ZachTheZip

Playing in the play-in game does not count towards getting an NCAA credit for the tournament payout. You only get it if you win and make it to the 64-team bracket. Unless they changed the rules with this move, it takes NCAA money away from three more mid-majors and gives it to the mediocre BCS teams who will get the extra bids.

Rasor's high, alright.

The game at Indiana will be a night game. 7:00 PM on the Big Ten Network.

Dropping to FCS would be an unmitigated disaster. The athletic department is set up for mediocrity. If we moved down, we would go from being mediocre in the MAC to mediocre in the MVC. Don't think that being bad at the top level translates to being good at the level below it. Winners win and losers lose, and until we stop being losers, it won't matter what level we play at.

Akron recruiting two Chicago brothers Aaron and Aaric Armstead. Both are 6'4" wing players. One is in the class of 2011 and the other is in 2012.

I held off giving my opinion for a while, but here it is. It's a somewhat lateral move for football, competitively. But C-USA football has a better atmosphere and more respect. They have better football stadiums, and their teams have a better chance to move up to the BCS. The teams are for the most part interesting regional teams, not a majority of directional schools located in the middle of nowhere. In basketball it's a major step up. If there's ANYBODY who would even try to argue that the MAC would be better for Zips basketball, men's or women's, I would love to hear what kind of insane rationalization you come up with. In Soccer, just look at the RPIs. It's at a whole other level. We would finally have decent conference competition with Tulsa. It's not even close. C-USA by a mile. Even if they lose a few teams to the BCS in a re-alignment, they are still ahead of the MAC and they get that reputation of being a conference where BCS teams come from.

Bowers might be the best high school athlete in Chicago, for any sport. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/...tory?id=5122610 Chicago NUC preview By Chris Dombrowski ESPN Recruiting The NUC returns to the talent-deep Chicago area this Saturday and Sunday where a record amount of athletes are projected to take the field at Lake Barrington Field House. When one mentions sports in the Windy City, the first one that comes to mind is basketball, but football is slowly catching up. "With some of the best high school players in the country, Chicago basketball is always recognized amongst the best," said NUC CEO & President David Schuman. "But people should take note of the elite level football players from this area as well." Akron Bound running back Giorgio Bowers (Olympia Fields, Ill./Rich Central) was Chicago's best performer in 2009. He won the overall MVP and Fastest Man award by wowing coaches with his 32.5-inch vertical, 9-foot-8 broad jump, 4.37 shuttle run, 4.54 40 and 23 reps at 185 pounds on the bench press. Running back Jamel Martin (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bollingbrook) also stood out. The 6-0, 195-pounder had a 33.5-inch vertical, 9-9 broad jump and thoroughly dominated in one-on-ones. He has tremendous strength and carries the ball with power. He is slated to suit up for Bowling Green this fall. Notable underclassmen expected to return include last year's sophomore overall MVP Tanner Crum (Mount Carmel, Ill./Mt. Carmel), Joshua Ferguson (Joliet, Ill./Joliet) and Mason Fuller (Chicago/Urban Prep), among others. Current 8th and 9th graders are slated to compete at 8 a.m. ET and sophomores are scheduled to hit the field at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, while juniors take center stage 1 p.m. ET Sunday. All athletes will partake in pro-style combine testing, including the 40-yard dash, broad jump, bench press, vertical leap, shuttle run, along with position specific drills, one-on-ones and three-on-three competitions. Athletes can sign up for the Boston combine on www.nationalunderclassmen.com or call 1-888-NUC-MVP1 for more details.

TE Louis Addazio committed to Syracuse.

I'm putting this on the Football board, but it would apply to all sports. What option would you rather see Akron take, if given the opportunity? Please explain your reasoning, and how it would most benefit the four main sports at Akron: Men's Soccer, Football, Men's Basketball, and Women's Basketball.

true. we are stuck in this peace of crap conference forever and there's nothing we can do to change that. sad but true... That doesn't mean we can't acknowledge that we would like to shoot for something better. At least make a public push to get into C-USA. Let the MAC know that they're not doing enough to make us want to stay. All I want is to see some actual evidence to back up their "thinking beyond the MAC" crap that they've been preaching. So far, all I've seen when it comes to thinking beyond the MAC is administrators jumping at the chance to get out of the MAC. Nobody at a high level but Dr. Proenza actually plans to elevate the school to a higher level, instead they just elevate themselves and their resumes and jump ship. facebook group? haha That's too amateurish. I'm thinking a public statement. They should wait until the dominoes already start falling, to see what options might be available. But they need to come out and say it, to the newspaper or even hold a press conference of their own.

