ur MAC brethren or just pick and choose who to root for?Personally, I'll be cheering for Bowling Green because a good MAC showing in the NIT could garner some attention. I will root for Buffalo because I like their program as a whole as much as any of our MAC rivals. With Miami and Can't State it depends on who they match up with. I have no strong feelings either way about Can't State @ Oakland.

If we do in fact win tonight is there any way we could get Frenchy's call of the last 10 to 15 seconds or so posted on here. I live out of area but would still love to hear that. That being said, this will be a tough game tonight.

Actually I believe it is 32 for the NIT and 16 each for the CBI and CIT for a total of 129, but your point is well taken.I do know, though, that the CIT (run by the people who do the mid-major Top 25 poll) has said that they would rather not take teams that already have more than half of their conference in the postseason. I take that to mean they'd rather have a pretty good mid-major team over a 9th, 10th, or 11th place team from a "major" conference when they are making their selections.

What a way to get win #20! Not to put the hex on them for the next game or anything, but is the 20 win mark for Akron enough to have this team continue playing should they not win the MAC tourney? I doubt the NIT would give us a shot but what about the CBI and CIT? Is 20 a magic number of sorts?Congrats Zips on another 20 win season!

I don't know how much zone we'll see on Sunday. I just don't know that it fits that team's "personality". I would certainly expect to see a lot more zone defense against the Zips in game one of the MAC tournament no matter who the opponent may be though.

Scout.com doesn't even show Akron as a possibility for Payne. My guess is that this is because so many schools are interested in him that they didn't have the room, but what do I know?After Payne, the highest ranked uncommited 2010 player in Ohio according to Scout is PF Craig Sealy. Does anybody know if the Zips are showing any interest in him? He is actually out of my high school so that would be kinda sweet for me personally if he ended up playing his college ball at the JAR.

Has anybody heard any updates on Ronnie? How likely would a medical redshirt and 6th year of eligibility be?

I voted for "Any Postseason Play" because of the youth on this team. The longer this team can play the more experience it will get, particularly in "do or die" games. Even if it is one of the tourneys below the NCAA and NIT it will give this team more experience to rely on in upcoming seasons.It may even be better for the players we have on the court now to go two or three rounds in one of the other tourneys rather than go one and done in the NCAA or especially the NIT, which everybody knows would never seed us correctly or give us any chance at a home game.I'm not saying going to the 3rd or 4th tourney is better for the program overall than going to the NCAA tournament and winning a MAC title. The recognition would have potential to do great things for an already strong program but the individual underclassmen players may be just as well off in the long run if the team can string together a few wins in something like the CBI or the new CollegeInsider tourney.

Just looking at this matchup on the surface it doesn't make much sense.When looking closer, though, I think this matchup was put together with next year in mind more than this season. Both Valpo and Akron are in what most of their own fans are calling "rebuilding" years. Both fanbases seemed to be pointing toward next season by the time this season was just a few games old if not before it started.The difference is Akron is having a pretty decent year (we still have a shot at another 20 win season) despite a roster that is primarily freshmen and sophomores. Valpo is struggling this year. Both programs are arguably bringing in the biggest (by size and/or reputation) recruits in their programs' history next season.One of the posters on the Valpo board said that we better get them this year because next year might get ugly. I assume he meant that we will not be able to handle them next year. Obviously that poster knows nothing of our program. The exact opposite is true if Valpo wants to beat the Zips they better do it this year because next year this program which is 60-7 at home the past few years will be fielding more talent than it ever has before and the game is at Rhodes Arena.

In this case, it might be favorable for Akron to face a better team than JMU -- one who like Nevada two years ago would lead to their coming to Akron in the fall of 09, in a 'trap' they may not be aware is awaiting them. IOW -- we might be better off playing a team we have little chance of beating THIS year, in exchange for an opportunity to beat someone nationally ranked or 'name' in the NEXT year (of course to acquire such a foe we need more 'W's for the ESPN selectors). I don't know who that might be though. Any ideas?Bracketbuster games are to be selected on Monday, Feb 2nd. My educated guess is that well be sent to either Drexel or Old Dominion. While JMU is a possibility espn usually does not pit schools against each other when they have a history. We played a home and home with JMU in around 2003,2004 ( or so). Another possibility is Milwaukee from horizon league. Our RPIs are similar 110 vs 122. All things considered weve gotten treated pretty well by espn in bracketbuster selections in past. Certainly better thanCant St going to Mt St Mary Calif, or Cleve state going to Pepperdine.I don't know if they take such things into account but I would wonder if the fact that we played a CAA and/or another Virginia team in last year's event would lead the selectors to choose someone other than JMU.My question of this...would we rather play a team in the top half of a pretty decent conference like UW-Milwaukee in the Horizon League or a team that is at the very top of their middle ranked conference but doesn't play as tough a schedule like Vermont? I think either of those teams are possibilities at this point as is a team like UIC or Tennessee-Martin. It will be interesting to see how they do this with us this year since we are likely well out of the TV games mix.

I think it was a good move if he continues to see minutes. If he just ends up being a guy who sees very few minutes per game down the stretch then I would rather have had him an additional year when he could have more chance to contribute in a big way.Right now it is a good thing but the jury is still out overall for me.

I agree but if they are successful against the West it will still likely build more confidence and experience which is critical to young teams even moreso than to veteran ones. Plus, no matter where this team finishes compared to other East teams if their record is good enough a postseason tourney like the CBI will at least take a look at the Zips barring a MAC tourney title.

As was pointed out earlier in the thread it can't be Cleveland State this year. The Zips and Vikings are both road teams in the BracketBusters pool.

Anybody know anything about Ronnie's condition? I just think he is the best ball handler on the team. I like Hitchens and he will have big games but he is also a little more turnover prone than Steward from what I have seen (in their limited Akron time but also from what I saw both of them do in high school). If the Zips had just taken A LITTLE BETTER care of the ball in these close losses I think we'd all be pretty satisfied right now.Still, gutsy comeback last night in one of the toughest venues we play in. This is a good sign for the future. Now, let's take care of business at home Saturday then hopefully play well against YSU and the MAC West squads.