Dr Z

Back to grey Ohio today. Couldn't be more excited about the Zips victory. What a great way to end a season. Hopefully this is the springboard the program needed. If you ever wonder what a bowl can do for your program, go watch the game where nobody is familiar with the teams playing. I happen to watch the game at the Clevelander in South Beach. By the end of the game the entire bar knew who the Zips were. This included people from other countries. Anytime I wore Zips gear around town after the game I received comments. I now realize how much a bowl game in Florida could have helped our recruiting. I still think the game helped recruiting there, but it would have helped even more playing in the state. Here's to next year. Here are a few phone photos. Woody on tv at the Clevelander, and ESPN setting up on Ocean Drive Monday. Town is getting ready for Clemson Oklahoma.

I'm sure you can get a pretty good answer here. Let ZipsNation know what you come up with.

Win the MAC.

Compared to most of the rainy games at home this year, the weather looks great there! Nice to see the team having fun, they deserve it.

​Vegas "Experts" Pick Bowl Games Will Harris of Sports Insite The defenses are way ahead of the offenses in this one, and we really like going under in games involving teams with Akron's profile: decent defense paired with an offense that's effective in controlling time of possession but doesn't actually produce much, especially in the areas of explosive plays and finishing drives. Pick: Under 47.5 Score: Utah State 17, Akron 10 Chris Fallica of Sports Insite Utah State's season completely went south following its huge upset win over Boise State. Now the Aggies face an Akron team which hasn't been bowling since 2005, boasts a very experienced defense - one which rates higher efficiency wise than many Power 5 teams -- and won four straight just to get here. They will be very motivated to play. Not sure I can say the same thing for Utah State, which considers a trip to Boise as just another conference road trip. Defense and the running and throwing of Thomas Woodson lead Terry Bowden's Akron team to an upset win. ATS pick: Akron Score: Akron 28, Utah State 20

Interactive Bowl Guide I like the audio clips added for each game on pages 12-15. Off to Boise

Maybe the marketing team was looking for a challenge? Getting Tuesday off is nice for them so they can watch the bowl game.

Much better than that Munch interview. Who could listen to that yuk yuk bs?

"The development that may have turned the football team’s season into a success didn’t come until the third game against Savannah State" -GT May have?

Pete Fiutak does a pretty nice job previewing the game at campus insiders. (for video preview click link) What’s Going To Happen? The Mountain West has dominated the MAC in the last three Potato Bowls, but this one should be a bit of a slugfest. Akron’s defense is too good and too disciplined to let this get out of hand, but the Utah State defense should go back to its old form against a middling Zip attack that won’t go anywhere. Don’t expect any type of a pretty game, but enjoy fantastic linebacker play and a low-scoring battle that should stay close well into the fourth. Keeton Looking Forward to Playing in Second Bowl. Although Keeton is likely to start against Akron on Dec. 22 at Albertsons Stadium, USU head coach Matt Wells apparently wants to keep the Zips guessing. When asked on Monday what the status of Keeton and sophomore quarterback Can't Myers is heading into USU’s season finale, Wells replied, “They are both very healthy, they both have been practicing very well and there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to see both of them. They’re both going to have a role. USU's linebacker Nick Vigil is the only player at the FBS level to record at least nine tackles in every game this season.

Totally agree. Penn State hits a home run with Joe.

Akron Builds Program on Backbone of Local Talent -from go zips dot com "I can't say enough about bringing John Nemec onto our staff," Bowden said. "He's one of the deans of local high schools. He has great credibility and respect among coaches in this area, and I think having him on our staff has been critical to us earning that trust from these high school coaches. Apparently, Bowden's strategy has worked. Currently Akron has 51 student-athletes on its roster from the state of Ohio; 37 of those live within a 30-mile radius to campus, including eight of the 22 starters.

According to 506sports dot com Mark Neely, Mike Bellotti will be announcers for the Potato Bowl on ESPN.

Here is what you might miss.

I get an error on my iPhone, but the link works on my my computer (safari). Here is an alternative. Clicking on the green box "give now" takes you to the same link as my above post. https://www.uakron.edu/giving/

I received the following email: Join the Zips’ championship effort and help defray the cost of sending Ohio’s Pride to the game to support the fans and players. Your gift will help showcase the marching band’s talent to the rest of the country. Click here. Enter the amount of your gift, then enter "Band to the Bowl" in the “Please designate my gift to” box. This will ensure your gift is directed to the Marching Band. Complete the remainder of the form and click “Add to Basket.” You will be prompted for your credit card information. Help to ensure members have an opportunity to do what they do best – build school spirit and serve as outstanding ambassadors for The University! Thank you for supporting Ohio’s Pride. The band plays before this years Wagon Wheel game. —©Photo by Dr Z Edit: Here is an alternative if the above link doesn't work for you. Go here: https://www.uakron.edu/giving/ and click on the green box "give now"If that doesn't work just google "give to university of akron" it should be the first link.

The Official Zips Soccer College Cup Watch Party is Friday, December 11 at the Score Draft Room! Watch the Zips take on the Stanford Cardinals in the national semi-finals and have the chance to win great Zips prizes! Take advantage of great food and drink specials all night and cheer the Zips on to victory and into the National Championship game!

Jatavis commits to the 2016 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. -source

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BG (-7), UT (-1), WMU (-3) are favorites. UA (+6), OU (+9), NIU (+8) are underdogs. --yahoo odds More opinion on the bowl match ups. Other than the Zips game, two other games are interesting to me. The BG game, and the UT game. Depending on how our game goes, and my mood, I might go to the Toledo game.

...Toledo, BG, NIU, WMU, and OU (assuming a few will be on our schedule). No offense to the Aggies. I would assume if you were to rank all 128 teams, the Zips and Aggies would be pretty close in the 70's. The teams mentioned before would all be ranked above both. We also have the Herd and the Mountaineers on the schedule who would be ranked above the potato participants. I know it's a long way off, but next years schedule will have a number of top 50 teams on it, and should excite fans of good college football. We will probably face six or more bowl game participants in 2016. These extra two weeks they are getting this year will lay the groundwork for things to come next season. Fun times. Will Utah State's third appearance in the Boise-based bowl game in the past five season give them the edge? Can't wait to see. Famous Idaho Potato Bowl $15 south end zone tickets found here. (only 27 of them) Four hundred $25 seats in section 103 through the same link.

Photography via Players' Tribune.

I had a good time following it here on ZipsNation, but am left wanting more about the process. "I was talking to two or three bowls at one o'clock today (Sunday)" --coach Bowden

They Wynn sports book in Vegas has the Zips listed at six point under dogs. Odds Shark predicts the Zips to score 33 and the Aggies to score 26.