UAZipster0305

Regarding the banner at the College Cup, does anyone have an interest in writing to the NCAA and requesting that it be given to UA? Now that the College Cup is over, it may otherwise be disposed of, which would be tragic. It could also be an awesome addition to someone's man-cave!

FIFY, thanks.

Lots of great observations and thoughts here, many of which I share. These are mine: 1) Being there in person allowed me to see how amazing Stanford was at getting into our passing lanes. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Same with their relentless pressure for 90 minutes. This is how you beat the Zips. Don't allow them to play their game and get into a rhythm. If that can't be done by intercepting passes and winning one-on-one battles, foul. 2) I normally don't think a referee makes a difference in the outcome. Quite the contrary on Friday night. Stanford's ability to press and take away any technical advantage we had was fully enabled by the referee not awarding a free kick or giving a yellow card for persistent misconduct.The no-call near the beginning of the second half on the soft pass-back to the keeper where our player was in on goal and clearly held from behind was absolutely horrible. It should have resulted in a red card and penalty kick, which likely would have tied the game and changed its entire dynamic. Had our player ended up on the ground, I think the call would have been made. 3) The field was close to frozen and a bit choppy. It too took away from our technical advantage leading to many missed touches and errant passes. Stanford had the same problem, but possession is not their style, so it affected their game much less. 4) Although Embick did well to make changes in the second half with Holthusen and Gainford wide and Egbo up top, it was clear we were uncomfortable playing the ball long or through rather than working lots of combination passes. We were way out of our comfort zone and have no experience being forced to play more directly. 5) Egbo gave us a chance up top and did a wonderful job beating a player and taking a shot. The Stanford GK did well to make the initial save and smothered the rebound. This was another potentially game-changing moment that didn't go our way. 6) #'s 1-5 above were a perfect storm for the Zips to lose and be dominated in a way that I had never seen before. A game against UCLA a few years ago may be the last time this happened, but I missed that game. 7) Stanford clearly deserved to win, but I had hopes that we'd get a goal back after which anything could have happened. In soccer, the better team often loses, but Stanford just knows how to win. They are a very complete and experienced team. Stanford is the best in the country, and I think today will again prove that. 8) Zip_ME87, I had no problem with Stanford's first goal celebration in front of the Rowdies.The goal was on the Rowdies' side of the field. Had it been us scoring and being in the face of their fan group, I would have loved it! Besides, one of my best Zips soccer memories was against Stanford at home in the NCAAT - Elite 8, circa 2010, right when Tiger Woods' personal problems were blowing up in the media. Bunbury scored on a header to the near post then ran to the corner where I was standing. A teammate held the flag like a caddy and Bunbury simulated a putt, walking towards it and fist pumping just like Tiger. Absolutely classic! 9) MDZip, I had the same observation regarding our banner. I walked the concourse and found every one but ours. After asking several staff members on my way out, I was told it was near the media entrance, which was restricted to fans. The staff member was kind enough to escort me and allowed me to get a few pictures. If you'd like a copy, PM me your email address, and I'll pass it along. 10) In asking around for our banner, I spoke to the Tulsa coach who was wearing an NCAA badge. He was wonderful...had nothing but respect and praise for our program and said he'd personally look for and inquire about our banner. He gave me his personal phone number and said he'd let me know if/when he found it and where it was. Interestingly enough, Tulsa won 2-0 at Stanford this season; he seemed surprised that I knew that. Great guy. I am now a supporter of Tulsa, except when they play the Zips. 11) I agree with MDZips and Zip_ME87, the stadium was wonderful, but this event should not be held in December in a cold climate region. It's unfortunate because such playing conditions take away the technical aspects of the game, thus forcing it to be more direct and physical. These are already huge criticisms of the college game from a player development standpoint. Why not just alternate between locations in Florida and those in the southwest (SoCal, AZ, NV, etc.). Perhaps this is a good reason to make soccer an NCAA spring sport instead? Then, the four best teams in the country could play warm-weather, highly skilled matches anywhere in the country. 12) The event staff was excellent. Even though against policy, I was allowed re-entry to get my gloves from the car. It would been a long and miserable night had I not been permitted to get back in with my gloves. This in addition to the banner locating (#8, above) and speaking to the Tulsa coach (#10, above) made my night in spite of the Zips loss. Kudos to everyone involved in those experiences. 13) Zips fans showed up in greater numbers than the other schools, though IU's were likely close.Very encouraging for the program and university. 14) I watched most of the IU-UNC game. It was clear to me that neither are at Stanford's level. I would have liked our chances against either. I think we are the second best team in the country, and the best team caught us on a bad day. Nothing wrong with that. Great season, Zips!

