When our standards move above:

1.) "Haven't been embarrassed" by BCS teams who look at the MAC opponent as a notch above a bye week. It drives me crazy, too, but very few BCS programs put on their best for the MAC. I love it when they get caught looking past us, but most of the time we're a coast week and they know it. Why are double digit loses against teams who substitute liberally in the second half and test out scrimmage plays for the 4th quarter a source of pride?

2) Revise the game we lost based upon "what the refs should have called" even though the week before the same MAC team was on the winning end of a time clock bumble at home against a FCS opponent.

I'll pay attention to these ranking rationalizations. But in the meantime, some of you are very entertaining.

(09-16-2013 10:28 AM)perimeterpost Wrote:  now we're crowing about...

Says the ****** who is all about using qualifiers to make his pathetic football team merely look mediocre.

(09-16-2013 12:06 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  

(09-16-2013 10:28 AM)perimeterpost Wrote:  now we're crowing about...

Says the ****** who is all about using qualifiers to make his pathetic football team merely look mediocre.

Why are posts like this acceptable?

(09-16-2013 12:18 PM)The Optimist Wrote:  

(09-16-2013 12:06 PM)TARDledo Wrote:  

(09-16-2013 10:28 AM)perimeterpost Wrote:  now we're crowing about...

Says the ****** who is all about using qualifiers to make his pathetic football team merely look mediocre.

Why are posts like this acceptable?

good question.

Probably because no one reported it to a moderator?

I think some people operate under the assumption that there are moderators reading every post and thread which is far from the truth.

Problem? Report it.

The last time I reported TARDledo swearing at Ohio fans I was told there was nothing wrong with what he said.

Are asterisks really swearing?

(09-16-2013 03:18 PM)axeme Wrote:  Are asterisks really swearing?

**** yeah!

(09-16-2013 10:54 AM)7 Wrote:  

(09-16-2013 10:28 AM)perimeterpost Wrote:  

(09-16-2013 10:00 AM)TARDledo Wrote:  

(09-16-2013 06:29 AM)emu steve Wrote:  Ohio was eliminated the day before Labor Day vs. L'ville. It was a killer. Period.

BG was eliminated Saturday.

BSU was eliminated Saturday night.

(also) UT was eliminated the 2nd week of the season.

So of the 5 strongest MAC teams (NIU, UT, BSU, Ohio and BG) only one has a very slim chance.

Sadly, I agree.

Delusional nut-jobs aside, only three MAC teams had a chance prior to this weekend and BG and Ball State blew it.

NIU is the only MAC team left, unless some really bizarre things happen this year similar to last year.

I disagree that they have a "slim" chance.

The Big Ten, AAC, and Big 12 all look shaky (think Champ with multiple losses) as do the other non-AQs.

NIU won by double digits, and outscored Idaho 31-7 from late in the 2Q to the end of the game. NIU has outscored opponents 37-10 in the 2nd half. They are the strongest of the non-AQs to this point despite what the clueless voters in the Polls say.

now we're crowing about margin of victory over terrible teams by specific halves? oh, how the mighty have fallen.

excellent point. Here we are talking about how a strong 2nd half was needed to beat a bottom feeder like Idaho when it wasn't that long ago that we were talking about how a strong 2nd half was needed by the Huskies to pull an improbable upset in a conference championship game against a highly favored Ohio team that most people believe is one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, football programs from a non power conference (just being honest).

Glad to see there's at least 1 Huskie fan that agrees with me.

(09-16-2013 11:37 AM)FlashFan Wrote:  

(09-16-2013 10:59 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  

(09-16-2013 10:46 AM)axeme Wrote:  KSU dominated LSU in quarters 2 and 3, 13-10. How come we didn't get any votes?

Sounding like a Toledo fan talking about Mizzou in week two.
If dominating is 13-10 then Toledo destroyed Michigan in 2008...

I think you missed his sarcasm.

