UAZipster0305

Why would we not want SIU? It is a great rivalry for NIU and they have a strong basketball program. Like I said, they help balance the divisions too. Missouri State and Arkansas State bring little and are poor fits geographically. If not SIU, I would support adding Stony Brook, JMU, and Old Dominion to get the MAC to an even 16 without UMass. UMass needs to join as a full member or be shown the door.

The reason OSU is so vulnerable to criticism of their SOS is the overall weakness of the Big Ten. The OOC schedules are similar for Oregon, OSU, Alabma, etc. regardless of conference. However, OSU may only play one Top 25 team all season whereas members of the PAC-10 and SEC could play 4-6 Top 25 teams. The SEC alone could have 4 Top 10 teams. The disparity has gotten to be so great that I question the Big Ten's right to an automatic BCS birth for its champion. In terms of quality, the Big Ten is comparable to the Big East from about a decade ago when its automatic qualification was first being brought into question. An undefeated OSU team will have a tough case for justifying an opportunity to play for a National Championship in place of any one loss PAC 10 or SEC teams. I look forward to their non-alum fans whining if/when the time comes. No offense, Buckzip. Nothing I said here was intended to draw a response from you.

And rightfully so. Unlike Zips teams of the past decade, this one lacks a go-to goal scorer. Zakuakni, Bunbury, Nagbe, and Mattocks...it's not so much disappointing that we don't have a forward to continue this lineage as it is amazing that Porter was able to always have another player waiting in the queue. Brenes is capable of scoring, but I do not think he is a go-to type guy. Will someone step up or will a current bench player emerge? I honestly don't know. This will be the difference between the Zips just making the NCAA Tournament vs. deeply advancing. Without a scorer, the defense has to be tight. That hasn't been the case thus far this year. Case in point was the VCU game...one chance, one goal, one loss. I expect the defense to progressively gel throughout the rest of the season.

The MAC needs balanced divisions and hence an addition to the West Division. I strongly prefer the addition of Southern Illinois OR Western Kentucky in that order.

Anyone have a free video link for streaming the USMNT WCQ @ Costa Rica?

Good post, CK. I'll chime in... This is a must-win for the Zips and Bowden. If we lose this game, nothing differentiates Bowden from iCoach on paper. Though I can see the improved performance and recruiting under Bowden, and I will support him unconditionally until after his fourth year, we desperately need the W to move the program forward. However, that is not what this game is about. This game is about a loss potentially moving the program backwards when we are already as far back as a D-1 program can get. If we lose, we are not even worthy of a playoff spot in a lower division! Think about that. The UMass game is also a must win because they are only a couple years removed from D-1AA. Prediction: I think we win a close one this weekend and get UMass and The Sweaters for 3 wins. Nonetheless, because it is the MAC (thanks, GP1), another 1-3 wins are possible.

Yes, the schedule featuring Malone as an exhibition after the start of the season is a bit weird. However, I find it to be an improvement over playing a D-III school and counting the W towards the 20-win count. At least this way, it is acknowledged that this is not a real competition because in terms of rules, scholarships, etc. such a program is not on our level. And to be clear, that is not a backhanded insult. It is merely a reality of the hierarchy of divisions. In general, I really like this year's schedule. I can see such a schedule as evidence for the program advancing. Get an NCAA win or two under the belt and we will have achieved everything I dreamed of during the Hipsher era.

We only kicked off to start one half too...progress.

I didn't think the article was balanced at all. It is a puff piece, and the slant is evident from the title. Tressel has a brand that is popular in Ohio. He also has some valuable leadership and communication skills. I think he would be great at recruiting major donations. JT also has my vote for Athletic Director to replace Wistricill. However, Tressel knows nothing about working with faculty or running a University. He also has no knowledge about research. As an alum, I would be embarrassed to have him as President. To me, it would reinforce the idea that sports are the primary focus at UA and that it is a party school. It would undermine the great academic programs and dramatic increase in research productivity that has occurred during Dr. Proenza's tenure.

Anyone have a link to a site that is streaming tonight's Gold Cup matches for free? Please help a fellow Zip in need!

http://www.collegesoccernews.com/index.php...-preseason-poll

There is no way a school like Akron cuts men's soccer, but what if so many Athletic Departments did that those left were no longer enough to provide competition to one another and didn't attract the top players as a feeder system to MLS as is the case now?

Amen. I would list the ZNO annual beer list as a pretty strong recent tradition. Though not a contributor, I am sure there are many envious fan bases.

