UAZipster0305

That is potentially great for fans too. Imagine a conference with WVU, Pitt, Marshall, etc. I do see a 16 team playoff happening, but not sure it would go as far as driving a conference realignment. At-large bids are still strongly flavored by RPI and thus, conference affiliation. It hasn't driven realignment in basketball.

The same thing could be said about the NCAA basketball tournament, but upsets happen and that is one of the most thrilling aspects of it to casual fans. If played today, yes, the G5 champions would probably get beaten soundly. However, I think that over the course of a few seasons, recruits who would otherwise be on a second to fourth string at P5 schools would prefer the opportunity to play for a championship themselves rather than watch from the sidelines. Thus, there'd be a talent equilibration that would enable regular upsets.

This is precisely the problem with the 8 vs. 16 team tournament. Conference champions and legitimate national championship contenders would still be excluded in the 8 team format.

If it is ever expanded to 16, I expect all ten conference champions will be granted automatic bids. This is consistent with the NCAA basketball tournament even though the P5 schools dominate the at-large selections. It gives every FBS school an opportunity to play for the national championship while pretty much guaranteeing that any team worthy of winning the national championship will have the opportunity to do so on the field.

PSU isn't in the conversations, so it's moot, but I will defend this by saying that PSU only lost by 1 AT OSU and won at Iowa where OSU got blown out. Penn State also lost another close game (by three) on the road to a top team (Michigan State). OSU got blown out at home by Oklahoma. These circular arguments can be made ad naseum though. To me, it is simply that PSU is a consistently solid top 4-10 team whereas OSU can be a top 5 or only a top 25 team due to inconsistency.

Last night SportsCenter had a segment on how the dominoes could fall in OSU's favor provided they win the B1GC. It was said that the committee may see OSU's resume as stronger than Alabama's because OSU has some big wins and would have a conference championship. They totally negated the two BIG losses, one to a fairly average P5 Iowa team. They claimed Alabama's only big win was against LSU. I think Penn State has a more credible resume' for the playoffs than OSU...two close road losses (by a total of four points) to top ranked teams. Even if OSU beats Wisconsin, I still believe Alabama > Penn St. > OSU. The mental gymnastics that are necessary to justify otherwise are despicable. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the playoff will eventually be expanded to 16 to include all FBS conference champions and at-large selections.

Preferably leaving a star.

I am still in disbelief that we are in this game. Incredible!

Continuing from above... Blue Dog Bakery http://www.bluedogbakeryandcafe.com/ Seviche...had a very memorable experience watching UK-Louisville in the NCAA Basketball Tournament there about three years ago. Great food and atmosphere. Ideal place to reward a special lady for traveling with you and sitting outside in the cold watching soccer. Worth showering and dressing nicely for as opposed to just coming directly from the game. http://www.sevicherestaurant.com/ Seneca Park is another nice outdoor area. The park I reference above is Louisville Waterfront Park with the Big Four Bridge. https://louisvillewaterfront.com/plan-your-visit/map/# Churchill Downs and the Slugger Museum seemed cliche' and like tourist traps. We didn't do them.

We stayed at an airbnb in the St. Matthews neighborhood. Very nice. Also, the park east of downtown and along the south end of the Ohio River is a very pleasant area to enjoy being outside. There is a pedestrian bridge with a spiral walk that lead all the way out and over the water. Cool vantage point and place for pictures. If you like architecture and historic homes, Old Louisville is worth seeing and conveniently close to UL. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Louisville I am checking in with my domestic boss to give you the names of the restaurants we ate at. I will post publicly when I hear from her.

ESPN "experts" have us in: Dollar General Bowl Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Alabama Dec. 23, 7 p.m. (ESPN) Bonagura: Akron vs. Georgia State and Quick Lane Bowl Ford Field, Detroit Dec. 26, 6:15 p.m. (ESPN) Hale: Duke vs. Akron I like both games and the opponents. First, the games are tight on the calendar to Christmas, so the exposure for the progrum and UA should be excellent...lots of people off work and at home or traveling with teevees on in airports and bars and not much else to show. Second, the locations are ideal. Bowden has a big name in the south including AL and FL, and playing a bowl game there has the potential to garner the attention of recruits and their families. Obviously, Detroit is close and helps with alumni attendance and recruiting. Finally, both opponents are fair match-ups on paper. They are very winnable games, particularly if we want it more than they do. Duke is also a P5 program with household name recognition. I don't believe we've played either in the history of Akron Football, which provides additional interest for me, personally. http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/21568451/week-13-college-football-bowl-projections-2017

For anyone making the trip, Louisville is a really cool town. I recommend staying the weekend there, or at least overnight.

