UAZipster0305

Especially in large cities, building college-specific stadiums make little sense to me. Share one with the local NFL team if possible. So what there are potentially busy weekends at the stadium with games on back-to-back days? 90% of the year the stadiums sit empty and unused anyhow. $120 million dollars would perpetually fund 30-60 endowed professorships...how's that for perspective?

Like WMU, we own BUGS. The score will make it look closer than it actually was. Significant garbage time points from BUGS to narrow the deficit to respectable...Zips roll on to Dekalb.

I agree, this is pretty cool. So glad the rifle team didn't get the axe. It is a strong and fairly unique program.

I think those are all in the right ballpark.

Winning in the Tournament gets MAC and national respect. Hence, Can't and Ohio are the model programs, not us. Nobody pounds cupcakes like we do and consistently beats weaker MAC competition like we do though!

Overall, I think this piece is very accurate. I will be disgusted if the BoT and President allow things to change as dramatically as Ms. Bond warns. Pieces like this are always frustrating to me because they leave the reader angry with no suggested course of action. What would you suggest we do if we want to advocate for your position, Ms. Bond?

In the KD-era, we have always had WMU's number much like UB has had ours in Canada. We will hit shots against a less talented opponent on our home court. Zips win 80-66 with an empty bench the last few minutes.

Regardless of how we played, there is only one thing to say about a successful trip to Canada: Great Win!

Just thought I'd share that I heard on the radio before leaving for Akron over the holidays: the talking heads on local Baltimore sports talk radio were commenting on what an amazing job Coach Bowden has done in turning around the progrum and achieving our best season ever. They said we are a program on a dramatic rise and are happy that we are not on Maryland's future schedules.

Good topic, GJ! To me part of the excitement of the bowl season is seeing out of conference match-ups among fairly even teams on a neutral field. This is dramatically different from pay games on the fields of bigger programs or powder puff I-AA games in the OOC. Also, distance is not prohibitive for bowl games. We could end up playing Hawaii...when/how would that otherwise happen?! I think we had them scheduled once, but it fell through. I'd be highly disappointed if we ended up playing another MAC school in a bowl game. It would reinforce the locals' proconceived notion that UA is small-time and does nothing to market UA outside of the MAC footprint. This year, people in Utah were given a reason to pay attention to UA and Akron, Ohio. As for the selection of below .500 bowl teams, I like the suggestion of basing it on the academic performance of 5-7 teams. I'd be perfectly satisfied if we ended up playing 5-7 Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Stanford, or Baylor. Give the true STUDENT-athletes a reward for their hard work. Overall though, I think the entire system should be overhauled with one true preseason game followed immediately by an 8 game conference schedule and conference championship games late in October. Then, based on conference results, conference champions and selected at-large teams with consideration from last year's OOC results would be placed in a 16 team single elimination bracket to determine the national champion. All other teams would play four OOC games (guaranteed 2 home and 2 away) against similar RPI programs that determine strength of conference rankings for next year's at-large tournament selections. As teams are eliminated from the tournament, they continue playing a total of four post-season games (excluding conference championships) against similarly matched RPI programs. That is, two teams eliminated in the first round of the tournament could be paired for their second post-season games and then have two additional games after that. After each post-season round, the RPI would be recalculated based on results to determine the next round of match-ups. This way every team begins the season eligible to play for the national championship and all games have significance in building a program and objectively advancing the stature of a conference. No more whining from B1G fans about SEC preferential treatment, etc. Put up or shut up. No more pay games, no more 8 home game seasons for schools like OSU, no more D1-AA games, no more OOC schedule as a preseason to prepare for conference play. I think that in the end it would be more financially lucrative for ALL programs and be more interesting to both casual and passive fans.

Great game...overall the most complete and mistake free we've played all year! The team has really progressed this year even through the bowl game! Amazing! Kudos to the players (especially the seniors) and the coaches. The progrum has really been turned around! 2015 Potato Bowl Champs! I can only imagine what this could do for recruiting! Let's hold off on the attendance talk though.

Pratt and Stein have been great today!

We played National Champion Stanford to a 0-0 tie two days prior from Clemson getting blown out 4-0 yet they are ranked ahead of us. I see us as #2. Getting one round further at this stage is meaningless in that regard. I can make a strong argument for Wake Forest being ranked ahead of Syracuse too. We prevail over Stanford and the National Championship was likely ours.

Interesting note: In 5 games at the College Cup since 2009, we have only been scored on once and that was against Michigan.

The team with the better goalie in regulation of the last semi-final won. Let's hope that holds here.

It drives me nuts how successful packing it in and just counter attacking can be against a better quality side. This was UVA's strategy in the 2009 Final, and it worked.

These videos are great for getting amped for the match tonight. Yes, the media coverage is often disappointing, but don't give into it. Instead, embrace this season's success and the pursuit of #2ndStar!

One of my favorite UA Soccer moments occurred in 2009 against Stanford when Teal Bunbury scored on a header and ran to the corner where Ampi was holding the flag like a golf caddy. Bunbury made the stroke of a put and followed it with a finger point while taking bouncy steps towards the flag and finished with a triple fist pump a la Stanford Alum, Tiger Woods. Mind you, this was right around the time when Tiger's personal scandal was blowing up. The celebration was in the southeast corner where many in the crowd (myself included) were gathered at the ropes laughing our asses off over the skit. Well done, fellas!...Classic! Beat the Cardinals!

Right on the money, Dr. Z. Based on the RPI rankings, Akron is 76 and USU is 69. I really like the match-up because the teams are so even and have a history of struggling but are both recovering programs. USU is just a bit ahead of us in rebuilding though, so it's like we are playing our big brother. http://www.realtimerpi.com/college_football/ncaaf_power_rankings.html

Great win! I thought this would be the game that conceding shortly after we score would bite us in the ass, but this team has something special. They just know how to win. On to Stanfod/Wake at KC!

The two out of three that we got were in a big way, and basketball was respectable in spite of injuries. I'll take it! Good weekend to be an Akron Zips fan...wait, did I just say that?

It's rivalry week. As far as anyone associated with Akron Football should be concerned, we are 0-0. Beat Can't; nothing else matters.

This is nuts!...5-0 after 18 minutes!!! Hello 3rd round.

What an amazing start! 3-0 Zips after 14 minutes.

It's really nice to be excited about Akron Football again.