Let'sGoZips94

By 11:30, we'll probably have 22 players for the 2019 class in the first post, including some blue chippers.

Man, so much negativity surrounding such a positive project. A reboot of the baseball program is huge. I get that there are a boat load of challenges, but never forget...

Poor kids... (in reference to a pathway to Can't State AKA PCCC, and not in reference to economic status)

What's interesting is, while the expansion will obviously benefit the sub-par P5 schools the most (and that's the goal, to draw those fan bases and their wallets in), bowls like this are targeting the mid-major conferences, which is cool. The amount of bowl games is ridiculous, but they provide a national outlet for players to get noticed by the next level, an extra game of experience, budget benefits, recruiting benefits, etc. There is way more good with bowl games than bad, especially for schools like Akron that need the exposure. Off-the-cuff thought, but I wonder if it would be possible to give these bowl games more meaning by creating some sort of tournament, or tournaments out of them.

I get real sick and tired of hearing about NCAA student-athlete exploitation. - The NCAA is corrupt, there is no doubt about that, but the least of its worries is student-athlete exploitation. - Ask college graduates if they wish they had a full-ride scholarship to keep them out of potentially $80-120k+ of student-loan debt, then come talk to me about how student-athletes aren't compensated (not to mention the benefits they receive - free travel, equipment, food, potentially nicer dorms, etc.). - Half these athletes, especially in the sports LeBron is focusing on (basketball & football), have thousands of dollars of artwork on their bodies. I don't want to hear about how they're "under-compensated" or "need more money". - Football & basketball - especially football - actually drain other potential student-athletes of equal opportunity through Title IX. With huge, inflated budgets and a massive amount of scholarships allocated to those sports, schools can't field near the amount of sports. Men's tennis & men's lacrosse especially have suffered from the scholarship allocation aspect, and many other sports - men's & women's - have suffered from the budget aspect. - I find it ironic that LeBron is talking about student-exploitation, when he benefited from a NBA that allowed 18 year old's to jump straight from high school to the NBA, yet his NBA doesn't allow that same opportunity. If he wants to help these student-athletes with financial compensation, he should work to get rid of the one-and-done rule, while also building up the G League or another developmental league. The same goes for the NFL in regards to a developmental league.

Love, love, LOVE the Charlie Frye news. Man I can't wait until football season (although I will gladly take a slow summer to avoid the inevitable season of winter).

And a mega-pipeline right in their backyard.

I'm confused by their website/roster/logo. Are they an Oakland Raiders affiliate?

Bummer. I was looking forward to his record-breaking technical foul season.

Didn't see that they hired Crean - good hire. Either team is a plus in my eyes - Georgia with the name recognition/SEC factor, Illinois State with the solid mid-major resume/@Illini Zip factor. GREAT tournament all around - location, field, and who we actually play.

Boom. Love the guaranteed game against Clemson. Is Georgia also on our side?

Would the NCAA dare strip us of our wins against Canisius and NC Alphabet Soup?

Reading these articles, Cykron is dead on. I'm starting to develop a disdain for Cornhusker fans, or at least their media coverage.

My thoughts exactly. Random timing and player.

Visited Wrigley for the first time ever a little over a month ago. It was pretty cool. It's weird that the bleachers are separated from the rest of the stadium, though. Also got to enjoy a Cubs loss! Lots of televised games. I love it, especially week 1 on Fox against Nebraska. @Cykron should invite us all to a massive tailgating party in Ames.

I did assume, after reading the title of position and article, that the person was responsible for admissions diversity (something I personally believe is wrong, judging and admitting people based on their skin color/heritage/race). However, I will go back to a previous question I posted. Are the other aspects of the job duplicated in other community-involvement positions?

My apologies for triggering you with my source. I came across the article, drawn mostly by the fact that it named a fellow MAC school (OU), and couldn't believe that a diversity czar makes that much. It made me wonder, aware of Akron's financial troubles, if we had one of these and if their salary was similar. I also never knew that it was a position in the first place. I still am not quite sure I understand the positive effects the diversity aspect of this position has, especially at its price tag. The community engagement aspect I understand, but aren't there other community engagement positions? Sorry for posting this in the Off Topic section, Balsy. Won't happen again.

OU, no (at least not in their current state). Buffalo, probably (depending on how the season is going). Fact is, shaping a schedule like this to replace a bottom-level MAC squad with a top 4 MAC squad can only help in the end. Kreed is right, it will still take a strong OOC to make a difference, but that's why I suggested combining the end of the conference schedule with another conference.

Fascinating. I could see this extending to conference partnerships - i.e. CUSA's top 4 or 5 playing the MAC's top 4 or 5 to close out the season (makeshift Bracketbuster essentially).

6'4". I can't stop focusing on that at WR.

I didn't read the press release, and for good reason. Look no further than the 2017 College Cup shield being used in the graphic for inaccuracies in the release. I was going off memory, and I guess I mixed in a few typical NCAA Tournament teams with last year's participants - Creighton, Syracuse, UCONN.

What percentage of the OOC schedule is teams that made the tourney last year? Looks to be pretty high, if I remember correctly.

You're absolutely correct, which is why when I said a couple of years, I was referring to the scheduling aspect - not the re-establishment. Not this upcoming season, but the following season, I expect to see a schedule similar to OU's (maybe not the home game against Purdue). I need to work on better wording and clarity in my posts apparently. Haha.