ZippyRulz Posted January 1, 2009 Report Share Posted January 1, 2009 Should be a good game tonight. And to think we almost had them Cincinnati, Virginia Tech both chasing history at Orange Bowlhttp://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianp...cKCCDdisZRtMZXASwitching to Big East conference helped Cincinnati's risehttp://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/conten...ebowl_1230.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziptrumpet87 Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Should be a good game tonight. And to think we almost had them Cincinnati, Virginia Tech both chasing history at Orange Bowlhttp://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianp...cKCCDdisZRtMZXASwitching to Big East conference helped Cincinnati's risehttp://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/conten...ebowl_1230.htmlSwitching to the BE would be fantastic for our football program (and maybe some of our other programs also), but could be difficult for basketball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Should be a good game tonight. And to think we almost had them Cincinnati, Virginia Tech both chasing history at Orange Bowlhttp://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianp...cKCCDdisZRtMZXASwitching to Big East conference helped Cincinnati's risehttp://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/conten...ebowl_1230.htmlSwitching to the BE would be fantastic for our football program (and maybe some of our other programs also), but could be difficult for basketball.Hasheen Thabeet (UConn center) against Zeke Marshall would be great to see next year twice. I would LOVE to join the Big East. It would help every program we have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Zip Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 I was actually thinking about this topic recently. It seems it has been a few months since the last time someone talked about switching conferences. I think the it is quite comical to even think about moving conferences when we can't win or compete in the one we currently participate. It seems to be the type of conversation that if we saw it on the Can't site we'd laugh -- yet they have a basketball team that has actually won something. We have a basketball and football team that have won basically nothing. The football team slips and falls every year. One year they slipped and fell into a bowl game. I think about the last team to leave the MAC -- a team that thumped the MAC regularly -- Marshall. Look at what they have done -- they finishd 6-6 in their final MAC season and have gone 4-7, 5-7, 3-9 and 4-8. Why would we expect to make a bigger jump and perform better? For all intents and purposes Marshall should have made the move and been able to compete yet they haven't. We on the other hand have two BCS school wins in our history and people on this board want to play a full schedule of BCS schools? I applaud the excitement, but Akron has to get their shit together in the MAC first. I do think one team deserves to leave this conference and I only hope Mack can make that happen. If he can get the soccer team into a new conference he'll make me a believer -- to this point I'm not sure what to think of him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbozeglav Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 As much as I would love to go to the Big East for the larger publicity, recruiting, etc... we don't deserve it. Big Zip is right... our soccer team is the ONLY team who has shown any reason to move to a better conference. However, it's soccer and thus not that big of a deal. If it was football or basketball who was dominating our conference, I could see the desire to move to bigger and better places, but we haven't done squat. So please... let's stop with the Big East talk. Its not going to happen for a long time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Yep, we can certainly shut the door on any chance to see larger conference affiliation anytime soon. If any representative was even remotely interested in "courting" us, they'd likely instantly change their mind when they found out our "actual" football and basketball attendance numbers. We simply can't show any larger conference that we have the potential to benefit their league right now.I do see some interesting thoughts here that I have not pondered before...Big Zip....I don't recall any talk of Can't entering a larger conference due to their basketball success over the last decade, and we have a long way to go to even touch their level of success. Great point.lilroodude...I hope you aren't being serious that you would have great anticipation about the outcome of a possible Zeke vs. Thabeet matchup next year...if we would miraculously be playing in the Big East. It's sure fun to think about things in a funny sense like that, but what would you realistically expect would happen if we sent this kid who only averages about 10 pts. and 10 rebs. per game in high school out on the floor to face up against possibly the best center in college basketball twice next year in conference play? I'm just trying to be careful not to place an all-american label on this kid (or even an all-mac label for that matter) before he even shows up on campus, and has some time to develop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Horse Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Not the Big East topic again....... Here comes some pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 None of the sports could immediately compete in the Big East, with the exception of Men's Soccer which would easily win that conference every year. Football would take a few years to get up to speed, just look at Cinci and UConn for examples. Cinci was easily the worst football team in the country, but the Big East saw a large market with no BCS team, and look what happened to them with a little better financial backing. Basketball would have their struggles, but you can't tell me that just by having the Big East association we wouldn't start pulling in a whole new caliber of recruits.The thing is, it's not about competing. It's about money. We offer a largely untapped major media market for them to tap into, and they offer us BCS money for football and better TV deals, which greatly reduces the strain on the athletic budget which can then be focused on better marketing or going after better recruits.The Big East has a history of taking crappy sports schools with tons of potential and turning them into winners. Few schools have the kind of potential that Akron boasts at the moment.Either way, don't expect anything to happen at least until the BCS contract expires, and some conferences are forced to restructure themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 Basketball would have their struggles, but you can't tell me that just by having the Big East association we wouldn't start pulling in a whole new caliber of recruits.Yes we would bring in better recruits. Seton Hall and Providence bring in better recruits, but they are still at the bottom of the conference.We have not brought in good enough recruits to win the MAC Tournament. We would get slaughtered in the Big East in every sport with the exception of soccer. There is ZERO evidence that we could win at that level or even support a decent athletic department. There is ZERO evidence the people of NE Ohio would support a program this size. Zeke is going to be here next year and he should be an immediate impact player. Big East teams have two Zekes and they surround them with high school all Americans and future NBA players. I would bet we do not have a single player on our basketball roster that could average more than 8 minutes a game in the Big East. