Football

A respected poster on ZipsNation.org says the Zips may land uncommitted running back LeSean McCoy of Pennsylvania.

How good is McCoy?

USAToday says he’s the 11th best player in the nation, at any position. CSTV.com gives McCoy the same grade. Rivals.com gives him four stars and says he’s the seventh best running back and 43rd best player overall. Scout.com gives him five stars and says he’s the fifth best back.

Before breaking his ankle early last season, many thought McCoy to be the nation’s No. 1 back. Yes, even better than Ohio State commit Chris Wells.

Don’t write this down yet. I can’t validate the claim, nor the poster’s source.

Everything I’ve seen says McCoy will choose between Virginia Tech, Penn State, USC and Miami on Signing Day.

I’m still excited at the possibility of this.

Miscellaneous

Here is the year’s first Rasor’s Edge column. I basically tell students that things are different at Akron now. This is a sports school…

When the 2005-2006 school year began, Akron was just another commuter school with mediocre sports teams.

That era is over.

Since classes ended in December, Akron has gone from a ho-hum mid-major school to the elite team in the Mid-American Conference that is beating larger schools in many sports.

I’m sure you heard about how Akron lost a close game in the Motor City Bowl to Memphis 38-31. Coach J.D. Brookhart and his staff followed that loss with several wins - about 20 of them.

Brookhart is orchestrating another outstanding recruiting class that already includes the best quarterback to enter the MAC in five years, the nation’s No. 5 kicker, the No. 7 center and a stud running back.

Last year’s class was tops in the MAC and superior to some Big 10 teams. This year’s might be even better.

What about basketball? The men are gaining momentum and attention across the country. Many analysts expect Akron to make its first NCAA Tournament since 1986. While you were gone, sophomore guard Nick Dials and freshman small forward Nate Linhart have emerged as major contributors.

The Zips are 8-1 in the MAC and 15-4 overall. That includes a win over Mississippi State and a near win over Clemson in the San Juan Shootout championship game. Akron is tied with Kent State for the conference lead.

Maybe you heard the Zips lost men’s soccer coach Ken Lolla to Louisville. He was a great coach, for sure. However, the athletic department replaced him with the most qualified candidate: Caleb Porter, Indiana’s top assistant and recruiter.

And of course you’ve seen the Field House, at least from the outside. Inside it, Zips pole vaulter John Russell set a mark of 18-01, a conference and school record. It is the highest jump in the nation this season, collegiate or professional. Russell is a favorite to win the national championship this spring.

The women’s track team, ranked No. 19 in the country is good, too.

Face it, you missed a lot. But a lot is still to come.

Earlier, I mentioned last year’s football recruiting class. Most of the stars from that class were redshirted. You’ll see plenty of them during the Blue-Gold Scrimmage this spring. You will also see Nate Robinson, a transfer from Rutgers via Miami. When Robinson came out of high school two years ago, experts unanimously considered him the No. 1 defensive tackle recruit in the nation. His two years of action at Rutgers only confirmed the scouting reports. Robinson could be a phenom. You will see him in blue and gold this spring.

And it was announced Monday, that the men’s basketball team will play at Nevada in its Bracket Buster game on Feb. 18. The game probably will be televised across the nation on one of the ESPN networks. If the Zips win, they will have a good chance of playing in the postseason, even if they don’t win the MAC Tournament in Cleveland.

The Buchtelite will also keep tabs on how new baseball coach Pat Bangtson is faring. In a couple weeks, we’ll talk to new athletic director Mack Rhoades, who is more than worthy to follow Mike Thomas.

Maybe we will see some surprises from the rifle, softball or swimming teams as well. Long story short, the Zips are on fire. Two months ago, ESPN’s Chris Berman said Akron was the hottest program in the country.

It’s only going to get hotter.

Track

Here is a feature on pole vaulter John Russell from the Buchtelite. It also talks about the No. 19 ranked women’s team.