Clearly

(09-15-2013 11:49 AM)FlashFan Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 02:50 AM)Wadszip Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 12:41 AM)Bull_In_Exile Wrote:  http://www.ubbullrun.com/2013/9/15/47320...r-rankings

Poll - Which *WIN* makes the MAC look the worst this week?

W3 Team Change Game Comment
1 NIU 0 W 45-35 at Idaho Beginning our day of massive disappointment was NIU. Yea you won but does it bode well Idaho was up on you at the half?
2 Ball State 1 L 34-27 at North Texas Disappointment #2 Ball State who went up 20-3 in the first quarter on North Texas. They were then outscored 7-31 during the rest of the night.
3 Toledo 1 W 33-21 vs E Washington Toledo's win could be viewed as a Quality win given what Eastern Washington did in Week one.
4 Ohio 2 W 34-21 vs Marshall It took four Marshall Turnovers but the Cat's notched one of the conferences best wins this week. If you have to win a close game do against a team you hate.
5 BGSU -3 L 42-10 at Indiana So can we stop the "Bowling Green may go undefeated" talk now? The Falcons have looked very human the past two weeks and the East looks a lot more open than I thought.
6 Kent -1 L 45-13 at LSU It's hard to fault Kent for this loss and they would have held their place in the rankings if not for the win by the Kittens.
7 Buffalo 0 W 26-23 vs Stony Brook As hars as it is to fault Kent for their loss it's even harder to *NOT* fault UB for their win. They hold position because of the poor showings below them but Quinn's seat is getting mighty hot.
8 EMU 1 W 28-10 at Rutgers EMU continues to be a pretty good first half football team. If Ron English could get 60 minutes out of them they Might win a few.
9 Miami -1 Bye Miami Falls because EMU and Akron showed some promise today.
10 Akron 1 L 28-24 at Michigan First of all that was a crap pass interference call. Right now we should be talking about Akron showking Michigan. That being said until the Zips can so something like this every week they won't go much higher.
11 CMU -1 L 31-21 at UNLV The UNLV game was really going the MAC's way, then the real Central Michigan showed up in the second half.
12 WMU 0 L 38-17 at Northwestern On the plus side WMU fans can say "If we played like that last week we beat Nicholls". Structurally the Bronco's have a lot of the pieces they need.
13 UMass 0 L 37-7 at Kansas St. Let's hope the check clears.

I agree with the top five teams, though I'd have Toledo No. 2.

3-4-5 is a toss up. Though, I'd rank them:

3. Ohio - The Louisville game got away from them, but it was on the road against a top 10 team.

4. Bowling Green - The Indiana game got away from them. While Indiana isn't great, still a potent offensive team. Only scoring 10 is a red flag, though.

5. Ball State - The loss was on the road against a team that played OU tough in Athens. This is where it is splitting hairs. BSU lost on the road in a close game to IMO the worst team of the three, where as OU and BG were blasted on the road by the better teams (really better, in OU's case). Still, BSU should've won that game, so they'll get penalized more for the loss.

After that, 6-9 should be in some order: Buffalo, Kent, Akron and EMU. I'm guessing you meant to have it the same way since you dropped Miami on the bye because "EMU and Akron showed promise today" ... but kept Miami in front of Akron. Did you mean to make Akron 9 and Miami 10? If so, no real beef. If not, I don't see any way you could have Miami above Akron.

Again, these teams are all 1-2 and have played tough competition, so it's splitting hairs, but I see it as:

6. Akron - The 38-7 beatdown at Central Florida looks "better" now that Central Florida went to Penn State today and not only won, but outplayed the Nittany Lions. Obviously, Akron nearly defeated Michigan. But unlike some close calls MAC schools have against top 15 ranked teams ... where you look at the stats and it shows they were really outplayed on paper but somehow kept it close. Today's Akron-Michigan game was not in that category. Akron outplayed Michigan. They were the better team on this day. Had more first downs, had more possessions in opposing territory, yards were even (400 plus for both), controlled time of possession. Akron killed itself with two missed field goals and having the ball inside the Michigan 2 three times and coming away with just 7 points. Close loss aside, Akron's FCS win was as good as any of the teams in this group.

