GP1

The best scenario would be for Akron to get the dumpster fire of the football program moving in a way that would draw people to the University by making it a benefit to the athletes students alumni fans and general community around Akron. It's a public institution, not an athletic department. It should benefit the citizens of Ohio and it simply isn't.

In recent years, OSU didn't sell out a couple of games. I'm all for taxpayers getting tickets for the remainder.

I hear this a lot. Technically, yes. In reality, the schools and athletic departments could not exist without taxpayer money.

Very spirited post. My perspective is the University is publicly funded up to one third of annual revenues, approximately. Should we be more competitive, of course. I'm of the opinion that the money being spent by the taxpayers of Ohio to fund MAC schools and athletic departments is well spent. I'm not sure every taxpayer would agree with me. Most probably wouldn't. In total, it's a lot of money. Spread out over all of the taxpaying citizens, it isn't. Therefore, the schools need to do something to get ahead the taxpayers discovering this. The taxpayers might feel different if for their tax dollars, they got four free general admission tickets to two MAC events annually. The taxpayers get a benefit and the universities get to show off their schools and make MAC athletics a benefit to the athletes students alumni fans and general communities around their schools.

They will make it all back in television revenues.

Am I wrong to say NIU beating ND in South Bend is the biggest win in MAC history?

Positioning the program for success. One doesn't have to be inside the athletic department to see that.

He should have done that the day after we replaced Kentucky at home with OSU in Columbus.

It would be strange to fire someone for losing at a school that isn't trying hard to win.

#2 has to do a better job of open field tackling.

Much better against short passes.

They have to find a way to disrupt Rutgers short passing game or they will get dinked and dunked to death.

Or, field a competitive team, play at a time and day of the week where they can attract students alumni fans and the general community to games. The University doesn't maximize the opportunities for the primary purpose of the stadium. There is no evidence they could do concerts well. In fact, many stadium concerts were cancelled this year because of lack of interest and prices.

The Acme Zip game was a great community event, but the support came from the chain basically giving away tickets on shopping bags. Little effort was put into the game by the University, but that was a different era. The University didn't have much of a marketing department back then. I think the BB problem has solid support and is meeting expectations. Sold out crowds on a Monday in January isn't realistic. It's also hard to have outdoor events for fans to draw more people. I also don't see how the University maximizes community opportunity playing so few home games in fair weather months and weeknight games in poor weather months during the week at night. The head winds of the ESPN contract and us selling out the football program for money makes it hard to get traction.

Agreed, but they could be doing a better job using the football program to expose people to the benefits of the University. I don't think they can do everything Toledo is doing, but they can do more. Winning would help, but they should do better wine or lose.

This got me interested so I Googled it. Thanks for mentioning it. What Toledo did to start the year promoting athletics is more than impressive. It's almost as if they are using their athletic department to benefit the athletes students alumni fans and general community. With some effort....... https://utrockets.com/news/2024/8/21/athletics-rocket-week-begins-aug-22-to-kick-off-2024-25-season.aspx

They can't. It's by design.

No. This isn't realistic. They are not a very good team.

The horse is alive for the remainder of the year.

Toledo's non conference schedule is Duquesne, UMass, @Mississippi State and @Western Kentucky. This is how a school that wins a lot schedules for momentum and success. UMass will be a win. MSU will be a loss. WKU will be a competitive game with a chance for a win against a good program on the road. 3-1 to start the season isn't out of the question. 2-2 should be a slam dunk. Toledo is trying to win games. @Ohio State, @Rutgers, Colgate, @South Carolina is how a program schedules for failure and zero momentum. Akron simply isn't trying to win.

Nobody does. It's nonsense deployed to sell TV advertising.

Alright, this is funny. I may not like it, but it is funny. Maybe we could just call them "French White".

Looks like the Arby's pre game meal is complete.

The fans can. The coaches can't. Hope is not a strategy. They have to think and act smartly through these challenges.

I think you make a good point. Winning attracts better high school recruits. If they don't pan out, they transfer to lesser schools that may not win and have lesser high school talent coming in. Therefore the transfer has a better shot at starting. This drop-off can happen very fast. I was surprised at the Wake Forest game last night how poor many of the back up players are. I'm talking MAC level players getting substantial playing time at an ACC school. I'll reserve my judgement until after the UVA game next week, but Wake Forest could be in big trouble. I'm not sure Clawson is sleazy enough to survive the transfer portal era.