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The heck with next year. I am sure the coaches are going to do what they can to win NOW. Like I keep saying, the positive could be that Jeremiah gets some rest. He would have been one beat-up dude at the end of the season if he had kept going like he was, and handling everything he was doing. IF he does return, and if he can contribute anything close to what he did when he was healthy, it would be a huge emotional lift for this team. Sure, anything can happen in the MAC tournament, but the bye is key. If not, we'd play 4 games that week, which is a decided disadvantage. Winning one of those road games @OU or @Miami would likely help us secure that #4 spot. Once again, I think that C. McKnight and Bardo need to combine for 10-15 rebounds, and 10-15 points in order to adequately compensate for Wood, and make people have to guard in the low post, which will open up some perimeter shots. If this does not happen, our guards will get blanketed, and it's all over. Chris did his part in the Ball State game, but Bardo needs to really start getting more aggressive.

Zipfan81...I'm not faulting anything B. Mc has done. I do believe he is going to be a good player. But I am only questioning whether it is worth a year of eligibility if you are only going to play him a couple of minutes each game? And, would it have been more advantageous for us to have played Swiech and redshirted B. Mc since we were thin on post players, even before Jeremiah's injury.

Quickzips...Roodog...I'm with you on this. I keep hearing people all the time on here say things like "playing big-time schools is not worth the paycheck". But the point is, there is so much more to gain than just the paycheck. Even after the new stadium is built, I would ABSOLUTELY be in favor of playing at Browns Stadium again down the road, if it means that we are playing someone of some significance. If that's what it takes for the Buckeyes to play us outside of Cowlumbus, we should jump at that opportunity. In addition, we have to understand that winning MAC GAMES is not going to have a significant impact on area college football fans who are not already Akron fans. Things we accomplish on a NATIONAL LEVEL are the only factors that will significantly impact that cause. And that means winning the MAC games, playing and beating some schools from higher level conferences, and looking competitive against a top-ranked opponent. If we can ever get to that point, just watch how many people in this area will proclaim that they have "always been a Zips fan".

Continuing on what someone else said about wasting a year of eligibility for Brett McKnight...How much better off might we be right now if we had played Swiech this year, instead of B Mc. ??Even with J. Wood in the lineup, we still lack the depth in the post positions than what we have available to play the 3-guard/small forward assignment. I'm still thinking that the coaches felt that Bardo would be much further along than what he is at this point.

Excellent effort. These guys could have really folded with the news they got this week. Linhart is really growing as a player. And Nick Dials is...well.....Nick Dials. He played on pure determination tonight. What will we get out of Cedrick the rest of the year?Where is Conyers when we really need him?Great two-game run for C. McKnight. He is going to be a difference maker over the next couple of weeks, and we really need it. And lastly....I said earlier that we need to get 10-15 points and 10-15 rebounds out of C. McKnight and Bardo combined while Jeremiah is out. Well, we got 11 points and 8 rebounds out of C. McKnight, but virtually nothing from Bardo. That HAS to change.

Blue and Gold...after reading the last few posts, you are the only one who touches on the ONLY thing that would elevate our football program enough to start drawing in significantly larger numbers of followers......NATIONAL RANKING.Winning MAC football games doesn't mean a whole lot to the Akron-area college football fan who does not already have an interest in Akron football. NATIONAL RANKING will be the only factor that will start to pull those people in.So, what do you do??Unlike basketball, where you play 30+ games, you can't afford to lose football games and still get national ranking. So, a formula like Quickzips suggests would probably get it done. So, if you can run the table in the MAC in a given year, and beat a couple of recognizable programs from BCS conferences, you may just be able to get into that top-25 spot.

For those that don't know, that is our D-Coordinator's son. He is slated to be a Safety when he comes here, but they are thinking, because of his age, that he'll likely put on 20-30 pounds and become a linebacker. He'll likely be way too big to play rover, if he still has some growing left in him.

Some good thoughts.First, regardless of what some people were saying on this site, I knew the Patriot Bowl was going to be a failure. We played a bad program, on a holiday weekend, and were counting on the "NE Ohio Casual College Football fan", most of which don't care about anyone except Ohio State, to show an interest. I really think someone missed the boat on calculating the chances of this being a success. A game at Cleveland Stadium against Michigan would certainly be a great draw. So would a game against Penn State. They are both close enough to bring their own fans, and the Suckeye fans would show up too, since a Big-11 team is involved. But what are the chances of those schools going out of state for such a game? To me, there's just a HUGE difference between getting Ohio State to play a game in Cleveland, and getting Michigan or Penn State to play a game in Cleveland. I have no problem playing Ohio State. The last two times we've played them we've lost by 14 points, and 18 points. Keep this in mind. I've been around Akron football for 30 years, and have seen some very good people work hard to try to make these kinds of things happen. It's not easy. In fact, trying to grow a bottom echelon D-1 football program into something special has to be one of the hardest tasks in sports. So, what do we do?I'd like to see if we can take things one step at a time and take these games against the Kentucky's, the Cincinnati's, and the Syracuse's at our new stadium. AND...I'd like to see if we can duplicate Bowling Green's feat of getting the Suckeyes to play them in Cleveland. Beyond that, playing games in Akron, or in Cleveland, against top-rated programs are really a remote possibility, until we can get nationally-ranked, or ever become fortunate enough to enter one of those bigger conferences.