The committee got it right this time.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2017/12/03/ohio-state-or-alabama-the-decision-that-has-the-playoff-committee-anguishing-in-the-abyss/?utm_term=.486baa7a75a8 "Alabama (11-1) has the better record. Ohio State (11-2) has the better wins. Ohio State has the conference championship. Alabama never got throttled at home or annihilated in Iowa City, but Ohio State did. Alabama held down No. 5 last week but didn’t play. Ohio State held down No. 8 but withstood the great-big hearts of No. 4 Wisconsin, 27-21, in the Big Ten championship game. There has never been a two-loss team, or a team that suffered any annihilation at any time, in the playoff; now, the playoff might get both." "The committee repeatedly has demonstrated that, in a pinch, it deems good wins more relevant than bad losses. In 2014, it inched Ohio State upward from No. 5 to No. 4, and docked TCU from No. 3 to No. 6, because in that closing week, Ohio State had routed a No. 13-ranked team, while TCU had routed a 2-10 team. In the hapless decades spent deciphering this sprawling, indecipherable sport, this represented a fresh wrinkle of thinking, welcome most everywhere but Fort Worth." "This Alabama-Ohio State riddle often gets compared to the milder riddle of last season, when Ohio State (11-1, same as 2017 Alabama) got in over Penn State (11-2, same as 2017 Ohio State), even though the latter had a Big Ten title like Ohio State in 2017, and the former had no division title like Alabama in 2017, and the latter had beaten the former head-to-head. Yet the two situations are hardly comparable. In Ohio State’s body of work, it had beaten No. 6 Michigan (at home), No. 7 Oklahoma (on the road, crucially) and No. 8 Wisconsin (on the road), well better than Alabama 2017. Penn State had beaten No. 3 (at home), No. 8 (neutral) and No. 24 (at home), leaving Ohio State a clear-cut notch ahead." I've highlighted a few paragraphs, but the entire article is worth a read. It is the best I've come across in summarizing ALL the facts. The media has set this up from the beginning as an expectation that OSU will be chosen. The piece above is more balanced, but still gives OSU a 50-50 chance with 'Bama. Some of the comments are very enlightening as well... e.g. random heartland american: "To muddy the waters a little more: Sagarin says Wisconsin's strength of schedule (#50) is HIGHER than Alabama's (#56) - but the 11-1 team that didn't even make its conference championship game is being considered over the 12-1 team that did? And what of USC, the 2-loss conference champion with a higher SOS (#16) than Ohio State (#28)?" e.g. cupojoe6: "I do think region will be a factor. Three teams from the deep south (and the other from the prairie), is TV ratings death." TCU had reason to be super pissed in 2014, and Penn State will likely have similar justification based on last season and this year. In 2017, Bama > Penn St. > Ohio State How is this subjective crap any better than having the top four chosen by pure quantitative objectivity (i.e. an RPI-like formula)? Oh, right, you can't directly put a program's financial power into a formula and still have transparency and universal respect.

As I said on here prior to the game, we are the possession team and UL struggles with that. They are forced to pack-it-in defensively and counter attack. What I did not expect was the effect that field size and turf would have on our ability to attack. The field was narrow making it more difficult to spread UL out and benefit from our control of the ball. UL played compact and stout defense. The turf led to a lot of slipping, taking away our technical and speed advantage. Rather than the crowd and travel, these were really UL's home-field advantage. Without them (or rather, with the game at UA), I think we win 2-0 in regulation. I have no idea how Cordeiro didn't score one of his 3-4 chances. Towards the end of the first half, it looked like the ball came across too fast or he was out of stride to get anything on it. Literally, any contact with the ball in that situation would have put it in. Other than 15 minutes in the first half and 5 minutes in overtime, UL was not dangerous. Even their best chances were not real threats to score; unfortunately, the same could be said for all of ours except Cordiero's near touch at the end of the first half and his one-on-one near the end of regulation. UL's goalie was solid...as was ours. Moutinho, De Vera, and Gainford were also particularly strong for us. Harter and Holthusen disappeared for large portions of the game. I woulda liked to have seen more of Egbo and Kahsay to change the dynamic up top. It was clear UL was tired, mentally and physically, but our offense was missing that spark to punish them for it. Both Egbo and Kahsay are proven players, capable of scoring. I wish Embick wasn't so conservative with their time, especially after the stagnation around 75'+ and at times during OT. I was impressed by our patience and discipline, but equally frustrated by our reluctance to be more aggressive in attacking. Given that we had relatively few opportunities, I think the balance between possession and being more attack minded was unfavorable. We have to have more urgency in the future. Getting to PK's is generally a victory for the other team as it gives them a 50-50 opportunity to advance in spite of a discrepancy in talent, technical ability, or overall play. It's the electoral college or gerrymandering of sports. Most of the time, we looked complacent enough to be the team needing PK's to advance. Going into PK's, I had a bad feeling. How many times have we been eliminated from the NCAAT on PK's?...I can think of at least four...Maryland, 2005ish, UVA 2009, and more recently by Ohio State and Stanford. It's a terrible way to end the season, particularly when we are clearly the better team and the opponent is packing-it--in and hoping to get to PK's as their best chance to advance. In spite of the history and hatred on here for Lolla, he is pretty diplomatic and seems indifferent about playing us. He's proven to me that he is a classy competitor. Lolla was dressed as the quintessential urban metrosexual...looked like he was ready to go out for NYE dinner in NYC. I don't know why, but I found that interesting and funny. See everyone in Philly! If you'd like to meet in person and sit together during the game, PM me.