true. we are stuck in this peace of crap conference forever and there's nothing we can do to change that. sad but true... That doesn't mean we can't acknowledge that we would like to shoot for something better. At least make a public push to get into C-USA. Let the MAC know that they're not doing enough to make us want to stay. All I want is to see some actual evidence to back up their "thinking beyond the MAC" crap that they've been preaching. So far, all I've seen when it comes to thinking beyond the MAC is administrators jumping at the chance to get out of the MAC. Nobody at a high level but Dr. Proenza actually plans to elevate the school to a higher level, instead they just elevate themselves and their resumes and jump ship.

One thing that might happen is that the Big Ten goes hard after the northeast markets and adds Cuse, Rutgers, UConn, Pitt, and BC. It sets up a possible future split where the eastern teams try to create the mythical "Eastern Conference" that Penn State tried to form a while back.

I thought we were done with pains in the butt now that we don't have to sit on the Rubber Bowl's splintered bleachers.

The biggest disaster for Akron is if Pitt goes to the Big Ten. If that happens, then both of the closes major metro areas to Akron will be controlled by the Big Ten. Unless Akron miraculously gets an invite to a BCS conference and manages to convert Cleveland, our second biggest source of recruits (Western PA) gains the same "Big Ten is the only conference worth a damn and if I can't get in I'll go D-II before I have to play in the MAC" mentality as many of the recruits in Ohio.

The question is whether Bob Huggins and Mike Thomas campaign to get Akron into a new Big East. I know they both were for that move in the past, until they moved on to their goals without us.

The MAC is going to remain mostly unchanged, and be left even further in the dust. Akron needs to prepare to take advantage of whatever happens. If they see an opportunity, jump on it immediately before some other desperate school does.

I think there are tons of high schoolers out there who would adamantly disagree with you.

New offer: DB Aaron Macer

UA is providing a beer garden on campus! There's gonna be a mechanical bull and lazer tag and a velcro wall, and other great things to do after a visit to the beer garden. The AK-Rowdies will be having a parade though campus led by Zippy. Event details

Bardo had transformed himself into a decent MAC-level center by the end of the MAC Championship year. If he still has it, he should get be on the court maybe 8 minutes a game. He should be out there whenever Zeke is resting. There should never not be a center on the court for the Zips, except when we go small which shouldn't be often any more. This past season we showed that we didn't really know how to take advantage of having a center on offense. Playing with one constantly on the floor will allow the players and coaches some level of comfort by the time MAC play starts.

I bet Bailey is in the mix because all of Akron's fullbacks are learning the position. I doubt Ritossa will be ready to get reps as a tight end at the college level. From his bio online, he appears to be a perfect candidate for a redshirt (awfully thin and needs to increase his speed and strength). It scares me to think that we are hoping/relying on true freshman to arrive on campus and compete against grown men. My bet is on Cunningham helping us in pass defense and Bizzaro returning kicks. i think there will be a lot of freshmen that will come in and play when they arrive in june First of all, welcome to both of you. I think lots of freshmen will play, especially the coach I recruits, because he recruited those players to fit his schemes. Pro offenses and 4-3 defenses. None of the current players or Brookhart recruits were recruited with those in mind.

Akron football team cleans up trash to "keep Akron beautiful". Coach I has a sense of humor. The players go out to get trashed, then go out to pick up the trash. This early morning activity was most likely scheduled for the sole purpose of keeping the post Spring-game partying to a minimum.

There is no way of knowing if this player is actually a player. Notice the poster did NOT mention Steve Zakuani, so he might not be familiar with Akron -- and so vice versa. Let me assure you, if this kid is Akron material, Oliver Slawson and Caleb will do all they need to provide him am opportunity. Otherwise, I would wish him good luck at Fort Lewis State, a really nice program and location to attend college. But he DID mention Zakuani in post #7 and #8.

Story published today about EJ Thomas' line-up Spamalot's good. Everything else on the schedule is geared towards middle-aged housewives. A few weeks ago, Avenue Q was there. That was great.