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I'm scratching my head trying to figure out why a Cleveland network would want to televise a MAC game when neither of the schools are in their viewing area?

That was Jamie Reader. I believe he had a couple of stints in the NFL over a period of years.

It may be the 50th meeting, but I don't believe it's the 50th anniversary. I think there are some years that we didn't play each other.I'll leave the actual stats up to those of you who like to search.

I believe that most of the difference between our game, and the sellout of the Chicago game, really comes down to two factors.1) It's a Big Ten team.2) Their campus is only 200 miles away.What if we were playing Penn State at Browns Stadium? A Big Ten school with a campus only about 4-5 hours away? And NIU was playing Army in Chicago?I think you'd see a complete reversal of the scenario that is shaping up right now.This is not to say that we should throw in the towel on this one. But, there are factors with the Chicago game that just make it a natural sell.

Can't comes here for our season opener. And after personally sitting there last year as we got embarrassed, this year's game better be an absolute pounding.I'm not seeing 8 wins, but I hope they are right. I'll be happy with being over .500.

Wake up dude. How often do they beat us in football? They've won only a couple of games a season for the last 20 years. And we beat them in basketball all three times we played them last year.

This is always a hot topic...I only ask that everyone focuses on what we need to show to even attract the interest of one of these conferences, as opposed to focusing on what being IN the conference will do for us in terms of generating revenue.We'll need to show that our football program is a revenue-generator BEFORE any of these leagues will even consider taking a look at us. And that will be a monumental task.

Some very good observations here.Even if most of these challenges are met, I believe that we will still have the same obstacle in place. We do not generate enough football revenue to draw the interest of a larger conference.If we use the S. Florida situation as a benchmark, when does anyone think we would realistically be able to demand $20-$30 per ticket and sell 30,000 of them? Right now, we're doing all that we can just to sell 16,000 tickets for $8 each to corporate interests just to stay D-1 eligible.Even if we do continue to make positive changes, it would take a very, very long time before we'd ever be able to double our paid attendance while demanding double the ticket price.

Well, I don't think we should be too concerned about Can't. If we are to win 8 games we BETTER beat Can't at home.This is really a stretch. If we lose to OSU, Indiana, WMU, and UCONN on the road, which are all fairly likely, we'd have to win EVERY other game to have 8 wins. That's very optimistic.

It is interesting though to note that OSU can play a really weak OOC basketball schedule, pad their win total, and still get a good tourney seed because of the strength of their conference, even if they do not win many conference games.Which leads me back to the argument I've been trying to make for 25 years.Should wins count more? Or, who you play?I'm for the former.

Sure, Romeo may have gotten on the CAVS summer league team because of his connection with LeBron, but he's the MAC Player of the Year. It's not as if this is an absolute gift. He's earned at least a chance at making an NBA team.Some stiffs end up getting onto NBA teams. But just because we don't regard them as NBA level players, it doesn't mean that they don't serve a role for the team they are on.For instance, a guy like Pollard can fill some space in the middle if everyone gets into foul trouble. So, he is essentially an insurance policy.Newble had a great outside shot, and was a very good defender. But I have to think his days are now numbered. Brown?...they are still hoping to develop him.My point is, even some of the guys at the end of the bench are there for a reason. But, at the NBA level, what can Romeo really accomplish?He won't be able to score in the post against NBA-size players.He's only a fair jump shooter.He'd have a difficult time rebounding because of size disadvantages.He wouldn't be able to guard most NBA forwards. I'd love to see him make an NBA team. But, I just don't see what he can offer, even as an end-of-the-bench role player. So, his chances still remain pretty darn slim at this point.

I think that's a good point skhorbotly. OSU doesn't have to worry too much about their OOC schedule since they get a very high SOS rating at the end of the season due to their conference schedule.

I sure hope this is how it turns out, but I'm not feeling it right now. blueandgold..I agree with you. I don't see why guys like Stokes, Grant, Corner and Mackey are not all on the first and second teams.

I'll say this again....Please hope that we don't make the mistake that we made with Rhodes Arena, which is to build something that is a good replacement for the previous facility, but will be inadequate as the University continues to grow. With that said, I hope this plan looks 20 or 30 years ahead in it's design. If not, several MAC schools will build newer and better facilities in the coming years, and we'll eventually look inadequate.

I wonder if any of this has to do with the newer NCAA regulations that require schools to have as many women's sports as men's sports?

I'd also be dissappointed if the stadium is not a "bowl" design. Even if it has one open end, I don't think a D-1 stadium should ever be built with only a set of bleacher-looking sections on each side.

Great research uakronkid. I'll have to agree that there probably is no way to get to the big tournament without winning the MAC tournament. I just wish that wasn't the case. But we can at least help our case by continuing to upgrade our OOC schedule.

Of course, I have my concerns when someone was receiving no other scholarship offers.On the other hand, I like getting QB's. High school QB's are often one of the best athletes on their team, which does indeed give a school like Akron an opportunity to plug him into another role.

It's an upgrade from last year....I'll give it that.The real question you have to ask yourselves is this.......Is this schedule strong enough for us to get an at-large bid if we do not win the MAC Tournament? If the answer is "no", then it's not good enough. We already know, after last year's results, that we can't get into the tournament with 25 wins anymore. We have to play at least a couple of top-ranked teams, even if those games are on the road.

This "neutral site" comment poses an interesting question for discussion....Who gets more fans to this game? The Iowa team that is in the Big Ten and is only about 3 hours away? Or NIU, which is only a MAC team, but has the game virtually in their own back yard?Now, put Akron into the picture. If we were playing a game at Cleveland Stadium against a Big Ten team from a neighboring state that was only a 3-hour drive away, who do you think would have more fans? For instance, let's imagine that Penn State's campus was only 3 hours away. Just a curiosity.

To follow up on one of Z-P's comments, I have actually heard people in the old athletic administration make the comment that "Leftwich's broken leg saved Owens' job". Even though Leftwich was injured, that game gave us a glimmer of hope that maybe (just maybe) we were making some progress against the top level teams in the MAC. Unfortunately, the next year was a return to the "same old, same old".

I disagree with part of what InTheZone says. I think someone that has BCS talent, and maybe had someone better playing in front of them, CAN indeed be a star in the MAC. Sometimes, a guy like him just needs an opportunity to be on the field regularly to show what he's got.On the other hand, there can be underlying issues with a transfer. But there is no indication so far that this guy falls into that category. And, of course, he still needs to actually get on the field.Lets just hope this is not another good deal "on paper" that never materializes on the field.

I'm having flushbacks to my student days, when Rhoades Arena was completed.Let us hope that we are not too "ambitious", and do this right. Some things would have been done better, and we'd be in better shape today, if we had not been in such a hurry to have a new basketball arena. I'd like to see a different outcome this time around.

We can only hope this line of thinking stays this way for Can't.They are looking at renovating their current "high school" gym. We are building new facilities.This should further separate us from them.

That would have been like Gerry Faust hiring Jim Dennison's son to be an assistant coach. It just doesn't work for me. I wish him well though. And frankly, I don't he'd ever feel comfortable here knowing how little respect people had for his dad's ability.