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He will have no choice but to slash funding for athletics and particularly football. I see Akron dropping to D II in the next year. Back to Top Pete Chouteau General User Member Since: 11/17/2004 Location: You Can't See Me Post Count: 1,636 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/4/2020 5:35:53 PM  I think you're going to see the same thing at Kent and a merger. Back to Top BryanHall General User Member Since: 9/11/2010 Post Count: 546 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/4/2020 8:22:41 PM  I'll guess either/or. IF they merge, they will have in excess of 60k enrollment making them one of the larger universities in the country. Hard to see a university of that size playing below FBS (for now). Back to Top OhioCatFan General User Member Since: 12/20/2004 Location: Athens, OH Post Count: 14,351 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/4/2020 9:05:07 PM  My money is on a merger, but I think it'll be more like a KSU takeover, with the UA campus being the "urban campus," with many Akron buildings being torn down or sold to private interests. Football will be at Infocision, though. They'll tear down that ridiculous excuse for a stadium at Kent. The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA "It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right." Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org Back to Top SBH General User Member Since: 12/20/2004 Post Count: 4,045 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/4/2020 11:27:36 PM  BryanHall wrote: I'll guess either/or. IF they merge, they will have in excess of 60k enrollment making them one of the larger universities in the country. Hard to see a university of that size playing below FBS (for now). Akron's enrollment is sub-20K and dropping like a rock. Back to Top BryanHall General User Member Since: 9/11/2010 Post Count: 546 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/5/2020 12:19:08 AM  SBH wrote: BryanHall wrote: I'll guess either/or. IF they merge, they will have in excess of 60k enrollment making them one of the larger universities in the country. Hard to see a university of that size playing below FBS (for now). Akron's enrollment is sub-20K and dropping like a rock. The enrollment could drop to 16k and the merger would create a school that is 2x the size of any other school in the MAC (other than Buffalo). With total enrollment, they would be the second largest school in the SEC if they decided to get the crap kicked out of them for money 12 times a year instead of 3--not a bad idea right now. Back to Top BobcatSports General User Member Since: 2/2/2006 Post Count: 1,084 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/6/2020 1:05:56 PM  A Kent and Akron merger? That’s tantamount to two garbage trucks colliding. Back to Top SBH General User Member Since: 12/20/2004 Post Count: 4,045 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/6/2020 1:35:47 PM  I don't get all the criticism of Kent. They have outgrown us over the years and their academic profile has risen while ours has declined. Now, Akron? That's your proverbial dumpster fire. Back to Top BillyTheCat General User Member Since: 10/6/2012 Post Count: 9,998 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/6/2020 4:21:03 PM  SBH wrote: I don't get all the criticism of Kent. They have outgrown us over the years and their academic profile has risen while ours has declined. Now, Akron? That's your proverbial dumpster fire. Agreed Back to Top cbus cat fan General User Member Since: 12/2/2011 Post Count: 1,169 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/6/2020 9:38:26 PM  Kent State and Youngstown State also announcing cuts. If there were to be a merger, it would be a body blow to Akron. If there were to be a full scale Northeast Ohio merger, it would be a body blow to both Akron and Youngstown. Kent State is cutting 30 million from their budget, while at Youngstown State President Tressel and some other administrators are taking a pay cut, but the bigger cuts and furloughs are in the works and haven't been announced. As I mentioned in my last post, a state school administrator told me he never thought it was politically possible for a merger in Northeast Ohio, but if it ever was going to happen this might be the time. You would be hard pressed to find any state where three state schools are this close together with a population that small in size, and declining at a fairly rapid rate. https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20200506/kent-state-cu... https://www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/ysu-president-taking... / Last Edited: 5/6/2020 10:54:56 PM by cbus cat fan Back to Top The Optimist General User Member Since: 3/16/2007 Location: CLE Post Count: 5,573 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/7/2020 1:33:16 AM  SBH wrote: I don't get all the criticism of Kent. They have outgrown us over the years and their academic profile has risen while ours has declined. Now, Akron? That's your proverbial