UT commit Marlin Parker was just upgraded by Rivals.com to a 3-star rating. Normally when a player commits to a MAC school he drops a star or at the very best stays the same in the coming weeks after commiting. Parker actually went up a star rating.

I've said this before... Toledo's mediocrity is only a short-lived temporary thing. I think UT will be back in the title mix 'sooner' as opposed to 'later'.

I agree. We have offers out to six more kids that are rated 3 stars and we have a commit from the 29th ranked offensive center in the country according to Scout.com, though he is only rated 2 stars (Kevin Kowalski).


At the same time, schools like WMU, CMU, NIU, BSU, Ohio, Miami, BG, Akron, and even Kent State are stepping up their recruiting too. There is no doubt in my mind that we have hit a new age of parity in the MAC.

Toledo had a nice turnaround in the second half of the season. It would have been easy to fold up the tent but TA did a nice job of keeping the troops together.

Cochrane looked good last night. He scares me more than any QB in the MAC. They'll be back.

connerito Wrote:Cochrane looked good last night. He scares me more than any QB in the MAC. They'll be back.

He has looked pretty good, especially knowing that he has been playing on an injured knee. When he's healthy he is the QB that played against Iowa State. He got hurt late in that game and then injured it worse in the Kansas game and shouldn't have even been out there the last few games.

connerito Wrote:Cochrane looked good last night. He scares me more than any QB in the MAC. They'll be back.

Like Holtz said, " They have -2- QB's that are good". I agree w/ him.

The 65,000 sq ft football facility at NIU will be open on Aug 1, 2007 with a good chance of an indoor being ready. It will be interesting to see how this equates to improved recruiting. I have been to all MAC schools and I have to say NIU will have the best football facilities by far in the conference.

gcd Wrote:The 65,000 sq ft football facility at NIU will be open on Aug 1, 2007 with a good chance of an indoor being ready. It will be interesting to see how this equates to improved recruiting. I have been to all MAC schools and I have to say NIU will have the best football facilities by far in the conference.

C'mon now...Let's not stretch here..... There are a number of schools re doing their facilities. I will say this thou, we should not lose recruits because of our facilites. We have lost 2-3 a year because of our lack of quailty facilities..

I am not stretching this. I have seen all MAC schools. We will have a 65,000 sq ft building that includes a 10,000 sq ft weight room and 40 yd sprint area. This is a large facility no matter whaere it is. Add an 80 yd indoor that will not be a bubble but a building tall enough to punt in and I'm telling you we will have the premier facility in the league.

gcd Wrote:I am not stretching this. I have seen all MAC schools. We will have a 65,000 sq ft building that includes a 10,000 sq ft weight room and 40 yd sprint area. This is a large facility no matter whaere it is. Add an 80 yd indoor that will not be a bubble but a building tall enough to punt in and I'm telling you we will have the premier facility in the league.

Every time someone gets the premier facility in the league they get passed up by someone else within a year or two, and their facilitiy is too new to do anything to it for a while. It's just the evolution of things, and having the premier facility usually doesn't translate into having the best team in the MAC.

rocketfootball Wrote:

gcd Wrote:I am not stretching this. I have seen all MAC schools. We will have a 65,000 sq ft building that includes a 10,000 sq ft weight room and 40 yd sprint area. This is a large facility no matter whaere it is. Add an 80 yd indoor that will not be a bubble but a building tall enough to punt in and I'm telling you we will have the premier facility in the league.

Every time someone gets the premier facility in the league they get passed up by someone else within a year or two, and their facilitiy is too new to do anything to it for a while. It's just the evolution of things, and having the premier facility usually doesn't translate into having the best team in the MAC.

No, it doesn't mean you will have the best team in the MAC but it does help give you an advantage over programs that don't have them. I wonder how much Akron's indoor pracitice facility has helped them out (especially in recruiting). Enough to give them that 1-point edge over NIU in the MACC? I don't know, but maybe it did. Akron was practicing inside while NIU was outside practicing on a wet, snowy field in the cold. After all, Ford Field is inside. So, its not like NIU practicing outside helped them any because the game was played in a dome. Btw, i'm not saying this is the reason we lost the game. Our defense gave up a huge play that lost us the game.

I'm thinking NIU's indoor practice facility should be announced sometime soon. Rumor has it that it will be coupled with a corporate sponsorship. If we announce it soon, it will give NIU enough time to get the bidding process done and make up the plans in the next year so that when our Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon Academic and Athletic Performance Center is finished we can get a start on the IPF right after.

Motown Bronco Wrote:I've said this before... Toledo's mediocrity is only a short-lived temporary thing. I think UT will be back in the title mix 'sooner' as opposed to 'later'.

