wadszip

True. So, I should've said the university didn't hire him just to add $200,000 a year to his retirement package.

While I agree with those who aren't enamored by a possibility of Akron joining CUSA/Mountain West, there is no doubt that if that was worst-case, the school would make the move. It's all about the money. The money that league would bring in just based on TV rights would offset the cost of travel. I had a conversation with Mike Thomas when he was the AD, and he was very candid about the university wanting to get out of the MAC, even if it was to CUSA. With the investments the university has continued to make in athletics since he left, I doubt athletic department/university's stance has changed. Getting out of the MAC really didn't have much to do with level of competition, but rather, it's all about the money. However, personally I don't think CUSA has to be the next step. I think the Big East is more realistic than people want to realize, if, and it's a big if, a new basketball arena is built. NewZipsFan brought up the University of Florida example. I see where you're going with that, but it's not fair/logical to compare Florida with Akron. Florida is a charter member of the SEC (always has been a major power, and currently is THE major power in college football). It's also the flagship university of the state of Florida. Ohio State and Florida are equal comparisons, not Akron, as much as I love my university. Akron, though, is comparable to both Central Florida and South Florida. All three are large, urban universities (located in major TV markets) that are still in their infancy when it comes to DI athletics. South Florida really began to invest in its athletic programs in the late 1990s and skyrocketed into the Big East within five years of becoming a DI-A school in 2001. Central Florida, however, is actually the better comparison to Akron. UCF didn't begin D1-A football until 1996 (Akron in 1987). UCF joined the MAC in 2002 and played for three years before moving on to CUSA. UCF must have dominated in its three years to have been able to make that move up so quickly, right? Not exactly. They went 7-5, 3-9 and 0-11 (and 1-2 against the Zips head-to-head). What was the difference for UFC? In 2004, with the impending move to CUSA (despite experiencing a 3-9 season the year before) UCF hired George O'leary as head coach. O'Leary was highly successful at Georgia Tech then was marked with the scarlet letter when after taking the Notre Dame job, it was learned that he had exaggerated his resume. UCF took its lumps in O'Leary's first year, the school's final year in the MAC. But with a new stadium in the works (which was finished in 2007), UCF went 8-5 in its inaugural year in CUSA (O'Leary's second year at the school) in 2005, and he has continue to improve the program since then. Hmmm, does this seem familiar to Akron? New stadium, highly successful coach with "baggage." Seems to me that Akron is using the UCF model. Coincidence, that Akron opens with UCF this year? Maybe, but the UCF model is something the Akron seems to be following. After all, the same company that was responsible for UCF's new campus/basketball facilities, KUD, ( http://www.kudllc.com/projects/index.html ) is the same one that the University of Akron hired to head its 2020 plan. What pushed UCF over the top in the Big East's eyes was the new basketball facility (the Big East will always highly consider basketball). With a top-notch basketball facility, UCF now has everything the league is targeting for new membership: 1. A large TV market (No. 19 Orlando). 2. Solid facilities in both football and basketball 3. An athletic department striving to improve 4. Fertile recruiting grounds (moreso in football in UCF's case) What is Akron missing? Only the basketball arena. And the university didn't hire Jim Tressel to lead the fundraising effort for one to get built, just so JT could get a nice 200,000 a year retirement package. And since some have mentioned soccer. The Big East, even with the defections, is still a league that still has some very good soccer programs. I'm sure that is another feather in the cap for Akron. While soccer is way down on the list of expansion priorities, having a school that can turn the sport into a revenue producer, like Akron, doesn't hurt. People need to block out the noise (which likely stems from Can't State, CSU and YSU fans in this area) that Akron can never be more than a MAC school because of its lack of football success. First, that's not exactly the case (Memphis and its 5 wins in three years still is heading to the Big East). Second, we really don't know how successful Akron can become in football. The program was for the most part mediocre (not horrible like some like to exaggerate) while playing in an abysmal facility. I'd say even being able to field a mediocre MAC team playing in the worst facility in all of Division I football is more of an indicator of what kind of program Akron can have, than being horrible (for two years) in a brand-new facility. Let's face it, the Rob Ianello hire was the most important in the school's history, and they blew it. But considering the athletic department canned him, with time left on his contract, before it got worse, and went out and got Terry Bowden, shows that they realized the mistake and are doing whatever they can to make sure it's not repeated. The Ianello hire cost the university two prime development years, but if Tressel can get the ball rolling on an arena and Bowden can mirror O'Leary at UCF, the school will be back on its original track in a couple of years. Luckily, the Big East won't really decide what direction it wants to go until 2015 when Navy comes aboard. That gives Akron a couple of years to show it's serious about continuing to improve all of its programs.