Quickzips...I like your analysis of the McKnights. That's pretty much my thoughts.I'm certainly not suggesting that Bardo step right in as a freshman last year and play any kind of significant role. But, I am suggesting that someone should have looked ahead to this year, and our lack of post players, and gotten him onto the court last year. Being able to play last year and this year, surrounded by so many seniors, would have been a much easier 2-years for him to acclimate himself to D-1 basketball, as opposed to next year when he is really going to be alone out there. Practice sessions have to be coupled with game-speed experience in order to get someone ready to play. We really could have used a Mike Bardo, with a little bit of game experience under his belt, going into this year. And next year, when we will need to count on him even more, I just don't think he is going to be "there" yet.

What a costly "luck of the draw" situation for us.WMU is clearly the best team in the West Division.Can't played them at home.OU plays them at home.Akron had to play them on the road.Maybe this was not meant to be our year.

I certainly understand the thinking of not having an arena that is too big, for the fear of having it look very "empty". That doesn't do much for home court advantage.On the other hand, I really believe that if Akron builds a 10,000 seat arena the next time around, we could really run the risk of ourgrowing it somewhere down the line. It's a tough call. Maybe something that has the ability to close off upper sections is the right compromise.

I've already commented on this on another thread, but there is still an issue that has not come up.How much of this problem of being thin on talent in the post has been amplified by redshirting Bardo for a year, and Swiech for a year? Didn't anyone see that we were really going to be short on muscle and size coming into this season?I'm definitely thinking that C. McKnight will be more likely to develop into a post player than his brother.

bigzipguy....i know. He was going to be such a big piece of our puzzle coming down the stretch, and he is even going to be bigger now. He's the only "big man" we have right now with the skills to get it done in points, rebounding, and defense.

Well, most of what I have been pleading about C. McKnight lately has been our absolute need to have him get himself ready to be able to help Jeremiah as the season grows towards a close. But, now it's time for him to get it done without Jeremiah on the floor. Whether we like it or not, we are going to see more and more of next year's team. It may not be what we expected to be watching at this point of the season, and it may not be pretty, but it is what it is.Obviously, my hope is that a rested Jeremiah returns in March, joins a cast of players in the paint that have grown, and can lead us to a MAC tournament win.Hey, luck was not on our side last year. But, since we haven't gotten to the tournament since I was a student, maybe it is truly our turn.

zipsbandman...we still had road games to play at Miami, and at Ohio anyway. So, the road to the East title was going to be very difficult after the loss to WMU. And Can't State has already played those two road games.

Our greatest fear becomes reality. Teams will now be able to pick up our guards on the perimeter with little fear of anyone being able to hurt them in the paint. Plus, without the double-downs, it will become even more rare for us to see open shooters standing at the 3 point line. We knew this was coming. He has appeared to be getting a little more tired as the season has progressed. His accuracy around the hoop has suffered, and he's really taken a physical pounding trying to handle the load in rebounding and interior defense.If anything, maybe he will return for the Can't game and the MAC tournament well-rested. Now we'll see if Bardo and C. McKnight are able to give us what we've needed from them all along in the paint. We'll need these two to combine for 10-15 points, and 10-15 defensive rebounds every game if we are to get through the next few weeks.

My thoughts....Would have been nice to see Can't State blow this one. It does make it look like this game will certainly not be as easy as first expected.Was nice to see Ohio get another loss. They seem to have a knack for losing games they should not lose over the last couple of years. Some of the young guys are indeed showing "improvement", but without guys like Wood and Dials, we would struggle to win any games down the stretch this year. And as far as next year goes, I'm still trying to figure out how we are going to have at least 5 guys who are truly showing that they are "there", and can make significant contributions coming out of the gate in November. I've been saying this all along, but C. McKnight is the only guy besides Wood who is capable of making a significant contribution on both ends of the floor in the paint. Hopefully, his confidence has grown after this last game, and he is now ready to bring those contributions every night. We won't win a MAC championship without another post player. And, Jeremiah, as predicted, is really starting to show signs of wearing down. Unfortunately, our hopes of winning the MAC East title took a big blow with that loss on Wednesday. We are now a game behind Can't, PLUS they have already played their road games at Miami, and at Ohio. We still have to play those two games. It's not looking good right now. We'll definitely need some help from elsewhere.

