johnnyzip84

I'm kind of curious to see how good the Crew reserves are as well. I suspect UA will give 'em run for their money, regardless of who plays. After all, the Crew regulars are still searching for their 1st victory of the MLS season.Linky

Greg Paulus will win two Heisman trophies before his career at Syracuse is over.Excellent, Cap'n! Keeping it in Western PA personalities, I'm wondering if THIS former Duke PG (who also happens to do the color for Pitt hoops radio broadcasts these days) has any football eligibility left?

Whoa. At least as interesting as the turnover being experienced by Syracuse's roster is the prospect of possibly facing former Duke PG Greg Paulus as Orange QB next year :blink: Not that I'm particularly bothered by that. It's just a little strange.

I have to gladly second that! I was already planning on a return to the Carrier Dome, and with the UB Soccer game at 7:30 pm, it makes perfect sense to take that in as well and then hop back on the NY Thruway for the additional 2 to 2 1/2 hours to Syracuse. Perfect!

I will forever call 1-AA schools 1-AA. The NCAA can put whatever lame marketing lipstick they want on that pig, but it is still 1-AA.Amen to that. I don't think I will ever be able to change either. I'm too old.It's a real shame we're not playing the Redskins for two years in a row now. I sure hope we pound the Hurons in the season finale at the Info.At least the acronyms FBS and FCS are somewhat descriptive. Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision make sense if you think about it. In many states, the MORE A's in a classification signify a LARGER school (in terms of high school sports). Thus I'd argue that from a logic and clarity viewpoint that FBS/FCS is an improvement over 1-A and 1-AA. When the day arrives where I'm too old to look at things in a different way every now and then, then somebody please set me up with Kevorkian.Of course, much of my argument disappears like a 4th quarter Rubber Bowl lead when and if the FBS adopts a true championship. Does it then become FBSWAT (Football Bowl Subdivision with a Tournament)?

This is a bit off the topic, but the author of this article demonstrated some "Gross" mistakes in writing it. In ripping PSU's non-con schedule, he mentions how Oregon St. was brought in last year to replace "I-AA Arkansas St." I'm sorry but that's just ignorant, plain and simple. How difficult would it be to determine that Arkansas St. plays in the FBS Sunbelt Conference? And we all should really start to wean ourselves from the obsolete 1-A/1-AA reference, especially one who calls himself a freaking college football writer!!! Rant over.BTW, I think we'll throw the biggest scare into PSU that we ever have this year. And if the Lions play sub-par, who knows?

No, but he must have made a few thousand Reichsmarks playing nicey-nice with Hitler Excellent, Class of '82!

I've always enjoyed speculating as to how America's sports leagues would fair in a "relegation/promotion" model. It'd be fun (for a while anyway) just to watch franchises and leagues scramble I'm not saying that it's workable here. BUT, the one advantage to this system that is undeniable is the attention it places on BOTH ends of the standings. Sure, a high draft pick can add somewhat to the drama of "who will finish in last", but it pales in comparison to the dreaded RELEGATION. "Attention Pittsburgh Pirates (I can say this, being a 'Burgh native)....you've been RELEGATED". LA Clippers? Relegated on general principal!As far as JImmal being the former MVP for Vichy, I couldn't pass up this truly history-nerd based question. Can anyone identify THIS fellow former MVP for Vichy?

Do you think this guy makes the travel squad?

Is this a 'Zona message board? JUST KIDDING!!!

My all-time favorite Jimmal Ball memory was the time he raced back to defend the fast break and made a ridiculous block on Bonzi Wells!!

Who?

I agree 100%. It seems like he works as hard as anyone, and that's the kind of player I enjoy watching. He's even a "local" kid. I sure hope UA lands him.

I assume this poll is an "end of the season" ranking, without considering players leaving and players coming aboard. Regardless, #25 seems WAY too low for UA. We'd crush Morgan St. at the JAR or a neutral court and beat them handily in Baltimore. I guess it's time for a little "cross-sports" payback come September 12 I'll REALLY be curious to see the 2009-2010 PRE-season poll.

