2026-2027 Schedule

[RoyalBlu]

On 4/10/2026 at 12:08 PM, infofan said:

My understanding was Akron played at YSU in an exhibition game last november with the expectation theyd play an exhibition at Akron next year. both schools splitting the proceeds even to go toward their respective NIL funds.  As for horizon league games weve played Milwaukee, Ft Wayne, Oakland,  NKU, as well as Wright St.  Dont know what the issue is with Cleveland and Ytown, but with budget issues these "local" games seem to make sense for all teams involved

 

 

Wasn't that long ago Akron-YSU-CSU-Kent played a rotational DH via Coaches For Cancer. It died when - as I understand it - game film was not shared as agreed upon between at least two of the programs. Considering Kent has continued to play CSU, the possibility exists some combination of Akron-YSU-CSU may have sent popcorn but not video.

 

Just guessing.

 

[kreed5120]

Yeah, no interest in scheduling YSU or CSU. Both are generally on par with the cupcakes this board often complains about scheduling.

 

IMO the only Horizon League teams consistently good enough to schedule H&H with are NKU and Wright State. In the past we have bought home games against Detroit Mercy and Oakland. I feel YSU and CSU are historically similar caliber programs.

[csims0917]

I’d just want to go to an easy to get to road game 

[exit322]

4 hours ago, csims0917 said:

I’d just want to go to an easy to get to road game 

Well right, and playing annual games against local rivals home and away would create another game that matters at least a little bit.

 

And since we're all mid majors whose ceiling is the Round of 64, who cares if they're "beneath us" or some crap.

[clarkwgriswold]

I'd gladly give up Penn State- Shenago, Concord, Heidelberg, etc.... for CSU or YSU.

[kreed5120]

3 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I'd gladly give up Penn State- Shenago, Concord, Heidelberg, etc.... for CSU or YSU.

 

The MAC going to a rumored 22 conference games means 3 OOC games will already be eliminated. The reason I said 3 instead of 4 is because the NCAA increased the number of games teams are allowed to play by 1 for the upcoming season.

 

My hope would be those would be the games eliminated already. If we can only play 10 OOC games moving forward with 3 of them being an early season tournament and 2 being the SunBelt-MAC challenge, that leaves only 5 other games we can schedule moving forward. Of those 5 one has to think 1-2 would be against a high major. That leaves 3-4 other games.

[zippy5]

11 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I'd gladly give up Penn State- Shenago, Concord, Heidelberg, etc.... for CSU or YSU.

Same, if they'd play at the JAR each year 

[exit322]

2 hours ago, zippy5 said:

Same, if they'd play at the JAR each year 

 

Every other year is fine.  It won't hurt Akron's standing as a mid major to travel to Youngstown or Cleveland every other year to help build a rivalry.  Especially when it provides a likely road win in the non league.

Edited yesterday at 02:51 PM by exit322

[zippy5]

1 hour ago, exit322 said:

 

Every other year is fine.  It won't hurt Akron's standing as a mid major to travel to Youngstown or Cleveland every other year to help build a rivalry.  Especially when it provides a likely road win in the non league.

Hard pass

[kreed5120]

7 hours ago, exit322 said:

 

Every other year is fine.  It won't hurt Akron's standing as a mid major to travel to Youngstown or Cleveland every other year to help build a rivalry.  Especially when it provides a likely road win in the non league.

 

We already have plenty of regional rivalries with Kent, Ohio, and Toledo. All of which are better programs than YSU or CSU. If you want to establish a OOC rivalry with another mid-major we should target a Wright State, NKU, or maybe renew a rivalry with Marshall. All of which are historically better programs than YSU or CSU.

Edited 17 hours ago by kreed5120

[tpsjugglerdude]

On 5/22/2026 at 5:46 PM, RoyalBlu said:

 

Wasn't that long ago Akron-YSU-CSU-Kent played a rotational DH via Coaches For Cancer. It died when - as I understand it - game film was not shared as agreed upon between at least two of the programs. Considering Kent has continued to play CSU, the possibility exists some combination of Akron-YSU-CSU may have sent popcorn but not video.

 

That's pretty flawed logic. Kent or CSU could have been the culprit with one of the other 3. 

[exit322]

20 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

 

We already have plenty of regional rivalries with Kent, Ohio, and Toledo. All of which are better programs than YSU or CSU. If you want to establish a OOC rivalry with another mid-major we should target a Wright State, NKU, or maybe renew a rivalry with Marshall. All of which are historically better programs than YSU or CSU.

 

Sure, there's spots for them as well.  They're not nearly as local, but adding Wright State, NKU, and Marshall to YSU and CSU fills out a lot of the nonconference schedule with games that at least have something to bring to a local fanbase.  You figure the MAC-Sun Belt challenge probably stays, so even with a 22-game league schedule if they do that, you've got 3 games left after that to do whatever with.