As a stat guy. Glad you put that out there. I'm interested in seeing how the MAC East would stack up against the top 6 overall teams in any other mid-major conference. Even with Miami holding the East back, if it still stacks up well against the overall top 6 in the other leagues, it would strengthen the East's case even further ... "We have a horrible team (Miami) and still stack up with your best." Edit: I won't do every mid-major, but here is an example (using expected RPI). This is average of the other league's top 6 (regardless of division) vs. the MAC East. I also included the Pac 12 and where the MAC top 6 would rank. The five power conferences not mentioned are spots 1-5. Mountain West - 48.2 Atlantic 10 - 51.1 Conference USA - 69.5 Missouri Valley - 73 Pac 12 - 74.1 West Coast - 90.9 MAC (total top 6) - 100.4 Colonial - 107.7 MAC East - 108.2 Ivy - 117.3 Horizon - 125.2 Summit - 133.6 WAC - 136.6 Sun Belt - 141.9 Northeast - 150 Atlantic Sun - 151.2 OVC - 157.4 MAAC - 170.3 Patriot - 172.1 Southern - 173.4 Big West - 177.5 Big Sky - 183.9 That would put the MAC's top 6 against any other league's top 6 at No. 12. The MAC East alone would be No. 14, slightly behind the Colonial. It just shows how much the MAC West is holding this league back. Also, and just because there is a lot of talk of joining either CUSA or the Big East. If Akron was in CUSA, the Zips' projected RPI of 46.7 would rank third in the league. Hypothetically, it would move the league's top 6 average up to 55.5. Still behind both the Mountain West and A-10, but it would help close the gap. In the Big East, the Zips would rank No. 7, slightly above Seton Hall. Of course, I didn't take into account future defections in that.

I agree, Western Michigan and Toledo are the too most dangerous West teams, and I expect one of the two to make the semifinals. Western has given all four of the top East teams a scare (three of those games ... Ohio, Can't and Buffalo ... on the road). You can't count out a team that does that. Toledo is young an improving. With a player like Pearson, they could get hot and take somebody out. The Zips can go 15-1 in conference play and still it won't be a cakewalk in Cleveland. A lot of dangerous teams.

Since all four Northeast Ohio schools are having solid-to-very good seasons, I decided to look up the average home attendance numbers of the four for comparison. Right now, it's: 1. Akron - 3437 2. Can't - 3321 3. Cleveland State - 3082 4. Youngstown State - 2522 The overall average of 3437 is a little disappointing considering the Hiram game drew 3292, so basically that was Akron's "average" crowd. Still, being No. 1 in Northeast Ohio is encouraging. Plus, the Valpo weekend fiasco and subsequent rash of suspensions didn't help early season attendance. However, when looking a little deeper, Akron has been doing very well in conference play. Just considering each team's league games, the attendance figures look like: 1. Akron - 4312 2. Cleveland State - 3496 3. Can't - 3176 4. Youngstown State - 3138 Interesting that Can't (though they still have home dates against OU and Akron which will boost the number) has a lower attendance in league play than OOC play. Akron is doing very well. I didn't look it up, but I imagine Akron's league attendance is No. 2 in the MAC behind Ohio (which is far and away the leader). And considering the average attendance so far has basically been tonight's Northern Illinois game, I suspect the remaining three home games will each draw more than 5,000. If 5,000 average happens, Akron will draw more than 56,000 people to its 15 home games (3749 per game overall) this year. In league play, the average would bump to 4570 per game. In league play, the JAR would average 83 percent capacity. Not too shabby. For those who argue that a new arena isn't necessary until the Zips can consistently sell out the JAR may reconsider that after next year. It's dangerous to look too far in advance, but on paper, next year's team will be even more equipped to make a run than this year's team. Let's say the team finishes strong this year and lives up to the hype next year. That will build up excitement, which means games against Florida A&M, NC A&T, Ark. Pine Bluff (games like that will always be on the schedule) could approach closer to 4,000 rather than the 2,000-2,500 this year). Plus, next year we'll see Cleveland State at home (should be a sell-out) and a potentially marquee bracket-buster game (sell-out). Get a couple more solid mid-majors at home (Marshall, Duquense for example), and we could approach two more sellouts OOC. In conference, based off of this year's attendance, the Can't and Ohio games will definitely sell out. And if the remaining three East home games this year draw 5,000, it's safe to say all three would also sell out next year. I don't think the three West games will sell out, but if 4,200-4,400 hundred are coming out for EMU and NIU this year, no reason to think those West games won't close in on 5,000 next year. If things go as planned (which it would take under my projections), the JAR could average upward of 90-plus percent capacity. Once you reach that level, looking to upgrade the facility is a no-brainer. BTW, I've been impressed by crowds at the EMU and NIU games. Those are games that fans really had no incentive to go to, and both times, drew more than 4,000. TV and the fact that the Cavs were playing the Mavericks at the same time Akron was playing Toledo kept attendance down. If not for those factors, I imagine that game also draws 4,000-plus. Overall, just something to think about.