I love this match-up. I'd really enjoy beating UL en route to our second star! Take that, Lolla! I have watched parts of UL's other two Tournament matches, and honestly, I don't think they are a solid overall team. They counter well, but they do not possess the ball. It's very much a run-and-gun approach. Lolla has to play to the strength of the talent that exists, but this is exactly what soccer purists thinks is wrong with the collegiate approach to player development. Porter was a true innovator in this sense. Unfortunate that we can't have this match at home, but the seeding was fair. Who knows what made the committee see UL as #4 and us as #5. We'll never know, but this match-up proves that the seeding had merit. As pointed out by TennZip, it seems UL is more vulnerable at home anyhow. Let's take it to them!

This was a VERY good and mature Wisconsin team that we encountered. Their seniors were excellent and very skilled; Mueller will do well at the MLS level. Wisconsin were not intimidated by the atmosphere and did not quit when we went up on them twice. They were patient, organized, and played their game. Unfortunate Wisconsin lost on maybe their only mistake of the whole match, but that's how the beautiful game goes (...and partly what makes it beautiful). Great sportsmanship from the coach in the post-game; way to part for the season with dignity. Wisconsin is probably the best team to not advance to the Elite 8. The last fifteen minutes of the second half was the only time all season I have seen us on our heals for an extended period. Kudos to Lundt for pulling us through when the rest of the team looked tired and unfocused. This may have also been the first time all year that we have really had to rely on our GK to get a result.

Pretty cool... https://www.masseyratings.com/game.php?s0=296546&t0=Akron&h=0&s1=296546&t1=University+of+Wisconsin

It's 1:36 PM EST and...

This was a dominating start-to-finish performance by the Zips. Seattle had very little possession and few chances. I watched a handful of the NCAAT games yesterday and none of the top teams were dominant like we were.

I watched this game at a trendy taco bar in downtown Los Angeles (what a terrible sports town, by the way). Nelson was great. Unbelievable to imagine that we could have another 3 years with him at the helm. There were a couple times where he moved in the pocket to either make a throw or scramble for positive yardage where I believe Woodson would have been sacked. Those little things were enough to be a difference in the game. The defense got some big turnovers and generally played well. It amazes me that we had the same teams on the field at Miami and versus Ohio. The inconsistency is frustrating, but overall we are having an tremendous season. I honestly didn't think it would turn out this way, so I am happy to eat a huge plate of crow. I think this season will propel the staff to another solid recruiting class and the progrum will be on its way to where we all expected to be a few years sooner. MACC! and of course, it's 1:30PM EST and ...

Correct. A total oversight on my part. I like WMU's chances. MSU is good, but not great. It's really hard to beat the same team twice in one season. That's another reason I'm glad to see Wisconsin rather than ND.

I like this match-up. A big name, B1G opponent to garner local interest and a team for which we do not lead the all-time series (1-2-0). In all my years following Zips soccer, I don't recall us playing Wisconsin. That said, they will be tough. They have a knack for grinding out victories, especially of late and on the road. Playing our game at home, we should win. I'm saying 2-0 Zips. The only way we don't win is if Wisconsin is super physical and chops the game up and maybe gets a gritty goal off of a mistake. I really don't see them dominating possession or breaking us down through the run of play. Great to see WMU doing well to advance. I think they will win their next game against Albany too. Good for them, and good for the MAC. Go Colgate!

UVA makes the beautiful game ugly!

Based on the weekend results, I think we get the #4 seed. There is no doubt that we are one of the top four teams in the country right now, and I think the committee will recognize and reward that.

As a carry-over from one of the other threads, I do and I don't want to play UVA. Their style to put 11 behind the ball to tie and advance on PK's is everything pure soccer fans hate about college soccer. It is the anti-Porter approach to the beautiful game. I'd love to play UVA to knock them out; however, I also know (from 2009 and recent games) how effective that tactic can be.

I take a lot of interest in the program's history and implications for public notoriety based on brand recognition of our opponents. Here's who we could realistically face in the NCAAT and who I'd like to see us host, in no particular order: Wisconsin Coastal Carolina Georgetown Maryland Kentucky Louisville UNC-CH Duke UNC-Wilmington Air Force VCU Cal UCLA Any to add?

Wake beat Clemson 2-1 at home, Notre Dame lost 2-1 to UVA on the road. Other games from last night that impact our RPI are UMass-Lowell beating NH 2-1 at home and Marshall beating Kentucky 1-0 on the road. Cleveland State is still alive in their conference tournament too; they play at Illinois-Chicago tonight. Denver hosts Eastern Illinois tomorrow in the Summit League Tournament. Three of four games favored our RPI. And I don't see UVA stealing a seed from us unless they win the ACCC and we don't win out. ND losing is not ideal, but also not a big deal.