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That's a good point about when the announcement came. I'm sure it did help recruiting some.. Just because I'm bored, I went ahead and checked out Mike Evans and Manziel's commitment dates. Evans committed 12/18/2010 http://247sports.com/Player/Mike-Evans-8372 Manziel's came sometime around 9/21/2010 http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/college...-A-M-667451.php

They are winning with Big 12 "talent". Those SEC recruits are freshman or sophomores. Evans and Mazniel were redshirt fresh last year, so they were recruited when A&M was still in the Big 12.

OSU probably wouldn't be undefeated..they might be because they would play in the "juggernaut" of the East, who knows. But then again Missouri is in the SEC East and they are the Western-most team in the conference. I guess they don't teach geography down there lol. But really, if you THINK OSU wouldn't be undefeated (which I am sure most do, including myself), why should Auburn get in ahead of them if they aren't undefeated as well? Fact: If Auburn, Bama, or any SEC team was undefeated, they would be in over an undefeated OSU team and rightfully so. But, if my aunt had a penis, she'd be my uncle. So I don't think anything about the argument is "compelling". Don't lose to a 3 loss LSU team and there is no argument. Can't wait for the playoff next season.

I'm not going to deny that the SEC is the best (at the top). But don't you think its a little interesting that A&M (6-6 their last year in the Big 12, also lost Tannehill) comes into the league and dominates their first year with a redshirt freshman? Or a middle of the pack Big 12 team is playing for the championship in their second year? Auburn and Missouri were a complete joke last year and were picked to finish 9th and 11th in conference this year. Note that Missouri and A&M are running the conference without SEC "talent". The only team I have real respect for in that conference is Bama. If the SEC wanted a rep in the national title game, they shouldn't have lost. Or wait, let's just make the SEC championship game the national championship and get rid of all the other 110+ teams that shouldn't have a right to play for anything

It was a fortunate play I guess. I wouldn't call it luck..Jenkins beat his guy. Nothing compared to Auburn's the past two weeks.

I don't think you can stress how important it is that we are building "pipeline" with St. V. The Newman and Junius commits are huge not only because they are good players, but also because of the relationships they have with other members of their team. Kids like to play football with their friends. Bickley has shown that you can come from that program even if you aren't recruited heavily and play right away for the Zips and have an impact. I can see these reasons along with other obvious ones, like continued improvement of the program, leading us to snag some recruits from there we wouldn't normally get.

I am really bummed I am so late to this party. I would have had a lot to contribute, by I'll just leave it at this: Isn't it a bit ironic that some of the same posters that are levying that OSU should not play on the Championship game are the same ones complaining that NIU is too low?

Great news. I've been following most of the season and it has seemed like they were going to get this for a while. The one question mark was Fresno St, but NIU actually passed them the week before they lost. I really hope NIU can get the job done against BG (and even in their BCS game). I just saw a tweet that NIU's BCS birth last year was worth 360k for each MAC school. That could go a long way to help our recruiting budget (which I've heard is like 30k, extremely low).

fact mr. skip-zip: OSU did not use ineligible players. The NCAA in-fact ruled them eligible to play in the game. The whole tat-gate came to light many days before the game. Check it yourself if you'd like. OSU, not the NCAA, vacated the win. Even if that weren't the case, that is seriously a strawman's argument by you. OSU beat Arkansas on the field. Now this is my last comment on this topic. I realize nothing I say will change your opinion, but thought it was a piece that could be informative to some other members of Zipsnation. Go Zips!

Conference domination comes and goes. If you are one of two undefeated teams in a power conference, you ARE going to play in a national championship. A 1 loss team jumping an undefeated team(power conference of course) this late in the season has never happened in the BCS era. Lets not act like the B1G was never dominant. Some level headed SEC fans think their run is coming to an end sooner rather than later. I'm pretty curious to see how the B1G does in bowl season this year. There is no doubt the suspensions of the OSU and Penn St programs has hurt the conference post season performance. Its funny that people have forgotten about OSU's most recent BCS bowl games wins in 2010 over Oregon and 2011 over Arkansas...but I guess those do not count I wondered why Auburn and Alabama's SOS varied so much when they both played joke OOC schedule's (Bama at least had an alright VT team). The only difference was that Auburn played Georgia and Alabama played Kentucky. A 4 loss Georgia apparently makes Auburn's schedule nearly 40 spots "stronger." And for OSU's schedule being so "weak", Alabama's only came in a whole 12 spots "stronger". If that isn't a calculation that's flawed.. with this post I'm done with the discussion and "defending" OSU, I realize I won't change many peoples' perspective, but its just some things for people capable of being objective to look at.

I never thought I'd see so much complaining about such a minor inconvenience.

we play in the MAC. Every opportunity is there for us to win. There is more to it than that.

also trimmy- OSU does nothing different than most other big-time programs. The Cal game was scheduled when they were good. Its just unfortunate that Cal is now horrible. OSU has played teams like Texas and USC OOC in the past, and plays teams like Oregon and Oklahoma in the future. Just for comparison, Auburn played Washington St, FAU, Western Carolina, and Arkansas st in OOC this season.