dumpster fire. Call me old school, but I'm a firm-believer in the saying "Can't Read, Can't Write, Kent State" I've seen crazier things happen. Back to Top OUcats82 General User Member Since: 1/9/2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Post Count: 1,861 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/7/2020 7:21:36 AM  SBH wrote: BryanHall wrote: I'll guess either/or. IF they merge, they will have in excess of 60k enrollment making them one of the larger universities in the country. Hard to see a university of that size playing below FBS (for now). Akron's enrollment is sub-20K and dropping like a rock. I'm not familiar with Akron's student body. Mostly a commuter campus with a lot of students driving in from surrounding suburbs? Many part-time students who are also working? Much of an on-campus living population? Will be interesting to see if anything happens with Wright State given their financial situation even before COVID-19. Last Edited: 5/7/2020 7:29:07 AM by OUcats82 Ohio-The State University Back to Top BillyTheCat General User Member Since: 10/6/2012 Post Count: 9,998 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/7/2020 8:31:51 AM  OUcats82 wrote: SBH wrote: BryanHall wrote: I'll guess either/or. IF they merge, they will have in excess of 60k enrollment making them one of the larger universities in the country. Hard to see a university of that size playing below FBS (for now). Akron's enrollment is sub-20K and dropping like a rock. I'm not familiar with Akron's student body. Mostly a commuter campus with a lot of students driving in from surrounding suburbs? Many part-time students who are also working? Much of an on-campus living population? Will be interesting to see if anything happens with Wright State given their financial situation even before COVID-19. Wright State may not be able to make payroll, and major cuts looming for Ohio Back to Top Andrew Ruck General User Member Since: 12/22/2004 Location: Columbus, OH Post Count: 4,993 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/7/2020 1:05:24 PM  I really hope as the college bubble bursts, the narrative isn't to lay it solely on the virus. Many of us have been pointing to this for many years. The merger just makes too much sense given their proximity and both being state universities. Some day we may see it with Toledo & BG too. Then the MAC will simply have the 4 corners of Ohio covered. Andrew Ruck B.B.A. 2003 Back to Top . General User Member Since: 2/3/2005 Post Count: 2,997 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/7/2020 4:05:32 PM  Andrew Ruck wrote: I really hope as the college bubble bursts, the narrative isn't to lay it solely on the virus. Many of us have been pointing to this for many years. The merger just makes too much sense given their proximity and both being state universities. Some day we may see it with Toledo & BG too. Then the MAC will simply have the 4 corners of Ohio covered. Agreed. And as the seriousness of this pandemic forces athletic departments into the background, it will quiet dissent from the “But these schools are athletic rivals! They can’t merge!” objections. When you’re starving, you don’t complain about the brand of spaghetti sauce the food pantry gave you. Where BG-Toledo and Kent-Akron alliances once seemed unholy, it’s now survival time. Back to Top Chad E Guess D.C. General User Member Since: 12/3/2005 Post Count: 31 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/7/2020 7:17:27 PM  Be careful, by that logic we should merge with OSU due to proximity? Back to Top cbus cat fan General User Member Since: 12/2/2011 Post Count: 1,169 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/7/2020 11:06:36 PM  It's weird how things work. Akron spent a boatload on campus building projects to help improve it's image, including spending a ton on a football stadium it didn't need. It was greeted with a lot of criticism, unlike Field of Dreams, "If you build they will come," didn't seem to work. Bowling Green spent far less on their building projects, mainly designed to help the campus' aesthetic looks. It was greeted with more accolades. Indeed, BG's image appeared to be on the upswing the last couple of years. A trustee to the university told me their purpose was to make their somewhat flat looking campus look a little more appealing. He told me Akron got way in over their head and it has been downhill ever since. Five years after the last pandemic, our nation was beginning an economic boom, the likes of which the country had never seen. However, there were some casualties along the way. For example in 1914, the state had 2,400+ public school districts. Back then township one room school houses were considered a school district. That number was cut in half by the Second World War. Who knows the same could be in the offing for many public and private Higher Ed institution across the state. My guess is that if we get a vaccine by the end of the year, and things are beginning to rapidly turn around for the economy, there will not be the political will to make such cuts. If