IBleedMACGreen Posted November 11, 2008 Report Posted November 11, 2008 Nick's Picks for Week #12 MAC football games are now live on the site.http://www.vandelaysports.com/ Quote
Dr Z Posted November 11, 2008 Report Posted November 11, 2008 BOOOOOO Nick! Buffalo (5-4, 3-2 MAC) @ Akron (5-4, 3-2 MAC) - 7:00SITE: Rubber Bowl (31,000/Astro Play) Akron, OhioTELEVISION: ESPNU (Charles Neal, Jay Walker, Jessica Mendoza)SERIES RECORD: Akron leads 8-1 ... UB’s 26-10 win last year was the Bulls’ first in the series that began in 1999.COACHES: UB-Turner Gill (12-21, third season); UA-J.D. Brookhart (26-30, fifth season).GAME NOTES: This is a showdown for first place in the East Division and a possible berth in the MAC Championship game ... Akron has one title game appearance (winning in 2005), while Buffalo has never made it to the title game since joining the league in 1999 ... a win by the Bulls will give the program its most in a season since going joining the FBS (I-A) in 1999 ... UB is on a three-game winning streak after its 37-17 win over Miami (Tue., Nov. 4) ... the Zips have won back-to-back games for the first time in 2008, most recently defeating Toledo 47-30 (Wed., Nov. 5) ... the two of the league’s top RBs face off in Buffalo’s James Starks (league-leading 125.3 ypg; 487 yards, 7 TDs last 3 games) and Akron’s Dennis Kennedy (612 yards and 6 TDs last 3 games, 100.3 ypg for the season) ... this is the last game in the history of the Rubber Bowl as the Zips next year will move into its on-campus stadium (InfoCision Stadium/Summa Field) ... the Zips will have played 324 games in the Rubber Bowl since 1940 and are 191-122-10 all-time.Nick’s Pick: Buffalo 33 – Akron 24Comment: The Zips are playing their final game in the venerable Rubber Bowl but have yet to beat a team winning record this season. If UB beats the Zips this week and BGSU on November 21, the impossible will actually happen; the Bulls will win the MAC East and will be “bowling” for the first time in school history. UB is playing the best football of any east division team right now and should ride the wave to a victory. Quote
K-Roo Posted November 11, 2008 Report Posted November 11, 2008 "The Zips are playing their final game in the venerable Rubber Bowl but have yet to beat a team winning record this season. If UB beats the Zips this week and BGSU on November 21, the impossible will actually happen; the Bulls will win the MAC East and will be “bowling” for the first time in school history. UB is playing the best football of any east division team right now and should ride the wave to a victory."Ok so Syracuse sucks and Army too...Can't and EMU are Can't and EMU...Toledo is a shell of it's former selfWe lost to Ball State 9-0 ( ranked #16) and Cincinnati 7-2 (tied for 1st-Big East) and BG (gave it away at the end) at home.The MAC East record is rather pathetic too...Only the Zips and Buffalo are 5-4Everbody else is .500 or below. How is that the Zips' fault???Akron 5-4Buffalo 5-4Bowling Green 5-5 Temple 3-6 Miami OH 2-7Can't State 2-7Ohio 2-8 Ohio and Miami have fallen on hard times.BG hasn't run away with it like they were supposed to.. Zips schedule sucks cuz MAC East sucks... I don't see 33-24 Buffalo... sorry....Buffalo hasn't beaten anyone with a winning record either--UTEP W 4-5Pitt L 7-2Temple W 3-6Missouri L 8-2CMU L 7-2WMU L 8-2Army W 3-6Ohio W 2-8Miami W 2-7 Quote
g-mann17 Posted November 11, 2008 Report Posted November 11, 2008 Nick’s Pick: Buffalo 33 – Akron 24Comment: The Zips are playing their final game in the venerable Rubber Bowl but have yet to beat a team winning record this season.Ironically Buffalo has yet to beat a team with a winning record. Nice spin there Nicky. Quote
Aaron Posted November 11, 2008 Report Posted November 11, 2008 Nick's Picks for Week #12 MAC football games are now live on the site.http://www.vandelaysports.com/Why don't you look at the score of the opponent they both have in common - Army. Akron pounded Army 22-3, Buffalo struggled past Army, winning 27-24 in OT. Who appears to be the more dominant team? You can't tell me Army improved that much from 9/20 to 10/18. Quote
