UAZipster0305

It baffles me that we have only played Northwestern and Wisconsin a handful of times each in the entire history of our program. As a result, they are always on my short list of OOC opponents I'd like to see us play. Ideally, we would play every B10 team every year. I would like to see us take a commanding lead in the series with Northwestern and Wisconsin and begin evening up the all-time record with Indiana. Indiana 7-23-2 Northwestern 2-1-0 Wisconsin 1-2-0

The problem is, UA has outgrown the MAC for MSoccer, MBBall, and Track and soon to be WBBall and WTennis. The MAC SOS severely cripples our NCAAT prospects. We need to get out of the MAC ASAP. Whereas power programs in the big conferences can use the OOC as a preseason and grow the strength, conditioning, and performance of their teams by beating up on weaker programs in preparation for the stronger conference season, Zips MSoccer and MBBall has to come hot out of the gate and win early in the season against equal or better matched opponents. When this doesn't happen, as fans we are disappointed because we know what it means in terms of NCAAT prospects and national perception, which are often crippled at the beginning of the season. Even when ripping through the MAC with nothing but W's, we are always met with the "you didn't play anyone" excuse at the national level. With MBBall, I always wonder how the NCAAT prospects and national perception would be different had we not lost to X and Y earlier in the season and who we are now clearly better than. This is the source of our frustration! The OOC is the most important part of our season because it sets the stage for the NCAAT. MSoccer and MBBall are talented enough to sleep walk through the MAC and be perfectly fine so long as they turn it on for the MACC. OSU Football is having the exact same problem this year. The B10 is too weak to justify OSU as a National Championship participant when any two other programs are undefeated. OSU didn't lose in their OOC earlier in the season, but they can't fall back on the strength of the B10 to carry them at the national level anymore. These issues for OSU Football are exaggerated because the real playoff system for college football is currently only two teams. So, instead of getting a poor seed or no national respect, they just get shut out of the opportunity to play for the National Championship.

After a terrible start full of turnovers, we get the win. I will take it! A win is a win is a win is a win. Count those...four of them, and I like our chances to finish the season strong on Black Friday against Toledo.

The team has come a long way since the beginning of the season. We looked solid the entire game! It easily could have been 5-0. Even when the subs were put in, WVU only played even with us. This team is peaking at the right time, and a National Championship is definitely possible.

Just thought I would add this here: http://www.collegesoccernews.com/index.php...ournament-field CSN projects the Zips to be unseeded playing Central Connecticut State in the Cal regional with WMU as the MAC automatic against Northwestern in the ND regional. No respect.

I was hard on this team early in the season. The games against VCU and Hartwick were disappointing and a consistent scorer has been elusive. However, this team has continued to find a way to win at the most important part of the season. I attended the Penn State game and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the opponent walk off the field exhausted and with their heads down after trying to kill the game with slow restarts and putting their entire team behind the ball to defend. We completely dominated the #11 team in the country and the score could have easily been 4 or 5 to 1. This bodes very well for our National Championship prospects in a season when there is no clear favorite. IU stole one last year. Could we be next? I have been bemoaning the lack of a consistent, go-to scorer; however, how good would one of Porter's teams been had it lost, Zakuani, Bunbury, Nagbe, or Mattocks? I am now really liking the balanced scoring as one injury or red card will not torpedo this team's prospects for a victory.

This was not a personal attack, and I never said UA was a glorified high school. I agreed with the majority of a post that made this claim.

The selection of a new President is much more important than a pillow fight rivalry game. Afterall, UA is first and foremost an academic institution. If you have any doubt about how crucial the selection of new leadership is, take a look at the empty seats at the Info on Saturday. (No, this is not a jab at Coach Bowden or iCoach.)

I'd be equally upset if a politician (or a former one) became our President. Mitch Daniels has the academic credentials by virtue of possessing a law degree, but I don't think he was ever a faculty member, so he does not have the experience. Tressel for AD when TW's contract is up!

I think he should be our next Athletics Director.

Charlie Cole would be proud! I miss that guy...he was such a great competitor, sportsman, and "villain."

+1. Let's find the next Dr. Proenza!

And yet people wonder why so many of us here loathe OSU!

Great turn and shot by Najem. Now we're rollin'! Good save by the NIU goalie.

Solid goal. More of that, please.

The possession play of this team is impressive; however, the lack of competency in final third is staggering. One shot on goal through 60 minutes of play with this amount of possession is inexcusable. Injuries up top have really been unfortunate. I love Frenchy and Simon announcing.

Can't you just give us the jist of it?

There is nothing wrong with a retread. Frank Solich is one, and Ohio is very well-off because of him. In many ways, Bowden is too, but I find this to be a harsh description. I'm very satisfied with the progress of this team under his leadership. Unfortunately, it is yet to yield more wins; however, I can feel them coming.

What exactly was said?

I don't think we currently have a true rival. We don't regularly play the same high-caliber teams for there to be balance with wins, losses, and heartbreak, which to me define a rivalry. We dominate the MAC, so forget that though WVU is emerging and could be a pest. As a kid, I remember a lot of games against Kentucky, and they won a fair number of MACC before joining C-USA in soccer. We haven't played UK since. Oakland was a steady and competitive fixture then too. Also, I remember going to a game as a kid in the 90's against #1 IU. Lee Jackson set an attendance record that night, but UA lost late in the game on a perfect shot (low, hard) just inside the post on Chris Damico right where I was sitting on the hill side of the field. Back then, fans could sit on the ground as close as the back of the net. There was no roping. UA lost 1-0. In soccer, the Big Ten features IU, OSU, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, and Wisconsin. We have substantial histories with all but Wisconsin and only slightly more so with Northwestern in the past decade. IU and OSU fit historically though OSU is a better match because of the circa 2006 NCAA Tournament whining that occurred when the game was played at St.V-M. Northwestern may also apply because the subsequent home field advantage was stolen from us. I very much dislike Northwestern, and they are good, but we've only played them once since then. We play Penn State every year and have a near even all-time record with them though we've dominated of late. Though not rivalries, I think we could have great on-going series with Louisville, IU, St. Louis, Northwestern, Creighton, and Notre Dame. http://www.gozips.com/sports/msoc/2013-14/...ide_Records.pdf

According to the UA Men's Soccer Media Guide, these records are accurate and up-to-date. We got our first win in the series against SIUE last year. Wisconsin is the only Big 10 team that I can't ever remember us playing. I'd love to see it. I've said in the past that I'd like to see future schedules take into consideration these rivalries and losing records and start building them back up. IU, Saint Louis, Duke, etc. would be great for the RPI and fans too.

Based on the hype, I too found the video to be disappointing. What I was impressed with was the athleticism from someone that big.

Not true. Here are some of our all-time records that are contrary to your point: (W-L-T) (5 or more games) Evansville 8-9-1 Howard 2-8-0 Indiana 7-23-2 Louisville 1-2-1 Quincy 2-3-1 St. Louis 3-7-0 SIU-Edwardsville 1-12-1 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 8-9-0 There are others that we have played only a couple times and don't have a winning record against: UC-Santa Barbara, Duke, UNC-Charlotte, Portland, St. Johns, South Carolina, UCLA, and Wisconsin.

34-31 Zips. No slow start this week, and BUGS turns the ball over a few times. Stein nails the winner with confidence, and the Zips are off and rolling in the MAC! It's a new season!

Here, here