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Quickzips...You know I already agree with many of your viewpoints on the direction we should go with our scheduling. But, these discussions I had with fellow fans were not on that topic at all.We were much more focused on how the economy might be impacting attendance, and seeing how our current trend this season might compare with the last few years.I don't think the economy is having as much of an impact as one might think. If you look at the one common opponent so far from this year to last year the numbers are practically the same.BG Last year: 3175BG This year: 3028Now this might play out a little different as the season goes on, but I don't really think it will. I think the rest of the MAC home schedule will end up being right around 3K people with a sell out for the Can't game like always.The fact is that the Zips are still a pretty cheap night of entertainment for people. It might be a bit expensive if you want season tickets in the lower bowl, but general admission tickets for a family of four doesn't set you back any more than going to the movies with that same family of four really. I think it all comes down to marketing and putting together a product on the court that excites people. Give them a quality experience for the money they are spending and they will want to come back and spend more money with you.You may have missed something last year. There were only 4,100 people at the Can't home game. And I might be inclined to attribute it to the fact that we had them in a Jan. game, instead of the season finale. But, we had 5,600 in attendance for a Jan. home game against Can't State 2 years earlier.Could Romeo, Dru, and Wood, as local boys, really be the reason why we had that period of higher attendance? We even had announced crowds of 4,100 and 5,200 for games against OU and BG in the final two conference home games that same year. Just some more data for thought on conference home attendance trends.

Quickzips...You know I already agree with many of your viewpoints on the direction we should go with our scheduling. But, these discussions I had with fellow fans were not on that topic at all.We were much more focused on how the economy might be impacting attendance, and seeing how our current trend this season might compare with the last few years.

I had a lot of discussions with people Saturday night concerning attendance. I'm interested in any thoughts, and welcome the statistical followers on here to chime in.I started getting a little concerned with the 2,000-ish numbers that were attending our non-league games. I felt that this number would jump once we started conference play, when the games became a little more meaningful, and we were playing some of the other Ohio MAC schools. BG vs. Akron - Approx. 3,000 (minus the no-shows)Some of the questons that were discussed:1) A decent jump from our non-conference attendance, but with it being a conference home opener, against another Ohio MAC school, does it still seem low?2) Can we attribute it to a very cold night?3) Can we attribute it to economic conditions such as families having less disposable income these days?4) Is this as good as it's going to get for home conference games (with the exception of Can't) ?5) The team is winning, so nobody I know can see that being an issue. I think some people expected a lot more with a MAC title, and the arrival of Zeke. But, how does a number like this really compare to attendance numbers for home conference games the last few years? And do the numbers tend to grow as the conference schedule progresses? I feel like our attendance, and local fan interest, last peaked during the Romeo/Dru/Wood era. But, maybe the numbers show me something else. Interested in any stats.

Nobody is asking us to play a schedule comparable to Miami's. Nobody, that I have EVER seen on here, has asked us to go on the road for most of our OOC games and play top-10 and top-25 teams all the time. All that we want is to not sit at home playing NAIA and D-III schools so much. Give me one or two more road games against top-50 type programs and a couple more home games against solid D-I mid-majors. That is all that I, or anyone on here, can really ask for. Give yourself a chance. A chance to MAYBE get some at-large consideration and a chance to catch a little bit of the attention from the local community based on who we played and hopefully who we beat. That is all.Quickzips...I think this is pretty much on the money. It's real simple for me. Two chances to make the NCAA tournament, instead of one. Even if we don't have enough success to put ourselves in position for an at-large bid? The MAC tournament opportunity is still there.And, one needs to look no further than the College of Charleston upset over North Carolina last week to see how doing something of national significance can tremendously impact the publicity a program receives. And it happens all the time. We just don't have enough of those opportunities. More opportunities = more chances to do something big = more chances to show prospective local fans that Akron is not "that minor-league college basketball program down the street".

I think the 2nd paragraph is right on the money. This is why we have to hope that we grow, in spite of the limitations. I think the MAC is always going to be the MAC, yet we are making investments to be something else. I sure hope it pays off.

Duke remains a basketball powerhouse despite their high academic requirements....right?Sure, it may be an advantage for us. But, I'm sure we could state many, many disadvantages from being a school like Akron, and competing athletically against the big-name conferences.

I've seen people use the MVC example before. That should pretty much puts a lid on the skepticism concerning the benefits of upgrading your schedule. But, some people apparently have their own opinion.

Obviously, I think every situation needs to be judged differently. On the surface, if a coach just grabs a guy by the facemask and says something to him, and that's it, I don't think that's a big deal. However, I'm sure there's varying degrees of anger that could turn that action from a simple situation into something more serious.

