UAZipster0305

I am somewhat disappointed to not see Mattocks having scored in the past few matches. I would say he is our only player with a realistic chance to compete for the Herman Trophy. Caldwell is solid and might be a distant candidate, but he does not have the historic resume prior to last year's NCAA Tournament. I don't think it should be, but unfortunately, that's a factor.

35-13 in the 4th at home...for shame, Temple! Wasn't Toledo terrible just two years ago? I wish we rebuilt like that. Toledo must not be in the Cleveland footprint.

I saw this kind of crap versus Fullerton and it was not a pretty sight. I only heard the audio of the Fullerton match. However bad that was, expect worse from OSU. From the coach on down, OSU hates that Akron is better. This is our biggest rivalry, Bisbee. Hopefully the refs come prepared and dont let anything get out of hand. That's on the field. I hope the security guards come prepared and don't let anything get out of hand off the field. I would hate to see this rivalry ruined and our atmosphere behind the goal at games be ruined because it's too intense and people can't control themselves.

(Cough) Ripoff!

We have owned Tulsa in recent seasons. Let's hope it continues tonight. Go Zips!

Off the schneid. The real test comes next week against perennial MAC powerhouse EMU. If we win that game, we have a winning streak for the first time in two years.

Chisholm is solid.

In other MAC news, Temple is thrashing Maryland, and Toledo is holding even with Syracuse.

Good start...7-0 and a VMI turnover.

Here we go...let's see what happens.

Would it be too much to ask for OSU toilet paper in the portable water closets?

This is a northeast Ohio fanbase here, DIG. I think you're overstating the obvious. Cleveland Browns fans have been doing this longer than I've been alive.

This is beautiful and long overdue. Let's hope it is only the beginning of changing the culture in our favor. I kind of hope the shirts don't get wasted and go where they belong...to benefit the homeless.

Cincy destroyed NC State the other night. Even though Cincy got beat by Tennessee, I think they are better than OSU...best football program in the state.

This was/is embarrassing. Someone needed to be taken behind the woodshed for this one. I agree. I think this is borderline criminal. I've considered writing TW an email about this but figured it would fall on deaf ears and not be worth my time. Besides, CLE has been a long-time sponsor and I wouldn't expect the AD to want to disrupt any relationships with loyal sponsors given the train wreck of a football program we currently have. However, things like this are why Akron can't distinguish itself from Cleveland. And then we wonder why the Akron or Cleveland medias don't provide us with sufficient coverage. It's because we have no exclusive identity with either market. We can't conquer other regions if we aren't the most recognized program in our own metropolitan area...a big part of that is having relationships with all major institutions associated with the City. CAK is certainly one of them. Passengers at CAK should see Zips signs and items all over the terminal.

Al Bundy scored 4 touchdowns in one game! Why can't the Zips? Chisholm runs strong, and the Zips win 35-28.

An entertaining read as always, CK. Yes, Chisholm is one of the rare bright spots for the future. If he gets injured or doesn't play on Saturday, we lose to our second D-IAA team in two years. Otherwise, I think he puts the team on his back and we win.For me, the Cincy game was an all-time low for the program. Just imagine how much worse it would be had we not won the last game of the season last year or if we lose to VMI this coming week. Beyond that scenario, we can only go up from here.As you pointed out and GP1 has maintained, it's the MAC and we should win four games in the worst of seasons.The scorched earth policy shaped my negative opinion of iCoach very early. It was unnecessary.

Future NFL HC Jason Taylor? If his acting career doesn't get in the way... Maybe he should be talking to the AD and coaching staff, rather than the players -- I don't happen to blame Akron's players. They're not the Dolphins.What's worse: That I'm a Dolphins fan or a Zips fan?At least I'm not a Can't fan.

I brought it up earlier in this thread where I forecast how all this might shake out.

