Let'sGoZips94

5+ years of true mediocrity would start to warm the seat. They've been in and out of the top 10/25 all season, and have wins over multiple top teams. The only Top 10 Akron Football finishes in is the ESPN Bottom Ten.

I'm pretty sure his College Cup & National Championship Game runs 3 out of the seasons prior bought him some leeway.

I don't want the following... 1. Recruiting Coordinator for a school that recruits itself 2. Non-DI college coach 3. Anyone Peyton Manning endorses I want to be a stepping stone for the next coach, because right now we are hardly that. Coaches leaving Akron are going to lateral schools/positions because of their lack of success at Akron. I want to be paying attention to a P5 school in 5 years because our coach was hired AWAY from Akron after having head-turning success here. If I'm Guthrie, that's my pitch. Come to Akron, give us 3-4 years of high-level G5 success, and go collect a massive payday from a P5 school. Help me, help you, help me, help you.

WHOA

Unbelievable. Poor ZG5. Heck of an effort. Really like him as our QB. Great comeback from Arth, ZG5, and company. Bummer.

Key players Young & Towns will miss the start of the season. Massive news in regards to our chance at a major upset. Young is the heart & soul of that team effort wise, and Towns is a key piece with grad-level experience in their front court. Their tallest player is a 6'11" grad transfer from Indiana, and their next tallest players are 6'8" (but built). With Towns & Young out, we have an opportunity to catch the Suckeyes off-guard, as they lost 6 players from last season, and have 5 new faces in their rotation. If we learn to bring the energy that Press Virginia brought in the Exhibition game, this could be a W. At the very least, I'm expecting a close game.

Early on, the leader on this team has to be Walton. He was the one who pulled things together for this team, creating scoring opportunities with his aggressive, to-the-basket style on offense. I think XC will develop into a leader as the season goes on. I thought he looked confident on the floor, but not in this offense (yet). He seems like the kind of PG that needs chemistry to develop before his impact is truly shown (i.e. anticipated off the ball movement, spacing, positioning, etc.). Aziz and Freeman will be a force when they're on the floor together. Their body control was impressive, and some of the fouls they picked up were bogus calls. Freeman got in trouble last year because he didn't have a backup presence on the floor with him; if he got beat, he was forced to try and recover due to a lack of help, often committing a foul in the process. He doesn't have to do that with Aziz on the floor. @Blue & Gold nailed it by stating Dawson is the perfect 6th man for this team. I hope his performance last night wasn't solely due to it being a homecoming, but I think we've seen him being that type of spark plug enough these past 1.5(?) years, even with more raw/less developed skills. I didn't mind the lineup. LCJ's absence has clearly left a void on offense; not so much in the points themselves, but in the sense of creating opportunities to score. The guys who returned from last year looked like they were trying to take on too much of LCJ's role. By playing an 8-man rotation for 40 minutes, Groce was clearly trying to iron out the issues he has seen in practice/the previous scrimmage. I don't think anyone will argue that the 8 who played are the main 8 on this team, and they clearly have chemistry issues. We saw Aziz & Freeman develop better chemistry as the game went on, and I think we saw Walton establish himself as the leader (for now). Those were key developments. Tribble clearly doesn't know his role yet, and Trimble looked like he was making a concerted effort to take the next step on both ends of the floor (I attributed his air ball 3 to dead legs). Clarke showed he can't be a 2 guard, and I think we'll see him start on the bench until further notice. I don't know if we have any word on redshirts, but any contribution from the true freshman this year will be a bonus. I was excited to see Kalle, but I think we figured out it was more important for Aziz & Freeman to develop together. Ali looked lost, but again, I think there's a question of what his role is on this team in the absence of LCJ (Ali looked outstanding last year when LCJ opened up the offense for him). @clarkwgriswold pointed out the difference in the game being the turnovers/points off turnovers. That's fixed with chemistry (again, why I think Groce found it so important to forge those 8 by fire). WVU also had an unconscious first half from beyond the arc. The one thing we didn't see last night was who is our shooter outside of Trimble? That's the biggest concern for me. That isn't something that necessarily develops. You're either a shooter or you aren't come the regular season. I don't know if XC is a shooter, as he seemed apprehensive to chuck it up from deep, but he's the only other compliment to Trimble I see on this team. That's a bit troubling. For OSUcks, I'm hoping to see the following rotation... XC... Clarke Walton... Trimble Ali... Dawson... Wynn Freeman Aziz I don't know what the plans are for redshirts, but if the true freshmen are available, add Mitchell & Johnson behind Trimble, and Kalle behind Freeman/Aziz. I think both Mitchell & Johnson were known for their scoring in high school, so there's a chance we could really use them this year if they're up to DI speed. To echo @Blue & Gold, thank you Huggins for bringing true Press Virginia effort on both ends of the floor for a full 40 minutes. That was a very beneficial exhibition in my eyes.

