Men's basketball

The Zips (6-3) crushed Wright State (4-6) 72-44 at Rhodes Arena today. Cedric Middleton and Romeo Travis played good defense on a day when the 3-point shots weren't falling.

The attendance surprised me. The stadium seemed about three quarters full on a holiday when students weren't on campus and Akron was playing a garbage opponent. Maybe the football momentum is carrying over to basketball. Men's basketball, that is.

The women's basketball (3-8) team is averaging fewer than 200 fans per game. Once they stop playing sloppy basketball, that might change. Although, they are winning more than the last few years.

The men will open their conference schedule at Ball State on Wednesday. Ball State is solid, but they will be fresh off a beating from Indiana. Those teams play today at 4.

Football

Here come my long-awaited bowl predictions. I'm only going to predict the bowls you care about - Fiesta and Rose.

In the Rose Bowl, Texas will contain USC's amazing offense. The Trojans will have no answer for Vince Young. The Longhorns will win, 31-28.

In the Fiesta Bowl, Troy Smith will play a solid game. Ohio State's defense will shut down Brady Quinn. Buckeyes win, 27-21.

Men's basketball

I'm off to watch the Bubba-less Zips play Wright State at Rhodes Arena. I'll write up a report on the game once I get back.

Football

Well, ESPN.com was sort of wrong, says the ABJ's Patrick McManamon. General manager Phil Savage will stay on as a player personnel person only. They will hire a lawyer for salary cap and contract stuff. It's not Zips related, but I thought I should follow up.

Football

It's a slow news day around the Zips. So I'll report what I found on ESPN 2's bottom line. In bowl season, Luke Getsy is the second-leading passer. Jabari Arthur is the third-leading receiver.

In other news, it looks like the Browns will fire general manager Phil Savage. As I sat at my desk at the Beacon Journal, I noticed it on ESPN.com. I showed it to Terry Pluto, who was shocked. I'm shocked as well. After finding the gem of the third round in Charlie Frye, Savage is being fired for "philosophical differences in salary-cap management"? Come on.

I've heard this may actually be about Frye, that Savage might not be his biggest fan, while owner Randy Lerner is. That's just hearsay though.

Pluto said Savage seemed a little downtrodden when they spoke yesterday. Who knows.

Maybe the philosophical difference is that Savage wanted the team to stop sucking.

Miscellaneous

My old boy Dan Kadar, editor in chief of the Buchtelite (UA's student paper), wrote a killer story about Fear the Roo gear in the ABJ. It tells a lot of interesting things I didn't know about Fear Gear.

Read it and you'll realize that associate athletic director Mike Waddell is a reporter's dream. You could get an interesting quote out of him about anything.

Reporter: Mike, what do you think about the harvest season in Winchester, Wyo.?

Waddell: The growing season is blowing up like an explosion on the sun. I'd ride that bottle rocket as far as it takes me.

In other miscellany, a CBSportsline columnist says he was wrong when he said there are too many bowl games, in part because of the Akron-Memphis game.

I saw this a few weeks ago but forgot to post it. The bowls give out a prize package to each player. Here's what the Zips got.

Football

As I've been searching the recruiting Web sites the past couple months, I've wonderered about their credibility and how much work goes into them. Rivals.com, Scout.com, ESPN.com — they have data on thousands of high school players across the nation. Here's a really good article that can explain it for you.

Football

As if it wasn't enough for DeAngelo Williams to have run all over the Zips defense on Monday for a Memphis win in the Motor City Bowl, the Tigers' sports information people reviewed the video to find five more yards for Williams.

That brings him to 238 yards in the game (only two away from my prediction of 240) and 31 carries. Both "new" marks set MCB records for carries and rushing yards. It also extends Williams' NCAA career record for all-purpose yards.

In other news, a star safety chose Toledo over Akron and others. Barry Church is listed as a three-star recruit by Scout.com.

Football

Well, I was wrong about Kiki Gonzalez. Unless something changes, he will be back next year, which is very good news.

The defense will be outstanding. It will lose Brian White and Jay Rohr, but as associate athletic director Mike Waddell pointed out, Akron fans will be introduced to Nathaniel Robinson.

Who is Nate Robinson? Out of high school in 2003, he was THE CONSENSUS BEST DEFENSIVE TACKLE IN THE NATION.

Right now, the Zips are trying to bring in a four-star recruit or two, which would be a major coup. Well, Robinson was a five-star recruit in 2003. He originally committed to play at Miami. Then he changed his mind and signed with Rutgers.

The 6-foot-4, 319 pound New Jersey native played some in 2003 and 2004. He showed his quickness and talent during those 14 games his freshman and sophomore years. He sat out 2005 due to transfer rules.

How good will he be for Akron? Waddell said he could be MAC Player of the Year next year as a junior.

The Sporting News also reported that Marion Terry, Antoine Hight, Kevin Garner and touted freshmen Terricko Marshall and Clarence McPherson will dramatically improve the Zips defense.

During my conversation with Waddell, he said that the billboards in Detroit were more than just a waste of money, as I wrote. The billboards also are meant to target potential students and student-athletes in that area. The competition is intense for recruits in Michigan with three MAC schools and two Big 10 teams. However, these trips to Detroit should help wedge UA further into that competition.

