MaxZIP

I wonder what was sprayed on top of the endzone building?

It depends on the time of the year. Urinating in a bottle in September is no problem. Getting it done in sub zero temps while wearing 3-5 layers with multiple flesh mangling zippers and operating with contracting equipment is pretty admirable.

The MAC is just too big. I feel no connection with teams in Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. The East division is what I consider to be the MAC. I could care less about a trip to ball state or western Michigan. That being said I like buffalo as a contender only. They are a decent program all around and the MAC is desperate for good programs.LOLThe MAC is Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. And to say that is "too big" is really laughable. Look at the Big East. New Jersey to Florida to Kentucky. Big Ten stretches from Iowa to Minnesota to Pennsylvania. The Sunbelt even is a bigger geographical area than the MAC.Also NCAA requires 8 teams to be in a conference. Any less and you have to be "independents". Eventually they are going to require 12 teams per conference and require a conference championship game. (At the very least the BCS will require it. And that is where your shake up happens). Big Ten needs 1, their 1 will likely mean that the Big East will need 5. The PAC needs, I believe 2. Mostly i'm saying that one conference is going to die in the next 10 years.Too big might have been a misstatement. It is really watered down. Not too big geographically just too big to support itself and have a true identity that is worthy the potential support that is there for the taking.

The MAC is just too big. I feel no connection with teams in Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. The East division is what I consider to be the MAC. I could care less about a trip to ball state or western Michigan. That being said I like buffalo as a contender only. They are a decent program all around and the MAC is desperate for good programs.

Meister,THE UofA is changing right before our eyes. Historical perceptions and prejudices need to fall by the wayside as the school continues to mature. Right now the momentum is headed in the right direction. Misinformed people offering snap judgments without factual support are hindering the popular perception of the university and dragging the entire movement down. In fear of sounding too much like a motivational book on tape...this is a group effort that will require faith and positive thinking on behalf of all parties involved. Please reserve comment until you have an accurate understanding of the topic under discussion.OK, I think I finally have an accurate understanding of the topic under discussion. I thought it was the same topic that has previously been beat to death and back on this board, changing conference affiliation, but it's actually about change we can believe in, right?People on this board may or may not have participated in previous conversation about conference change. If this topic bores you please see one of the many other topics available on this board. This topic was a multiple choice question meant to spur conversation and not a topic of which conference we should join. Your short sighted comments and the popular response to our banter have taken this thread in a different direction. What was meant by the "topic being discussed" is that you did not have an understanding of the actual facts and figures associated with your opinion of Akron's standing. It is that kind of quick response and jaded opinion that are hurting Akron's progress. So yes it is about change we can believe in but it didn't start that way.

You bring up something interesting. Schedule some home and homes and hope that we win. If we can beat them we wouldn't need to join them. That could be a way to jump to the big east w/o a stop in c-usa.

At least Akron advertises. Can't and other regional schools don't even try.

are you a season ticket holder? I didn't think single game tix were on sale yet.

I really don't care either as long as the UA pd doesn't crack down on tailgating. That would be tragic...

Imagine beating 2 Big 10 teams and a Big East team in one year! That would be amazing.

When I think about the mac, images of small-time football games being played under inadequate lighting on a Thursday night comes to mind. Though conference USA is not BCS just looking at their recruit rankings and see what that conference has on the MAC. The MAC is extremely regional in nature but too large to really have a home-grown feel. Either way something needs to happen to take this University where it wants to be. I would really be interested to see which schools have the best draw/value to the MAC. Possibly they need to split this bad conference up with the best organizations creating their own conference. Now that is out on a limb!

When I think about the mac, images of small-time football games being played under inadequate lighting on a Thursday night comes to mind. Though conference USA is not BCS just looking at their recruit rankings and see what that conference has on the MAC. The MAC is extremely regional in nature but too large to really have a home-grown feel. Either way something needs to happen to take this University where it wants to be. I would really be interested to see which schools have the best draw/value to the MAC. Possibly they need to split this bad conference up with the best organizations creating their own conference. Now that is out on a limb!

I agree. The mac will only take you so far. Prospects for upward movement are limited by our MAC status and our problems as a school. We are addressing our own issues now we must address the MAC. First we have to win games period! Win games and see where it will take you when combined with overall improvement of the University. As or the move to C-USA. If they would have us in a few years, the move would allow Akron to differentiate its self from other school in a very fertile football and basketball recruiting state. Players not good enough to play with the big boys would probably rather play against C-usa teams than mac teams.

I have been not been Akron for a while --- living in NYC for the past few years. Can someone tell me if the dorms around the stadium are already being constructed or when will they start and are are those the only dorms planned for the university as of right now????The dorms around the stadium are under construction. Have you seen the honors complex or the exchange street dorm? They are very nice! I am not sure is there are any additional dorms planned. You might want to post on the general/campus discussion board for more info.

The problem is not concentration of teams, it is too many teams. Get rid of Buffalo, Temple and N. Illinois and make everyone play everyone every year. Create competition. Eliminate the MAC Championship game. The winner of the regular season, after playing everyone else in the league, is the one with the best league record.Hell even splitting the MAC would work. Buffalo is a strength of this conference like it or not.

I think adding Akron (2-3years) and another Mac school would increase their profile in the north. They have lost Louisville and cinci thus making it seem more conference deep south. They need to move north not only to have access to new markets but to increase their national profile. Nobody cares about their teams because they never are on non prime regional tv. Basically you need to play in a region to garner acknowledgement from that area of the country.