With a possible disc injury in his back, I sure hope Ryan hasn't become our........BAIN TRAIN IN VAIN .....with apologies to Mick, Topper, Paul, and Joey (may he rest in piece).

What if Roberts doesn't want/need a scholarship? I got the impression from an earlier interview with KD that Roberts was okay with his status as a walk-on. BTW, We met his family at the game in Portland and they were very nice. If Darryl has professed that he's OK with the situation "as is", then I suppose that changes things somewhat. Of course this is total speculation on my part, but what if Darryl is just (like a lot of us) simply not one who pushes very hard for their own benefit. Maybe he feels like he shouldn't expect any help since he left the team early on. Regardless, I still say you reward him. He and his family have sacrificed enough to this point, IMHO.

KD has consistently moved the program forward by making wise decisions that encompass the "do the right thing" philosophy. Giving Roberts his well-deserved scholarship certainly falls under this category. I would be disappointed if he doesn't get it, regardless of any potential recruiting loss.

Nice job! Does it get any better than beating Can't to start things off?

Not surprisingly, Steve gives a good account of himself during the post-game interview as well. I know it's early, but there is at least an outside chance that the Sounders will not only WIN the MLS as an expansion team, but perhaps even dominate! A lot will depend on how the Montero situation plays out, but I'm thinking that having a rock solid franchise (like Seattle appears to be) could be a huge lift for the league.

You can make a similar argument in hoops that champs of the Northeast, MEAC, SWAC etc. have no business being in the "dance". But that's all part of the charm of the hoops tourney, and we should try to keep that same "David vs. Goliath" charm in the football tourney (at least , if we can pull it off).I also agree that many of the bowls can remain "outside" of the NCAA tourney and still have some success.

I've long favored a 16-team playoff, in the same manner (ALL conference champs receive automatic bids) as proposed by MDZip. If it ever gets close to reality, please make no mention of the basketball "play-in game" (64 vs 65) to the powers-that-be. Otherwise the MAC champ might find itself playing the Sunbelt champ just to get into the "football dance" I like the 16-team, all champs invited format so well that I'd even be willing to allow the higher seed to host early round games (say up until the Final 4?). This might placate the BCS conferences enough to actually give it consideration. Is it fair? Of course not. It will be MUCH harder to pull off the #16 win over the #1 or the #15 win over the #2. But at least it might get the MAC "in". Frankly, I don't see it happening without some sort of monetary concession to the BCS conferences.

WVU = West Virginia University......but I'm sure you knew that ZM

Tom Gaffney keeps up the good work in reporting on the Zips. I knew Mike had started at UMass, but was unaware that he chose Akron over OU when he decided to transfer. He definitely was a bright spot on D last year, and hopefully he'll have an even more productive 2009.BJ Link

Shaka obvously knows the level of program that KD has constructed here, and the talent that is or may be arriving. He (Shaka) may decide to schedule elsewhere, at least over the next 4 years. After all, his name isn't Shaka Dumb OK, I just wanted to get my "stupid joke of the day" in there. This does have the makings for a terrific inter-sectional, mid-major rivalry. Let's hope it continues to build.

I want to be somebody like a Utah. Always near the top of their conference in the major sports and still able to be somewhat of a player on the national scene. I think there's is an overall athletic program we can model ourselves after, at least for now. the difference is Akron is situated in much more fertile recruiting ground than they have in Salt Lake City, so if we ever reached the Utah level we then may be able to look even bigger at that point.While I have no problem with emulating Utah, population trends do not necessarily give Akron an advantage in recruiting IMHO. Couple this with the fact that Utah only has 3 D-1 programs (for the in-state kids) and is much closer to California. I'm sorry, but I think UC is more "in reach" for UA.