7. Buffalo - Like Akron, neither of the losses are to be ashamed of (though 70-13 at Baylor is worse than 38-7 at CFU ... 40-20 at OSU is worse than 28-24 at Michigan. The OT win against Stony Brook is on par with Akron's close win against JMU. Whatever, it could go either way, but I'd give Akron the resume edge.

8. EMU - Seems to be getting a ton of credit, from you, for keeping it close for a half against BCS teams. But that Penn State game ended up being 45-7. EMU lost by more points to Penn State than Akron lost to Central Florida. Central Florida then went to Penn State and went. EMU played Rutgers "tough" today, but it wasn't nearly as tough as Akron played a much better Michigan team. EMU's FCS win was 34-24 against a pretty bad Howard team ... FWIW, Old Dominion beat Howard today 76-19.

9. Kent State - The 20-something point loss at home to BG lost some of its luster after Indiana routed BG today, but still not a horrible loss. The 45-13 loss to LSU, of course, isn't bad, but nothing to hang your hat on. Granted, Archer went down early, but a 17-10 win against Liberty is also nothing to hang your hat on.

10-14 has to be CMU, WMU, Miami and UMass.

10. Western Michigan - The only thing keeping the Broncos in the bottom third is the horrible loss to Nichols State. Outside of that, they haven't been embarassed against two top 25 Big Teams. Still, lost both games by double digits, add that with the Nichols State loss, and they are in this spot.

11. CMU was blasted by Michigan, came back with a "decent" close win against a top-tier FCS team, but lost any momentum by losing to to a pretty bad UNLV team (albeit on the road). That gets you down here.

12. Miami - The only good thing was they were off. Miami hasn't done anything this year to show that they are competent. Luckily Munchie Legeaux is out for the year (still Cincy probably wins) and that UMass, Akron and Central Michigan all go to Oxford. Though, I think Cincy and Akron win, while CMU and UMass will be the two best shots for a win.

13. UMass - Better days will be ahead.

Nothing is as predictable as Zips fans. They stay in their hidey hole until it's time to come out and say the sun shines on them. Welcome, back, WadsZip.

My hidey hole? I put it on here before the season started that I thought Akron was going to finish 4th in the East. I'll stick to that, especially, considering how well they played against Michigan. As of what has happened, I'll move Akron above Buffalo (the team I predicted third) in the power rankings. While, I think Akron has looked better than Buffalo so far, I still think the Bulls finish third because they have the more favorable schedule.

Just as in my preseason predictions, I have Kent finishing 5th (where I have them in the overall power rankings), Miami finishing 6th and UMass 7th.

My rankings are pretty consistent compared to how I saw it at the beginning of the year.

I know it kills Kent people to see Akron actually look very good against a top 15 team, since it just so happens that the Flashes only sign of life (and success against the Zips) has coincided with the worst Akron teams in the D1 era. But get used to it. The Rob Ianello years are over. The pieces are in place for the program to finally live up to the expectations since InfoCision Stadium has opened.

I will say this, there are no more moral victories. Akron has to beat a solid Louisiana team to gain respect. We'll see what happens.

(09-17-2013 02:59 AM)Wadszip Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 11:49 AM)FlashFan Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 02:50 AM)Wadszip Wrote:  

(09-15-2013 12:41 AM)Bull_In_Exile Wrote:  http://www.ubbullrun.com/2013/9/15/47320...r-rankings

Poll - Which *WIN* makes the MAC look the worst this week?