Actually, if teams like Ohio, Kent & CMU can maintain their momentum, and Miami, Toledo return to form, the MAC could have one of its best seasons ever next year. Not sure what direction BG is headed. Ball State is such an enigma every year. Akron, I'm sure, will remain solid and Buffalo has already shown improvement this season - might take a bigger stride next year. The league will probably just beat the crap out of each other next season, but hopefully we'll see more of those close OOC losses turn to wins next season.

Roberto Gato Wrote:

Motown Bronco Wrote:I've said this before... Toledo's mediocrity is only a short-lived temporary thing. I think UT will be back in the title mix 'sooner' as opposed to 'later'.

Actually, if teams like Ohio, Kent & CMU can maintain their momentum, and Miami, Toledo return to form, the MAC could have one of its best seasons ever next year.

Toledo plays 3 BCS teams next year, and two of them are at the Glass Bowl - Iowa State and Purdue. Both very winnable. The other is at Kansas and that is winnable too.

Not sure about other schools, but Toledo should do their part in helping the MAC have a great year in 2007.

epasnoopy Wrote:No, it doesn't mean you will have the best team in the MAC but it does help give you an advantage over programs that don't have them. I wonder how much Akron's indoor pracitice facility has helped them out (especially in recruiting).

Well, practicing at Savage Hall on a hardwood basketball floor sure didn't hurt UT for the GMAC Bowl last year so I don't know that it gives you much of an advantage.

But like I said, schools are constantly upgrading facilities and someone will pass you up very soon, and then someone else will pass them up very soon after that.....and so on.

rocketfootball Wrote:But like I said, schools are constantly upgrading facilities and someone will pass you up very soon, and then someone else will pass them up very soon after that.....and so on.

I understand that. Facilities are like computers. You can buy the best one now but in 6 months a better one will come out. Although, schools don't build new buildings like they buy new computers. Most schools only build a new athletic building once every 5-10 years. However, i think in general, NIU fans are excited to be getting two facilities that we have been doing without our entire existence. We are at or near the bottom for facilities in the MAC yet up at the top in the MAC for football. It's been interesting how NIU has recruited the way it has without these facilities, but what excites me the most is what type of players we may be recruiting after we have both buildings. These buildings will also help make us more competitive in academics and the teams we will field in the future.

It is great to be excited about your school's facilities. But it is fallacy for someone to think that great facilities means a large jump in performance. Sure, it helps. But maybe one recruit chooses a school because of an indoor facility. KSU has had a 100-yard indoor facility for many years, and it hasn't helped a lick on the field. Will Akron's? Possibly. But are they going to jump to No. 1 in the recruiting rankings every year because of it? Certainly not.

Back to the original reason for this thread, maybe the recruiting experts mistakenly took UT for Tennessee. ;-)

KStud Wrote:Back to the original reason for this thread, maybe the recruiting experts mistakenly took UT for Tennessee. ;-)

Or possibly Texas.

Nice get Toledo fans. NIU is about to receive a verbal from DE John Hopkins. He had offers from Michigan State and Indiana (and probably more). He is the 18th ranked player out of Missouri.

http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewp...sp?pr_key=54136

Hopkins plans on N. Illinois

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/st...51?OpenDocument

Quote:Tired of the up-and-down nature of the recruiting process, in which schools' interest levels seem to change from week to week, Oakville's 6-3, 235-pound defensive end John Hopkins said Monday night he would be making a commitment soon.

"I'm planning on committing to Northern Illinois within the next week," he said.

Hopkins said he also considered Indiana, Ball State, Kansas and Kansas State. He ended up choosing a school that made a good impression on him very early in the process.

"I've been talking to the coaches; they've showed the most interest in me," Hopkins said.

Hopkins made 71 tackles, including 15 for loss, and had 10 sacks as the Tigers went 9-1 this fall.

rocketfootball Wrote:

Roberto Gato Wrote:

Motown Bronco Wrote:I've said this before... Toledo's mediocrity is only a short-lived temporary thing. I think UT will be back in the title mix 'sooner' as opposed to 'later'.

Actually, if teams like Ohio, Kent & CMU can maintain their momentum, and Miami, Toledo return to form, the MAC could have one of its best seasons ever next year.

Toledo plays 3 BCS teams next year, and two of them are at the Glass Bowl - Iowa State and Purdue. Both very winnable. The other is at Kansas and that is winnable too.

Not sure about other schools, but Toledo should do their part in helping the MAC have a great year in 2007.

Go 3-0 non-conference, then the MAC. That's when it gets scary--for all of us.