GP1

Interesting points. Let's examine.....There should be no argument that the Big East is better than the Big Ten in BB. In fact, the BE is the best conference in college basketball........hands down. The competition and talent is absolutely brutal. I don't remember any BE team losing to the likes of Sienna in the Tournament. MSU making the finals can be more explained by a team on a three week run at the end of the year instead of a good team from a good conference making the finals. Why would Big Ten football be an upgrade over the BE? The BE and BT are second tier conferences behind the SEC, Big 12 and PAC 10. From top to bottom, the BE = BT in football. They both have overrated teams at the top (see PSU and tOSU getting destroyed by USC, a team that lost to Oregon State, in the same season), extremely average teams in the middle that beat up on I-AA teams and MAC schools early in the season to become bowl eligible and MAClike teams at the bottom. I'll give you that Syracuse is primarily a BB school, but Pitt? Pitt is a football school that happens to have a good basketball team.

In regards to Missouri... I dont see them going anywhere anytime soon. They've been the only consistent Big12 North school to give the Big12 South any competition. The Big12 needs to keep Missouri, otherwise the Big12 would become grossly unbalanced. However, if the Big10 was SOMEHOW (and I put big emphasis on this because any Big12 team would be a fool to leave that conference right now) able to lure a Big12 team to the Big10, the Big12 would be stuck short a team. There's no way that the Big12 would pick any schools east of the mississippi, and there really aren't any teams "big" enough to fill that slot anywhere in the great plains region. My theory on all this: If the Big10 decides they will expand their conference to 12 teams, they are going to seek either Notre Dame or an elite Big East team. Any team located in the eastern Midwest region would be ideal for the Big10. Seeing how the Big East is really the only major conference that has conference members in that region, they'd be the Big10's prime target. Personally, if the Big10 can't lure Notre Dame in (which is entirely possible given past attempts), I see the Big10 going after Pitt, West Virginia, or Syracuse. Geographically, Rutgers is a too far East to make sense for the Big10.Actually, Rutgers is the school that Big Ten would probably go after for the simple fact that it is in the largest market in the country (New York city metro). The Big Ten has been itching for years to get into a market of that size. The prestige of the Big Ten would do nothing but help Rutgers as far as athletics is concerned and it would be a cash cow for the conference.Wouldn't quality of product be more important than location? Rutgers is about as uninteresting as....well....the rest of the Big Ten. You can't force people to watch TV, you can only give them good programing and hope they watch. I'd take going to the gun club any day over watching Rutgers. It's hard for people from the midwest to understand, but people in the northeast are not interested in Big Ten football. They have their own teams like UCONN, Syracuse and BC and have no interest in Iowa, etc.Let's face it, Notre Dame is the logical choice for the Big Ten. Untaped media market? How about the entire country? The move would break NDs ties with NBC and make the Big Ten Network that much more valuable. The problem is there is very little for ND to gain from joining the Big Ten. They have their own TV network so why give that up to join the Big Ten. The biggest thing ND gains is joining a very average conference in both FB and BB. Average teams playing average competition have the appearance of looking good. Remember how good NDs BB team was supposed to be at the beginning of this year before playing Big East competition?ND has now run into the same problems as the Big Ten. Like the rest of the Big Ten schools, it is located in a part of the country where good "athletes" don't want to live and are not from, South Bend is an ugly place (yes, I've been there more than once), snow, girls in winter coats half the year, uninteresting style of football and some level of academic standards. Let's face it, you can almost be retarded and go to an SEC school.

Barbara HlivkoI know this is a link on another topic page, but I think Barbara has earned her own topic on the most viewed page of this board. The article from Go Zips says it all. She was always enthusiastic and will be missed.

I think I said it earlier when that website of Grant pimping himself was posted on here, the kid was a solid MAC linebacker, and a decent player for us, but nowhere near NFL caliber in terms of talent. He should've been getting ahead in the real world these past few months instead of wasting his money on websites and at some sham "training facility" in Miami that preys on kids like him. Best of luck to him in life after football.I think the same thing. However, given the current job market he has just a good of a chance of making the NFL as he does getting a real job.

bryan williams udfa to the brownsIsn't this how Chase Blackburn got his start?

That's what you get when the goal of your spring game is "no turnovers". The good thing for the Zips is that when a team runs a "no turnover" offense, it usually involves no big plays and no risk as well meaning an easy win for the Zips.It's funny reading a newspaper article about Can't because a serious writer has to write about something that has actually become funny. When I read the story, I always have the feeling the writer is laughing while writing the article.

There are only two possibilities I can think of here: 1. Cartwright is completely clueless when it comes to sports and doesn't realise that the mere mention of dropping football could severely hurt the program.2. She mentioned it on purpose in order to create a decline in the program thanks to worse recruiting leading to worse performance leading to worse fan support. She can't just drop football because she would lose out on a very large percentage of donations to the university, but if you take the program down slowly to the point where it is an embarrasment you just might be able to drum up some support to move down to 1-AA.I think she's just clueless. Why BG hired her after what she did at Can't is a mystery.As for Toledo and the point-shaving thing, what's bad is that they keep implying that there are more names to be named.Good points.When she destroyed the hockey team at Can't State, the team was average, but not terrible. I love hockey. The games were entertaining and they were in a good conference with tOSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, BGSU, Lake Superior State, Miami, etc. There was an off campus fight or something that gave here the excuse for ending the program.

Thanks for the link.Two things. First, Cartwright was the President (I think) at Can't State when they eliminated hockey.Second, this public discussion is a recruiting disaster for BG football and could negatively impact the program for years. They just poured a ton of money into their stadium/practice area.

The Akron vs. Memphis MCB is on ESPN Classic right now!