One could argue that comparing OSU and Akron is apples to oranges as well. OSU plays in a power conference that gets an automatic bid to a BCS game. Akron is a mid-major. Do we really "compete" with them for players? Have any players chosen Akron over OSU? YSU-Akron has much more competition in recruiting than OSU/Akron. I think the OSU/Akron competition discussion starts when we become a TCU/Boise/Utah or even NIU. I think the program has a ton of potential, and it does annoy me seeing all of the OSU gear on campus. Nothing ticks me off quite like seeing OSU gear at an Akron game, and this is coming from a life-long OSU fan. Akron is now my team, and I will always root for them over OSU, but I'm still going to be a fan of them. 19 years of fandom isn't just going to disappear and I think it unrealistic to to expect that. What you should expect is for students who come to Akron to have pride in their school. However, Akron is looked at as being a loser by most people (and lets be real, rightfully so). School pride will continue to grow as long as the most popular sport in America continues to improve. You can't expect much change from the average fan after a 5 win season, IMO. I just don't understand how there can be different formula's for strength of schedule. I'm seeing this tweeted: How is that SoS so far off from the one from realtimerpi?

With your logic, Miami, Can't St, and UMASS are better than us because they played OU closer..and we all know what the truth is.. As for the last part, that's probably something I would say as well if I did not want to debate facts and instead push a biased agenda. I can respect a debate.. I am not familiar with RPI really...Is it strictly win/loss of opponents? It seems like it because there is no way they are ranked #147 with level of competition factored in. Just to look a little deeper, I see that the Zips are ranked 53rd and Alabama is ranked 69th. I know nobody is going to argue that the Zips played a tougher schedule than Bama. As for Roby, he was one of the players I was talking about (the other one being Shazier). Roby was an All-American last year and more than likely a top 2 round pick as long as he doesn't have a horrible combine. The Wisconsin WR did tear him up, but that WR is a really good player. No clue how Roby will do in the NFL..but if former Buckeyes DBs like Chimdi Chekwa are having careers, I think he will be able to manage. I don't know why people on here care about OSU so much. Its the same as us making fun of YSU fans who try to do it with us. Let's just worry about ourselves.

I suppose Ill post something of substance even though it isn't what skip-zip wants to hear. OSU-12th ranked total D. Akron? 60th. The Zips allowed about 66 more yards per game than the "suckeyes". Points? OSU allowed 18.4ppg compared to the Zips 28.5. "But we actually have to play offenses in the MAC!" MAC teams average 25.2ppg and B1G teams average 30.9ppg. Not to mention..OSU has at least two players on D going in the top 2 rounds of the draft, at least one All-American (maybe two), as well as probable other players on the unit drafted. Who knows about anybody for the Zips. If one game meant everything, we would think OU is the best team on our schedule. I'm not taking anything away from our team. We had great improvement this season. Couldn't be more pleased. But come on now....

Does having every game on ESPN3 really constrain us as to when we can play our games? Not like its ESPN2 where only 1 game can be played at a time. I personally love the 6 o'clock start times. I believe we had a few this year. ANYTHING but the noon start times if you want to have anything above terrible attendance.

lol

Do I think its possible to achieve what you want? Yes. Do I want it? Yes. I just think you have to understand what the facts are. What DiG posted is reality. OSU is what they are due to many years of success, which builds school pride. Akron's situation can improve to what you, and everybody else on ZN.O want it to be with many years of sustained success and making noise nationally. That's no easy task. Very few programs have been able to break through and compete with their states flagship programs. TCU is about the only one I can think of. But even since they have finally joined the big boys, they have struggled. You can say its excuses, but it is what it is and it cannot be fixed short-term, let alone after a 5-7 season. You have to give "Joe Akron" something big to believe in, something more than your average Zips Nation poster acknowledges.

You can't be serious comparing Ohio State to Akron. OSU has the largest fan/alumni base in the country, is currently playing in the biggest rivalry game in the nation, and playing for a chance to go to a national championship. Oh...and it isn't black Friday.

I think its pretty obvious why attendance blew this week.

I can't do the conspiracy theories...The conference doesn't favor anybody and we are going to have an easier MAC schedule next year and it will have nothing to do with improvement and the MAC recognizing it. Honestly, I'd rather have a tougher one. We've proven we can compete with them, and are just going to be discounted like Buffalo if we have a decent year beating losing teams. I do know the only team in the MAC East that should be worth a crap next year should be BG. OU loses Tettleton and Blankenship. Buffalo loses Oliver and Mack. Can't will suck, UMASS will have that RB but im not sure what else, and Miami will suck. That's good for us.

I expect you to start packing your bags to move back to Ohio tonight. Thanks.

I was about to bring this up myself. We won the max games I expected this year, and I was probably more optimistic than some of the other posters. The other wins were nice, but this win really means a lot to me and I think a lot for the program. Toledo is probably the 3rd best team in the MAC, and the two ahead of them are pretty damn good. This win feels as great to me as the basketball team kicking OU's butt last year in the MAC-C, the OT MAC-C thriller over Can't St, and yes, even the soccer national championship (only because I care so much about football). We played our best game of the season today, IMO, and still played nowhere near perfect, yet came away with the win. I am happy for the seniors who get to go out on a high note after 3 years of hell. Also have to give Hilltopper a shout out for making the coaching staff aware of Pratt. He made two huge plays today. Is it August 28th yet?!

Why do they not give the ball to hundley in short yardage situations....