zip81 Posted February 1, 2007 Report Share Posted February 1, 2007 I remember the Peay from the the U of A OVC days. Middle Tennessee and Austin Peay, among others (who were the OVC teams when we were in the conference?)I never thought there was much of a rivalry but certainly some hard-fought games.Looking forward to the matchup.Go Zips!!Hello Ziplock, The first year that Akron was in the OVC (81-82) the conference consisted of Akron, Austin Peay, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Morehead, Murray State, Tennessee Tech, Eastern Kentucky, and Youngstown State. It was also Youngstown State's first year in the OVC as well. Western Kentucky left the OVC the following year and joined the Sun Belt Conference even though WKU was one of the founding members of the OVC. Akron left the OVC after the 86-87 season and Youngstown State left the following year. The OVC picked up Tennessee State in the 87-88 season so they were the Zips replacement, I suppose. Middle Tennessee State left the OVC for the Sun Belt after the 99-2000 season but mainly for football reasons as they are now NCAA Div.I in football. The OVC has since picked up Southeast Missouri, Samford, Jacksonville State and Eastern Illinois and I think they did so mainly for football reasons. Austin Peay killed scholarship football several years ago but revived scholarship football this past year and will rejoin OVC play. Jax. State and Eastern Illinois are consistently at or near the bottom of the OVC in basketball virtually every year and SEMO is pretty much a middle of the pack team although they have won one OVC championship. Samford does alright but they play Bob Cousey, 1950's slowball. It's hard to prepare for the Princeton style. Still, they haven't won the OVC and are not going to win it very many times. Murray State and Austin Peay have won the lion's share of the titles over the past 20 years with Murray getting the lion's share of the NCAA bids. With the exception of perhaps Youngstown State, I do not think the OVC was geographically suitable for Akron to have any big rivalries. Even though it is called the OHIO Valley Conference, there are no teams from Ohio in it. If Akron was located in Southern Ohio then that would have brought you much closer geographically to teams such as Morehead and Eastern Kentucky. I was a student at Akron when we switched to the OVC.We were coming out of DII, the Mid Continent Conference.OVC was very impressive brand of basketball. Western and Eastern Kentucky and Murray St. were especially tough at the time.We were outclassed in those early years when Ken Cunningham and Bob Rupert were our coaches.But, as you mentioned, we were the Yankee school (before Youngstown joined) and really couldn't get much of a rivalry started with anyone.I think the proof of that was Youngstown pulling out the year after we did. They really didn't have a reason to stick around anymore.I remember going down to Murfeesboro for the OVC tournament...I think it was 88 or 89...I broke up a fight between this old guy from Eastern Kentucky who thought a guy from Middle said something about his wife....funny seeing these old geezers going at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PEAYNATION! Posted February 1, 2007 Report Share Posted February 1, 2007 I remember the Peay from the the U of A OVC days. Middle Tennessee and Austin Peay, among others (who were the OVC teams when we were in the conference?)I never thought there was much of a rivalry but certainly some hard-fought games.Looking forward to the matchup.Go Zips!!Hello Ziplock, The first year that Akron was in the OVC (81-82) the conference consisted of Akron, Austin Peay, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Morehead, Murray State, Tennessee Tech, Eastern Kentucky, and Youngstown State. It was also Youngstown State's first year in the OVC as well. Western Kentucky left the OVC the following year and joined the Sun Belt Conference even though WKU was one of the founding members of the OVC. Akron left the OVC after the 86-87 season and Youngstown State left the following year. The OVC picked up Tennessee State in the 87-88 season so they were the Zips replacement, I suppose. Middle Tennessee State left the OVC for the Sun Belt after the 99-2000 season but mainly for football reasons as they are now NCAA Div.I in football. The OVC has since picked up Southeast Missouri, Samford, Jacksonville State and Eastern Illinois and I think they did so mainly for football reasons. Austin Peay killed scholarship football several years ago but revived scholarship football this past year and will rejoin OVC play. Jax. State and Eastern Illinois are consistently at or near the bottom of the OVC in basketball virtually every year and SEMO is pretty much a middle of the pack team although they have won one OVC championship. Samford does alright but they play Bob Cousey, 1950's slowball. It's hard to prepare for the Princeton style. Still, they haven't won the OVC and are not going to win it very many times. Murray State and Austin Peay have won the lion's share of the titles over the past 20 years with Murray getting the lion's share of the NCAA bids. With the exception of perhaps Youngstown State, I do not think the OVC was geographically suitable for Akron to have any big rivalries. Even though it is called the OHIO Valley Conference, there are no teams from Ohio in it. If Akron was located in Southern Ohio then that would have brought you much closer geographically to teams such as Morehead and Eastern Kentucky. I was a student at Akron when we switched to the OVC.We were coming out of DII, the Mid Continent Conference.OVC was very impressive brand of basketball. Western and Eastern Kentucky and Murray St. were especially tough at the time.We were outclassed in those early years when Ken Cunningham and Bob Rupert were our coaches.But, as you mentioned, we were the Yankee school (before Youngstown joined) and really couldn't get much of a rivalry started with anyone.I think the proof of that was Youngstown pulling out the year after we did. They really didn't have a reason to stick around anymore.I remember going down to Murfeesboro for the OVC tournament...I think it was 88 or 89...I broke up a fight between this old guy from Eastern Kentucky who thought a guy from Middle said something about his wife....funny seeing these old geezers going at it. The old OVC which included WEstern Kentucky and Middle Tennessee forged a League with teams in close proximity to one another going back many, many decades. These rivalries are natural and the schools were close enough for good sized crowds to gather on both sides. The current best rivalries retain those two factors; Close proximity and a long history. I think Akron and Youngstown State were simply too far away and not in the OVC long enough for such rivalries to develope. Tonight will see the most intense and bitter rivalry of all: Murray State hosting Austin Peay. This game is pure hate and the Govs 11 game winning streak is definitely in danger since they are only 1-7 at the RSEC (Murray's new facility). The Govs won the first meeting in Clarksville by 9. I think the Govs have the better team but it will be an extremely tough game to win and this game means more to Murray at this point than Austin Peay. Austin Peay has a 2 1/2 game lead in the conference and a little cushion. Murray is fighting to secure a top 4 position (first round home game in the tournament). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zip81 Posted February 1, 2007 Report Share Posted February 1, 2007 Wasn't Fly Williams from APU?By the way, for the first few years we were in the OVC, we pronouced it...Austin PayWe had no idea it was actually pronouced, well, you know, like it is.And I though Peay was the first governor of Tenn, that's why they named the school after him.Thanks for setting me straight on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted February 1, 2007 Report Share Posted February 1, 2007 Akron opponents' record last 10 games: 92-116Akron opponents' average RPI last 10 games: 179.8Akron average margin of victory last 10 games: 15.0 pointsAPU opponents' record last 10 games: 68-143APU opponents' average RPI last 10 games: 264.5APU average margin of victory last 10 games: 9.4 pointsNot trying to make a point here, just some info for discussion. You can never say which team is better until they actually play each other on the court. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmyboy Posted February 1, 2007 Report Share Posted February 1, 2007 34 and 2.... Akrons home record since KD came to Akron. Sorry austin peay, dont think there is much of a chance. Look how akron tore apart a team in WMU who took care of nationally ranked virginia tech... and as always Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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