Orlando Sentinel is doing it's countdown of college football teams for this upcoming year. Here it is so far:

125 Georgia State
124 NMSU
123 UMass
122 Idaho
121 Akron
120 UNLV


I thought Bowden was turning Akron around, but the perception is, not so.

We better win that game.

Where are we?

Looks like this is a run down of 1-A teams.

Realistically, what do some of you think of our chances against Akron?
This is a game we should be winning.

Should be a close game. I don't put too much credibility in the Sagarin ratings especially when you are talking D1A-D1AA crossover, but if you look at last year's final sagarin and then add 3 pts to Akron for being at home, then it looks to be a very close game.

As far as giving Bowden a hard time, he inherited a complete mess of a basket case in Akron. Last season was his first season and was just getting to know the players. I expect he will have made the best of the offseason and Akron will be improved. I think they have most of a decent offense back so they should be able to put up points. Their defense was awful last year and what caused them to lose 11 games. Chuck Amato the former NC State head coach and Florida State defensive coordinator is their current defensive coordinator so he has been around. In theory, the Zips have an all-star coaching staff.

I'm not sure what James Madison has returning and didn't follow, but I wouldn't "expect" the Dukes to win, but I also wouldn't be surprised if the Dukes did win.

I would expect a close game and a toss-up similar to the Akron/UMass game last year.

Does anyone know what the payout is for this game?

(04-29-2013 10:46 AM)JMU Wrote:  Does anyone know what the payout is for this game?

The going rate for a MAC - D1AA one and done is around $250,000, but I don't know what the Akron / JMU agreement was for. If it had been an ACC or Big Ten team it would have been $350,000 for 1AA and $850,000 for 1A. App State is playing Michigan this year and in their contract it stated something like that where the payout escalated from $350K to $850K if they were to have reached 1A by the time they played this year.

i believe we are getting $400k

I give us a pretty good shot, but I'm concerned about our new offense. PRO-style offenses are tougher to implement because of the multiple reads, calls, etc. that players have to make especially compared to the offense we were most recently runnning. Much of the decision making is put on the QB.

(04-29-2013 10:06 AM)BleedingPurple Wrote:  Looks like this is a run down of 1-A teams.

Exactly!!!

(04-29-2013 10:58 AM)JMU_71 Wrote:  I give us a pretty good shot, but I'm concerned about our new offense. PRO-style offenses are tougher to implement because of the multiple reads, calls, etc. that players have to make especially compared to the offense we were most recently runnning. Much of the decision making is put on the QB.

That's a fair point. And aside from some inspiring play at the position last year in limited action, I don't think any of us has a real good indication of just how far along Birdsong is when it comes to reads. As far as Akron is concerned, It should be a very winnable game. Although Birdsong's development is at least partially a question mark, The defense should be solid.

(04-29-2013 10:48 AM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  

(04-29-2013 10:46 AM)JMU Wrote:  Does anyone know what the payout is for this game?

The going rate for a MAC - D1AA one and done is around $250,000, but I don't know what the Akron / JMU agreement was for. If it had been an ACC or Big Ten team it would have been $350,000 for 1AA and $850,000 for 1A. App State is playing Michigan this year and in their contract it stated something like that where the payout escalated from $350K to $850K if they were to have reached 1A by the time they played this year.

I don't think those app st v mich numbers are right. I thought the deal was structured where they would receive 600k+ if they were FCS and $800k+ if they were FBS. Could be wrong but your figures sound a lot lower than what I recall reading.

(04-29-2013 11:16 AM)atljmualum Wrote:  

(04-29-2013 10:48 AM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  

(04-29-2013 10:46 AM)JMU Wrote:  Does anyone know what the payout is for this game?

The going rate for a MAC - D1AA one and done is around $250,000, but I don't know what the Akron / JMU agreement was for. If it had been an ACC or Big Ten team it would have been $350,000 for 1AA and $850,000 for 1A. App State is playing Michigan this year and in their contract it stated something like that where the payout escalated from $350K to $850K if they were to have reached 1A by the time they played this year.

I don't think those app st v mich numbers are right. I thought the deal was structured where they would receive 600k+ if they were FCS and $800k+ if they were FBS. Could be wrong but your figures sound a lot lower than what I recall reading.

How long ago was this Appy/Mich contract written, years ago? Interesting that the FCS or FBS clause is in the contract in black and white.

