johnnyzip84

Here is an article on Anthony Holmes' preparations for Akron's Pro Day, which is apparently this Friday. There are some interesting quotes regarding his time as a Zip.

I'm sure glad this year's game in Oxford didn't end like THIS.

KD said on the Big Time Sports show this afternoon that Jake is definitely out for the rest of the year. They simply don't want to take a chance on him so he can come back next year at 100%. Factor in this being a road game for the Zips and I think we'll be a 3 or 4 point underdog.

Gozips.com just updated the 2014 Spring Roster. One thing that jumped out to me is Keith Sconiers looks to be getting a red-shirt for last season, making this year his last season with the Zips. Good for Keith!

Although the Zip half-time lead was more pronounced this time, there are really a number of similarities between last night's game and the earlier 57-54 loss in K-Zoo. Brown struggles from behind the arc, but manages to score his points in other ways. Harney is basically a no show. Tava and Whittington provide their usual solid stat sheets. Jake and Reggie score 3 and 5 respectively (I understand Jake having to play sparingly last night, especially after hitting the floor hard. But I sure wish Reggie played more.) Tree and Q are forced to take a lot of shots to score.The biggest differences are Kwan and Deji exchanged roles as major contributors AND we actually shot a decent FT % (75) in the first meeting. I agree with Quickzips regarding last night being a microcosm of the season. We all foresaw the game where missed FTs would sink the Zips and I think many of us foresaw (as the 2nd half progressed) giving up the big lead last night.

Regarding C127, I'd like to think I played my part Alex was certainly very visible up there and I can't help but think that his presence at the Q may have spurred Melo on just a bit. There's something to the whole machismo thing within the Latino community. After Ndoor hit his SECOND three, the thought of "this might not be our night" definitely crept into my head. But eventually OU cooled off when the fatigue finally kicked in. I echo the admiration for Kellogg's game - he showed me he is much more of an all-around player than I had previously thought. They'll miss him for sure. I loved Reggie's efficiency last night. I wouldn't mind at all if he would shoot a little more.

While not exactly on topic, this story in the PD discusses the general future of MAC basketball as it relates to the future of MAC football.

Thanks!

Excellent pics, Dr Z! Thanks for posting them. I'm glad I wasn't looking at my cell phone in any of these shots - of course, it helps when the only cell phone you own is a flip phone without a camera that your adult children affectionately deem the "jitterbug" It looks like you were able to take them from several different angles. That gives the viewer a nice perspective of the overall game.

That's definitely a concern with Jake out. I know he's been disappointing most of the year, but Pat got a few key boards last night. Nick and Pat are both capable of helping out in this area and we'll need them to at the Q.

It starts March 17 with the spring game on April 19.

I agree with zippy5 that Javon can be both POY and a player who, at the very least, bends the rules. I haven’t seen enough incidents to label him as a thug or dirty player, but the shot to Jake’s lower back/side was clearly cheap. I think it bothers Zip fans even more because it wasn’t called. In fact, he used it to his advantage to score a “cheap” 2. I have another question for our U@B visitor. Why did Hurley take McCrea out of the game so early in the 1st half (3 minutes and change) when the Zips made their opening run? Was #12 at full strength?

Disappointed in the size of the crowd, but we did get pretty loud when appropriate Loved watching Tree clinch the game from the line. He deserves a lot of credit for putting in the hard work to correct a previous weakness. Q played like the player we saw early this season. He was simply a monster tonight. This Buffalo game came at the best time for the Zips, who, to a man, looked to be the most inspired I've seen them perhaps all season. Hurley's off-putting manner has already been mentioned by several folks, but I'll say this - he makes the game a lot more entertaining! I think I'm going to enjoy his stay in Western NY. I don't think we could have asked for much more out of Reggie. He hit a three and played enough (13 minutes, including several during crunch time) to start getting his legs back. Mrs JZ84 summed it up the best - "this was the best game of the year". I concur. Now bring on the bums.

Indeed! Great effort. K92 needs to give a few pre-game speeches in 2014!

KD mentioned this as well. Reggie couldn't because he's not cleared for contact. If he gets a clean MRI tomorrow, KD seemed to indicate he would play.