Big Zips Fan (220lb) Posted November 13, 2008 Report Posted November 13, 2008 I sometimes like to look at the Sagarin ratings on the USA Today website. While not perfect, at least it doesn't have personal biases.In this case, Sagarin's predictor ratings provide the following:Buffalo Rating 69.22, Rank 70th in NationAkron Rating 67.43, Rank 78th in NationHome field Advantage: 2.52So, by the Sagarin method this game is about dead even, as the predicted score is an Akron win by 1 point. Quote
UBFootBull Posted November 13, 2008 Report Posted November 13, 2008 Nick's Picks for Week #12 MAC football games are now live on the site.http://www.vandelaysports.com/Why don't you look at the score of the opponent they both have in common - Army. Akron pounded Army 22-3, Buffalo struggled past Army, winning 27-24 in OT. Who appears to be the more dominant team? You can't tell me Army improved that much from 9/20 to 10/18.That's actually exactly what I'd tell you. When Akron played Army, Army was one of the worst teams in the nation. Carson Williams was their starting QB and Akron jumped ahead early. Akron was the last game Williams saw any significant action.After falling to 0-3, Carson Williams was replaced at QB by Chip Bowden. The very next week after the Akron defeat, Army came within 4 points to defeating Texas A&M. They have since beat Tulane, Eastern Michigan, and a very decent Louisiana Tech team. Bowden has been excelling in the option.When UB face them, I'm not going to lie, UB looked terrible as they always have against option teams. They got down by two touchdowns which allowed Army to keep grinding the clock through the running game, and for 3 quarters it worked. UB came back in a big way in the fourth quarter, and ended up taking it in overtime.The first three games of the season, Army had a point differential of -65 points against two division 1 teams (Akron and Temple) and 1 FCS team (New Hampshire). Through the other six games, Army has had a point differential of +24 against teams who are a combined 31-34 (0.4769). Their last two games have been close losses, a 16-7 loss to an 8-2 Air Force team and a 38-31 loss to a 7-3 Rice team, both of which will be going bowling.Army has improved significantly since Akron played them. It has practically been a different team. They're probably the 2nd best team in New York right now (behind Buffalo and ahead of Syracuse). To compare Akron and Buffalo by comparing a single common opponent is just ludicrous.With that said, I think Akron is a very good team and their schedule shows it. A couple very difficult games (Wisconsin and Ball State) and a couple close losses (Cincinnati and Bowling Green). UB is the same way. It's had its difficult games (Missouri and Pittsburgh) and its way too close losses (Western Michigan and Central Michigan, both on the last play). These teams are very very close on paper. Akron is at home, but they are 1-3 playing at home this season. Likewise, Buffalo is 1-3 on the road this season. It'll be interesting to see who comes out on top.Have a great time at the game tonight and GO BULLS. Quote
Captain Kangaroo Posted November 13, 2008 Report Posted November 13, 2008 Akron is at home, but they are 1-3 playing at home this season. Likewise, Buffalo is 1-3 on the road this season. It'll be interesting to see who comes out on top.Have a great time at the game tonight and GO BULLS.I agree -- this should be a GREAT football game. And that is great for the MAC. The Temple/OU game a few weeks ago was a TERRIBLE football game. It reflected poorly on the MAC, especially the MAC East.In the CMU/NIU game last night the announcers ripped the "inferior" MAC East several times. I think tonight's game is a showcase for the best of the East. Buffalo and the Zips are two good MAC teams.I like the Zips tonight due to the home field advantage, and I think our D is slightly better than Buffalo's.Zips 31 Buffalo 23 Quote
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