Akron makes the top 50, checking in right at 50 tonight. Detroit's win over Milwaukee bumped the Zips past North Carolina State. But, that will be short-lived. After tomorrow, will probably fall back to near 60 because of NIU's ineptitude. However, even sitting at 60 heading back to the East swing and ORU is huge. Handle business and the RPI will soar.

The end-game is making a push to get in the realigned Big East, and the Big East selecting Memphis is proof that football success (which is used by so many Akron detractors as why the Zips will never have a shot) won't be the main factor in whether or not UA is chosen. But I can tell you why it's still a pipe dream at this point ... the JAR. There is no way Akron is in consideration until a new arena is built. However, the fact that Jim Tressel was not only brought in, but his first order of business is to start a fundraising campaign to build a new arena is a big hint on how the "back-room" discussions have been going. It seems there has been discussion between UA and the Big East, and the Big East has hinted that if a new basketball arena is built, the school would be a serious contender for one of the spots that would be open if/when the league expands to 14 or beyond. All you have to do is look at who the Big East is bringing in to see what it is trying to accomplish: Bring in schools that have at least above average facilities in both football and basketball that are located in large (top 50) media markets. So far, the schools that have been added are Central Florida (Orlando No. 19 market), Memphis (No. 48 market), San Diego State (No. 28 market), Houston (No. 10 market). Boise and Navy are the exceptions to that, but both are/have become national brands. When looking at TV market size, this is the list of the top 25 largest markets without a "BCS" football college located directly in it: 4. Philadelphia - Temple and Villanova (already a basketball member in the Big East) 17. Cleveland-Akron - Akron and Can't State 20. Sacramento - Sacramento State 21. St. Louis - No college that qualifies 22. Portland - Portland State??? 24. Charlotte - UNC-Charlotte??? (restarting a football program in 2013) I think it's a matter of time before the Big East takes either Villanova or Temple in football (my guess is Villanova once it solidifies a FBS program. Adding one of those two, though, means at least one other school will be added. I think it's safe to say both won't be from Philadelphia. Going by the Big East's market-size expansion, next up on the list is Cleveland (Akron and Can't). Can't would need to build both a new football and basketball facility to have a shot, whereas Akron would only need a basketball arena. Akron holds a huge advantage there. Plus, Akron is centrally located in the Cleveland market. Being 35 miles south of Cleveland (roughly 2 million people in its MSA), and 20 miles north of Canton (400,000 people in its MSA) could help to make neither of those fringe areas within the market. Akron's MSA is about 700,000. Sacramento State has worse facilities than Akron. It's basketball arena (1,200) is smaller than most Division I high schools in the Akron area. While adding West Coast schools to go along with SDSU and Boise is something the league is going to have to consider, it won't be Sacramento State. Portland State (which plays FCS football, anyway) is in the same boat. Now, Charlotte is an interesting school to follow. If they get up to the FBS level in football, it's a school that will be seriously considered. But considering they won't even start playing until 2013, they are probably seven to eight years away from being in consideration. After that Top 25, you can go down the list to find some other possibilities (some more realistic than others in top 50 markets) 36. Greenville - East Carolina 39. Kalamazoo- Western Michigan 40. Birmingham- UAB 42. Las Vegas - UNLV 44. Albequerque - New Mexico Then you have some other schools who could be options outside of top 50 markets (again, some more realistic than others) 51. Buffalo - Buffalo 53. New Orleans - Tulane 55. Fresno - Fresno State 58. Richmond - Richmond?? 61. Tulsa - Tulsa 65. Huntington - Marshall 72. Honolulu - Hawaii 73. Toledo - Toledo Looking at the complete list, Akron's main competition (if a new arena is built) would be Charlotte (if it gets its football program up to speed quickly) and East Carolina (the biggest market left with the most ready-to-compete school in football). Although expanding west can't be counted out. However, Akron has some advantages outside of the university. Mainly, it would open recruiting doors in Northeast Ohio. In the Cleveland-Akron-Canton area alone, there were 40 kids who signed with BCS schools. The area usually produces 3-4 high-major basketball players as well. That is something that can't be ignored.