I agree completely. The Mac is too thick in Ohio and Michigan. Can't and akron could still play if one goes to another conference. See va tech/pitt and countless other great interconference rivalries. We could still play all the favs annually in basketball and every few years (Can't annually) in football. The best part of the equation is that we could use the MAC for a couple of non conference games on our turf. We will have the best facilities in Ohio outside of Columbus.

We are talking about the future. You are correct that right now we are pretty average in the MAC both athletically and academically. A decade ago Akron was not where it is today. The investments in campus improvements and academic quality gains will soon propel us past many other MAC schools. Obviously the future (near) will show further gains from the hard work put in by all involved. Joining a larger conference would mean playing teams outside of Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. I am not so sure that is a bad thing considering MAC East football is a joke. The Mac and conference USA are doomed because across the board improvement for all teams in such a large and regional conference is nearly impossible. Right now the MAC is in a bad position. Our teams are so close that recruitment and competition for resources (state funding, TV audiences and donations) are keeping the conference down. Possibly a team or two to C-USA would shake things up a bit. Plus expansion in C-USA would probably bring 2 teams in.

Meister,THE UofA is changing right before our eyes. Historical perceptions and prejudices need to fall by the wayside as the school continues to mature. Right now the momentum is headed in the right direction. Misinformed people offering snap judgments without factual support are hindering the popular perception of the university and dragging the entire movement down. In fear of sounding too much like a motivational book on tape...this is a group effort that will require faith and positive thinking on behalf of all parties involved. Please reserve comment until you have an accurate understanding of the topic under discussion.

Wow, I always thought Can't had more kids on campus than that. I heard in a speech Proenza made a while back that he plans on having 5000-6000 kids living on campus when all is said and done! It'll be cool to know that Akron will now have a similarly sized on campus population, with all the options that urban living offers. Akron will be the obvious choice among Northeast Ohio university's much sooner than I though.Also, that makes Can't more a commuter school than Akron based solely on numbers. Here's the link for the above...you'll have to fix the url because I'm sure zipsnations filter will screw it up:http://dept.Can't.edu/csi/CommuterStud...erStudents.htmlPerfect example of why careful research and planning needs to be done when evaluating our status and where we are going. Even zips fans like the meister are misinformed when it comes to our standing. Lok an cincinnati...they only can house 3500 (About on par with Akron).Thanks, you made my night. Historically residential, my arse . I never bought the historical part, but now that I know how much of commuter school it is....wow, this sure makes you wonder whats going though Eric Fingerhut's mind.Perfect example of why research needs to be done when evaluating our status and where we are going. Even zips fans like the meister are misinformed when it comes to our standing. Look an Cincinnati...they only can house 3000 from 2005 (About on par with Akron) right now. Where are we going? to the Big east I hope. Cinci would be a much better school to use as a template than Can't State. They are pretty much where we would like to be in our own style. http://collegetree.org/2005/ohio/cincinnati/201885/

Some on here believe that a jump to c-usa would be a step in the wrong direction. Right now we are in a conference with countless other schools that are exactly the same as Akron in terms of performance and overall standing in the college football ranks. When was the last time a team went anywhere from the MAC. You are correct in acknowledging that the Big East is not looking at us as of yet. Why Akron over Buffalo or a few other MAC and c-usa schools? It needs to be done. Winning games in the mac will only take you so far. Cincinnati made the jump to the Big East from c-usa and they seem to fit in just fine. We could still play some rivalry games and playing in the east division of c-usa would not be that bad.

Just so you know, open enrollment is part of the reason we get to do what we get to do. If we were say, Miami selective, we'd be an FCS school with 9000 students right now. What we need to do is increase enrollment on campus to the point where we have 28,000 and 10 - 15000 living on campus. At that point we can begin being selective with the incoming freshmen. (by the selectivity isn't all it's cracked up to be, Can't has a graduation rate of 50% and those are supposed to be the kids from the area that are "good")Secondly, every school in the state (that has branch campuses) is "open enrollment" it's just the main campus get's to be selective because of size limitations.Now back to your question, community interest may swell, but only if we made a significant jump. Meaning to a BCS conference. Moving to C-USA would be as bad or worse as being in the MAC. Northeast Ohio could care less about UTEP, Tulsa, Middle Tennessee, or UCF.Most Ohio "residential schools" could not house that 10,000-15,000 students. Can't for example can only house about 6500. Not to mention that urban universities usually have lower percentages of students living on campus due to the number of options and lower cost of off campus housing. How many Akron students live in the Valley because of the atmosphere and proximity to the bars? My point is that holding Akron to the same standards as other schools is not fair. Rural universities just don’t have the options larger cities offer.

No congrats necessary.

Just trying to start a topic that doesn't involve Mack (pretty tired). Sorry for wasting your time.

I agree with you that a self-supporting athletic department is rare. At least it wouldn't burden the university as much. The elimination of open enrollment would not necessarily lower enrollment figures. Can't is not open enrolment but their minimum standards are low. Increased community perception of Akron’s academics coupled with more exposure could sway regional students Akron's way. Akron wouldn't immediately turn into Miami or OSU in terms of strict enrollment criteria. It would however eliminate some subpar students who don't have the skills to be in college. They could enroll in a community college or summit college to gain the skills necessary to be successful in college without dragging the school's stats down. Having attended both Akron and Can't has led me to the realization that second year students at each facility are the comparable. It is the lower quartile of freshmen that brings Akron down.