TennZip

at Pitt now 2-0 at 80 minute mark Pitt leads 15-3 in shots and 7-1 in shots on goal

Great article from Miami paper on DeA https://amp.miamiherald.com/sports/mls/inter-miami/article268818952.html

DeA and Tim Ream speak to the media for 14 minutes

https://deadspin.com/deandre-yedlin-is-usmnt-s-only-bridge-to-last-world-cup-1849792586/amp

Excellent article from the Beacon good quotes from Jared and Charles Guthrie https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2022/11/16/big-east-conference-welcomes-akron-zips-mens-soccer-team-ncaa-tournament-midwest-division/69651420007/ Ultimately the change could help in another area — recruiting, Guthrie said. Guthrie said the program has what's viewed as a top-10 recruiting class for next year. “Just talking to coach, the recruits that were on our fence are actually more intrigued now," he said. "So, I think this is actually going to ratchet up our recruiting, even though we've always done well in the recruiting scene on the men's soccer side.”

Weather forecast for Sunday afternoon (hint....bundle up !!!) Saturday night: A chance of snow showers after 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 19. Sunday: A chance of snow showers before 1 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 29.

article about the Seattle billboards https://www.kiro7.com/sports/mls/seattle-sounders/ted-lasso-writes-personal-messages-us-mens-national-team-hometown-billboards-2-seattle/2A43456O35GYZPAW3NU2HACVUE/

Ted Lasson wote letters to all 26 players DeAndre billboard is the 2nd one shown below

Congratulations to West Pittsburgh area 3A player of the year.....zip recruit Ryan Kopay https://tribhssn.triblive.com/boys-all-wpial-soccer-teams-players-coaches-of-year-announced/

Like everyone on this board, I am very apprehensive....that the Zips will have to play probably Pittsburgh...without 2 very good players...Jason Shokalook and Dyson Clapier. Well, I am going to look at things in a very positive perspective. As I mentioned in a previous post, the zips went to Pittsburgh and played the Panthers to a 3-3 tie. Most zips fans at the game thought that the final should have been 4-2 zips. The zips had a very questionable offsides call against them. If not called, the Zips score 4 goals in that game. Most Zips fans at the game felt that Pitt was clearly offside on one of their 3 goals. Looking at the video on both calls, the Zips got "homered" on the road. I have attached a box score from the game . If you look at the box score, one important name will not jump out at you. Jason Shokalook did not play in the regular season game against Pittsburgh as Jason had received a red card against Ohio State. I would argue very strongly that the zips are much better now in both the midfield and on the defensive backline....than they were when they played Pitt early in the season. Why do I say that? Again. Look at the box score. Will Jackson was injured and only played 3 minutes in that game. I believe that Sam Tojaga's first game back from Injury was against Pitt. Sam Tojage only played 7 minutes. The zips have been a much better team with Captain Sam Tojaga in the midfield. With Sam Tojage hopefully playing 90 minutes on Sunday, the Zips will be much better in the midfield. If you look at the box score, Malik and Ashton were the outside backs. Joel Sangwa and William Portman were the center backs. Will Jackson has done a great job after moving to center back. Will Jackson and Joel Sangwa are a very strong center back duo. Ashton has continued to improve during his freshman season. Ashton is better now than he was in October. Ryan Kingsford is a warrior. He will run thru walls for the Zips. In Shooky's absence against Pitt, "King" stepped up and had a huge game. "King" and Stefean Dobrijevic will both rise to the challenge on Sunday. Dyson is a great player and he will be missed on Sunday. However, if you look at the box score, Terence Okoeguale only played 14 minutes against Pitt. As I mentioned in a previous post, Terence Okoeguale may be the most improved player over the course of the season. It won't be easy.......but the zips battled Pitt very well in October....essentially without Will Jackson and without Sam Tojaga....and almost without Terence Okoegaule. The zips need a full house in the stands. When you look at their last matchup, this zips team is deep....and talented...and they can and will battle either Pitt or Cleveland State. https://gozips.com/sports/mens-soccer/stats/2022/-3-pittsburgh/boxscore/8525

Penn defeated 14 seed Cornell during the season. Cornell went on the road and defeated Syracuse Cornell was 10 in RPI and beat RPI number 1 Syracuse on the road Cornell went 4-2–1 in a pretty tough Ivy League. Cornell’s only non league loss was to Vermont. In addition to defeating Cornell, Vermont played Syracuse to a 1-1 tie. From my perspective, Cornell, Vermont and Penn look pretty strong. The Ivy League deserved better treatment by the committee. Dropping Penn from 13 to 30 is awful.

