Zipmeister

The SEC doesn't HAVE to do anything or NOT do anything regardless of deadlines or penalties. You jumped the gun a bit on announcing that A&M was leaving for the SEC, and now you're jumping the gun on saying they aren't. I think Andy Staples may have had you in mind when he wrote THIS. I think the MAC needs to strike while the iron is hot, and bring in Texas A&M and Clemson. That will boost the MAC's RPI and give the Zips a better shot at that Big East invite. The dominoes are all falling into place.... Are you suggesting we bring them in for all sports or football only?

Well at least the UofA isn't doing the worst thing.

With A&M moving to the SEC it appears the Big 12 has an opening for us. P.S. How come nobody has mentioned Thomas's move from Cincy to Illinois?

This is not good.

We are a "right now" culture, but there is a bigger picture with the mac that doesn't play into that. The mas has been around since 1946. It can't seem to get it right. The goal should be to have the best mac we can possible have with the expectation being it will never catch up, because history shows it isn't capable of catching up to the bcs conferences. We are in the mac. That's where we belong until we are forced elsewhere, or the mac's member schools wake up and take control of their future. Yes...the MAC has been around a long time. But they never wanted to compete for the national title in Football preferring to focus on academics. Their goal was to be the "David" in the David and Goliath scenario with occasional upsets of major programs. To assure that they would not compete at the top....they gave 10 less scholarships that the big schools thinking that a significant enough disadvantage that coaches and ADs would be discouraged from even trying. They reduced the amount to 5 less in the 70's (not sure of exact date) as they were falling to far behind. They currently give the same amount of scholarships as the big conferences. You can track the changes in amount of scholarships to the mandatory attendance figures mandated by the NCAA and the increased money available. The MAC strived to be a Midwestern, rural campuses with high academics. That changed as the landscape of big money bowls came into existence. You can't join something and then complain that you do not like the rules. Kinda like the Muslims who come here and want to change the legal system to Sharia. You are always free to leave. Are you channeling Zach? I didn't even know he had passed.

Quincy Diggs .390 (ESPN) Brett McClanahan .389 (ESPN) Brett McKnight .385 (ESPN) Same stats here (CBS Sports) ...and here (Rivals) The 2011 Post Season Media Guide does NOT include the Notre Dame game. Quincy took and made one three point shot against the Irish. That elevated his percentage. McClanahan took a couple of shots against the Irish and his percentage went down. Brett fired up over two hundred three balls over the course of the season. Diggs shot forty-one three balls. Huge difference. Diggs by virtue of rarely shooting long shots gains a minor statistical advantage. He is NOT the best outside shooter on the Zips. I will concede that percentage wise with a small sample he "appears" to be ... blah, blah, blah. Truth is; Diggs had a terrible stroke and any one who follows the game would and should cringe when he took those long shots. My original intent was to give Quincy credit for his work over the off season for improving his game. Some of you find busting my ass more to your liking than recognizing this kid for his hard work. Actually, even though Diggs has a slight statistical advantage it is unlikely that it is a statically significant advantage over either Mc. Fortunately, while his 42 attempts is not a huge number it is large enough to provide a sample that is asymptotically normal and you can easily conduct a significance test for yourself.

What does Cincy circa 2005 have that we don't? Answer: Medical and pharmacy schools and corresponding large grant money and research, a mediocre football team, and a great basketball arena. Cincinnati is a slightly more-attractive market than Akron-Canton too. Do you not affiliate NEOUCOM with Akron? I would think our lack of a direct Medical and Pharmacy school is pretty low on the list of reasons we'll never get invited to the Big East? Other than the few items I've already mentioned, Cincy circa 2005 had no more to offer than we do now. And no recent National Championship to brag about either. Yes, Cincinnati is more attractive than Akron-Canton, no doubt. But, there is no BCS school in Cleveland making that our territory too. Just as Detroit is part of Michigan's market. The Cleveland-Akron-Canton area is a megalopolis that a BCS conference should be salivating over. It would also take the two population dense diagonal corners of the state on either side of Columbus and make them Big East territory. Natural geographic rivalries with Pitt, WVU, and Cincy should also be obvious. And if you want to talk about stimulating the local economy, think about the fans from those schools who actually travel in mass to follow their schools (unlike most MAC fans) who would make regular trips to Akron. The bars, restaurants, and even potentially the hotels have a lot to gain from this and should be supporting UA in a bid. The lack of medical and pharmacy schools per se is not a big deal, but the NIH and big pharamceutical research dollars that we can't attract without these affiliations is huge. And no, I don't count NEOUCOM...it's in the middle of a corn field with no direct interaction with the hospitals or UA for research. I'm currently a medical student, and my talks with Dr. Proenza lead to the creation of the Bioinnovation Institute, so I know what I'm talking about. While the Bioinnovation Institute is a strong step in the right direction, the medical and pharmacy schools need to be in Akron and part of UA. A Big East committee would also not consider NEOUCOM as part of UA. The Big East for UA isn't as far fetched as most of you think. You had better believe that it is Dr. Proenza's goal (not that he ever told me though). I'll have two of whatever Trimmy is smoking.