I usually don't like to judge game outcomes on "Ifs", but with an all american QB out of the game, how can you help it?I agree with you about Bama being on the ropes. If McCoy doesn't go out with Texas near the goal line, they would have probably gone up 10-0 early, and I don't think Bama could have kept up with that kind of scoring pace. The botched shovel pass was the play of the game. If not, Texas' backup QB would have put them in the lead in the 2nd half, and never would have had to try to engineer a 93 yard drive with 3 min. left. I'm not a fan of either team, but even with a completely inexperienced QB in the game, and a weary defense that spent way too much time on the field for the next quarter or so, Texas only needed a couple of plays to go differently, and they would have won the game. And Texas was doing some pretty simple play calling. I'm not too anxious to toot the horn of Bama's so-called great defense this morning. And come to think of it, Texas was a tick fo the clock away from not even making it to this game.Boise State is my #1

If only I felt like going on forever......I would have added these two to my list as well.

I don't think any of us are advocating an OOC schedule full of the best teams from the ACC and SEC.If by saying "balanced" you mean adding more of the types of games that give us a high enough SOS to have a legitimate chance at at-large consideration, more revenue for the program, better publicity, and more opportunities for victories that have some kind of national significance......then I agree with you that we should have a balanced schedule.

For whatever reason, some people don't want to see it that way.One of these situations has some benefits to us.The other one does absolutely nothing for us.

Two thoughts have me wondering how this game will turn out...1) Can Alabama's defense really play another game like they played against Florida?2) Can Texas' offense play much better than they played against Oklahoma?I really believe Texas is the more talented team. Texas 30Alabama 17

The MAC's top program needed double OT to beat Troy. What do you mean? Troy is in a top notch bottom of the barrel conference. The MAC is a bottom of the barrel, bottom of the barrel conference. Well...both leagues are pretty much in the same boat, but I understand your point. I certainly disagreed with those who felt that in some way the MAC champ would be so vastly superior to a Sun Belt champ. Again, Troy isn't the best champ I've ever seen come out of the Sun Belt, but they had plenty of impressive performances this year. However, I was a quite surprised that they made CMUs defense look almost nonexistent in racking up almost 600 yards of offense.

The area I have highlighted has been my exact thought for many years. I think that so many negatives come out of this scenario. Lower revenue, publicity, SOS, RPI, and not enough quality competition to be ready when the opportunity arises to play a quality opponent.So why do we do it? Oh, I forgot. As some try to say, the regular season doesn't matter. Only the MAC tournament. I guess I can cancel my season tickets and just buy MAC tournament tickets for now on? I'm simply not satisfied anymore if our program continues to rest our hopes every year on the "anything can happen" weekend in Cleveland every March. Haven't we already learned this lesson? In just the last few years, we've lost that tournament as a big favorite, and won it as a #5 seed. We need to start putting ourselves in a position to have more control over our own destiny.

BGSU 31 - Troy 14CMU 24 - BGSU 10Troy ammassed 45% of BG's total and BG ammased 41% of CMU's total. Indicating that the Troy offense is weaker than the CMU defense and the CMU offense is vastly superior to the Troy defense. I will say...CMU 35 - Troy 10Ok...although I don't believe Troy is the strongest Sun Belt champ I've ever seen, I always have to argue with this sort of logic....A beat BC beat ASo....C would REALLY beat the heck out of BTroy's loss to BG was back in the first game of the season, on the road. They've played plenty of good games to go 9-2 since then, including keeping a November game against Arkansas within 2 scores until near the beginning of the 4th quarter. They also dismantled a 10-3 Middle Tennessee team who went to a bowl game themselves. But I sure hope the MAC champ can help us all look better with a win.

Sometimes, these things are not easy to explain. Often, it's his chemistry with the team. Or, maybe it's a trust thing. But, towards the latter part of last season we started playing better basketball with McNees in the game. And our coach seemed to go to the McNees/Roberts combo much more often, even before the MAC tourney. And those two guys have since emerged as the guards to get the majority of playing time this year. Humpty's role seems to be going in the direction that I always felt it would. He's going to be that spark plug guy who comes off the bench to try to score some points. Maybe (for my fellow old timers) a role similar to what Vinnie Johnson played on the great Pistons teams in the 80s. It might not be the end of Humpty's chances to possibly become a 30 minute per game "floor general" type of player. But, I don't see it happening again until possibly when Steve graduates. I still believe that Steward will fit the "offensive quarterback" mold better than anyone on our team.

