Posted by: Pete Roussel on July 24, 2012

MAC Media Day started this morning, where first-year Akron head coach Terry Bowden shared an interesting statement about his team.

The Zips are picked to finish sixth in the MAC - Eastern Division.

Bowden said, "Glad we're not 7 out of 7, but I would understand it.  We've gone through some tough times.  They hired me to replace another coach.  They hired me to move the program up.  That's where we start.  We earned it.  We earned that place, so now we've got to work our way up."

While Bowden didn't inherit a boat load of talent, he does like one particular aspect of his team.

He stated, "The strength of this team is 'the team.'  It's their will.  It's their commitment that I've seen to move from where they were to where they're coming.  It's not about an individual player here or an individual player coming in.  I think it's about the will and commitment of this team that I've narrated."

"I really love this team.  I think of everybody I've ever coached, I've seen this team work harder than any team I've ever seen because of where they want to be.  So that's where we start and I think we've got a great team to work with."

Akron hosts UCF to open the season on Thursday night August 30.  The next three games are at FIU, Morgan State, at Tennessee.

Here's more from Bowden:

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