GauchoMike

Ignore all the polls for the entire year. They mean less than nothing as all they do is mislead people into thinking they have some significance when they don't. Instead, I suggest bookmarking your team's RPI worksheet which, if you understand it properly, will reveal your at-large and seeding prospects as November approaches. This is what you need: http://rpiupdatemenssoccer.blogspot.com/2017/08/akron.html You might also find this RPI bonus/penalty list useful (not entirely accurate but very close to accurate): http://gauchosoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/RPI_Bonuses.pdf

UCSB is supposedly putting in a bid to host again.

It's a UCSB home match, so it will be on our much improved video feed.

Congrats on the win. If you're interested in reading a recap on the match from a UCSB perspective, check out my blog entry: http://gauchosoccer.com/2016/09/12/akron-2-ucsb-0/

Monday's UCSB/Akron match is being video streamed. Tonight's UCSB/Butler match is not being streamed b/c Akron decided not to stream (and thus not accommodate) the teams playing in the non-Akron matches in the tourney it is hosting.

We have heard back from your athletics department, and due to other athletics events and an away football match, we're told they don't have the resources... to, you know, have someone stand there and pan a camera back and forth. I guess I was naive to think that Akron's athletics department would lift a finger for us and that there might be some warm feelings toward UCSB fans after our support of Akron in 2010 in Santa Barbara. As a huge fan of UCSB soccer (with an affection for Akron), it's just so incredibly frustrating and disappointing to know that the infrastructure exists to watch my team but that the minimal effort to make it happen won't be mustered. I know they could do it, but they've simply chosen not to do so. Grrrr.... You risk making the soccer gods very unhappy.

So, see? I can use your help!

Can anyone please help us out? I also e-mailed Sean Palchick this morning but never received a reply. If anyone can sympathize with another soccer school, it's Akron fans. While I'm sure your school is being very accommodating to our team, we're hoping as the host of your tournament, you would also be accommodating to us fans especially after our support in 2010. We really want to be able to see our team on your field on Friday. I hope my plea won't go unanswered and that Akron will make the small effort of turning on the video streaming equipment and have someone pan the camera back and forth. If anyone can help, please do Thanks.

I'm hoping someone here can help a gaucho fan out. While I'm really looking forward to Monday's match with the Zips, I'm very interested to see how we fare against Butler. I just got a tweet back from Akron soccer saying they would only provide audio for the UCSB / Butler match. I'm really bummed about that. If anyone here has the ear of a decision maker for providing a video feed (don't need commentary), I would be super appreciative if any Zips fans can request a video feed for our match tomorrow. After we hosted the Zips national title win in 2010 (where UCSB fans, including this Little Joey, adopted the Zips), I'm hoping someone can do us a solid and influence whoever makes the call to provide video. C'mon, Rowdies! Please! PS Word is that UCSB is bidding to host another College Cup. Proven Gaucho karma is there for the taking!

Me too! Feel free to drop by our Akron match thread over on our board. You can say hi to GauchoDan too http://ucsbgauchos.yuku.com/topic/19400/Akron-PreDuringPost-Thread#.VgQ-BpebGgY

If you're watching via video, you are in luck, my friend. The school finally made some much needed improvements to the video feed this year. Plus, it's free! Before schedules were released, I thought I heard that we would do a return trip to Akron next year, but I might be making that up. If such an agreement was reached, your coach would know, so you can always ask him if that's the case. Oh, time for a shameles plug. If you're on the twitter and like to two-screen, consider giving me a follow (even if only temporarily)... @GauchoSoccer.