Women’s basketball

Here is a feature on star freshman Niki McCoy from the Buchtelite.

Swimming and diving

Here is a story about how the season is going from the Buchtelite.

Men’s basketball

The Zips will play Nevada in one of ESPN’s Bracket Buster games on Feb. 18.

More coming later after I get done Buchteliting.

Football

Running back commit Andre Boone shouldn’t have much trouble running up the gut the next four years.

The seventh best center in the nation, Mark Jackson from Columbus, verballed with Akron, Rivals.com listed tonight.

Jackson’s mom swayed her 6-foot-6, 300 pound son to switch to Akron from Marshall, the site says. A West Virginia newspaper confirms that, saying Mrs. Jackson believed her son could get a better education at Akron.

A great line from that story: "Akron continues to haunt Marshall, even with the Thundering Herd in a different conference."

Men’s basketball

This isn’t like the NCAA or NIT tournaments. In your Feb. 18 Bracket Buster game, you want the best opponent possible.

A win won’t help your RPI that much unless it’s against a top-50 RPI team. Another bonus of playing in one of the top five games: national TV coverage on ESPN or ESPN2.

Here’s what CollegeHoopsNet.com predicts for the top five games.

• Bucknell @ Northern Iowa
• George Mason @ Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Northwestern State @ Southern Illinois
• Oral Roberts @ Montana
• Akron @ Utah State

Other MAC teams…

• Delaware @ Ball State
• Youngstown State @ Bowling Green
• Buffalo @ Bradley
• Eastern Michigan @ Canisus
• Morehead @ Central Michigan
• Toledo @ Hawaii (lucky bastards)
• Fairfield @ Miami
• Northern Illinois @ Nevada (should be a good game)
• Illinois State @ Kent State
• Samford @ Ohio
• UNC Greensboro @ Western Michigan

Remember, these are just predictions. Another site mentioned the possibility of Akron playing at No. 28 RPI Creighton. Akron’s RPI is 73. The pairings will be announced Monday.

Men’s basketball

The Zips (15-4, 8-1) squandered a 19-point second-half lead, yet still won in overtime, 77-72, against Bowling Green (8-11, 4-5) this afternoon.

Rob Preston blocked two shots at the end of regulation to push the game to overtime. Nick Dials made an important 3 pointer that also helped keep the Zips alive.

In overtime, Preston picked up a key offensive rebound and made a shot to extend Akron’s overtime lead to five.

"Most teams would deflate," coach Keith Dambrot said. "Our guys - I don’t know what they have in them."

Bowling Green got back into the game with a string of 3 pointers by Martin Samarco, who scored 26. Twenty-one of those points were in the second half. Fellow swingman Steven Wright had 21 points, eight assists and five rebounds.

"I think they’re a good team," Dambrot said of BG. "They have some inside problems, but they have some good perimeter guys."

The Zips turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, but shot the ball well to accumulate a first-half lead of 20.

Some player notes…

• Darryl Peterson showed he is recovering from back problems. He scored 18 points.
• Preston blocked four shots.
• Romeo Travis had 16 points and eight rebounds.
• Dials had 13 points, eight assists and four rebounds.
• Cedrick Middleton finished with 11 points.

Some MAC notes…

• Miami (10-8, 7-3) beat Ohio in Athens today 73-59, which is good news for Zips fans.
• However, Kent still has one MAC loss after beating Buffalo, 70-52.
• Kent State (14-6, 8-1) will travel to Athens for a Wednesday game against Ohio (12-5, 6-3) next week.
• The Zips will host Buffalo (15-5, 5-4) Wednesday.

Track

The Zips swept the Kangaroo Invitational this weekend. John Russell continued his march to a national championship with another NCAA-qualifying jump of 18′ 0.5".

Akron’s men (135 points) beat Youngstown State (73) and Michigan State (68).

The women (134) beat St. John’s (92.5) and Youngstown State (50.5).

The Zips won 18 events in all.

