ZachTheZip

C-USA is essentially the SunBelt from five years ago. Mostly the same teams, plus a Marshall program that's regressed. The AAC is essentially the old C-USA plus UConn.

The ONLY way Akron would have a chance of moving to another conference would be in the scenario where the AAC loses Cincinnati and/or UConn to a power conference. And in that scenario, we're fairly far down the list of desirable candidates. And even if we did manage to make that move, the AAC we would join would be one that isn't that great because they just lost one or two of their best members. But looking at our "competition" for moving up in this hypothetical scenario, NIU and Buffalo are ahead of us from the MAC alone, and if the AAC wanted a more southern market then there are comparable universities in C-USA (Old Dominion has the massive Hampton Roads market which is completely untapped for both college and pro sports) that they would look at first.

Looking around on various NFL discussion boards and Reddit, I've seen interest in him as a sleeper from quite a few fans of various teams. Lots of team-specific mock drafts have him going anywhere between the 4th and 7th round. But he's on the radar of enough teams that I think that he'll go earlier than expected and that any team hoping for him to drop very far and get him as a late sleeper will be disappointed.

This feels like one of the weakest QB classes in recent years. Put any of the top QBs in the last few drafts and at best they go in the late 1st round.

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/745703/mark-ellis

Here's a 2013 article from when Villanova was recruiting him: http://www.vuhoops.com/2013/4/22/4255384/mark-ellis-came-back-from-acl-surgery-to-land-on-the-nova-football

http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/sports/local_sports/bell-working-with-akron-s-no-d/article_bed46ca3-71e7-5d27-8011-fbe971cba170.html

Honestly, the road schedule last season was OK. It was the home non-conference schedule that was a problem. It was a who's who of "Who?".

I think that's why the offense is speeding up this season. Make a play happen before the defense can get to the QB. Also helps when you have legit deep threats to spread the D out.

I like #3 the most. 1 and 4 look too similar to scarves we've had in the past.

If Houston's your example of trying to schedule a top team, I can tell you what the problem is already. Their RPI was 87 and they were a first round NIT loser. Of course they wouldn't want to play Akron. They are the kind of team that's in a very similar position to us. We need to play Power conference teams that have the kind of money to throw around where they can afford to buy a home game against a top-50 RPI mid-major.

www.ohio.com/sports/zips/university-of-akron-football-zips-achieve-balance-in-latest-scrimmage-1.675062

Seating capacity would need to quadruple to match the size of the four venues that have hosted it since 2001. On top of that, the city would probably need one or two more hotels to open up within a few miles of campus for the NCAA to consider UA for a larger event.

Good situation at Stony Brook. They're investing heavily into athletics right now. Build a winner on Long Island and he'll be picked up by a major program in a heartbeat.

Since there's over 350 D-I basketball teams, I have to wonder about any kind of ranking that has #170 as "near the bottom".

I think this is one of them: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/4645005/kennedy-pickens The other, I don't know.

It's Junior day today. Lots of recruits in town. Unfortunately, some recruiting service thought it would be the perfect time to set up a competing event at the same exact time at one of the local high schools, dividing up the potential talent. I'd ignore any player that went to that event if I were UA's coaching staff; it's all one-on-one drills and ego stroking. If you even get a chance, ask coach Bowden what he thinks of recruiting services since he used to do some work with them when he was an analyst.

I usually see the UA Law school at the top of "best bang for your buck" lists. If you're visiting, just a heads up that half the Law school building is currently a pile of rubble. It's in the middle of major renovations and they're still in the demolition phase. Good timing for you, though. You'll get to study in a nice, new building once it's complete. As for having a dog, there are a few dog-friendly areas. Lots of walking trails and at least one large dog park.

http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/ua-football-promoted-offensive-line-coach-brett-ekkens-excited-to-get-started-with-new-set-of-starters-1.672327

Maybe they'll consider Dambrot. Or maybe they'll stay internal with Jeff Boals. Or go after Lamont Paris. OSU basketball doesn't have the pull of their football program, but they'll still have the pick of every top assistant and mid-major head coach. Whoever it is, their fans will moan and complain that they didn't spend an obscene amount of money to pull in a Coach K or John Calipari or a current NBA head coach.

It is, in fact, west of Akron. Also south, but definitely west.

That's a horrible lineup. If we're taking a major downgrade in tournaments, we had better have a major upgrade for our home schedule.

Or perhaps the team's scholarship situation is very different than how we assume.