Geeez, a blow out! Who would have guessed?

I voted multiple NCAA wins (which is required to make the final four). I am, of course, relying on tremendous improvement by the Zips and numerous tragic bus accidents involving other teams.

I would say so !! I just can't even get close to wrapping my arms around the notion that we could make a huge jump to the upper echelon of the college basketball world, suddenly. Especially after a year where we had significant turnover. To the enthusiastic optimists predicting that we'll jump to the Top-16: Remember, there's two major challenges, and one of them has to be nearly impossible. 1) Will we have a dramatic improvement in our level of play, right out of the gate, to make us significantly better? 2) Will the pollsters suddenly jump on the Akron bandwagon in large quantities? Could we have the potential to improve our rebounding with more athletic players?...Yes. Could we now have some personnel that could improve our ability to drive to the basket compared to some of our recent personnel?...Yes. But, one point in which I wholeheartedly agree with AKZipper is this crazy assumption that we could zoom ahead of 80 or so teams that were better than us last year because they won't improve, or will regress. Right now, we're just a very good MAC program that needs to replace 16 years of combined playing experience. And that's enough of a challenge in itself, which makes the notion of passing several dozen other programs who are presently better than Akron a dream-like scenario to me. I'll say it again....I'll be happy to just see us BEAT a Top Ranked team for the first time in our history. But, BEING a Top Ranked team would require that level of play, every game, right out of the gate. Not just winning games, but winning them all in impressive fashion. And hoping that the sportswriters in places like Los Angeles, and Miami, and Dallas will wake up one morning a few months from now and suddenly decide to turn their attention towards Akron's victory in a MAC game over Central Michigan from the night before. It's certainly not impossible to think that this could eventually happen for us. It's just nearly impossible to even dream that this kind of change could happen that quickly. Point of order. Before you can agree with ak, we should verify that ak agrees with me. What about it zipper?

How" good" this team is depends on one's perspective. After the snail was run over by the turtle and rushed to the hospital, the Doc in the emergency room asked the snail "what happened?" "I don't know" replied the snail, "it all happened so fast." Personally, I don't see anything far fetched about the Zips moving up 80 spots in the RPI. From all reports it appears we have an improved team, and I am certain none of the teams who were better than us last year have improved. In fact, I'm sure most of them will be much worse than they were last season. Final 4, here we come.

So much for Franco being the only QB recruit for this year!! http://akron.scout.com/a.z?s=333&p=9&a...714&yr=2012

We do?!? Why? It's called an exhibition game. Everyone plays them. I enjoy it when we play either Malone, Walsh or Mount Union. Their fans seem to really appreciate the experience as well. We should try and schedule the Asbury Eagles so that Dakotah can finally see some significant playing time at the JAR.

Outstanding! It looks like he'll be joining his Serbian squad in POOL B for the games. It'll be interesting to see how he does. Hopefully this will help him in preparing for BOTH the 2011-2012 Zip season AND his subsequent European career. I hope the Serb coach teaches him the art of the lay up. He'll increase is scoring average by 6ppg this season if he can consistently make the 2-ft bank shot. No doubt! Here is the Serbian roster for the games. He and another Nikola from URI are the only US college players. Good link. It helped me learn some Serbian. I had no idea that "pictured below" in Serbian is "in BOLD letters."

What I want to know is if Tim Carroll is a dreamy-eyed optimist or if he's generally a pretty realistic guy. Because if he's generally a pretty realistic guy, this is a pretty stunning statement. The man speaks the truth. Let me be the first to mention that this year we beat Dayton.

Any list of top party schools that doesn't have Wisconsin at number one (let alone in the top ten) is HIGHLY suspect.

You may have overstated a tad here. I am NG from outside the 20.

First decent sized corner they have "signed" in recent memory.

$2 million of very nice. Restrooms, concession stand, brick grandstand.

It's a bit unsettling that his Dad lists commits for several other players on the Red team, but not his son. I heard the kid was giving serious consideration to Wright State. Wright State? That's just rong. Maybe not? http://www.google.com/search?q=wright+stat...lient=firefox-a

It's a bit unsettling that his Dad lists commits for several other players on the Red team, but not his son. I heard the kid was giving serious consideration to Wright State.

Gazuntite!

Did we really "lose" him? I don't even see where he was offered by us. Just because he considered us doesn't mean that he could have come here to play. Somebody at Akron must have contacted him. Why else would he have considered Akron of all places? Damn lost a 5'8" running back/wide receiver to Waldorf. We could have converted him into a corner-back.

You teach golf L? I could use some pointers.

Then that makes two of you who need to learn some graveside manners.