Men’s basketball

Akron will tip off against Bowling Green in at 2. Tom Gaffney from the ABJ confirmed what I’ve been saying: Bowling Green is a better team than it was early in the season. In fact, I’ll say the Falcons are the most underrated team in the MAC.

• Danny Sheridan says Akron is a 4.5-point favorite.
• Most sportsbooks are predicting about the same.
• A blogger pegged Akron to win the MAC.
• At the half, the Zips are leading BG 37-23. Akron has 12 turnovers, but is dominating the rebounding and 3-point shooting.

Football

The ABJ also wrote quite a bit about recruiting in today’s paper. That includes a list of Akron’s commitments and a feature on stud kicker Igor Iveljic.

• As poster SDK pointed out, Josh Chichester committed to Louisville after a visit to Akron. Chichester is a top-flight receiver who committed to Ohio State in July. Then he decommitted and considered Akron.
• That Florida athlete who committed to Akron, Avery Holley, might try to play basketball, too.
• Defensive lineman Maurice Riquer is considering Akron, as well as a couple of smaller schools.
• Akron got another receiver commitment, Rivals.com says. Curtis Brown from Florida is 6-foot, 159. He runs the 40 in 4.72.

Men’s basketball

For some reason, I thought the Akron/Bowling Green game was Saturday at 2. It’s Sunday at 2.

This will be a tough game. In fact, if I had to put money on it, I’d say BG is the favorite.

Men’s soccer

The Zips new soccer coach is Caleb Porter, an assistant with Indiana, winner of two of the last three national championships. He was one of four finalists for the job. The Akron Beacon Journal’s Tom Reed broke the story four minutes ago.

Porter was also the top assistant at Indiana. Once again, the athletic department hired a winner. I’m going out on a limb here, but I think next year’s team can be just as good as this year’s.

Here’s the GoZips.com article that includes comment from Mack Rhoades, Porter and Indiana head coach Mike Freitag.

Former Indiana coach Jerry Yeagley said Porter is one of the best leaders and recruiters he’s ever known. A big win for the athletic department.

Football

Josh Chichester verbally committed to play at Ohio State University-Columbus in July. Now that the Buckeyes haven’t offered the receiver a scholarship, he is visiting Akron this weekend. He visited Louisville this week, but left there without committing to be a Cardinal.

Rivals.com ranks Chichester, from West Chester, Ohio, as the country’s 36th best wide receiver. Scout.com gives him four stars and says he’s the nation’s 14th best receiver. Wow.

I am seeing a lot of interest from receivers in Akron this year. My guess is that it’s because the Zips lost Jason Montgomery and Domenik Hixon to graduation.

• Also, the 100th best running back in the country, Aaris Reed from Maryland, has high interest in Akron. He was slated to visit campus today. If he commits, he will be the Zips only three-star recruit, as Scout.com calculates it. Strangely, Rivals.com, which usually is more liberal in giving out three-star rankings, rates Reed with two stars.
• Update: Reed has verballed with the Zips, according to Rivals.com. He chose Akron over Illinois, North Carolina, Marshall, Michigan State and Vanderbilt.
• Rivals.com also is listing an athlete from Florida as having committed. Avery Holley is a two-star player who runs a 4.4 40 and is 6-feet tall.
• This recruiting class could go from above average to Big 10 quality really quick.

Miscellaneous

I will interview Mack Rhoades in a couple weeks. I have several things to ask him. Do any of you have specific questions you would like answered? If so, post them in the comments section.

Men’s basketball

If you don’t know what the Bracket Buster game is, educate yourself here. Basically, it’s a nationwide set of 50 games that helps to determine at-large berths from mid-major conferences. All 12 MAC teams will get a game.

However, only 22 of the 100 will play on national TV. Five of those games are on ESPNU, which isn’t in many households. Since Akron beat Niagara last year at Rhodes Arena, this year’s Bracket Buster game is on the road.

Here is a site that has broken down the candidates’ RPIs.