W3 Team Change Game Comment
1 NIU 0 W 45-35 at Idaho Beginning our day of massive disappointment was NIU. Yea you won but does it bode well Idaho was up on you at the half?
2 Ball State 1 L 34-27 at North Texas Disappointment #2 Ball State who went up 20-3 in the first quarter on North Texas. They were then outscored 7-31 during the rest of the night.
3 Toledo 1 W 33-21 vs E Washington Toledo's win could be viewed as a Quality win given what Eastern Washington did in Week one.
4 Ohio 2 W 34-21 vs Marshall It took four Marshall Turnovers but the Cat's notched one of the conferences best wins this week. If you have to win a close game do against a team you hate.
5 BGSU -3 L 42-10 at Indiana So can we stop the "Bowling Green may go undefeated" talk now? The Falcons have looked very human the past two weeks and the East looks a lot more open than I thought.
6 Kent -1 L 45-13 at LSU It's hard to fault Kent for this loss and they would have held their place in the rankings if not for the win by the Kittens.
7 Buffalo 0 W 26-23 vs Stony Brook As hars as it is to fault Kent for their loss it's even harder to *NOT* fault UB for their win. They hold position because of the poor showings below them but Quinn's seat is getting mighty hot.
8 EMU 1 W 28-10 at Rutgers EMU continues to be a pretty good first half football team. If Ron English could get 60 minutes out of them they Might win a few.
9 Miami -1 Bye Miami Falls because EMU and Akron showed some promise today.
10 Akron 1 L 28-24 at Michigan First of all that was a crap pass interference call. Right now we should be talking about Akron showking Michigan. That being said until the Zips can so something like this every week they won't go much higher.
11 CMU -1 L 31-21 at UNLV The UNLV game was really going the MAC's way, then the real Central Michigan showed up in the second half.
12 WMU 0 L 38-17 at Northwestern On the plus side WMU fans can say "If we played like that last week we beat Nicholls". Structurally the Bronco's have a lot of the pieces they need.
13 UMass 0 L 37-7 at Kansas St. Let's hope the check clears.

I agree with the top five teams, though I'd have Toledo No. 2.

3-4-5 is a toss up. Though, I'd rank them:

3. Ohio - The Louisville game got away from them, but it was on the road against a top 10 team.

4. Bowling Green - The Indiana game got away from them. While Indiana isn't great, still a potent offensive team. Only scoring 10 is a red flag, though.

5. Ball State - The loss was on the road against a team that played OU tough in Athens. This is where it is splitting hairs. BSU lost on the road in a close game to IMO the worst team of the three, where as OU and BG were blasted on the road by the better teams (really better, in OU's case). Still, BSU should've won that game, so they'll get penalized more for the loss.

After that, 6-9 should be in some order: Buffalo, Kent, Akron and EMU. I'm guessing you meant to have it the same way since you dropped Miami on the bye because "EMU and Akron showed promise today" ... but kept Miami in front of Akron. Did you mean to make Akron 9 and Miami 10? If so, no real beef. If not, I don't see any way you could have Miami above Akron.

Again, these teams are all 1-2 and have played tough competition, so it's splitting hairs, but I see it as:

6. Akron - The 38-7 beatdown at Central Florida looks "better" now that Central Florida went to Penn State today and not only won, but outplayed the Nittany Lions. Obviously, Akron nearly defeated Michigan. But unlike some close calls MAC schools have against top 15 ranked teams ... where you look at the stats and it shows they were really outplayed on paper but somehow kept it close. Today's Akron-Michigan game was not in that category. Akron outplayed Michigan. They were the better team on this day. Had more first downs, had more possessions in opposing territory, yards were even (400 plus for both), controlled time of possession. Akron killed itself with two missed field goals and having the ball inside the Michigan 2 three times and coming away with just 7 points. Close loss aside, Akron's FCS win was as good as any of the teams in this group.

7. Buffalo - Like Akron, neither of the losses are to be ashamed of (though 70-13 at Baylor is worse than 38-7 at CFU ... 40-20 at OSU is worse than 28-24 at Michigan. The OT win against Stony Brook is on par with Akron's close win against JMU. Whatever, it could go either way, but I'd give Akron the resume edge.

