UAZipster0305

There is A LOT of frustration to be had regarding Akron football, but I don't see any reason to personally attack anyone who shares my love for UA and its athletics programs. Let's save that energy for Kent and its fans!

It wasn't just Josh Harris. A team does not win with one player. Sure, recruiting helped, but well coached teams don't commonly make stupid and selfish mistakes. There is buy in to the process that is transferred from the coach to the players. That was the essence of BUGS success under Urban Meyer, not a single player. AND Urban Meyer is just a one-off example. There are many others. As to your second paragraph, punitive actions as negative reinforcement are a last resort and should be rare. Establishing a positive culture that includes a vision, values, objectives/goals, and actions that are all part of a consistent narrative is the essence. Coach Porter of our men's soccer program was masterful at these things. Most leaders that are successful are as well. We need to filter through the interview process to find that person, regardless of most of the rest of their resume. Before coming here, Coach Porter was little known and had been a very successful player but was probably not the front runner for the job based on his coaching resume alone.

I am not the coach, so that's not my problem. There are plenty of coaches in various sports who are able to do so though. Getting the most out of any team's talent is one of the most major skills of a leader in any field. Look at the coaches who have advanced, and this is evident from very early. E.g., Urban Meyer at BUGS. Those teams were clear overachievers. How did he do it? The point is, it is possible. I am not even expecting an Akron football team to be a group of overachievers. A simple transition from being underachievers to performing at least level with their talent would be dramatic.

I think it is a little more nuanced than this though. Even poor talent can and should have good discipline. This team obviously does not. Even if the budget does not change in subsequent seasons, discipline in eliminating bone head plays and penalties would go a long way to making this team competitive again, especially in the MAC.

We troll them in basketball, meanwhile there is ample discussion about high school football in our rivalry week game thread. I am not at all an advocate for or protector of UT, but at least they've been highly competitive in men's basketball, even if they haven't broken through.

Those games were at home too!...And a road win at West Virginia was looking promising.

And what is crazy about that is most of our ties have been to the weaker teams on the schedule.

Sure there is. Having a lower seed means less/no road games leading up to the College Cup. We got lucky last year in having a higher seed and remaining at home throughout because the lower seeds in our quarter bracket all lost prior to crossing our path. Also, an excellent coach/manager will always find a reason for his team to play to its full potential. I do not know how Embick operates, but Porter had an entire list of goals to accomplish for the season, and this list made the result of nearly every game meaningful.

That's MAC football in general.

I think this is going to be a much more challenging match than it appears on "paper". I will be happy with any win, regardless of how ugly. Sometimes winning ugly shows character; this is one of those games.

I personally think that the AAC, Sun Belt, and MAC would create a very interesting and entertaining division that is between FBS and FCS. I'd to see us regularly playing OOC, cross-over, and tournament/bowl games against any and all of these schools. I really like the SBC-MAC Challenge in basketball for this reason.

Only due to football performance; our facilities are stellar. Our Olympic sports are also excellent, and men's soccer and basketball compete at the national level. They are #11 and #43, respectively, in terms of all-time wins in program history for Division 1. https://d1sportsnet.com/mens-soccer/records/wins.php https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_teams_with_the_most_victories_in_NCAA_Division_I_men's_college_basketball Also, Akron has some strong academic programs and has a higher enrollment and median earnings for recent graduates than most of the Sun Belt Conference members. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-American_Conference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Belt_Conference We also have the Cleveland media market. All of these things matter. We would not be on a short list of schools without a chair when the music stops if there were a merger.

According to the below reference, our program is #11 all-time in terms of total wins in Division 1 and #5 by win percentage behind only Indiana, UCLA, SMU, and St. Louis, in that order. https://d1sportsnet.com/mens-soccer/records/wins.php We are also #10 all time by number of games played in the NCAAT, #10 by appearances, and #17 by wins. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_I_men's_soccer_tournament_all-time_team_records Astounding! We are truly gifted for having such an elite program!!! I am excited for what the rest of the season holds.

What is the minimum number of teams in a conference for its champion to be guaranteed an NCAAT birth in basketball?

Statement of the year. Finding a few more schools to fill their spots would be underwhelming and uninteresting. Not that either Miami or Ohio are the class of the MAC, but they are two of the better athletic performers and are also at the top of the academic pile. Filling their spots with inferior schools is not viable for a conference that is already marginalized. Instead, I think this would means the MAC is forced to FCS, which could actually be a good thing for the schools that remain.