The only way Nicely doesn't return as the starter, is if he transfers out.Honestly, after what I saw this year, I'm still hoping for a Getsy/Biggs-type situation where the new coach gets a few good skill position players to transfer INTO our program.

And maybe you are right. But unfortunately, they don't have a #9 or a #3 attached to their name, which makes such an upset attractive to sports sections in newspapers all over the country. I'd like to play more teams like either of them....and much more often.

The College of Charleston knocked off the #9 Tar Heels last night. The story was a headline on the front of the sports section of our hometown paper today, and there was a big article at the top of Page 2 of the sports section.And it is not the first time it has happened. Charleston also knocked off a #3 ranked Tar Heels team back in 1998.To me, this brings so much truth to the statement......"if you don't schedule the games, you can't win them". Just imagine....If they are getting that much publicity in an Akron, Ohio newspaper for recording such an upset, image what they are getting nationwide today? This could be us.

It's because everytime he steps on the field his team loses again. He is a big part of the losing. I don't think his "bashers" need to rehash the obvious. He almost threw a spiral yesterday...I guess that's a continuation of his "building" his career. Charlie will be on a team next year as a back-up.Completing 72% of his passes, against the Ravens defense, with a 105 QB rating?Yep...I'd blame the loss on him too I'm not stunned, because unlike you, I acknowledge the guy's talent. But I think that any objective observer, knowing the season-long lack of performance of the Oakland offense, Charlie's long layoff from starting, the number of key injured starters on his team, and running around on one leg for a good part of that half, would find his performance pretty darn impressive. And like an old friend always says to me....should we say Dan Marino wasn't any good because he did not win a Super Bowl?Teams win and lose....not one of the 22 individual players, who all need to be have talent, and contribute, to win games. And anyone who is paying attention knows where Oakland stands, and where the Browns stood during his time in Cleveland.

I'm only wondering why a current defensive coordinator at a Big 11 school would consider leaving to go to a MAC school?

Nearly a full day after the Ravens vs. Raiders game, and the Charlie bashers seem to be remaining in hibernation once again. It’s not hard to figure out why. But, even as a Charlie supporter, I am even pleasantly surprised at some of what I've seen.1) OVER 500 yards passing in his last 6 quarters of play…part of that against one of the best defenses in the league, which was knocking him all over the place. The other part of it coming on a cold, snowy day in Cleveland, which resulted in the highest yardage total of the week in the NFL. 2) An impressive 105.4 QB rating while completing 72% of his throws against the Ravens. And not just the normal Ravens, but a Ravens defense playing with a playoff spot on the line, and Ed Reed back at Safety after missing several weeks. 3) He accomplished this with several key offensive players out of the lineup for both games, with an offensive unit that was already ranked at or near the bottom of the league in major categories. 4) He willed the Raiders down the field right before halftime for a TD drive, which included a number of great plays (including a run for a first down), when he was limping so bad he should not have even been in the game. Even the TV commentators kept talking about the accuracy of many of this throws, and his ability to make plays after playing very little over the last few years. I’m not shocked, but I am surprised at how rapidly his production progressed over the period of the few games where he has been a starter, in spite of the challenges he was facing. It’s just too bad the season is over, and he won’t have an opportunity to possibly do more. I’ll also take back what I said last week, when I said that he may not have done enough yet to show NFL execs that he’s ready for a chance to be an NFL starter again.

Lets start by expecting that we "should" win every conference home game. And then go from there, and get as many as we can on the road.I won't be happy being the 5th seed in the MAC tourney again. Not with the current expectations, and our desire to start to separate ourselves from the rest of our league.

Just a couple of comments...1) Texas has indeed become notorious for getting nearly all of their players from Texas. But, that doesn't seem to be the typical route when looking at the top programs. 2) Speed doesn't come from the South. Teams in the South recruit speed. And the most noticable difference to me might be on the defensive side of the ball. Even at the interior positions. Go look at the championship game 3 years ago between OSWho and Florida, and the way Florida's defensive linemen ran around OSWho's front line, for a good example of this. 3) I'm sure weather can be a factor to plenty of high school football players being recruited. But, that doesn't always mean that the South has a clear advantage. Remember, those guys have to go through August workouts in 100+ degree weather with high humidity. 4) I think style of play is a big issue right now as well. The teams from the South just appear to be staying ahead of the curve right now in terms putting things into action on the field that will win championships. For instance, this year the only two "cold weather" teams with a shot at playing in the national title game as the season drew to a close were Cincinnati and Boise State. Does anyone really believe that either of them could have legitimately competed against either Florida, Alabama, or Texas for a national championship?