Yeah, that guy went to multiple boards braggin up his son and saying how interested he was in the school.What a DBThere was something odd about it..... It's interesting how many people on this board bought into it. The kid was one of five players in his senior class to sign a D-1A scholarship and he had the least talent. Odds were he was not a D-1A player and it proved out to be true. When coaches take over programs, they have very frank discussions with players about their athletic ability and whether or not they fit into the future of the program. I'm sure many discussions like that went on at Syracuse as well as other schools around the country.

If inside LB is his position, he should do very well at the D-III level. A 5' 10" ILB at the D-I level is not good for the Zips.

I guess Trey Fairchild's dad will have to find another board now to promote his son.

My oh my there are some really stupid comments degrading this coach for leaving. Some of you are acting like bunch of school girls who got dumped by a boyfriend. I would expect more adult behavior.I'm sorry I didn't post sooner about how good I feel about Zeke's maturity and his handling this situation. From his mom's post, we see a kid who understands this is a business and a job for those working in the business. It's funny that an 18 year old kid understands that, but for whatever reason, there are some adults unable to understand it. Some wax romantically about how in the past college sports weren't a business. That's all crap. It is now and has always been about making money....so much so that years ago, the NCAA had to pass rules agains revoking a scholarship because of poor performance. Let's not kid ourselves about what we go to watch. It is a business centered around the performance of young adults between the ages of 18 and 23.

I don't want a guy like this because he is not smart enough to graduate college. Anyone with half a brain knows UofA is a second rate school in a THIRD rate conference. I agree, we don't need guys like that.

1-AA teams are the scrimmages. All the NCAA did by going to 12 games is add a week so BCS teams can scrimmage small schools. We should be doing the same thing.

Hats off to this coach. A person with ambition like this is exactly the type of coach we want at UofA. He did everything the right way and has EARNED this chance to move to a larger conference, more money, better long term opportunity, etc.

Your paranoia about anything that might be said about the BB program is amazing. It's almost as if you have a man crush on the guys. The topic is about how the photo looks, not the entire game. The truth of the photo is this. Steve looks silly in the air. Everyone has looked silly before. He is a good player who was caught at the wrong time. Another truth is there are three Zips following the play. Someone who didn't see the game could say they were loafing. We know they weren't, but that is what the picture shows.

Who are we kidding here? Wouldn't it just be easier to say that he looks like he has never played against a player with that type of ability before. The guy is gliding by him to make a dunk and he looks like he is bouncing on a trampoline at a childs birthday party. This photo spells nothing but B-A-D for the Zips program. There are three other guys in the photo loafing down the court to get a good look at the dunk.

Palo Alto, CA or Akron, OH. HmmmmmmPAC 10 or MAC HmmmmmmIf the kid is indeed good enough to play in the PAC 10, more power to him.

If I can get jalapenos with my nachos @ Infocision I will consider the University's planning to have been a major success.Doors on the bathroom stalls would be a nice tradition to start.....

trial by fire baby.it's hard not to resent the process when you are going through it, but nothing makes a winner better than truely testing your meddle down to the core.Good post GP1. I agree 100.000001%There is the outside chance he could wither under pressure, but in order for him to become his ultimate destiny, he cannot be coddled. Patience is not about waiting... and patience is not about the lack of wanting. Patience is about the knowing without the fearing.Thanks.I don't think it will happen, but wouldn't it be nice to know early if he will wither under pressure? A kid that withers his freshman year will almost always wither. I think this kid is going to be really good next year. It's not like he hasn't been put in pressure situations. AAU is very competitive and he does well at that level. The MAC is horrible. He has a lot of talent already. He is coming to the most talented team in Zips history. Put all of that together and I don't think it is unreasonable to expect big things out of him next year. The kid should have some confidence coming in to work with as well and I hope he expects big things out of himself.I expect performance next year, not building........

All interesting comments. Zeke is one of the best HS BB players in the country. He needs to be on the court as much as possible next year and in the starting rotation. His type of potential is not developed on the bench. It is developed in games. The kid has the tools and he needs to be put in a position to use them as much and as early as possible. He may learn some tough lessons early, but tough lessons are usually the best lessons.I expect big things out of this kid immediately. Let's not start laying the ground work for him not meeting expectations next year. Have faith. This kid is good and he is coming to a bad conference. I smell good things.

VA Tech was furious at the turnout that game and I can assure everyone they will never come back to Akron.

''Defense is still about gap scheme. It is still about having bodies to plug holes no matter how you line up,'' Brookhart said. ''A lot of teams have used it with success. West Virginia and Tulsa have.''Above is a quote from JD about the defense they will use next year from the article in the ABJ. Here is the problem with the logic.1. Yes, defense is about covering gaps properly. The problem is when the players are too small to cover the gaps they are asked to cover, they lose battles with the offense because they are too small.2. A lot of teams have had success with it. Two teams do not constitute "a lot" in my book. In fact, hardly anyone uses the defense which should tell all of us something. WVU loses more big games than they win. I could really care less about what Tulsa does. I also know this....of those "a lot of teams" having success with the 3-3-5, we are not one of them.Unless this is a smoke screen, the Zips are in trouble next year unless they are going to have an offense that can score tons of points week in and week out. They have too much depth on the DL and LB not to use those as many of those players as possible on every play.Thanks to the ABJ and their reporter for doing a story on this issue. It is a major issue facing the Zips.

I agree about the Friday games. I will also continue to argue that nationally televised games during the week (other than Thrs. Night ESPN) has been bad for the conference. The more the average fan sees the MAC, the less they like watching it. College football is made for Saturdays. We now have a beautiful new stadium. Play the darn games in the afternoon (noon is best), so people can go to a game on a nice luke warm fall afternoon with their family, walk around campus, visit local restaurants and enjoy some football. Enough with the night games already.......