8. EMU - Seems to be getting a ton of credit, from you, for keeping it close for a half against BCS teams. But that Penn State game ended up being 45-7. EMU lost by more points to Penn State than Akron lost to Central Florida. Central Florida then went to Penn State and went. EMU played Rutgers "tough" today, but it wasn't nearly as tough as Akron played a much better Michigan team. EMU's FCS win was 34-24 against a pretty bad Howard team ... FWIW, Old Dominion beat Howard today 76-19.

9. Kent State - The 20-something point loss at home to BG lost some of its luster after Indiana routed BG today, but still not a horrible loss. The 45-13 loss to LSU, of course, isn't bad, but nothing to hang your hat on. Granted, Archer went down early, but a 17-10 win against Liberty is also nothing to hang your hat on.

10-14 has to be CMU, WMU, Miami and UMass.

10. Western Michigan - The only thing keeping the Broncos in the bottom third is the horrible loss to Nichols State. Outside of that, they haven't been embarassed against two top 25 Big Teams. Still, lost both games by double digits, add that with the Nichols State loss, and they are in this spot.

11. CMU was blasted by Michigan, came back with a "decent" close win against a top-tier FCS team, but lost any momentum by losing to to a pretty bad UNLV team (albeit on the road). That gets you down here.

12. Miami - The only good thing was they were off. Miami hasn't done anything this year to show that they are competent. Luckily Munchie Legeaux is out for the year (still Cincy probably wins) and that UMass, Akron and Central Michigan all go to Oxford. Though, I think Cincy and Akron win, while CMU and UMass will be the two best shots for a win.

13. UMass - Better days will be ahead.

Nothing is as predictable as Zips fans. They stay in their hidey hole until it's time to come out and say the sun shines on them. Welcome, back, WadsZip.

My hidey hole? I put it on here before the season started that I thought Akron was going to finish 4th in the East. I'll stick to that, especially, considering how well they played against Michigan. As of what has happened, I'll move Akron above Buffalo (the team I predicted third) in the power rankings. While, I think Akron has looked better than Buffalo so far, I still think the Bulls finish third because they have the more favorable schedule.

Just as in my preseason predictions, I have Kent finishing 5th (where I have them in the overall power rankings), Miami finishing 6th and UMass 7th.

My rankings are pretty consistent compared to how I saw it at the beginning of the year.

I know it kills Kent people to see Akron actually look very good against a top 15 team, since it just so happens that the Flashes only sign of life (and success against the Zips) has coincided with the worst Akron teams in the D1 era. But get used to it. The Rob Ianello years are over. The pieces are in place for the program to finally live up to the expectations since InfoCision Stadium has opened.

I will say this, there are no more moral victories. Akron has to beat a solid Louisiana team to gain respect. We'll see what happens.

When someone doesn't contribute after a bad opening loss and a fourth quarter escape over a FCU team but shows up after their best game of the season, call it what you will.

Here's where we agree. Akron had a good game against Michigan. But as your coach said, he knew Michigan would be flat and the Zips would catch them sleeping. But I'll give you the fact that the Zips took advantage of the opportunity.

I think there are a few clouds in your blue skies, but that's just me. Here's what I wonder. Will Bowden stick around? Will your new President be willing to spend like Proenza on athletics, especially since the long term enrollment goal of 40K may be off by a mere 50% or so? What will your next Prez have to spend to fix a 40% graduation rate? Maybe the long term will be fine for UA athletics, or maybe it will find itself in a much different place on the priority list. It may be out of necessity vs. desire. It's just me, but I wouldn't count those chickens just yet.

Akron didn't take advantage of anything. They lost.

Pohl and a strong defensive backfield is why Akron will beat down the bottom of the MAC.