Groce is forging the core by fire. We have looked much better these last 7 minutes.

Has anybody tracked how many guys have played tonight? I feel like Freeman and Aziz have played the entire game.

Aziz is looking more comfortable.

Glad this is an exhibition game. WVU is good. They are out-efforting us in every sense. Sherman can shoot. Not a fan of how "behind" we look. Offense has very little movement, sloppy hands, etc. We simply don't look in control.

Has a coach ever been ejected from an exhibition/charity game?

Loren Christian Johnson... Mike Groce... Jim Groce... These announcers are in preseason form.

Hard to fault him when he was constantly misused and out of position. I don't think Groce will be leaving his 7 footers on an island at the 3 pt line, in harm's way of a moving screen violation with a mile to run back to the hoop for the "roll" part of a pick & roll. _________________________________________________________________________ A few things I'm looking at... 1. Movement - How's the ball movement? - How's the off-the-ball movement? - Last year, we were very stagnant. It never quite came together on offense. 2. The Bigs - Are Aziz & Sekou up to higher-level DI snuff? - Does Enrique take a step back or continue being one of the best stories in Akron basketball history? - Are we disciplined down low and able to avoid unnecessary fouls? - Will we get offense from the post or are our Bigs mostly assets on the defensive side of the ball? 3. New Faces in the Backcourt - Is XC the perfect replacement for LCJ? - Does Clarke look ready to step up and be the floor general after learning from LCJ for a year? 4. Shooting - Who are our shooters this year, aside from Trimble? - Are we going to settle for 3s, or will the offense be more opportunistic with aggressive drives and kick-outs if needed? 5. The True Frosh - Will we get anything out of Kobe Mitchell & Nate Johnson early in the season? 6. Development - Ali Ali took a nice step in the right direction from 2019/20 to 2020/21. Does he take another step? - Do we see similar developmental leaps from the likes of Wynn, Tribble, and Dawson? Ali, Wynn, Tribble, and Dawson are crucial to our matchup advantages, as they are 4 athletic guards/forwards with the ability to create mismatches on offense, and shutdown athletic opponents. Ali was a nice surprise on defense his true freshman year, and took a surprising leap on the offensive side of the ball for his true sophomore year. I'd like to see the same from Wynn, Tribble, and Dawson, who have all been assets on defense, but more on the liability side on offense. _________________________________________________________________________ Time will tell if this statement holds true, but I believe the COVID situation has been a positive for this program aside from killing our potential MAC Title & NCAA run in 2020 (that team was so incredibly special). With last year not counting against a player's eligibility, our class numbers look like this... Senior(s)/Grad Student(s): 1 Junior(s): 3 Sophomore(s): 4 Freshmen: 7 (I believe 2 are walk-ons) Talk about an opportunity to build something special, with 9 key players being underclassmen, with 5 of those underclassmen having at least 1 year of significant DI experience (Aziz had about half a season, but I did not count him in that 5). Let's Go Zips!

Potato/Potato.

This shouldn't be a thing. There should be a spot reserved specifically for Akron as a reward for keeping the conference relevant in the world's sport.

I doubt being Mr. Irrelevant in the G League comes with anywhere near the perks of holding the same title in the NFL Draft, but being drafted is still awesome, nonetheless. Congrats to Jimond. He's the type of guy that possesses the work ethic and ability to improve enough to get a call up to the NBA.

Correct. I had no idea this game will be televised. I'm even more pumped.

There will be people inside Infocision?

We have a marketing department?

