legendofzippy

The use of "Luckeye" shows your penis envy. Come on, at least make it a challenge.

Agree. The schedule is weird, but college football is still dominating headlines right now anyway. College BB is just starting to gear up. In the end I think the timing is fine, and if it gets us on national tv, all the better.

Anyone on this board that brags about the SEC does so at the expense of the MAC. There are a few main culprits, but it's being done to take shots at OSU. I'll again point out that a 3-loss SEC teams sits just behind NIU in the BCS standings. I'm supposed to be happy about that? It's absurd. LSU is getting credit for what they and other SEC teams have done in the past. This year the SEC is good, but has not been dominant. And then there's Georgia. Plenty of losses, riddled with injuries, and a history of coming up small in big games. But they keep getting ranked. Like it or not, the national perception of the MAC is that it's players who couldn't get into Big Ten schools. A stronger Big Ten is better for us. Midwest schools - Big Ten, MAC, Notre Dame - all need to perform better for us to be taken more seriously.

In general I agree with what you're saying, but what's the point of being the biggest kid at the little kid's table? Why not give us our own championship at least? AQ and non-AQ conferences are not treated the same. We're not both "D1". And that perception of respect doesn't actually exist. This was Bruce Feldman on Jim Rome yesterday, with comments I've heard a million times: Feldman also addressed Auburn A.D. Jay Jacobs’ comments to USA Today saying it would be a “disservice to the nation” if a one-loss SEC champ was left out of the BCS National Championship game. “To put it on that scope is laughable; he’s made a farcical situation even more comical,” said the CBS columnist. “Look, it’s not like Ohio State is playing in the MAC, it’s not like Florida State is playing in the Mountain West, those teams are good teams.”

My comment was confusing. I don't mean on timing so much, I just mean on kids wanting to play with someone like that. SVSM is arguably the top team in Ohio right now, regardless of division, and we just got two of their kids. This one in particular was a big get. So hopefully that propels more local kids to take Akron seriously. After some of the recent coaches we had, my understanding is that no local HS coach was recommending Akron to anyone. But the larger debate here... which is it? STVM or SVSM? There may be no more pressing issue.

Absolutely nothing here is accurate. I graduated in 96. Plenty of the things you claim weren't happening were absolutely happening at the time. Proenza has done an excellent job, but give me break. I was an engineering major. When the NSA came to do interviews for co-op, they mentioned that MIT was the only school they picked from before Akron. Most of my professors also worked in high level positions in the "real world" but were always available to help. As a side note, I didn't get picked by NSA, though a few of my friends did and I remember being disappointed. Now I feel like I caught a break.

Is this the type of commit that snowballs into a huge class? It could be.

I've been in on hiring decisions at a number of companies. The idea that the reputation of a school's sports team would have any influence on hiring them is ridiculous. "This guy was fired from his last job for excessive tardiness. But he has a degree from North Carolina and I see lots of kids wearing their gear, so let's give him a shot!"

NIU getting a title shot is the whole point. People on this board act like Akron is somehow in competition with Ohio State. Well, NIU is undefeated, and they can't even compete with a two-loss Arizona State team, let alone Ohio State. They're also well behind a one-loss Michigan State team. Any MAC fan talking up the SEC does so at the expense of their own conference. NIU sits one spot ahead of a three-loss LSU team. That's absurd.

Lol. So you think my degree is influenced by someone wearing a Zips sweatshirt? Ok. Man, those poor fools at MIT. I bet they never get a job with that degree.

I can see we can't have this discussion without people's jealousy of OSU breaking out. Say what you want about NIU being able to play with anyone - the point is they'll never get the chance. This isn't about OSU being ahead of them, it's about 2-loss teams being ahead of them. I have Akron gear and OSU gear. Please explain to me how an OSU sweatshirt devalues my engineering degree in the marketplace. That statement is beyond idiotic.