(09-17-2013 09:16 AM)7 Wrote:  Akron didn't take advantage of anything. They lost.

But they sure looked like a fundamentally sound FB team doing it. Bowden definitely outcoached Hoke.

(09-17-2013 01:12 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(09-17-2013 09:16 AM)7 Wrote:  Akron didn't take advantage of anything. They lost.

But they sure looked like a fundamentally sound FB team doing it. Bowden definitely outcoached Hoke.

Which brings up the question of how many wins will it take before another school comes for Bowden? I say 6 wins and he will be gone.

(09-17-2013 03:25 PM)ilovegymnast Wrote:  

(09-17-2013 01:12 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(09-17-2013 09:16 AM)7 Wrote:  Akron didn't take advantage of anything. They lost.

But they sure looked like a fundamentally sound FB team doing it. Bowden definitely outcoached Hoke.

Which brings up the question of how many wins will it take before another school comes for Bowden? I say 6 wins and he will be gone.

I almost get the feeling that Bowden is trying to pull a Frank Solich by building Akron from the ground up. He's 57 and not in the best of shape, so unless he gets an offer by a major program he's going to have to work a lot again to fix it up. Akron has top-notch facilities for a G5 school and he's in a reasonably fertile recruiting ground, maybe he sticks around for a bit?

(09-17-2013 03:25 PM)ilovegymnast Wrote:  

(09-17-2013 01:12 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(09-17-2013 09:16 AM)7 Wrote:  Akron didn't take advantage of anything. They lost.

But they sure looked like a fundamentally sound FB team doing it. Bowden definitely outcoached Hoke.

Which brings up the question of how many wins will it take before another school comes for Bowden? I say 6 wins and he will be gone.

Six wins means he'll have a 7-17 record at Akron. Not sure that gets him any opportunities worth pursuing.

(09-17-2013 05:29 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  

(09-17-2013 03:25 PM)ilovegymnast Wrote:  

(09-17-2013 01:12 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(09-17-2013 09:16 AM)7 Wrote:  Akron didn't take advantage of anything. They lost.

But they sure looked like a fundamentally sound FB team doing it. Bowden definitely outcoached Hoke.

Which brings up the question of how many wins will it take before another school comes for Bowden? I say 6 wins and he will be gone.

I almost get the feeling that Bowden is trying to pull a Frank Solich by building Akron from the ground up. He's 57 and not in the best of shape, so unless he gets an offer by a major program he's going to have to work a lot again to fix it up. Akron has top-notch facilities for a G5 school and he's in a reasonably fertile recruiting ground, maybe he sticks around for a bit?

The problem with Akron is Kent State is the more popular school and won 11 games in 2012.....they are fighting an uphill battle in their own region.

(09-17-2013 06:12 PM)uakronkid Wrote:  

(09-17-2013 03:25 PM)ilovegymnast Wrote:  

(09-17-2013 01:12 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(09-17-2013 09:16 AM)7 Wrote:  Akron didn't take advantage of anything. They lost.

But they sure looked like a fundamentally sound FB team doing it. Bowden definitely outcoached Hoke.

Which brings up the question of how many wins will it take before another school comes for Bowden? I say 6 wins and he will be gone.

Six wins means he'll have a 7-17 record at Akron. Not sure that gets him any opportunities worth pursuing.

Yeah, unless Akron wins out this year, which isn't going to happen, Bowden isn't going to get a better offer than what he has at Akron. And at this point in his career, he could be the next Frank Solich, where building Akron will be the final feather in his cap. While the Bowden name is synonymous with the South, Terry actually grew up in Morgantown, WV. So he has roots in this region. He also got his first D1 coaching job at Akron in the 80s, so the marriage between the Bowden and Akron isn't as out of left field as it seems on the surface.

Who knows, maybe he wants to get back to a power school in the next couple of years. But he's going to have to win big for that to happen, putting Akron in a good position to bring in a successor. Or maybe he is content here, which is also a good thing.