Overall, this game and the outcome is what I expected. Toledo simply has more talent than we do. I like the direction of the progrum and think we will get to Toledo's level in the next two seasons or so. The building has been slow, but the winning small has begun and the MACC was a wonderful next step (and finally beating BUGS and the BoobKitties to get there). The seniors have a lot to be proud of. I liked that even though down big, the team was still playing hard and believing. Equally important, it looked like our guys were still having fun in spite of the score. That's a dramatic change from the iCoach era when it looked as if most players wanted to be anywhere other than on the field. I can't help but wonder how keeping the TD on the board in the first quarter rather than having it called back due to penalty would have changed the game. The turnover right after the UA TD and the recovered fumble with about ten minutes left in the fourth really hurt too. I thought we may had been in the midst of an epic comeback, but then Toledo took the next play to the endzone. Good teams can turn it on to close out a game. Toledo is a good team. In spite of all the points, the defense still forced Toledo to turn the ball over a lot. I think they would have fared much better had our offense not had so many 3-and-outs in the first three quarters. Why did we not open up the offensive playbook until the fourth quarter?...Way too conservative for a championship game! Woodson is a statue at times and Nelson holds the ball too long. Was great to see Kelley getting some time at the end. For a third stringer in the MAC, he ran the offense well and was confident and accurate. The future at QB is bright with Nelson and Kelley. They bring very different abilities to the offense, so it wouldn't surprise me to see them both getting time next year. I think we'll get an interesting venue and opponent for our bowl game. I also think if we tidy things up a bit from today that we'll have our second bowl victory in three years.

And equally important, No Excuses!

Amen. The woe-is-me attitude is annoying from Embick now and always was from Dambrot. These guys get paid six figures plus to coach a game and then complain that there's some injustice in the competition. Get over it! The only thing that is deserved is credit for prior wins. The rest is subjective speculation. The five seed was very fair. If we wanted a top four, we could have guaranteed that by not starting off the season with losses to inferior teams like Utah Valley and Denver. Winning one game on the road to get to the College Cup should be no big sacrifice for a team worthy of winning the National Championship. See Rule #76 as my tag below...

I've made my points, and you've made yours. I agree to disagree.

And four full weeks of meaningful games would dilute that how? I could argue that most bowl games are meaningless. And nearly the entire OOC schedule is meaningless. And half the teams in FBS start the season with no chance of winning a national championship because they are G5 and not P5. Talk about meaningless.

https://www.ohio.com/akron/sports/university-of-akron/university-of-akron-soccer-zips-get-chance-to-prove-they-deserved-higher-seed-at-louisville “It works both ways,” Embick said. “They’ve been here, but they haven’t been able to get over the hump. We’re going to try to take advantage of the fact they have experience, but their experience is losing. Maybe we can draw upon that and get them to panic or have doubt that hey, it’s going to happen again if we get off to a good start.” I really wish Embick hadn't said that. Louisville is gonna be a tough enough out without them having billboard material as added incentive. Let's hope they don't come upon this before game time.

Conference champions plus at-larges would get bids. P5 programs would be heavily favored for the at-large positions. That together with the prestige and money of the P5 conferences would keep schools like Purdue right where they are. Indeed, skip-zip, it is amazing.

So why doesn't a school like Purdue just jump to the MAC now then? They aren't winning anything in the B1G in the next decade. Answer: revenue. The B1G has it, the MAC does not. This wouldn't change with my concept of a 16 team playoff either. Again, this also has not happened due to basketball utilizing the same model.

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