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Difficult for me to see any way this can end up within 50 points Zips 108 Billikens (sorry, Milliken) 41

I think you did just give some free advice. Show appreciation towards your fans by not allowing other to purchase tickets for less than what the die hards purchased theirs for. Second, become a marketing wizard like Waddell at Cincy by winning games. It isn't difficult. Put a winning product on the field and fans come. Put crap on the field and fans stay home. There is a reason marketing is the easiest business major....it isn't that hard. I have a marketing idea for the Zips and if fits the current state of the program. Everyone attending the next two home games will receive a free blue and gold Zips bucket autographed by TW. Fans can use the bucket to throw up in while watching the Zips play. There...I'm done giving out marketing ideas as well. Something everyone could use. Sounds perfect. Seriously though, simple supply and demand should determine pricing. And I don't know the right solution, but I'd think that we're spinning our wheels trying to sell tickets for these prices when a few thousand people are in attendance. And as a fan, I'd opt for seeing people walking in the gates for free right now, if that's what it takes to get some excitement in that place.

It's funny. We all can't wait to see what the professional prognosticators have to say, even though we know it means practically nothing. But at least we get some idea of what they are seeing, and can weigh it against our own thoughts. My prediction: Same as the last 5 years. 2-3 teams will be near the top of the East standings, and whichever way the ball bounces in that last week will determine the East winner. That's just the way it is.

I sure wish we were only talking about poor stats. But, we're talking about the absolute bottom of the list, by a good margin. Even with a pretty successful run game for support. I guess the lovefest may not have completely faded for everyone over the last two seasons. However, I'm sure all of the other 119 QBs on the list all have schemes that work, effective protection, and their receivers don't drop passes. Yep...that has to be it.

Are we not men?

I like the idea of Egner playing now, simply because of our situation. With the departure of Jimmy and Chris, defense and rebounding in the frontcourt could prove to be our biggest hurdle as the season starts. Egner seems to have the ability to help us in that area.

On the offensive side, I would agree...except for TE & FB. We need some talented receivers and some consistent line play more than anything on that side of the ball. Open competition isn't just to find new people. It can also be a method of making certain who you have starting is really the person you want. Sort of like proving a theory. A theory is proven when all other possibilities are proven false. Prove that all possible TEs and FBs besides the two starting are not as good and you prove that you have the best people at the position. It will only make the team better by having ALL members of the team fighting for a starting position. Even though these two positions are not that important to the success of a football team, they should be challenged to be better players. You are preaching to the choir gp. If the coaching staff had just spent some time before the season trying to determine who the best players were and make them the starters instead of using that stupid lottery system things would be a lot different now. And could there be a more glaring example than the QB position? Our starter is now comfortably sitting in the LAST spot in the ESPN Rating chart of 110 D-1A QBs this season, and by a pretty decent margin behind the #109 spot.

Good point. It will probably be the only drama that this contest will offer.

If everything goes as planned, it will certainly look like a scrimmage.

When Kelly gets a QB like Dan L and Pike at ND, he will win 8-9 games. The secret to coaching is catching lightning in a bottle then moving up the pay scale. Kelly will do that at ND for a couple of years and then fall back down to 6-7 wins a get fired like all the rest. He can then retire on a giant buy out. Good players made Brian Kelly and all other coaches. Remember two years ago everyone talked about Jim Grobe being the best coach in America? This season, his Wake team is sitting at two wins against the mighty Blue Hose of Presby and Duke. Hear anyone saying he is the best coach in America? He was a great coach when he had the Seahawks Aaron Curry, the Lions Alphonso Smith, the Panthers Kenny Moore and Riley "Rhymes with Winner" Skinner all on the same team. Those guys leave and he is back to the guy who coached at OU. How many people know Jim Grobe has a sub .500 caree record as a head coach? There are few great coaches. Kelly and Grobe are not great, but they are great when they are like all coaches who get surrounded by great players. Take away the great players and they are no longer great. Go figure. Anyhow, back to the Zips...... I'm going to go work out. So... if you really can recruit great players then you don't actually have to be a great coach to win? I'll jump in on this. And I've believed for a long time that this applies to any sport.... Coaches certainly get far too much credit and blame. When they win, everyone thinks their coach is good. When they lose, everyone thinks their coach is bad. I think that good coaches make players better, but I don't believe in miracles. Even the best coaches can't build a successful program with bad players. But when you have bad players and bad coaching, you can have an absolute disaster on your hands. Does this remind you of any team right now?

