GJGood

For the most part I agree with scheduling high mid-majors and middle of the pack high majors but I'd love to see a couple of those so-called "money games" thrown into the mix as well. After all Oral Roberts beat Kansas in Lawrence this year that tells me that on the right night Akron certainly could have. Even if you lose a game like that it increases your strength of schedule numbers. If you win it gives you instant national recognition.The problem with making RPI requirements or other standards based on statistics like that is that you don't always know how good or bad teams are going to be at the time the scheduling is done. You could think you are scheduling a pretty good schedule and it turns out to be not nearly as great as originally thought. Personally, I think the RPI should be a factor in determining what happens on Selection Sunday but it shouldn't be as strong a factor as it is currently.

I have been to numerous Steve and Barry's stores and never seen more than one cap and a couple of t-shirts (one short sleeve and one long sleeve with the same exact design). That was what they had at both the Hebron, Ohio store and ironically enough the one in Midland, Michigan. Still, I have seen much more on sale for most of the other MAC schools than I have Akron.I haven't ever been to the Alliance store, which sounds like it may be worth checking out the next time I am up in NE Ohio.I actually bought some "Fear the Roo' gear at the Wal-Mart at 77 and Arlington when I was up for the BracketBusters basketball game against Austin Peay.

Those are all good points, but I still like the idea of not having a single "go to" guy. It makes it harder for a team to prepare to play you if they don't know who is going to be the "go to" guy on that particular night.

Actually I am not completely sold on the idea that you need one true "go to guy". I think what you really need is a team that has a few "go to guys", especially if you have at least one both inside and outside.I mean just look at the Zips this past season without one true "go to" guy and compare it to the team a couple of years ago that had Derek Tarver, which team do you think would stand a better chance of winning against a Top 10 or Top 15 team?To answer your questions though:1. I am not sure we need a single go to guy2. No, we didn't have one guy last year but it varied as to who was the "go to" guy from game to game.3. Yes, I think there is one on next year's roster. Just a hunch, but I think Jeremiah Wood just might be the MAC Player of the Year next season if he remains healthy.I also think any one (or more) of the three guys coming in as freshmen next year could easily be the "go to" guy(s) of the future. I love those incoming recruits.

I do think the NIT should feature more schools from outside the "power" conferences than it does. I hate seeing teams that are something like 17-15 and finished 8th in their league playing in the postseason over a team that has single digit losses but finished second or third. I just don't think that the "smaller" conferences should be eliminated from the big show of the NCAA. A couple of NCAA wins can help a conference greatly. Look at the Missouri Valley and even the Colonial this year.A side note...although it may have hurt Akron this year (even though it shouldn't have) I do like the auto bid rule for the regular season conference champs to the NIT. Teams should be rewarded for being the best team's in their league all season long and not have it totally ruined by one game. I know as Akron fans we all can associate with that feeling! I definitely don't think the NIT should have shrunk from 40 to 32 teams though, if anything with the auto bids it should have gone up to about 48 teams.

I just hope the stadium has at least one closed end. Having areas devoid of seating behind both end zones makes it look more like a glorified high school stadium than one for a university with a football program that needs to be taken seriously. Just my opinion.

Didn't Akron beat Oral Roberts at Oral Roberts this year just a week or two after Oral Roberts beat Kansas in Lawrence?Didn't Pittsburgh back out of coming to play Akron this year and opt for Buffalo instead? Why would they do this if they didn't think there was a danger there? If Akron was an easy win for them than it certainly would have increased their schedule strength and RPI much more than a win over Buffalo.The top teams in conferences like the MAC, WCC, and Horizon League are much closer to being on equal footing with some of the better teams in the "power" conferences than many want to believe. They certainly are much closer to the top of D-1 than to anybody that exists in D-2.

Dividing Division 1 into segments in basketball would only hurt the "smaller" schools, not help them. How much national attention do you think a tournament consisting only of mid-majors and low majors would get? Probably about as much as the D-2 tournament does now. With lack of exposure comes lack of interest and eventually loss of a large portion of the fan base. This would only hurt the economic interests of a school like Akron.Plus, look at how much attention the so-called mid-major schools can get by playing in the tournament in its current format. A lot of people during the course of this year's NCAA tournament have been talking about schools like VCU, Southern Illinois, and Butler. There is absolutely no reason that a MAC school cannot be on par with the likes of one of those schools or have a great run like George Mason or build a nationally recognized program like that at Gonzaga.Isn't parity more commonplace now than it was a decade or two ago? Whose to say that trend won't continue and more schools will be seen as major threats in the future? It won't happen, though, if we tinker to much with the system in a divisive way.

I agree Steward and Sweich are keys to Akron becoming a perennial MAC power. This has the potential to be the Zips' best ever recruiting class.Don't forget about Brett McKnight (Chris' brother), he turned into a scoring machine this year for Lancaster High School.Life as a die-hard Zips fan living in Columbus can be incredibly aggravating since so many people here don't care about anybody isn't in the Big Ten or Top 25 in any sport. However, I have been very fortunate lately to see some 'future basketball Zips' while they were still playing in high school. In recent years I have seen Chris McKnight and Nate Linhart while in HS and was quite impressed, but these next two central Ohio Zip recruits (Steward and B. McKnight) are two of the most impressive players I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Believe me, despite how dark things have been lately, due to events beyond the team's control, the future is bright for the Zips on the hardwood.

I can agree with that, but it is the NIT snub that is so freakin' unbelievable! It is WRONG!

I'm at a total loss tonight. This is totally unfathomable. I thought it was bad when the football team was the only bowl eligible team sitting at home a couple of years ago, but this NIT snub makes that pale by comparison.I still can't believe this! It is WRONG! Plain and simple.

This definitely is one of the all-time darkest days in Zips athletics. I still can't believe this! How can the MAC's best team not be in either postseaon tourney? This is one of the greatest travesties in NCAA basketball history but yet I am sure most of the nation won't even notice!

Last time I checked Syracuse is on the Zips football schedule for 2008, 2009, and 2010. The first two years are away games with the Orange coming to Akron in 2010.GJG

I agree with GP1 here. Akron should have a stadium that they are sure they can get to at least 80% capacity for most games. I think a 25,000 to 30,000 seat stadium would be about right, however there is no category for that range in this poll.I also think it is important to state that this facility should be one that can be built upon in the future. If the demand is there for more seating capacity then the university could take appropriate expansion measures.

Thanks. I learned a lot here. I knew the Rubber Bowl was rich in history and was pretty large compared to the other MAC schools. That was why I posted on the topic. The Rocket fan at the beginning of this thread was making it sound like we had an abnormally small stadium.I agree changes need to be made and a new stadium is the most obvious answer to the football attendance issues. I look forward to seeing how this all ends up playing out. I also hope that once a new stadium is in place that the tickets prices won't jump to extravagantly. I'd still like to be able to afford to take my family of five to a game or two each season.

It all makes financial sense. I just don't like the idea of indoor football in Ohio at any level.

Just wondering something. What is the capacity of the Rubber Bowl now? Isn't it as big or bigger than the Glass Bowl in Toledo anyway? People have been talking about our stadium like it is a tiny little facility. Somebody once told me that the Rubber Bowl was the second largest college stadium in Ohio. How close is this to being accurate? This may have been an error on their part but the Rubber Bowl certainly isn't tiny!Go Zips!