Akron (51) is now ahead of Murray State (52) in RPI. Not that I don't want to see Akron out of the MAC (because I do), but at least we aren't in the OVC anymore.

Preach on. I agree with you. Furthermore, while everybody should be ecstatic with 9-1, something that has only been done one other time in the school's history in 2006-07. However, that team got to 9-1, for the most part, by playing up to their full potential. This team, even despite the MAC being even stronger now, is 9-1 and hasn't come close to reaching full potential. So far, if not in terms of wins and losses, but in terms of overall performance, this team has underachieved. That's not meant as disrespect to this group, but rather a big show of respect. They are 9-1 despite only playing one great game (and even that one had a 10-minute lull that allowed EMU to get back into it momentarily) in league play. If any other of KD's teams had played like this group, people would be up in arms because the Zips would be maybe 5-5 at best. It just so happens this team has enough talent, so far, where they can play 20-30 minutes of bad basketball then just turn it on and out-talent the competition for 10 minutes and get a win. That can't continue to happen because sooner or later it will catch up to them. How big of a downer would it be knowing that the Akron team best suited to make a run in the tournament, didn't even get there because they never were able to put a full 40 minutes together? To me, more devastating than a Doug Penno banked 3-pointer at the buzzer of a MAC championship game. This team has Sweet 16, or better, talent. They need to learn how to play like a Sweet 16 team.

It's just the hypocrisy of the NCAA at work. ORU can "give" out 2,500 hundred of "free" "DoMo" bobbleheads and it's all good. But if "DoMo" happens to get his hands on just one of them, and sells it, he's ineligible. What a system.

Rob Ianello. The gift that keeps on giving. Might as put those to good use and pass them out at the Buffalo game. I'm sure it will draw more than the Ohio football game.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here, but I'm sure the ORU people are saying the same thing about Akron. After all, No. 182 Western Michigan took the Zips to OT. Sure, Akron was on the road and ORU was at home, but both didn't exactly handle business against inferior competition the last two days.

No doubt. I read the post on their message board and they didn't seem thrilled to draw Akron. However, most people on here weren't thrilled about drawing ORU, either. Overall, it is looking like the right call for the selection committee to make as the teams are nearly identical in RPI. Hopefully, the team is as fired up as you are about the matchup. ORU is a good team, but it's a very winnable game. The team just has to cancel out all the noise (on here, the ORU board, ESPN, etc.) and play like it did against Mississippi State, Marshall or even VCU (despite the loss) and I like their chances.

I hate to disagree with the mother of our best player. But I'm glad ORU pulled that one out. And, there is no doubt the Zips can pull off a win, even if ORU went out and won by 30 tonight. Just got to play a solid game.