No...it should have been KNOCKED DOWN. It was 4th down. No need for a pick. But I know....a lot of other plays that could have affected this game.

......and Buffalo is still on the schedule

I think people forget that. OU beat us once in three games last year, and it was a victory that needed extra time to accomplish. As far as OU coming out of nowhere, our only comparison is probably what we did the year before. Strange that the lowest two seeds to ever win the MAC tournament happened in the last two years. I guess it tells us to expect anything. If the Browns beat the Steelers twice in the regular season...and the Steelers beat the Browns in the AFC Championship game to go to the Super Bowl...who was better? Who had the more successful season? Teams either get better, or get worse as a given season progresses. OU got better over the course of the '09 - '10 season. In March, they were playing better basketball than the Zips. And that's when it counts. Not January. And here we are again....back to the argument that will be waged until the end of time. Who is better? The team that played better during the course of the regular season? Or the team who played better in the conference tournament?

I think people forget that. OU beat us once in three games last year, and it was a victory that needed extra time to accomplish. As far as OU coming out of nowhere, our only comparison is probably what we did the year before. Strange that the lowest two seeds to ever win the MAC tournament happened in the last two years. I guess it tells us to expect anything.

I respectfully disagree with both you and CK. There's not as much margin for error in soccer as there is in American football. It was definitely a big upset, but I wouldn't compare it to Akron defeating the #1 FBS team in the country, no matter the RPI difference. I think we should concentrate more on Coach Porter's other tweet..."Keep the Faith". I've become spoiled in the last 2 seasons given all of the Men's Soccer Team's success. But, they are human and can and do make mistakes. Hopefully, this is just a minor setback from which they'll recover and go on to pick up 1 of the top 4 seeds (and home field) in the NCAA Tournament. GO ZIPS! Remember, I was referencing only the difference in ranking. But, you just reminded me again why I like watching the Zips play soccer, but dislike the game in general. In a world of 1-0 games and limited scoring opportunities, major upsets probably are much more likely to happen in Soccer than in Football. It does lead me to believe that even if we have the most awesome team ever in college soccer, we may lose on our way to a national championship simply by one lucky bounce in a split second during 90 minutes of great play. That would be a total bummer. But I know it happens.

Recruiting?? Couldn't happen soon enough.

At something like 140 in the RPI, with a .500 record, I have to look at how good they are THIS YEAR. I agree with the Captain. This is a colossal upset. Imagine Akron knocking off the #1 D1-A football team in the country right now, and you probably have your comparison in terms of ranking difference.

It appears Bassett's hopes of leaving OU to play in the NBA are pretty remote.

Not a bad idea. You know, we always need to keep something in perspective whenever one of us decides to compare our programs/coaches. We have the best soccer talent in the country. We don't have the a prayer of ever having the best basketball or football talent, and never will.

If I'm directing my comments at the same thing as K-Roo, and I think I am, it's a direct hit at their inability to draw attendance....whether they're bad or average.

Can't Football? 40 Degree Weather? Good Luck Dougy

Wow. The game I consider the most winnable conference game to date, and we're a 2-touchdown underdog. Our level of respect has definitely reached a new low.

I know that the reality for a school like Akron is that he is going to get a few years, no matter what we think. But, since we've all now witnessed that his inexperience as someone running a program, and making the calls on the field, is showing, I at least have to wonder if this on-the-job learning experience is going to produce a suitable coach for us, even if we do keep him a few more years. I don't feel good about the prospects of that happening. And I pray that I'm wrong.

EXACTLY my point. This is the painfully rare exception that proves the rule. I've been watching the Cleveland-centric televised newscasts for over two decades now, waiting, waiting, waiting for some recognition and acknowledgment to be shown to Akron. Has never come. If the past is a good indicator of the future, it will never come. If Cleveland chooses to pretend Akron doesn't exist, we can return the favor. The King sure did. Cleveland can crumble into the murky lake. Go Akron! Go Zips! Bingo!!!!