not, all bets are off, we shall know soon enough. Last Edited: 5/7/2020 11:08:18 PM by cbus cat fan Back to Top Andrew Ruck General User Member Since: 12/22/2004 Location: Columbus, OH Post Count: 4,993 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/8/2020 2:17:18 PM  Chad E Guess D.C. wrote: Be careful, by that logic we should merge with OSU due to proximity? No. BG/Toledo and Akron/Kent are within 20 miles. Ohio & OSU are 80. And above all else, Ohio & OSU (and Miami) have not experienced the same level of decline the other 4 have. Andrew Ruck B.B.A. 2003 Back to Top ytownbobcat General User Member Since: 8/7/2006 Post Count: 1,253 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/8/2020 5:00:25 PM  In past years it was rumored that Akron and Cleveland State may merge. Back to Top OhioCatFan General User Member Since: 12/20/2004 Location: Athens, OH Post Count: 14,351 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/8/2020 11:49:22 PM  ytownbobcat wrote: In past years it was rumored that Akron and Cleveland State may merge. Still think KSU take over of UA more likely. The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA "It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right." Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org Back to Top IceCat76 General User Member Since: 12/5/2016 Location: Byfield, MA Post Count: 270 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/9/2020 7:56:00 AM  OhioCatFan wrote: ytownbobcat wrote: In past years it was rumored that Akron and Cleveland State may merge. Still think KSU take over of UA more likely. I haven’t lived in Ohio in 30 years so I’m not that familiar with the UA/KSU dynamic. Why would KSU want to merge with or take over UA? Their own enrollment is down so they have plenty of facility space. A lot of UA students would transfer without the baggage. I can’t see KSU taking on the chocking debt. Is there something valuable in UA that KSU would want bad enough to take on all the negatives? Back to Top Alan Swank General User Member Since: 12/11/2004 Location: Athens, OH Post Count: 7,101 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/9/2020 10:06:46 AM  Don't bury the Zips so quickly. https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20200507/university-of... Back to Top OUPride General User Member Since: 9/21/2010 Post Count: 574 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/9/2020 12:15:50 PM  Alan Swank wrote: Don't bury the Zips so quickly. https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20200507/university-of... It's like the Captain of the Titanic announcing that he expects to be underway shortly and will arrive in New York as scheduled. Back to Top Andrew Ruck General User Member Since: 12/22/2004 Location: Columbus, OH Post Count: 4,993 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/11/2020 8:03:01 AM  IceCat76 wrote: OhioCatFan wrote: ytownbobcat wrote: In past years it was rumored that Akron and Cleveland State may merge. Still think KSU take over of UA more likely. I haven’t lived in Ohio in 30 years so I’m not that familiar with the UA/KSU dynamic. Why would KSU want to merge with or take over UA? Their own enrollment is down so they have plenty of facility space. A lot of UA students would transfer without the baggage. I can’t see KSU taking on the chocking debt. Is there something valuable in UA that KSU would want bad enough to take on all the negatives? Good questions. I was thinking, both being state universities...that it could be an orchestrated bailout of sorts more than a merger, perhaps even resulting in some forgiven debt. Liquidating an entire university would be very difficult and end poorly for the lenders. This puts the majority of those assets to continuing use, and the efficiencies gained by merging would be countless. The administrative back office savings would be obvious, and many classes could be merged...smaller more specialized classes could be maintained, etc. Andrew Ruck B.B.A. 2003 Back to Top OhioCatFan General User Member Since: 12/20/2004 Location: Athens, OH Post Count: 14,351 Status: Offline     RE: Prediction: Akron will exit the MAC    Posted: 5/11/2020 10:42:03 AM  OUPride wrote: Alan Swank wrote: Don't bury the Zips so quickly. https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20200507/university-of... It's like the Captain of the Titanic announcing that he expects to be underway shortly and will arrive in New York as scheduled. +1 Very good analogy, sir! ;-) The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA "It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right." Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org Back to Top Showing Replies:   1 - 25  of 75 Posts Jump to Page:   1 | 2 | 3    Next > View Other 'Ohio Football' Topics                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               WHO'S ONLINE There are 155 Active Visitors on BobcatAttack.com 154 Guests 1 Registered User:   Rollbobbies01 There are no other users looking at this page.

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