GP1

Take out the word "just" and I agree. What it is in addition to marketing could be so much better.

I don't believe the schools are make the rules at all. If they are they are terrible rule makers. Most are failing miserably as almost every school loses money. The rules are being made, either directly or indirectly, by TV networks. There are a handful of schools capable of thriving in this climate because they have the money to do so. Everyone else is just playing games for TV viewer consumption.

Almost every P4 schools loses money with athletics. Given our history, do you believe we would be in the minority or majority? I'm of the belief out administration would set records.....in losing money of course.

Yes. Akron is in no position to complete in a way that would benefit the athletes students alumni fans and general community around Akron. Short term it would feel cool for a lot of people, but the long term would be a disaster.

It would be odd if after decades of trying, Akron finally got a real D1 coach, turned around the program, had success and then dropped out of FBS. It would be the most Akron football thing ever. The only thing that would make it worse is if we joined the Big Ten.

Did they get approval from the TV networks?

Who punishes them and what are the punishments? A good tongue lashing? General Amish level shunning? Being forced to run naked through a crowded bar?

Interesting, but I find the story a bit too formal and facts too convenient to be true. I also think this would have made it into the media via leaking. Could also be Buffalo or EMU. If it is true and Akron, it wouldn't be the first time we made a decision to change divisions without a clue where it would go or what it would do. It would be typical of the Nihilism the country is being drug through. So, it isn't completely out of the world of reality. I would have two questions. First, what is our current President's opinion of competing in the MAC for football long term? Second, was the meeting in question during his tenure? Bonus question..... If a formal petition was issued, where is it? If I'm not not mistaken, every MAC school is a public institution. A FOIA request could uncover the existence of this document sourced from almost every school. Bonus question #2.... If true, why aren't our competitors burying us with this information? I know I would.

Good post. It got me thinking about college sports and how the fellowship and friendship developed between players is going to be lost in the NIL era. It's something awesome that is yet another thing destroyed by NIL. A lifelong friend of mine and former teammate in the football team introduced me to Mrs. GP1, the luckiest woman in the world.

I don't think the results are sad. Some sad can turn into happy with winning. I would do describe it as expected.

I'll wait to see how lazy journalist pick the MAC and then do the opposite.

Don't worry, a couple trips to P4 schools will cover it and then some.

There was a recent court ruling stating that two years of JUCU do not count against your four years. It raises what I think is an interesting question based upon college athletics now being minor league pro sports. At what point can a player no longer play in college? For example, a player goes to the NBA after two seasons at School x. The player bombs out after three years in the NBA or some other professional league different than college. Why can't the player go back to college, finish a a degree and get paid NIL money? I would imagine a man with three years of NBA or D League could name a pretty high price at a college. I hate to even bring this up because as disgusting as it sounds, the logic connects.

When one door closes, another one opens. Before I judge his leaving, what is his NIL value?

There is an episode of The Office where one character mistakenly admits to taking gifts from a vendor in exchange for gift cards or something like that. Real life is sitcom at Kent. In the world of sanity after something like this happens, employees are sent additional compliance training. I wonder if Kent was at least smart enough to do that.

When athletic directors see "other resources", I'm guessing that means solid gold toilets and urinals in the athletic practice facilities. The funny part is athletic directors created an illusion that all of the new found money flowing into college athletics would benefit the greater university systems. A lot of really smart people bought that crap. A lot of really smart people still buy that crap.

And is more famous. And gets better girls. I could go on and on with all of the "Ands". I never had much sympathy for college athletes taking a beating from fans and the media. They were famous adults and with that came some abuse. I've gone from not having much sympathy to having zero sympathy. If a 19 year old NBA, NHL or MLB player takes a beating from the media and fans, so can the new breed of college athletes.

He gets paid to perform a task. He is a professional football player the same way players on the Akron Rubber Ducks are professionals.

Is 98 really that big or is there a depth issue from the photo? I'd think a dude that size would be on the first team.

Oh well......

Thanks for posting this. I have no problem with what he is doing and found myself shrugging my shoulders when I saw it. Heck, a part of me hopes he gets a raise. Look, college athletics are now minor league professional sports. This happens in professional sports and the vast majority of the time nobody really cares after the compensation is renegotiated. Oh well.....

Not anymore. The portal to Hell was the single doorless stall in the men's room on the home side of the Rubber Bowl.

There are consulting companies a university can hire to positively impact their score by gaming the system.

I love the perspective. They always say the hardest thing about Harvard is getting in. Harvard is always #1 on the survey. 97% of the students who get into Harvard graduate. They have massive grade inflation. To me, that isn't a good look. If a school is truly challenging it's students and not producing just another generation of donors to the foundation, the failure rate should be higher. I don't blame the kids for this. They are probably very smart. It's not their fault the university isn't challenging them in a meaningful way. While living in the Carolinas, I once had a choice to make between an Elon grad and a YSU grad. The Elon grad was smart enough, but struck me as someone who could be lazy and entitled. The YSU grad worked his way through school at an auto plant working the night shift. I hired him because of that. He was a great, hard working employee who made me good money for two years. He has his own business now and is what I would consider to be successful. Regional schools like Akron, which really defines most universities, have plenty of kids like this attending and provide a great learning experience for someone who doesn't have the same advantages as others. The key for Akron is developing ways to admit those kids who are capable of graduating. The key for us as alumni is to provide support for these kids so they can share the same success we have. Things like direct financial support or a paid co-op, to name a couple of opportunities, are very important to these kids. It isn't easy, but duty isn't easy.

https://blog.prepscholar.com/why-you-shouldnt-trust-us-news-college-rankings#:~:text=US News is probably the,might end up being miserable. I think the people who rank the study put as much effort into it as sports writers put into the preseason MAC football rankings. What I see when I look at the University is an institution that produces excellent business and community leaders than KSU across colleges across NE Ohio and Ohio in general. Maybe their Fashion Merchandising program has us beat, but I'd hire an engineer, business, teacher, nurse, etc over a KSU grad any day of the week.