johnnyzip84

Good summary. I should clarify that if the Toothless Fairy (we are talking about Portage County) came to me and said, "if NIU can completely stomp K.E.N.T. (like 65-0) tomorrow night, I'll see to it that Boise loses to Nevada and make sure all the other outcomes are favorable for a Husky BCS appearance" I would jump on that in a heartbeat! I guess the bottom line for me is that I would like to see a MAC team in a BCS bowl. My LEAST favorite option is K.E.N.T. (by far), but I still want to see a MAC team in a BCS bowl. Even though the BCS is transforming into something else with the 4-team playoff, I'm not sure we'll see a MAC team get another opportunity to play in this type of game (whatever they call it in the future) any time soon.

No kidding. Is life imitating art (OK, art is a bit of a stretch)?

I suppose it all depends on who you think is better equipped for the long haul. K.E.N.T.'s short term benefit would certainly be much greater, but I like Akron's chances looking beyond a few seasons. In fact, the harder the climb for the Zips I believe will ultimately result in a stronger, more resilient program. I don't deny that none of this will happen unless TB starts to accumulate a few wins next year and a few more after that.

Thanks for the recap, MDZip! Thanks for representing the Zips well. Your encounter with the PSU coach brings home the stark reality of the life of a big-time college coach. I will take your advice to heart in future years!

Joe Dunn had the MAC's Director of Communications (Jeremy Guy?) on 1350 am this afternoon. The question regarding potential BCS-bowl payout was discussed. Mr Guy confirmed that K.E.N.T. would land the conference about $13.5 million should they "bust the BCS". Now I have NEVER rooted for K.E.N.T. in anything....not the baseball team this past season, not the Trevor Huffman hoops teams, not the Lady Flushes during their NCAA runs, not even Ben Curtis. But even I have a practical side. First, I reiterate that I think NIU will win, partly because I don't think the Flushes are at 100%. But I will be rooting for K.E.N.T. for the following reasons: 1) the money 2) the added notoriety for the conference - we've all whined about the MAC for years, so why not root for this unprecedented run of gridiron success to continue 3) like class of '82 has mentioned, it keeps the onus on the Zips to get better 4) this is the kind of thing "Joe Akron" pays attention to - now we have to be careful that he doesn't turn into "Joe K.E.N.T.", but anything that makes next year's home slate more desirable is a positive in terms of selling the program. ps. This will probably not happen again (me rooting for K.E.N.T.), unless they happen to face OSU anytime in my lifetime. pss. Should this landfall occur, the MAC should force UMass to make an all-in or all-out choice. I believe they would receive a full (equal) share., as would everyone else

I'm not either, because Temple was only in the MAC ONCE (and as a football only member at that). Perhaps you're thinking of the Big East taking back Temple?

I'd definitely bring them back, but with one significant caveat: The MAC Football Championship stays at Ford Field (or at least a neutral field)! Don't forget, we host the Blundering Terd in 2014 and visit Huntington in 2016. This could help with MAC scheduling ps. Not to mention (but I will), we beat them 2 out of the last 3 times we played them :gun: :gun:

It doesn't cover all 8, but Scout has 6 currently listed.

GT's summary of Coach Bowden's year-end press conference in today's Beacon I wish there was more regarding the 2012 non-qualifiers, but I am glad to see that Coach Bowden seems to think KP16 is his QB for the next few years. I'm pretty excited about that I look forward to watching the video on GoZips.com tonight.

I had wondered the same thing. NIU has themselves to blame for not having a CLEAR shot to a BCS game. They BLEW the game against Iowa.

Thanks, Roo2! Retaining both McClinton and Black could be huge because they address areas of need. Maybe Coach Bowden will expound on this during his season ending press conference (assuming he's having one).

Jordan Lynch versus Roosevelt Nix should provide a truly intriguing match-up. I think NIU's defense will be the difference, as Archer did appear to be less than 100% against OU. NIU 31 K.E.N.T. 24

Big East adds ECU for football and Tulane for all sports. Will C-USA respond? Edit: MDZip with the quick-draw on me! (but you left out ECU )

I appreciate the research, KentZip! But I don't believe Waters ever signed an LOI. It's still good info

Done. Thanks, George

SBNation has a pretty decent summary of the situation, but when I tried to embed the link doesn't work. Go to SBNation if you so desire. It's under the CFB pulldown menu.

Funny you should say this, because as I considered calling in today I simply couldn't get past the hypothetical discussion of an ND-OSU national championship game I was subjected to for most of my ride home. That took away any desire I had to break into the conversation with my silly little Zips question. I guess I'll wait for the spring game to see if any of these guys are still with the team

This goes beyond the MAC, but there have been numerous HC firings/retirements over the last few days. These schools are all looking: Purdue NC State Arkansas Auburn Georgia St Boston College Colorado This makes me wonder a couple of things: 1) Will MAC coaches like Hazell be swooped up very soon? 2) Now than Spazano is out at BC, can the Zips change the mind of that WR from St Clairsville? 3) Where will JD Brookhart land?

+1 The last 2 years have really been outstanding. Hopefully we'll get the same weather fortune in 2013. The first two games offer some interesting theme possibilities: Date-----------------Opponent---------------------Themes? 9/7/13---------------JMU Dukes-------------------Colonial Food (Ham, Corn Chowder, etc) 9/21/13-------------Lousiana Ragin Cajuns-------hmmmm let's see....Cajun Food?

First, I agree with you about player assessment. Second, I'm really glad you brought up a potential move to LB for Bre' Ford, because I have been wondering about that for much of this year. I guess my main concern is whether he can get any bigger without any significant loss in speed. He'd be a little short, but there have been some great LBs over the years (Sam Mills comes to mind) who were well under 6'. So is this something we should expect to see in 2013?

Nice job, K92

A HUGE +1 for this. Very good point, K92.

Not that this really means anything whatsoever, but having grown up in Western Pa I usually check out the Post Gazette Fabulous 22 every year around this time, especially since the Zips have a recruit or two on the list every now and then. So far, none of the players listed have committed to UA.

I tuned in briefly, but when I heard some discussion about another football game to be played tomorrow I turned it off. The caller went zero for four, in my opinion.