MDZip Posted November 20, 2013 Report Share Posted November 20, 2013 Here's a situation that NIU's weak crossover schedule can work against them - if Toledo beats NIU and they and Ball State all end up at 7-1, Toledo will be the winner based on the tougher crossover schedule (which is the same way the Zips won the East in their only MACC year). All of them played Akron so that is a wash, but Toledo gave the East leaders, BGSU and Buffalo their only losses of the year. In contrast, NIU had Umass and Can't State while Ball St. drew Miami and Can't State. NIU has a ton on the line tonight because if they don't win not only is there no possibility of a BCS game, they probably won't even win the MAC West. The "backroom" guys didn't think this one through very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDZip Posted November 29, 2013 Report Share Posted November 29, 2013 After the pasting the Buffs put on Ohio this week, maybe they are better than you think. THEY WERE WHO I THOUGHT THEY WERE! They won 8 games and won exactly as many games against teams with winning records as the Zips. I contend most of their success was schedule based. I did state in another thread that I felt BGSU would win the East before Zips MAC play started and I do think the best team in the East won it. So the Zips finished tied for third in the East - and actually won only one MAC games less than they did the year the won the MAC. Schedule, schedule, schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 So if Coach Bowden builds the Zips into the strongest team in the MAC, does the MAC start favoring UA as the most likely bowl winner over the rest of the teams? Am I the only person who has seen some of the bad calls/no-calls starting to go our way, instead of us always being the victim? And it parallels our growth through the last 2 years? Maybe the MAC sees the improvement, the market, the facilities, and the location in "football heartland" and looks at Bowden as not going the Hazell route. Maybe the more you win, the more they want you to succeed. Unlike the legacy conferences with their clique legacy schools, I wonder if the MAC cares WHO'S at the top, as long as they have staying power and don't embarass the conference. Akron is already well known as contenders in other MAC sports. I guess we'll see when the 2014 conference schedule comes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 Am I the only person who has seen some of the bad calls/no-calls starting to go our way, instead of us always being the victim? And it parallels our growth through the last 2 years? Maybe the MAC sees the improvement, the market, the facilities, and the location in "football heartland" and looks at Bowden as not going the Hazell route. Maybe the more you win, the more they want you to succeed. Unlike the legacy conferences with their clique legacy schools, I wonder if the MAC cares WHO'S at the top, as long as they have staying power and don't embarass the conference. Akron is already well known as contenders in other MAC sports. I guess we'll see when the 2014 conference schedule comes out. I hope you're right. The investment we've made should certainly show the conference that we have a foundation for success in place that could help the profile of the entire conference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 @Spin, there's a tendency for fans to be less sensitive to perceiving bad calls against their team when they're winning. When they're losing, there's a tendency to believe all the bad calls going against your team are helping prevent them from winning, which just adds to the frustration of losing. A good example of wrong perception from the Toledo game is that we could have sworn from our seats that a facemask call against the Zips was a bad one so we booed the refs. But after the game we talked with someone we know who was standing on the sideline and had a clear, closeup view. He said he saw the hand on the facemask and the Toledo player's helmet twisting. The refs had made a correct call, but we would have always thought it was a bad one if we hadn't gotten a reliable eyewitness account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 I can't do the conspiracy theories...The conference doesn't favor anybody and we are going to have an easier MAC schedule next year and it will have nothing to do with improvement and the MAC recognizing it. Honestly, I'd rather have a tougher one. We've proven we can compete with them, and are just going to be discounted like Buffalo if we have a decent year beating losing teams. I do know the only team in the MAC East that should be worth a crap next year should be BG. OU loses Tettleton and Blankenship. Buffalo loses Oliver and Mack. Can't will suck, UMASS will have that RB but im not sure what else, and Miami will suck. That's good for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDZip Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 A good example of wrong perception from the Toledo game is that we could have sworn from our seats that a facemask call against the Zips was a bad one so we booed the refs. But after the game we talked with someone we know who was standing on the sideline and had a clear, closeup view. He said he saw the hand on the facemask and the Toledo player's helmet twisting. The refs had made a correct call, but we would have always thought it was a bad one if we hadn't gotten a reliable eyewitness account. Looks pretty clear from the Beacon Journal Photo too. University of Akron's C.J. Mizell (back, called for facemask) and Jatavis Brown take down Toledo running back Kennedy Frazier on a fourth quarter run at InfoCision Stadium on Friday, Nov. 29, 2013 in Akron, Ohio. The Zips held on to win the game 31-29. (Phil Masturzo/Akron Beacon Journal) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legendofzippy Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 Am I the only person who has seen some of the bad calls/no-calls starting to go our way, instead of us always being the victim? And it parallels our growth through the last 2 years? Maybe the MAC sees the improvement, the market, the facilities, and the location in "football heartland" and looks at Bowden as not going the Hazell route. Maybe the more you win, the more they want you to succeed. Unlike the legacy conferences with their clique legacy schools, I wonder if the MAC cares WHO'S at the top, as long as they have staying power and don't embarass the conference. Akron is already well known as contenders in other MAC sports. I guess we'll see when the 2014 conference schedule comes out. We're not winning games because refs are handing us anything, we're winning games because we have better players and coaches. The MAC cares about filling their bowl slots, but instructing refs to fix games? Come on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 There is no theory on the way the MAC schedules. That's scientific law. And if they're doing that... I don't completely buy into the conspiracy theories, but after reading "The Fix is In" and " Blowing the Whistle: The Culture of Fraud in the NBA" you can't help but notice trends. Getting back to the original question, will we get a friendlier conference schedule now? Or will it be like other conferences with the clique schools, and the same schools will get the same cake schedules? Or are you in denial that the MAC (like some other conferences) hand out cake schedules to potential bowl teams? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipsfan33 Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 Was it just me or was it breaking news that the Zips are opening at home on Thurs Aug. 28 next year against Howard? I constantly look at the future schedule and I dont ever remember seeing that on there! 269 days now!!! Boy is it exciting to actually look forward to Akron football! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g-mann17 Posted December 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 Was it just me or was it breaking news that the Zips are opening at home on Thurs Aug. 28 next year against Howard? I constantly look at the future schedule and I dont ever remember seeing that on there! 269 days now!!! Boy is it exciting to actually look forward to Akron football! It was announced on Friday, in fact I posted my topic as soon as I read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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