As people of the older generation say DiG, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades (and to make a generational update, corn hole ). You could probably make the "close" or "potential" argument for most players in the Summer League...that's why they are there. The box score does not lie, and the competition was not full NBA caliber. Zeke was not offensively productive but played good defense...that's an objective conclusion. He's not yet NBA ready, but still has that potential. With hard work and passion, I hope he gets there.

I didn't comment on the draft or Zeke's play in the Summer League. However, I think it is now clear that Zeke would not currently be an offensive threat in the NBA and this greatly diminishes his prospects. His defense is clearly NBA caliber, but how many NBA players typically only contribute at the defensive end of the court? I can think of three: Ben Wallace, Dikembe Mutombo, and Dennis Rodman. These guys were all game changing / All-Star players based on their defensive merits in the NBA. Fair or not, I don't see Zeke getting a legit shot at the NBA until he dominates in Europe for a couple seasons. Good luck to the Big Guy!

I don't know about the rest of the league, but I think we finish above UMass, Buffalo, and Miami. Though we lost just as many games last year, the improvement was tremendous. I expect that to continue this year and think we will end up with 4-6 wins. As GP1 says, it is the MAC and other teams will try to give away a couple wins every season. A disciplined team like the one Coach Bowden is building will be prepared to seize such opportunities. The table will be turned on the "Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory" mantra that we have all become too accustomed.

Post of the year! I'm sure DiG can even appreciate the mathematical precision and beauty of such a statistic!

UNC played at Cleveland State about 5 years ago for this exact reason. The Convo is a much better venue than the JAR though. I can't ever imagine UNC coming to the JAR.

This whole process is analogous to a super nova... The budgets and programs have been expanding like crazy but will collapse upon themselves and then explode. After the explosion, nothing even resembling the NCAA will be left. We are currently at the end of the expansion before collapse period.

I get it, Dave. Like your reference says, NBA scouts are using it to identify potential sleepers. In other words, identify players that haven't gotten enough attention but perhaps should have. For the major players not identified as sleepers and those identified by this methodology, the question remains: Can player X adjust to the speed and size of the NBA and can he help a team win? The ranking system will in no way influence draft order. With respect to Zeke, he is already an identified NBA prospect, so I don't believe the ranking will either help or hurt him.

No offense, DiG, but I don't think NBA scouts care at all about these ranking schemes. They are much more qualitative: Can player X adjust to the speed and size of the NBA and can he help a team win? That's really all there is to it. I love Zeke and think he's been a great student-athlete for us. However, I'm not sure if he has the passion and intensity to excel in the NBA. I wish him the best regardless of what he chooses to do and where he ends up.

All good points. I too am 100% behind Embick. After Lolla left, I nominated Shaun Docking as the next head coach via an email to LP and the Department of Athletics. I was disappointed to hear he did not get the position in favor of Porter who at the time had only been an excellent player and an assistant coach. I was pleasantly surprised at the results only two years later, but still believe Docking would be an incredible coach for us. Anyone remember how Porter's tenure started?...5-0 beat down loss at the hands of UCSB. I was super worried at that point. So, even if we don't start off the season as well as we'd like, there's still hope.

Shaun Docking is a top flight coach. True, he might not have all of the accolades that you selectively mentioned, but he does have everything else... All-Americans MLS players Scholar Athlete of the Year Academic All-Americans Regular league championships Regular NCAA Tournament victories Top-25 rankings US Youth Soccer Regional Coach Member of Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Award Committee Member of NSCAA National Ranking Committee He's an Akron alum! And his program continues to grow stronger These things are miraculous at a school like Coastal Carolina especially considering it's in the backyard of some major soccer programs...Duke, UNC, Wake Forest, Clemson, NC State, and the University of South Carolina! Just this past year, CC beat Wake Forest (on the road in the NCAA Tournament) and South Carolina (away) and tied UNC (neutral) and OSU (away). What would Akron soccer be if throughout its history, Ohio State, Pitt, Cincinnati, or Michigan had strong programs? Embick is our coach, and I want to see him succeed. However, to belittle Shaun Docking's resume' as a means of supporting Embick is simply ignoring the real facts and hand picking ones of convenience based on the only things Docking hasn't achieved. This kind of stuff might be worthy of Faux News, but here at ZNO, we're better than that. I might remind you too that Embick's resume' isn't even in the same universe as Docking's. Embick is our coach only because of continuity from what Porter started and Embick's potential that likely comes with Porter's endorsement.

Where did you get this information? Link? I'd love to see pictures and a map. On the original campus master plan, tennis facilities were supposed to be in the parking lot area behind the field house and across from the Greek village/row. If there is that much of a commitment from the administration for tennis, would a men's team be reinstated after the facilities are built?