First off, Gladwell should be required reading for everyone. All of it. But for the MAC, Sun Belt, etc., why do they do it? I would guess that even at their lower levels, the money is just too good. Why rock the boat when everyone's getting paid? No one wants to lose the bowl system. Even now, as mad as Nick Saban has to be about getting left out of a championship because of a miracle, all he has to do is look at his bank account to feel better. I would think a 16 team playoff with the "big" schools and a 16 team playoff with the "mid-major" schools would make everyone a lot happier, and still generate a ton of cash. But it's only a concept. The current system is a proven winner, financially anyway. But does it produce the best team as champion? lolololol

With the wild weekend that just occurred, there's probably no bigger topic in sports right now than the BCS standings. A lot of debate about who should really be in the top 2, but you may notice that one team is getting exactly zero attention in that discussion - Northern Illinois. So is the MAC really an FBS conference? On paper, yes. In reality? Not even close. NIU is close to completing their second straight undefeated regular season, and they have a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate at QB (by far the most game-changing position in the sport), and yet they currently sit behind five (!) two-loss teams. What else is a MAC team supposed to do? They have a very good team, a top QB, and have a big zero in the loss column, but they won't even get close to consideration for a championship. At some point we should just be considered a different division of college football. It's clear the NCAA will never let a MAC team actually win a championship in football, so why not quit pretending and give us a legitimate shot at a championship.

Don't waste your breath. Guys like skip-zip are obsessed with Ohio State, and they're just going to take shots regardless. Really, who cares.

Before I read that article, I was sure he'd eventually return to a sideline. After reading, I have no idea now, but picturing him as our next president suddenly doesn't seem so far-fetched. Great article though. Glad he's at Akron.

This topic, in general, is what I've been wondering about the most the past few days. We just had our most successful season in a very long time and we should enjoy this Toledo win for quite a while, but the lifeblood of any college team is recruiting. Are we in a better spot there? So far I'm not sure. If we really want to be a top MAC program, I think we have to be a top-3 destination in conference. What I was trying to do is picture what I would do if I had offers from all MAC teams and no one else, and lived somewhere that didn't provide me with loyalty to any. Is Akron in my top 3? To be honest, I can't imagine. NIU, BG, Ball State, OU, Toledo.... these are still top destinations IMO. And if Miami gets the right head coach, that's still a great destination too. So I think we still have a ways to go, but I do feel we're pointed in the right direction.

We're not winning games because refs are handing us anything, we're winning games because we have better players and coaches. The MAC cares about filling their bowl slots, but instructing refs to fix games? Come on.

Just because someone is an Akron alumni doesn't mean they're going to care about the football team. People enroll at Akron for the education - that doesn't mean they have to become a sports fan. The average college fb fan is going to be much happier sitting at home watching a variety of games from the power conferences than going out and buying a ticket to the Zips.

Holy crap. What a great win to cap off the year! A huge improvement from last season. Congrats to players, coach and staff for giving up something to be proud of again!

They're a bunch of kids. Show some class.

You must not follow recruiting much. If you want out of your decision, you just verbally tell the school you're out. No problem. If you get hurt and the school wants out - tough luck. Make them honor the offer. Again, at worst he gets a free degree from a great school. It's a farce, but that is the point of college athletic programs. Your last paragraph just isn't true at all. If a player accepts the offer, that's it. Let's say Michigan is only taking 3 LB's in this class, they'd tell Ferns and every other LB they offer just that up front. And once three accept, all the other offers get pulled. Wait too long and you're out. A coach at a small school like St. Clairsville should be praised for landing kids at D1 schools. They're giving them a great opportunity few will get.

Right. They do hand out lots of offers. That's an advantage to committing early.

Hilarious. I think I could argue that Wally's team that made a run was the best MAC team I've seen. To see where they are now is remarkable. And the football team too - what a mess down there.

I think you're confused on this. Michigan offered him a scholarship. He accepted. He can back out, but Michigan has already made the offer. So he has the chance to play football for a "blue blood" that also offers a prestigious degree. I don't like Michigan, but being a "Michigan Man" opens a lot of doors in this world. It really doesn't matter when he accepted, that's a great offer and any kid would be a fool to turn it down. If Michigan offered the wrong kid, that's their fault, not his. Big Ten schools don't pull scholly's like the SEC does, so there's no reason for him to turn this down. Look at his 247 profile. He visited a bunch of schools, plus he's still getting offers. Alabama offered him just this year, after his commitment. There is no downside to committing that early when you're this caliber of a prospect.