The Big Ten didn't add Rutgers & Maryland for their competitive athletic programs. They added them for their markets. The MAC needs to expand to capture more markets. More markets = more money = more exposure = more excitement = better atmosphere = increased level of competition.

RIP C-USA. I'd imagine the MAC expanding is imminent at this point.

The main post in this thread contains the following information... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have obtained the Form 990s for the G5 conferences for their fiscal years ending June 30, 2019, and June 30, 2020. Obviously, June 30, 2021 Form 990s have not yet been filed. In terms of dollars, the AAC ranks as the clear top dog in the G5, with the Sun Belt Conference as the poor man. Total revenues of each conference are set forth below. AAC 2019 $73,203,230 MWC 2019 $57,058,330 CUSA 2019 $44,250,642 MAC 2019 $30,848,489 SBC 2019 $33,072,881 AAC 2020 $111,278,729 MWC 2020 $ (not available) CUSA 2020 $40,861,629 MAC 2020 $32,241,698 SBC 2020 $31,584,812 Revenues from TV/media rights are interesting. These amounts are included in the total revenues above. AAC 2019 $22,726,100 MWC 2019 $14,232,915 CUSA 2019 $6,968,263 MAC 2019 $8,639,734 SBC 2019 $3,920,523 AAC 2020 $43,988,700 MWC 2020 $ (not available) CUSA 2020 $6,440,156 MAC 2020 $9,186,590 SBC 2020 $2,250,000 By far, the largest expense amounts for each conference are the grants and distributions they make to their member institutions. The total grant/distribution amounts set forth below are net of any membership dues paid to the conferences. The parenthetical amount represents an average grant/distribution amount for each conference member, although these individual amounts can vary widely depending on the formulas used by each conference to hand out the money. AAC 2019 $49,635,911 ($4,136,326) MWC 2019 $42,883,422 ($3,898,493) CUSA 2019 $27,876,250 ($1,991,161) MAC 2019 $24,116,351 ($2,009,696) SBC 2019 $17,959,464 ($1,496,622) AAC 2020 $65,385,468 ($5,029,651) MWC 2020 $ (not available) CUSA 2020 $26,620,665 ($1,901,476) MAC 2020 $24,530,154 ($2,044,180) SBC 2020 $14,882,160 ($1,240,180) Below are the highest payouts to an individual conference member in each year. AAC 2019 $7,476,770 (UCF) MWC 2019 $ (not available) CUSA 2019 $2,921,341 (Middle Tennessee) MAC 2019 $2,393,714 (Toledo) SBC 2019 $1,621,356 (Georgia St.) AAC 2020 $8,656,466 (Memphis) MWC 2020 $ (not available) CUSA 2020 $2,739,105 (Marshall) MAC 2020 $2,386,989 (Buffalo) SBC 2020 $1,386,608 (Georgia St.) Finally, one way of measuring the financial health of an organization is to look at its net worth - calculated by determining how much its total assets exceed its total liabilities. This calculation taken from the Form 990 of each conference reveals the following: AAC 2020 $43,315,213 MWC 2020 $ (not available, but was $7,984,041 in 2019) CUSA 2020 $8,748,914 MAC 2020 $6,431,401 SBC 2020 $6,457,663 One could conclude from all this financial data that a possible move by Marshall to the AAC might be expected to eventually increase revenues by $2-3 million per year on average, or by as much as $5 million per year if Marshall's teams performed exceedingly well in football and/or men's basketball. Conversely, a possible move by Marshall to the SBC might be expected to decrease revenues by $1 to 1.5 million per year. One might question whether the SBC generates enough money to feed an additional mouth or two through expansion, at least without identifying additional sources of revenue through TV/media rights or other means. Perhaps the recent SBC's TV/media contract extension with ESPN announced in July will generate additional dollars, though none were mentioned in the press release. A move by Marshall to the MAC would be, at best, a lateral one financially. Of course, all of this becomes even more complicated if CUSA teams start dropping off (UAB/FAU to the AAC? ODU to the Atlantic 10?). After the AAC, I do believe CUSA is the most unstable conference. The idea of forming a new conference sounds great, but is not very practical given the fact it would not have access to the football playoffs, would not have access to an auto berth in the NCAA basketball tournaments, and would not have any established TV/media revenue. Getting an additional auto berth in basketball only takes money away from P5 at-large berth contenders, so good luck getting that approved by the NCAA. It would be difficult for any school to abandon its conference affiliation for a new conference venture given this level of uncertainty. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another interesting post from that thread... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the problem with numbers and not up to date numbers at that. AAC will have to redo their contract immediately to the worse unless they get the MWC teams that ESPN covets. It's why they are mentioned as targets. The MAC will remain the same CUSA is going to lose as many as 4-5 teams, maybe more and one of them will be the ratings leader most years. Their money is going to drop, significantly. The Sunbelt has a raise already not reflected in those numbers. Not AAC current money but much better than what is there for the last 2 years. And ESPN has told them there is more available to them if they get a few teams from CUSA that ESPN covets. If the MWC stands pat they will be unchanged and may in fact lose revenue depending on who the Sunbelt adds and who the AAC can lure over. Either one can drop their status from solid #2 to #3 or worse. Conferences that can add teams that ESPN doesn't control but would like to are going to get more money from them to cover the cost of those teams. It saves them from having to pay for a whole new conference. They're picking a la cart who they want and encouraging the AAC and Sunbelt to get them. ESPN is going to get UAB and Marshall, either way. I have no idea who they're taking after that. But rest assured CUSA is cooked and will be squarely at the bottom of that money list in 2 years. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I've always thought of the MAC as inferior to C-USA. That mindset has probably been due for an update, as it stems from the days of C-USA having its now-AAC members. The numbers above show the MAC and Sun Belt as superior to C-USA TV revenue wise. The Sun Belt has done an excellent job at growing in a relatively short period of time. The MAC, on the other hand, has taken steps backwards in my eyes. The height of the MAC, talent & relevancy wise, was the 90s/early 00s, when both basketball and football were consistently producing professional star talent AND making runs on the National stage in both football & basketball. Since then, the MAC hasn't made too much noise. Their marketing strategy is a mixture of mid-00s graphics and mid-2010s at the height of Twitter (#MACtion). Rarely are they ever "ahead of the game". The very unpopular weeknight games on ESPN probably has something to do with the higher TV contract; it doesn't sound like many schools in other conferences were lining up for that opportunity, which could mean a hard sell to other schools to join the MAC. I don't know if there's enough money to spread among 5, G5 conferences. I could see 3-4 non-P5 conferences remaining when all is said and done. I also don't believe the P5 re-alignment is done. The Big 10 and SEC are FAR superior in TV revenue to the ACC, Big 12, and PAC 12. I think we could see several P5 schools switch conferences (WVU to the Big Ten, for example), which would create more opportunities for change at the non-P5 level. I've wanted Akron to get out of the MAC for YEARS now. I think the leadership at the top of the MAC is pee-poor. However, adding new blood like MTSU, WKU, Marshall (new, old blood), etc., would make remaining in the MAC more enticing. So the question becomes: how open and aggressive will the MAC be in trying to obtain new members?

I think we have our QB of the future in ZG5. Looking at the stats, ZG5 outplayed Miami's QB, by far if you consider ZG5 didn't have a running game to open up the passing game. 265 yds rushing to less than 70. That's where this game was won/lost, which points to two problems. Defense and the running game. Arth recruited ZG5, and so far that is proving he has the ability to identify at least some talent and bring it in here. He also has shown the ability to snag talented portal transfers - Boating being the guy that comes to mind. I don't count the COVID year against Arth. To me, he's in the middle of his second year as the Akron HC. Should we have been more active during the COVID chaos of the transfer portal? Possibly. Would that have hurt the development of the young guys? Yes. There are certain things that point to "he just doesn't get it at this level," then there are other things that give me a glimmer of hope. So, to me, the main focus of improvement (mostly going into next year since you can't make trades at the college level) is how does Arth improve the two glaring weaknesses - rushing and defense?

According to Rivals, he had offers from Dartmouth, Georgetown, Penn, Princeton, and Yale. Is that an indication of what this kid's intellectuals are like? His featured video on Rivals would also indicate this kid is quite intelligent; good decisions, smooth, calm, collected.