I'll take a slightly different approach and provide my "probability of winning" for each contest. Game 1: Home vs. Howard I hope they bring they're awesome band! -- 98% Game 2: Away vs. Penn State I'd like our chances against Hackenberg and company a little better if Freeman was still eligible, but I do think we'll move the ball against PSU. -- 10% Game 3: Home vs. Marshall Cato is a superior dual-threat talent at QB and lance99 is correct that the Blundering Turd love any excuse to escape Huntington. -- 35% Game 4: Away vs. Pittsburgh Since I'm a native Pittsburgher, I can make the bold prediction that this game will be much more competitive than the last time we faced the Panthers, that result being a 35-0 drubbing in a rain soaked Pitt Stadium. Zip lines will have to play physical to have a shot. -- 15% Game 5: Home vs. EMU New coach, same unbelievable challenge for the Hurons....errr Eagles. -- 95% Game 6: Home vs. Miami I like the Martin hire, but he'll need more than 1 off-season. -- 90% Game 7: Away vs. Ohio I like the position of the game in this schedule. Bobcats will generally play sound football under Solich, but they will be breaking in some newbies. -- 45% Game 8: Away vs. Ball State Hmmm why haven't other teams made run at Lembo? No Snead or Wenning even things out quite a bit, but Muncie has been a tough nut to crack for the Zips. -- 40% Game 9: Home vs. BGSU Pitt exposed them a little in the Detroit, and we'll see how the new coach (who I think was a good hire) will do. -- 40% Game 10: Away vs. Buffalo Losing Mack, Oliver and Neutz will be difficult for Quinn. -- 65% Game 11: Home vs. UMass Whipple has had success in Amherst before, but not this soon.-- 90% Game 12: Away vs. Can't Durham has little help returning. -- 75% If you go simply by who has the higher probability of winning (in my view), the predicted record would be 6-6. However, some of my "expected" losses are close enough to 50-50, that I fully expect the Zips to win at least ONE of the Ohio/BSU/BG games. And they might even sneak ONE of the OOC FBS tilts. After all, just looking at the latter 3 games, my estimated probability of a Zip defeat is 90%, 65% and 85% consecutively. 0.9*0.65*0.85 = 0.49725, meaning there is slightly less than a 50% chance of the Zips losing ALL THREE OOC FBS games IF you accept my probabilities for each game. Then again, 0.98*0.95*0.90*0.65*0.90*0.75 = 0.37 (<0.5) meaning UA would also probably lose one of the games for which I have them as favored. I call my system "Voodoo Statistics". Think it'll trickle down? So I'm going 7-5 if we can sneak an OOC FBS victory, and 6-6 otherwise. If we beat OU in Athens however, 8-4 is definitely within reach. That will be the pivotal game of 2014.

KD confirmed on today's Big Time Sports show that Jake is definitely out for the Bulls (still hopes for him on Friday), but he also said Reggie was having another MRI tomorrow and if his spleen is not enlarged he will probably play some tomorrow night.

I figure it was time for this pool. Hopefully I set it up correctly.

I think it's important to separate the issue of whether you think the MAC should be playing weekday games for ESPN at all and whether you think, given the current agreement between the league and the network, it's a good thing or a bad thing that the Zips are selected to participate in these games. These are really two different issues. It seems like the majority here wish the MAC would end the agreement with ESPN, and I am in agreement with them (but it might make for a good poll, so I will also start one just to see how members feel - although the results might be skewed a little since the schedule uproar is so fresh). However, given the current agreement, I don't think it's bad thing that the Zips are scheduled to play in these games in 2014.

Zips are favored by a surprising (to me) 8 points. When you don't even know who'll be available for UA tomorrow, it sure seems like it could go in many different ways. BG is definitely capable of taking it to the Zips, whose collective psyche can't be particularly strong right now. You would think Jehvon Clarke will have a healthy contingent at the JAR to support him tomorrow. If Jake plays, I see the Zips winning 71-66.

Sure sounds like good news. Interestingly, Frenchy (interviewed by Zips Win!'s hero Joe Dunn on 1350 am's Big Time Sports) opined that Kretzer might be ready for tomorrow, but that McAdams' return was still a way off. I guess the MRI will be crucial.

Outstanding, K92!

Nobody likes the midweek games (tailgating blows, etc), but this has been a staple of MACtion for a while now so we were certainly due to get stuck with a few. Four in a row seems like a bit of an overkill, but as zippy5 points out it probably is an indication that the conference recognizes Akron as a rising program ready for some more exposure. If you have to play 4 Tuesday games in a row, I'm glad they're the last 4 regular season games (traditional MACtion time of year). By the BG game, we'll have a good idea if the Zips are in the championship hunt or not and perhaps the added interest of a possible divisional race will partially offset the inconvenient kickoff date/time in terms of attendance. If you're looking at it from a purely competitive standpoint, the schedule sets up extremely well for the Zips. I like our chances to get out of the gate strong in conference play. UA should be no worse than 3-3 (2-0 in MAC) when heading to Athens with a nice opportunity for an upset (or just a victory) over the Bobcats. If we are in contention late in the year, I can very easily see a group of 25-50 of us "taking over" both Alumni Stadium and Dix Stadium for our last two road games. That COULD be a silver lining with all the Tuesday games. I'll have to spend more vacation, but I still plan to make a run at seeing all 12 regular season games in 2014. I'm ready! Go Zips!!

I agree with Balsy. They should take advantage of the mystique and slowly release portions to the public. I know many of us are divided on this, but I hope they build off of the Z-logo introduced at the Michigan game last year. I actually like the timing. It will help solidify the notion that this is a new era in Zip football. I'm glad they waited until things were turning the corner (we think, at least I do).

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/02/university_of_akron_alpha_phi.html