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a-zip Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 The Big East is not in our near future BUT could we dip our toe in the water and have the soccer team join (i.e. Temple football)? Does it have to be all or nothing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 GP1 is absolutely right about one point. We would instantly be recruiting on another level. Kids want to play good competition, have chances at national notoriety, and be in a position to win national titles. How long it would take to compete with the other teams is a whole different issue, but we'd immediately have interest from a higher level of talent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 lilroodude...I hope you aren't being serious that you would have great anticipation about the outcome of a possible Zeke vs. Thabeet matchup next year...if we would miraculously be playing in the Big East. It's sure fun to think about things in a funny sense like that, but what would you realistically expect would happen if we sent this kid who only averages about 10 pts. and 10 rebs. per game in high school out on the floor to face up against possibly the best center in college basketball twice next year in conference play? I'm just trying to be careful not to place an all-american label on this kid (or even an all-mac label for that matter) before he even shows up on campus, and has some time to develop.No, I wasn't really serious. I was just thinking it would be cool. I really don't think we deserve to be in the Big East either. However, the MAC isn't doing us any favors. GP1 is right, but why not fix that a bit by playing good teams on the road first? If they want to play against better competition, then I think we need to start playing better teams on the road. Dambrot has a point with wanting the home and away, but you have to prove something. You get your name out there by playing good teams close on the road. Look at Miami (OH), they've played a few good teams close on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted January 2, 2009 Report Share Posted January 2, 2009 I completely agree.....if we can't get a home and home, we're still better off playing some good teams on the road as opposed to not playing them at all. You have to give yourself an opportunity to knock off someone that is going to get some attention if you want to elevate the stature of your program.After following this basketball program for decades, I just can't think of anything that makes us attractive to a larger conference. We operate on a small budget, our attendance is really poor (on big conference standards), we don't generate revenue, and we likely wouldn't be looked at as a good "draw" when we played at any of the other schools in the Big East. Beyond that, we still have yet to win even one title in the 15 years we have been in our present league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 I agree with those of the sentiment that presently, we should be primarily concerned with competing in the MAC, not making a jump to the Big East. With our simply outrageous athletic facilities and suddenly beautiful campus adjacent to an increasingly vibrant and growing downtown nightlife scene, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that we could become the Boise State of the MAC. Wouldn't you all love that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyzip84 Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 I agree with those of the sentiment that presently, we should be primarily concerned with competing in the MAC, not making a jump to the Big East. With our simply outrageous athletic facilities and suddenly beautiful campus adjacent to an increasingly vibrant and growing downtown nightlife scene, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that we could become the Boise State of the MAC. Wouldn't you all love that?Mark me down as a HUGE affirmative B&G. Let's focus on that for now and give that poor, deceased equine a break Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyRulz Posted January 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Yeah, that would be cool. The thing to keep in mind is that Cinci was not dominating their conference in football (wins or attendance) when the Big East took them in...they just had the most potential of the schools available (their hi profile hoops didn't hurt tho). If Buffalo continues to progress in football they will certainly be on the radar due to their sizeable market, east coast exposure and strong academics. We would probably need at least a new BB arena and some kind of stronger ties w/Cleveland. We need to be getting to bowl games also, even if it means scheduling a FCS game. Why not an Ivy League, Ga. Southern, Appalachian St, etc.? Those are teams I'd like to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z.I.P. Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 As much as I would love to go to the Big East for the larger publicity, recruiting, etc... we don't deserve it. Big Zip is right... our soccer team is the ONLY team who has shown any reason to move to a better conference. However, it's soccer and thus not that big of a deal. If it was football or basketball who was dominating our conference, I could see the desire to move to bigger and better places, but we haven't done squat. So please... let's stop with the Big East talk. Its not going to happen for a long time...How sad it is that you have such a low opinion of the world's most popular cultural, political and spiritual activity: football, or soccer. The University of Akron is an American collegiate power in The Beautiful Game. That by itself places Akron U. ahead of every school in its own conference, and most of those who continue struggling to succeed in internationally irrelevant athletic competitions.Have a great new year.From abroad,The Zip in Paradise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z.I.P. Posted January 3, 2009 Report Share Posted January 3, 2009 Not the Big East topic again....... Here comes some pain.Anybody want to bet that Dead Horse is the nom de plume of a certain Kangaroo? For the record, this thread (and discussion) has been beaten like one, Cap'n. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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