I stop looking at scores for 20 minutes and see this. Wow. Still, disagree with you. We want ORU to win. Need them to be ranked as high as possible come Feb. 18. BTW, Murray State down 1 with 8 seconds left. With that, go Tennessee State!

I'd also be down with that. Though, I noticed KD was sipping on what looked like Lipton green tea yesterday.

That reduced picture makes "DoMo" look like he's rocking a sweet Jheri curl. Still, have to give it up to ORU. I'd like to see Akron do a Zeke version.

Well said. The NIT was a big deal for Akron five years ago. This program is at the point where anything less than a NCAA tourney appearance is meehhh. It's also why, despite the 9-1 league record, the team still deserves some criticism (still only played one complete game in league play). The talent is NCAA tourney level, so there's no reason to expect anything less out of them.

Oral Roberts is now up 10 midway through the second half, which is good for Akron fans. We need them ranked as high as possible to keep an at-large dream alive. Is that nlikely, yes, especially since the Zips don't make anything easy, but I'm on the wagon until it hits that bump in the road to knock me off.

I'm glad I wasn't there, because it would've ruined my weekend as well. I still have 31-14 (foul differential), 37-8 (foul shooting difference) and 11-5 (Zeke's minutes and fouls) ingrained in my head. Anyway, Valpo won 59-41. They are now ranked No. 85 in RPI. Now, the Zips are 4-7 against top 100 teams.

Well yeah, those games, too. But the Valpo one still makes me sick. I hate to complain to about reffing, but that was the worst homer job I've ever seen. I think Zeke just got called for another foul as I type this.

Valparaiso is beating Cleveland State 29-17 at the half in Cleveland. A Valpo win puts them in the top 100 (currently 102). That would give the Zips zero losses to teams ranked outside the RPI top 100 this year. EDIT: Make it 38-19 Valpo early in the second. Man, do I wish we could get another crack at Valpo after that homer job they gave the Zips in Indiana.

I fully understand that, and I know Butler is coming off of back-to-back title game appearances, so that helps their attendance. I was the type of student you are alluding to when I was Akron, and admit I only attended a half dozen games while in school. So, I will agree with you there, especially when people complain about how a school with 30,000 students can draw less than 4,000 a game. It's not a fair argument because of what you said. However, there are still roughly 5,000 or so traditional students who attend UA (either living on-campus or right off campus). Butler's total undergrad population is a little more than 4,000. That's the apples-to-apples comparison I was trying to make. If the traditional students buy in, there is no reason why the rowdies couldn't grow to 1,000 a game. The Rowdies will never be the Izzone (which looked to be 5,000 strong today), but I think it's realistic for Akron's student section to resemble the one I saw at Butler yesterday (non-marquee game against Detroit). Again, this is still a growing product so it will take some time. And it will take unifying the student section, but it should be a reasonable goal for the university to have.

That would help raise the atmosphere ten-fold. Put all the students together, then the couple hundred rowdies could help energize the couple hundred of students who are scattered around the place, who generally just sit there and cheer on occasion. That would go a long way into creating a unified student section people want to be a part of.

I agree. There still seems to be student apathy with this team. I was watching the Butler-Detroit game. Butler is having a down year, but it looked like they still had 1,000 students at the game. No reason Akron shouldn't be drawing the same, if even more, considering UA's on-campus enrollment is larger than Butler's total enrollment. Still, 4,234 is a good number considering Eastern Michigan is a bad team with no local appeal. Plus, the Zips were going head-to-head with the Cavs, who happened to be hosting the defending world champions 35 miles up the road. Between people from Akron choosing the Q over the JAR, or deciding to stay home and watch the Cavs (the team's local ratings rank No. 5 in the NBA at 89,000 per night, according to a PD article a couple weeks ago ... probably higher now with the way Kyrie Irving is playing). Also, people still have to give this product some time. This is still "Year One" in the new-age Zips era. ... up-and-down the court, above the rim basketball. It's going to take some time for people to really buy in. Let's face it, for as much success KD has had so far, up until this year, it hasn't exactly been an exciting product to watch ... halfcourt offense with undersized perimeter guards shooting 3s and big men who play below the rim. This team just needs to keep winning (while continuing to improve the overall play while doing so) and people will come.