TW is one thing, but Dr Proenza seems like he does not care.That's what disappoints me the most. At this point, he needs to show his face to what Zips fans there are and make a statement of some sort. In fact, he should be standing at the Infocision entrance this Saturday personally thanking all those who show up. Hiding is not leadership.Just because he isn't visibly micromanaging doesn't mean he isn't leading. We have LP to thank for the new stadium and support of the football program. LP could have killed the football program before the new stadium was built, and I believe there was talk of this because of the lack of our success at the D-1A level and the cost of a new stadium. That didn't happen though. We have LP to thank for a greatly increased overall support of the Department of Athletics and all the facilities enhancements that have happened as a result. I guarantee LP was instrumental in keeping Coach Porter here long term...and Coach Dambrot.Until LP comes out publicly and says TW is running the ship (which won't happen), you have no right to question his leadership. Things like this debacle are handled behind closed doors, and that's still leadership...in fact, I would say it is the most crucial kind of leadership. Being a leader when everything is going well is easy.

I love this idea, ZtZ. But it won't happen because the current power schools won't want to broaden the pot that all the money goes into...it would dilute each school's share. And, this makes for a more fair playing field. The current system allows the power schools to exploit the others. See our need to schedule OSU in football and OSU's 8 home football games as examples. (No offense here, BuckZip, and no reason to start another verbal war...just an example.)A realistic solution needs to benefit all schools, not just those in power now or the underlings.

Where do you have Notre Dame?Very good question. ND is another school like Temple and Rutgers that could be left without a good fit conference when the music stops. ZtZ, there is no way the Big Ten takes ND as a football only affiliate. Though, ND might make a good pairing with Northwestern as a full member of the Big Ten.In prior posts, I neglected to include ND with other D1-A private schools that don't currently fit in with their current conferences and should form their own...ND, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Baylor, Rice, Stanford (not a geographic fit)...a good nucleus but not enough for a full conference.I'd like to add that with the Big East falling apart and C-USA maybe being reshaped as a continued mid-major, I don't foresee any MAC teams advancing their overall standing to a 'BCS' conference. Geographically and academically, UT had a respectable sniff of the Big East and if we had our stuff together in football, we might too...but with the Big East blowing up, any move a MAC school might make would be lateral. C-USA is the absolute pinnacle of advancement for any MAC school, which would provide a little bit better bowl scenario in football and maybe a multi-bid league in basketball with greatly increased travel costs and opponents that are less locally familiar.

All the major conferences (Big Ten, PAC-X, ACC, and SEC) are going to 16 teams.The Big Ten needs to pick up four schools to make it to 16...I expect those four to be Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Northwestern is still an odd fit for the conference and if they ever decide to leave, WVU could fill their spot.After the addition of Pitt and Syracuse, the ACC still needs two schools...USF and UConn are likely choices.From the Big East, Cincy, Louisville, TCU, and Rutgers remain and will likely have the same fate...a new conference forms that also includes the remnants from the Big 12 (Kansas State, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma State, Baylor...an odd fit, and Iowa State)...still two schools shy of 16...Memphis and Houston.The SEC needs four schools...this is tough without plundering the ACC...Vanderbilt is an odd fit similar to Northwestern and Baylor...I have no idea how this one plays out...IMO, the SEC is the key to where all the dominoes fall. Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas are a good fit here too.The PAC-X currently has twelve members and needs four...it takes Boise St., BYU, UNM, and Nevada-Reno or Idaho...this is more about conquering geography than finding academically similar schools...there really aren't any west of Colorado and east of California, Oregon, and Washington.The remaining schools fold into 3-4 new mid-major conferences and we're pretty much back to where we started. Temple remains on the fence between major and mid-major, and some D-IAA schools move up (e.g. Villanova). Hence, there are as many second-tier schools as there are first tier and Akron still hasn't really advanced its standing at all. As GP1 says, there is a great opportunity for the second-tier schools to form their own division and stop being punching bags for the first-tier schools.Rutgers, Temple, Akron, Toledo, Miami, Ohio, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois, Middle Tennessee, Can't ( I hate to say it, but the rivalry is good for us), WMU, and CMU could make for a nice 12-member conference with nearly every school having a natural rival. If VCU only had football! If going for 14, include Buffalo and Bowling Green...Ball State and Eastern Michigan should be excluded at all cost though. Where we would get two more for a 16 member conference, I don't know.

Agreed.And it's just not that we are losing. We are getting embarrassed on a weekly basis. In a brand new stadium, the program is at an all-time low with no signs of improvement and I actually think we might be getting worse.

If we were still in the Rubber Bowl, I might agree. With the new stadium, football isn't going anywhere.