GoZips...I am thinking the same thing. The best players in Florida? Going to a school in Virginia? That plays in something-like the 18th rated conference in the country? Ummm..something's not right here. But besides that, it's this year's Zips against this year's VCU team. So....on to the game...If we assume that the conferences are equal (although most experts rate the MAC higher than the Colonial) then VCU is no better than a "good" MAC team; the kind that we play every night. And we know what has happened recently when those kinds of teams (Miami or BG) come to the JAR when we are playing well, and get contributions from everyone. So, predicting that we blow this out at 20+ is pretty accurate, if we play our game. I see a game similar to the Akron vs. Austin Peay game last year. It's just far too difficult to make that kind of road trip, figure out the arena, and the opposing team, when you are playing one of these bracket buster games right in the middle of your conference play.

Hmmm..Can't State beat George Mason by 18 points...and WE'VE BEATEN Can't STATE 4 OF THE LAST 5 TIMES WE'VE PLAYED THEM OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.Do you need to know anything more than that? District Baller...that's EXACTLY what we are saying. You're bragging about the POY in your state going to VCU, when the 3rd rated player in your STATE signed with a lowly MAC school. Does that not tell you anything?

Good point .....GoZipsHey, how bout "those apples" district baller?? A MAC school got the 3rd rated player in your state.So, since you brag that you got this top-notch Virginia talent to come to VCU, then why would your 3rd ranked player IN THE STATE go to a lowly MAC school??

Right...now you want to bash the level of talent in Ohio?? The place that everyone, no matter where you live, calls the "hotbed" of high school athletic talent? Where every college coach comes to recruit??If the Virginia player of the year goes to a Colonial conference team, doesn't that tell you something?Go ahead and get the shovel and dig your hole a little deeper now.

Oh no...now this guy is going to talk about recruits.Do you know that we've landed several All-Ohio players in the last couple of years?? Do your homework "buddy". Yes...a MAC school...how about that? Maybe these guys should have considered the Colonial. But I didn't hear that any of them did. I wonder why?

Zippy 5...a little harsh, but you are right. I want to know how any of the Colonial Conference faithful can think that this is a "shaft job".YOU ARE PLAYING THE 1ST PLACE TEAMFROM THE BEST DIVISIONIN A HIGHER RANKED CONFERENCEIN A PLACE WHERE THEY ARE VIRTUALLY UNBEATABLE.WHAT MORE OF AN OPPORTUNITY CAN YOU WANT THAN THAT???????????????The "Austin Peay" reference is surely a reference to the fact that a lower ranked conference is sending one of their top teams to our place. This has not worked out well for these folks in the last few years. Consider it a great victory if you can keep it under 20 (unless we put in the subs midway through the 2nd half).

Ok...If anyone has a theory of how this team could score points without Jeremiah on the floor, I want to hear it. As someone who has spent nearly my entire life around basketball, coaching, and around some very successful coaches, I can tell you that every team that plays us would play tight man defense on every player on the floor for us, and could completely contest every one of our shots, if it wasn't for the fact that we have Jeremiah standing in the post. Let me clarify... I am not talking about his scoring....or his rebounding..... I'm merely talking purely about his presence on the floor...ALONE. And just for the sake of argument, someone mentioned that Nate is the emotional leader on the floor. But, I clearly have thought that guy has been Nick Dials for the last couple of years. Captain's point is well made. Where is MORE help coming from?I will keep saying what I have been saying for weeks....We DEPERATELY need someone who can score some points in the post, AND provide a defense/rebounding presence, for a decent number of minutes each night. And I still believe that the only guy capable of making that contribution at both ends of the floor is C. McKnight. If he doesn't get more minutes now, I think we'll miss our opportunity to have that "other presence" when we get to the games that really matter.

District Baller... we certainly appreciate your enthusiasm for this upcoming game. But when we see people come on here challenging us on the improbable idea that a team from a less-than-premier conference (I'm being nice) can pull off a win in our arena, we're going to comment. I mean, is it really THAT big of a stretch to compare a good OVC team to a good Colonial team? Come on. And....you base your thoughts on our entire history as a D1 team? I suggest you take a look at where we are right now. Isn't that what really matters?1) 5th best current home win streak in the country....yes...the COUNTRY2) Only loss over the LAST 3 SEASONS is to a top-ranked Nevada team...and by ONE POINT.We've smoked some GOOD teams at home by 30+ points, and we've already had our close call already this year. Seriously, if you guys can get within 20 points of us, consider it a victory. Most people do. We really appreciate that we are not playing a scrub, so we're glad we got a decent matchup. But, my suggestion is, if you consider yourself to be knowledgable about college basketball, is to think seriously about staying away from talking smack to the fans of a team that is one of the most unbeatable teams in the country at home.