How can GA ST be ranked higher than any 1A?

I don't have any doubts that our defense will be competitive- the question really lies with the offense. We definitely drew our weakest FBS opponent in years, but it could be at a time where our offense is also the weakest it has ever been.
Thankfully we face a cupcake before Akron. If that game is close, we have no shot at Akron. If it's a blowout I feel good about our chances.
And the ultimate key: STAY HEALTHY!

I think the ranking reflects only 1A. Doesn't include 1AA. GA St. is last. Doesn't mean that there are not any 1AA ahead of them.

If we are making $400k and can get a win, that would be fantastic. Seems a bit rich though, for Akron to pay out that kind of $.

I hope this is the not on Akron's blackboard after halftime:

"Everybody inside the TEs and up close to the line." Going down early on the road against a 1A, weak or not and we may find old habits are hard to break.

Akron Preview:

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football...rry-bowden


.

(04-29-2013 11:16 AM)atljmualum Wrote:  

(04-29-2013 10:48 AM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  

(04-29-2013 10:46 AM)JMU Wrote:  Does anyone know what the payout is for this game?

The going rate for a MAC - D1AA one and done is around $250,000, but I don't know what the Akron / JMU agreement was for. If it had been an ACC or Big Ten team it would have been $350,000 for 1AA and $850,000 for 1A. App State is playing Michigan this year and in their contract it stated something like that where the payout escalated from $350K to $850K if they were to have reached 1A by the time they played this year.

I don't think those app st v mich numbers are right. I thought the deal was structured where they would receive 600k+ if they were FCS and $800k+ if they were FBS. Could be wrong but your figures sound a lot lower than what I recall reading.

You're right ATL, he doesn't know what he is talking about. App was payed 400k in 07' by Michigan. For the 2014 game App was to receive 800k as a IAA, 1 million $ if they had made the move to I-A.
http://blowingrocket.com/Local_News/stor...-id-002851

(04-29-2013 10:45 AM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  Should be a close game. I don't put too much credibility in the Sagarin ratings especially when you are talking D1A-D1AA crossover, but if you look at last year's final sagarin and then add 3 pts to Akron for being at home, then it looks to be a very close game.

As far as giving Bowden a hard time, he inherited a complete mess of a basket case in Akron. Last season was his first season and was just getting to know the players. I expect he will have made the best of the offseason and Akron will be improved. I think they have most of a decent offense back so they should be able to put up points. Their defense was awful last year and what caused them to lose 11 games. Chuck Amato the former NC State head coach and Florida State defensive coordinator is their current defensive coordinator so he has been around. In theory, the Zips have an all-star coaching staff.

I'm not sure what James Madison has returning and didn't follow, but I wouldn't "expect" the Dukes to win, but I also wouldn't be surprised if the Dukes did win.

I would expect a close game and a toss-up similar to the Akron/UMass game last year.

We're much better than that UMass team. But, depends on which JMU team shows up....when playing FBS we have the "lets try to win this thing" team and then we also have the "lets get a check and run 50 draw plays" team.

Depends on Mickey's appetite for risk and injuries etc.

(04-29-2013 12:11 PM)BDKJMU Wrote:  

(04-29-2013 11:16 AM)atljmualum Wrote:  

(04-29-2013 10:48 AM)Miami (Oh) Yeah ! Wrote:  

(04-29-2013 10:46 AM)JMU Wrote:  Does anyone know what the payout is for this game?

The going rate for a MAC - D1AA one and done is around $250,000, but I don't know what the Akron / JMU agreement was for. If it had been an ACC or Big Ten team it would have been $350,000 for 1AA and $850,000 for 1A. App State is playing Michigan this year and in their contract it stated something like that where the payout escalated from $350K to $850K if they were to have reached 1A by the time they played this year.

I don't think those app st v mich numbers are right. I thought the deal was structured where they would receive 600k+ if they were FCS and $800k+ if they were FBS. Could be wrong but your figures sound a lot lower than what I recall reading.

You're right ATL, he doesn't know what he is talking about. App was payed 400k in 07' by Michigan. For the 2014 game App was to receive 800k as a IAA, 1 million $ if they had made the move to I-A.
http://blowingrocket.com/Local_News/stor...-id-002851

Key words that I said were "something like". I never said I had the exact numbers, just that I remember it escalating if they were FBS. Geesh.