RowdyZip

Per generic-message-board-land (csnbbs), fans are planning on sitting in upper GA behind the visitor bench (Insert message in appreciation of those involved in hosting ZN.org). So if you're sitting GA, get there early and make sure to break up the party.

Thanks, NW. The family is now fully vaccinated and we had a mild wave of omicron go through the house 3 weeks ago, so logic states right now is as safe as any time to get back to 'normal.' This will be my youngest son's first rivalry game (he's 6) and he's definitely looking forward to this game and to the tournament in Cleveland. Go Zips, beat Kent!

I'm headed to campus for the first time since Akron/Kent on March 9th of 2020. Hopefully this game lives up to that level of excitement/atmosphere.

Sent you a DM.

On a slightly related note, does anyone know if we'll be playing at UB this season? I think I recall the Zips' road game being postponed, but then the shoehorned UB @ UA in during early January. As it stands now, per gozips dot com, we don't have more than 3 off days between any games until the end of the season. Edit: I think I found my answer, but maybe I just didn't realize that elimination of divisions in basketball would potentially make us only have one matchup in any given year vs the "traditional" MAC East teams. Looks like we lucked out with EMU/WMU/CMU/NIU double "crossovers."

With NIU showing up at 300 in the NET rankings, no excuses for losing this one. Zips are 8 point favorites with an o/u of 128.5. 68-60 is what Vegas is looking for...but I think the Zips score in the 70s.

Was perusing the web on my lunch break and thought I'd update these: MAC Breakdown: 2 teams in Quad 1: OU/UT 3 teams in Q2: UB, UA, Kent 3 teams in Q3: BG, BSU, UM 4 teams in Q4: EMU, NIU, CMU, WMU (Directionals....yikes!) Akron Non-Conference Opponents: O$U: 17 Fordham: 180 App State: 151 Evansville: 319 Marshall: 249 Southern: 185 Florida A&M: 310 Wright State: 210 Radford (ppd): 308 Yikes. Our marquee non-conference win in this awful schedule is #185 Southern. The Zips lone top-half win was vs UB. The above information has tempered my expectations for Cleveland. I think we are a mediocre team this year in a bad, bad MAC.

A full house in the JAR is quite the imposing advantage for the home team. Many times I've gotten the chills when the Zips are making a run and the place explodes. The Big Dog 3 to win it, and a handful of the games during 'the streak' come to mind. Maybe the practice facility is the precursor to making the floor and lower seats permanent in the JAR. I would think you could finagle more of a bowl-type feeling if entry was primarily upstairs. As LGZ said, move upstairs seats forward and make them permanent. Fan walkways in the back and, from the 2nd level, walk down to the lower bowl and up to the higher seats. I think you'd see capacity drop to the 4,500-4,700 range, but that's fine with the current state of college basketball. And my spine might send a thank-you note to UA if it never had to see a JAR bleacher again.

Interesting. NIU and Ball State are the last two remaining for me on my MAC Arena tour. For me, so far, Millet is the worst in the conference. If the lighting is worse that Millet...I'm at a loss. Hoping for the best in this one, but NIU is always a struggle. Would be nice to head into the home game vs Kent on a 3 game winning streak. Take the under.

Phew. This one is making Friday look like a masterpiece. Grind it out, the W is there for the taking.

Exactly. I don't think this ever gets done outside of UA going it alone. Too much of Summit County ties UA to the old Hilltop High moniker and certainly doesn't take it seriously as a division 1 athletic institution. If it comes down to no arena or new arena plus even a tiny tax, voters will choose no arena.

Exactly this. This team is bringing back shades of Charlie Coles' Miami Teams/Rob Murphy EMU teams. Not quite there on the painful-to-watch index, but close. Honestly, worried about the future too. I know Hilltopper said both of the freshmen guards had injuries coming into the season, and the COVID year complicates things, but I wish we would've been able to get some production out of any of them. Our rotation is much to short this year now with Walton gone and Wynn out.

Do you know if this being built south of Exchange or somewhere else near campus?

And honestly, it was even less than 2 months. More like 5-6 weeks from when Coach Moorhead was 100% free of his Oregon obligations and staff was gradually brought on. My expectations for a full recruiting year are sky-high. Can't wait to see what the future brings.

Is there a "mystery 4-star" HS recruit out there? Or was that tweet referring to one of the transfers?

24 Commits in about 24 days. This coaching staff has been on fire. Can't wait to hear the announcements tomorrow and beyond excited to see what they can do with a full year of recruiting.

Took a look at the roster and the batch of OL recruits: Current roster average: 6'4.5", 283.1 lbs Recruit average: 6'5.5", 307.2 lbs Granted, size isn't everything, but there's a pretty obvious focus on talent and size in the trenches. Love it.

Zips got a commitment from 2nd Team All-Ohio McKinley OL Stefan Monahan (Can't link the tweet right now). Don't see much else out there about him, but he's a big kid: 6'8" 300lbs.

Much appreciated. Seems like another area for some free publicity that was completely neglected by previous staffs. You know these kids are out there reading this site, why wouldn't you want to keep it as updated as possible? I guess, unless all your kids only had one FBS offer....

I noticed this on Twitter about 20 min after it was posted. I shot over to 247 and they already had him updated as an Akron commit. Either there's a new focus on G5 recruiting over at 247, or someone from the staff is feeding them info so it gets updated.

With the weather forecast, I'm wondering if the Zips and Sweaters run into another postponement. The brunt of the bad weather is forecast to arrive over most of the day Thursday, which is when I'd expect the visitors to be making the 4 hour trek to Akron.

Let's not forget, these games are most often planned out years in advance. I know we added Tennessee last year, but I think we replaced another $$ game? Theory at the time was to help pay for getting rid of Arth. Anyone remember whom was on the slate before UT? But I digress...2023 has the dominoes set up big time if this staff can make the progress we're all hoping for:

DEAR UNIVERSITY OF AKRON, TAKE MY MONEY.

Agree. I'm hoping they run plays early specifically for Trimble on ball screens. He's an amazing shooter when he comes off a screen, turns and squares his shoulders without thinking about it. Much better shooter in those situations than he is spot up, wide open. Get him that confidence early, and maybe we'll see 10 brush through the nylon again.