skip-zip

But seriously, there's probably at least 10 teams every year that are capable of winning 2 games in January. Probably more. So, looking back in hindsight and seeing who actually won the games doesn't change anything in terms of making sure that the 4 most deserving teams are the ones that get to play. Actually, I even cringed when I said "most deserving", because we all know what happens with a group of people in a room. Some will have more knowledge than others. Some will be able to exert more power over others. And some will have motives that nobody else would be able to easily detect. For those who spend time in board rooms and meeting rooms way too often, you know what I mean. And I actually laughed hysterically when the chair of this committee tried to demonstrate their integrity by saying that the Suckeye Athletic Director (yes, he's on the committee) leaves the room when they are talking about them. So, I feel very reassured that he's not influencing any of those people when it comes to the school that pays his bills, and will stand to make a lot more money with a playoff appearance vs. no playoff appearance.

Ha Ha. I'm way past the coffee. I've even gotten a run in this morning. I'm ready to go !! I actually didn't know if you had miscounted. You should have stated it as "win all 5 of our remaining games".

??? That would only give us 8 wins.

Yes, there is a scenario where we can lose to OU, and still win the conference. But I felt that OU beating us, but losing their other two remaining games was pretty improbable, so I didn't include that. And our remaining games would become Must Win games for that scenario also. Instead of getting a few people all excited by saying that Miami doesn't matter, lets put it this way.... Beat OU Win EITHER of the other 2 remaining games. MAC East Champs!!! That's the only clear route without relying on other teams to lose games. This is why I've been saying that a Miami loss helped us last night. If Miami had won, we would have likely needed victories over BOTH Miami and OU to win the East.

Of course we can beat both of them. And it's OK to be greedy. I'm just telling you what we have to do to win the title. And the one game we absolutely HAVE TO win is going to be the most difficult of the 3 of them.

Well, as this Miami loss seem imminent, they are virtually eliminated from the race. So now the path becomes clear: Miami Game - Doesn't matter. OU - Win Kent - Win MAC East Champs

Which means that they both suck defensively? This is why you see them as unbeatable?

Which were mixed in with many other factors. The CFP is 100% subjective.

Exactly. The BCS was supposedly replace by the CFP to make it "better". Why would anyone believe that adding human bias would do that?

She's a first class lady, and actually a very big sports fan. But heck, doesn't that qualify any of us to be on the committee too ?

It doesn't matter where they are right now. They mysteriously moved them up 2 or 3 spots in 2014 during the final poll, even when all of the teams ahead of them won quite easily in their final games. They will move them when they start getting nervous about their projected CFP revenue numbers.

Balsy, We find something we can agree on. Since the Big 12 now has a championship game, they can't use the 2014 "championship game winner" justification anymore. Yet, they selected them 2 years later when they couldn't even GET INTO their league's title game.....and faced the embarrassment of watching them get annihilated 31-0 in the Semifinal. It doesn't matter. They want all of the honks flying all over the country to spend money at the games, and will do whatever possible to make it happen.

Wow. Thanks for sharing. That's a real Zips Fan, if you've saved pictures of that day for this long. Besides getting the trip to Detroit, I will always remember that day for being so incredibly nasty and cold on probably the biggest day in Akron football history. What an absolute shame that only a few people were able to brave the harsh conditions to enjoy it. If the weather was warm, maybe that game would have gotten decent attendance, and the big victory would have converted a good number of those attendees into lifelong Zips fans.

Actually, I was never much of a Metallica fan either. I just thought it was a good intro song. You didn't make me pee my pants.

I am an old 80's headbanger. I'm sure this means we both miss when we used to play Enter Sandman for the basketball player introductions.

I actually should have been more honest. Instead of 10-15, Miami might struggle to make it to 5.

I suppose you won't be one of the thousands who are organizing to "scream at the sky" on the anniversary of Trump's victory.

It felt like it. That was probably the windchill factor.

The Buffalo attendance last Saturday appeared larger to me. By the way, that game was ON Thanksgiving DAY !!

It could never rival the weather on Nov. 24th, 2005, which is the last time we had a game to clinch the MAC East Title. Weather data shows it was 36 for a high, and 14 for a low, with 2.5 inches of snow. Just in case anyone needs to be reminded. The way-too-early forecast shows 57 for a high and sun/cloud mix during the day. It will be a shame no matter what the weather brings, because we'd probably have 5-7k in the seats, even if we produced a 70 degree day.

If you would have put the rest of my quote in there, you would have shared the fact that I indicated that this is not acceptable in Akron. So, you obviously fit the mold. Even Crawford himself would have been happy with a 10-15 win season, considering that he never won more than 8 games in any of the 3 seasons he coached during our MAC era. I'll say that this year's Miami team will probably be one that will be happy to hit that mark also. By the way, did anyone see that one of the MAC coaches or writers actually picked Miami to win the Tournament? Miami's own coach? If so, I hope he entered it as a secret ballot to save embarrassment.

I could tell you that it depends on a lot of other circumstances just how quickly someone takes action (see below). But what's more important here is to note that the public's disgust over what is happening with the NFL (and it's negative impact) started last season anyway. Note that the Monday Night Football broadcast that they carry has received the brunt of the negative publicity about NFL ratings problems over the last year. And as another example, when ESPN starts reporting about what Texans players are going to do at an upcoming game, how many of them might kneel, and what the players have to say about a common phrase uttered by the owner, that they consider "racist", they continue to put another nail in their own coffin. So I think you're making a big mistake by minimizing the impact that the NFL is having on ESPN. And much more importantly (back to your point at the top), Disney isn't going to be very patient about taking action if ESPN is dragging down their stock price. It's funny to even read reports speculating that they might even be looking to dump ESPN.

I'd think that any MAC team under those circumstances is going to be picked to finish low in their division, Maybe the MAC coaches and media members were even being kind, and giving us some credit for past success, by only pushing us down to the 4th place spot in the East. Maybe we'll make lemonade out of lemons. But, predictions are predictions. And they are going to base them on what they see right now. I think it's probably even a testament to our recent success that people are actually calling a 10-15 win season a "horrible season". It demonstrates what we've grown to expect from our basketball program. I'm sure there's MAC teams that will be happy to win that many games this year. Not Akron. And I think that's a good thing (as Forrest Gump would say).

For those who don't know, there was a mad scramble within the athletic department in 2015 to get this lined up, when it looked like it was a good possibility that we'd go to the Bahamas. I'd say this is a good indication that we might be on the same path this year. I hope everyone learned something from that experience, and might be able to make it a little easier this time.

That all looks the same as what I've been seeing. But like you say, it sure makes OU the required MUST WIN to have a logical path.