Waddell also said that all the money spent with billboards and advertisements in the Detroit newspaper has made Akron an elite bowl prospect. In his words, if Akron is 7-5 next year and two MAC schools go to bowl games, the Zips will be one of the teams.

An offensive lineman also committed to Akron last week. News reports spell his name either Cory or Corey Woods. And he is either an offensive tackle or offensive guard. ESPN.com does not regard him very highly, as you will see if you click the link.

Oh yeah. And can someone get Brookhart a contract extension?

Men's basketball

As I wrote earlier, Bubba Walther wanted to go to Winthrop. Don't be surprised if he goes to another MAC school. He could be suited up for Ohio University by midseason next year. That would pour some gasoline on a warming rivalry.

Before committing to Akron, Walther was recruited by Winthrop, Eastern Michigan and Evansville. Those also have to be options for him.

Men's soccer

The search for a new coach will intensify next week, the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

Men's basketball

Sophomore guard Bubba Walther left the Zips today. The story on GoZips.com barely gives an explanation from coach Keith Dambrot. My inside source tells me that Walther had been considering transferring to Winthrop for quite some time. Now that fellow sophomore guard Nick Dials is solidified in the starting lineup, he knows that he will have to go elsewhere for some run. Freshman forward John Rybak also took some of his minutes during the San Juan Shootout.

Walther was an All-MAC first team freshman last season, averaging 8.8 points per game last year. This year, he has averaged 8.9 points per game in only 18 minutes per game.

He would have been a key part of the team if it were not for Dials. But since Dials is healthy, Walther was expendable. I'm sure if trading were allowed in college basketball, Walther would have been on the block anyhow.

Women's basketball

The Zips (3-6) are running on their first two-game winning streak since last January. More importantly, the turnover count stands at 181. They have been taking better care of the ball, but 181 is still on pace for the 500 mark. They have been getting good production from freshman forward Niki McCoy, who scored 24 against Jacksonville State on Thursday. They play Dartmouth tomorrow in Hanover, N.H. at 7 p.m.

Football

Other things I forgot to mention last night about the game…

• The athletic department paid for at least two "Detroit Roo City" billboards in the outskirts of Detroit. I don't know how much that cost, but it seems pretty useless to me. Maybe Mack Rhoades can bring that up next year when bowl committees are meeting. It definitely shows how gung-ho they are.
• Domenik Hixon dropped some key passes in the first half. I don't think he hurt his NFL value, though. I haven't seen him drop many passes in the past two years.
• Luke Getsy threw for 455 yards, setting a Motor City Bowl record. I think Getsy is destined to be an NFL draft pick. His development this year has been outstanding. Jabari Arthur also broke Randy Moss' MCB record with 180 receiving yards. Those two should lead the offense next year.
• Zips fans also got another taste of Ohio State-transfer running back Dennis Kennedy. He got a lot of carries in the first half, then disappeared for some reason. He probably will be the starter next year with Brett Biggs graduating.
• I'm being told by Buchtelite sports editor Mike Hixenbaugh that ESPN showed coach J.D. Brookhart's secrets to recruiting. He has a background in sales — the philosophy he uses to recruit. But ESPN showed that Brookhart has paperwork that he gives to assistants that tells them how to respond to certain situations, based on the player's background. Hixenbaugh said, "So now anyone recruited by Akron knows it's a routine … and the coaches are sort of reading off a paper."
• The Zips will bring back a lot of their starters. Strangely, I'm most worried about the kicking game. Place kicker Jason Swiger and punter Billy Sullivan are both seniors. I absolutely dread watching my favorite team lose because of kicking or punting. Luckily, Brookhart recruited Igor Iveljic from Mentor. He is supposed to be one of the nation's better kickers. After that, the defensive line is a concern with Kiki Gonzalez and Brian White graduating.

Men's basketball

Akron's Dru Joyce has been named Mid-American Conference Player of the Week for his performaces in the San Juan Shootout. I wasn't too impressed by his sophomore season, but I like what he's been doing this year. He was always a good passer. Now he's also a good shooter, knocking down 56.5 percent of his 3-point shots.

Akron plays next on New Year's Eve against Wright State. It should be a slaughter.

Miscellaneous

For all you blogoholics, I have a link for you. The aforementioned Hixenbaugh has landed a spot blogging for the Sporting News. He's a good writer and will have good stuff. Just make sure those hot scoops come to me first.

Football

As I expected , Akron had a problem stopping All-Universe running back DeAngelo Williams in the Motor City Bowl. He ran for 233 yards, only seven yards fewer than I predicted.

The fan turnout was great. The university made a statement that it should be considered next year if bowl eligible, yet not the Mid-American Conference Champion.

One thing I noticed is that some Akron fans have a maturity problem. That's not to say they are immature people. It's to say they are immature as football fans, which is to be expected from a commuter school that has never had a reason for cheer for anything.

They make loads of noise while the Zips are on offense. They become depressed way too quickly when the game isn't going well. They don't realize how annoying those Thundersticks are when two inches from another fan's head.

Overall, it was a good, entertaining game with little at stake. It was the end of a season that should've concluded 32 days ago. And it was the worst Akron football team you will see for the next few years if the recruits pan out.

I'm dead tired. I'll post more in the early afternoon.