I am pleasantly surprised that the Zips got a top 16 seed. The committee looks like they mostly followed......the RPI 2 exceptions in the top 16 seeding.... Indiana was 20 in RPI......they got a 13 seed. Tulsa was 17 in RPI......they got a 15 seed. If I was the Penn coach, I would be furious.... Penn was 13 in RPI....the seeding committee.....put them in the draw as the #30th ranked team Penn has to host big Ten champ Rutgers on Thursday If they win, they will go on the road to play #3 overall seed Syracuse brutal draw for #13 RPI team.... Vermont was just barely ahead of Akron in RPI...at #15 the committee put Vermont in the draw....as the #22 team other differences in seeding Syracuse....is #1 in RPI....they got 3 seed Kentucky is #3 in RPI....they got #1 seed Stanford was #8 in RPI....they got a 5 seed Clemson at 5 RPI...got #6 seed Lipscomb...was 7 in RPI..got a 9 seed Oregon State at 9 RPI....got a 8 seed Committee liked FIU...12 in RPI...got a 10 seed no respect for IVY League...Penn got hosed Cornell was 10 in RPI...they got a 14 seed SMU was 14 in RPI...they got bumped up to an 11 seed Marco Milanese and his UNC-Greensbor teammeates were 11 in RPI....they got a 12 seed As we all know, the Zips have played both Pitt and Cleveland State this year Alas, the zips had Shooky and Dyson Clapier available when they played each team The zips led Cleveland State 4-0 at halftime and played their backups for most of the 2nd half..(4-0 win) The zips played at Pittsburgh and battled to a 3-3 tie. Most zip fans at that game said that the zips were "homered" by several poor calls by the referees. Let's hope that Cleveland State plays their best game of the year....and battles Pitt for 90 minutes and 2 overtimes. Go, Zips !!!!

I certainly hope that they are not on future schedules. If they move to the Big East, they will have 11 league games. There is going to be a ton of travel if they move to the big east so Northern Illinois should never be on the schedule. 11 league matches means that they will only have 6 non league games. I would prefer to see the zips maintain their rivalries against Big Ten Teams. I would keep Cleveland State on the schedule as long as zip Alum Sinisa is coaching there. My preference would be Ohio State, Michigan State, Cleveland State, Wright State, Duquesne and Indiana. The zips need a few fairly certain wins in non-league but they also need to have strong RPI matches. If you want to toughen up the schedule, drop either Wright State or Duquesne...and add a Pitt or West Virginia. I know that the zips have a long history with Penn State but that is another tough travel destination. my two cents

Congratulations to zip recruit Jackson Herbert for being named first team All Ohio in Division 1. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/high-school/soccer/2022/11/14/emma-stransky-copely-ohio-ms-soccer-olivia-sipsock-medina-division-i-player-year/69637918007/ Wadsworth's Jackson Herbert, Copley's Colin Link and Hudson's Tyler Travis were first-team All-Ohio in Division I.

all will be revealed ...starting at 1 pm tomorrow

Thank you so much for all of the research....and time putting together this analysis. the computer numbers may show the zips as the #16 seed (meaning that they would get a first round bye) Historically, the NCAA committee has favored the Big East teams and the Big Ten Teams over the MAC teams. I expect that Georgetown and Indiana or Maryland to be seeded above the zips. Based on the last 2 games, the zips will probably not get a top 16 seed St. Louis won the A-10 tournament. End of year results matter. I think that the committee will seed St. Louis ahead of Akron. St. Louis won a very competitive league. Zip_ME87, I agree with you that the committee will likely give a top 16 seed to a Big Ten team and a Big East Team. Georgetown went 8-1-1 in their league and lost in the conference finals. Georgetown started their season with a 1-4-2 record. They finished their season with a 10-1-1 record. I agree with your logic about Indiana holding a convincing head to head win over Akron. Maryland won the Big Ten regular season title and lost to Indiana in the conference tourney. Rutgers must be playing great soccer to beat Ohio State in the semis and Indiana in the finals. Like you, I have no idea what the committee will do. Your format is a great way to look at the rpi rankings and the automatic qualifiers Looking at RPI, the two at large teams (right behind Ohio State) are Loyola of Chicago with a 9-2-7 record and Butler with a 10-6-3 record in the Big East. Loyola of Chicago played St. Louis to a 0-0 tie today and lost on PK's. Butler started their season with impressive wins over Western Michigan and Marshall. They lost in the big east semis to Georgetown. Thanks much....for this great work.

theoretically.....if the zips get seeded in the 17 to 24 range, they should face one of the 8 weakest teams(one of the teams that the seeding committee ranked...between 41 and 48.....) in the NCAA tournament However, we all remember last year....where the zips faced a Santa Clara team that was not highly regarded Ryan Kingsford and Stefan Dobrijevic will have to step up on Thursday and play well...while splitting time at Center forward I have been very impressed by the improvement shown by Terence Okoeguale over the course of the year. Terence and Johnny Fitz are going to need to influence the game from the outside winger spots on Thursday night.

this was not a participation trophy game if the zips won, they would be a top 16 seed they would not have to play on Thursday they would get to host a home game on sunday against a team that had to win a game on Thursday game this game mattered Congratulations to Western Michigan. They came out on fire in the first 5 minutes and made the zips pay.... Charlie Sharp of Western Michigan, Clapier and Shokalook were the 3 all MAC forwards Charlie Sharp had a monster game...he had an assist and a goal.... Charlie Sharp was the man of the match today Zips had 11 corner kicks. They did not put much pressure on WMU on the corner kicks.

there is absolutely 0% chance that the zips get seeded in the top 16. None zip nil nada

Clapier gets his second yellow card with 3 minutes left Clapier will also miss the first NCAA tourney game

Yes, most definitely he is suspended for the first NCAA tourney game

Shokalook given a red care at 36 zips playing a man down

Budler did make a great save at 40 minutes after Will Jackson got taken to school WMU scores gooal 2 on a corner

no shots on goal for the zips in the first half