I would share your concern if I were a Zips fan. I'm doing quite a bit of guessing here regarding the scheduling, but I'm thinking that UCSB really pushed for Akron to play us this Friday as it provides us a marquee matchup on a historically well-attended match (first match of school term). Maybe Akron coaches saw some benefits like testing the team in front of a big and loud crowd while keeping focus when tortillas might come from the stands. It's also possible that UCSB is making it worth the Zips' while in some kind of revenue share. Whatever the case, I'm glad Akron appears to be accommodating us, and I think Akron could realize some benefits from it as well. We had a return trip earlier this year at Yale and were looking to play another school in the area. Our coach approached UConn and asked if they were interested in hosting us. Not only were they interested, but they also paid us. It's highly possible that UConn will not do a return trip to UCSB, and that's ok as we received a benefit from playing there.

I would also think that NASA engineers know about something called terminal velocity and wind resistance I like soccer, a lot. And I've had occassion to see some Columbus Crew matches where fans throw streamers at opposing players on corner kicks. I don't think anyone has gotten injured or lost an eye from that. The fact that UCSB has not visited Akron doesn't mean we're pansies (as I've read in this thread) or that we "should man up". I doubt anyone here is privy to the scheduling arrangements between the two schools. But if you look at UCSB's OOC schedule going back to around 2003, you will see how many challenging road games we play every year. My guess (and it's only a guess) is that Akron really wanted to return to SB in 2011 and that Akron wanted to do so so badly that it wasn't in a position to demand a return trip from UCSB. I further guess that UCSB will travel to Akron next year, but we'll see. Anyway, brace yourself for a tortilla onslaught tomorrow. As I've said, students should only hurl them only after we score, but this is the first match with freshman, and they're probably going to overdo it. It's not a malicious act and it won't hurt your players. Compared to head injuries, torn ligaments, or broken bones, the risk is infinitesimal. If we thought it was dangerous, we wouldn't risk our own players' health. In fact, our players sometimes run to the student section after a goal to willingly receive a tortilla shower.

You must have me confused with someone else as I haven't thrown tortillas at players nor do I create the UCSB schedule I'm not sure if you've ever hurled a tortilla before, but I can tell you that hitting anything that you're actually aiming at is incredibly difficult, especially when your target is moving. IOW, UCSB fans who throw them are about as likely to hit our own players as they are the opposing player. It's just a fun and quirky tradition. My preference is that they are only thrown to celebrate goals, but my middle-aged ass isn't going to judge 18-22 year olds from getting a little overexuberant. Plus, there are no known injuries caused by a tortilla and they're composted as well! Regarding the schedule, Akron isn't forced into playing us. Your coaches (or whoever makes your schedule) should be just as much to "blame" (if not moreso) for agreeing to play us. And in terms of practicality, Akron has more to gain than we do. And when I say practicality, I mean adjusted RPI. I was careful to include "adjusted" b/c Akron will likely receive a hefty RPI bonus for beating us at our home (and a more modest one with a draw). If we win or draw, however, we get no such bonus. Yes, the RPI I linked is very accurate. In fact, GauchoDan has found a mistake in the NCAA calculation in a prior year. And the benefit of Dan's RPI sheets is that he updates them in near real time, provides all the calculations, and also provides other goodies like conference RPI, tournament projections, daily scoreboards, etc. If you're a stat junkie like me, it's fun to look at your remaining schedule and see what possibilities the future holds. I notice in other thread how this board focuses on the various polls, but in the end, those are meaningless when it comes to NCAA at-large and seeding considerations. For better or worse (I say worse), the adjusted RPI is what informed college soccer fans should focus on. No, I'm not related to GauchoDan unless you count the Gauchos as a family. I have known him for many years, though.

My, my, how quickly you've forgotten about 2010 when UCSB fans largely got behind the Zips. Oh, and who exactly are the USCB Gauchos, anyway? Ask yourself this... who's getting the better deal... Akron visiting Santa Barbara or Santa Barbara visiting Akron? Seriously, we're looking forward to Akron's visit. There will be a large crowd in attendance. There should be over 8,000 people there since this is our first match with the students back, and we're coming off a win versus UCLA. I'll be rooting for you guys tonight versus Wake. UCSB is #12 in the RPI while Akron currently sits at #13. http://rpiupdatemenssoccer.blogspot.com/search/label/RPI%20Rank