UMASS leaving conference

[Band Legend]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/umass-returning-to-mac-as-full-member-for-all-sports-beginning-in-2025-after-10-year-absence-from-league/

[BrettJollyComedyHour]

18 minutes ago, Band Legend said:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/umass-returning-to-mac-as-full-member-for-all-sports-beginning-in-2025-after-10-year-absence-from-league/

Damn, this is slightly big news. The conference was getting a bit crowded, anyway.

[thetorch]

As long as the A10 doesn't expand I'm fine with this. UMass has been working on this move for years. It is a huge drop for basketball but they should dominate that league.

[wgstl]

1 hour ago, thetorch said:

As long as the A10 doesn't expand I'm fine with this. UMass has been working on this move for years. It is a huge drop for basketball but they should dominate that league.

Unless it’s the university of Toronto * fify 

[billiken_roy]

6 hours ago, thetorch said:

As long as the A10 doesn't expand I'm fine with this. UMass has been working on this move for years. It is a huge drop for basketball but they should dominate that league.

totally agree.   unless the replacement program is of the caliber it can win the A10 immediately, the A10 needs to constrict and let the lesser teams find a different league.  

[thatskablamo]

6 hours ago, wgstl said:

Unless it’s the university of Toronto * fify 

UT is home to one of the premier Jesuit theological schools on the continent in Regis College; from a doctrinal sense, along with the other 8 Catholic schools in the conference, the U of T would be a welcome addition. I’m just not sure how some of their sports (like baseball) which is played in the fall in Canada, would translate to spring play. Hard to have home games in March or even April up there. It’s been done (see Exhibition Stadium in Toronto and Jarry Park in Montreal), but my hands already feel numb from thinking about getting a fastball off the handle of an aluminum bat. 
 

why not pick Carleton, the Duke of the North, while we’re adding on? Bring a natural rivalry to boot.

[Soderball]

We need to add Lindenwood and UMKC so that CTF can finally compete.

[93sporty]

What if constriction moves the other way.

from Derek Silva on X

My thoughts on UMass-to-the-MAC and the mixed response. 

Long read. 

I don’t believe this was Plan A, nor do I see it as our forever home if there’s such a thing in college sports. But I do see it as a good fit for a lot of reasons and I’m optimistic about our future in the MAC for all the @UMassAthletics teams that make the move. 

I see it as a lifeboat, and somewhat charitable on the MAC’s part to be honest. We’ve done nothing in football to warrant an invite, but there’s some hope and some promise there. Our basketball team is definitely a draw for them — perhaps our most valuable asset behind hockey which obviously isn’t leaving Hockey East. 

Our Athletic Dept spend, commitment, resources, facilities and alum base are more positives, at least relative to other MAC schools. 

But the reality is that the MAC offered us a lifeboat when we were looking at the potential risk of drowning in the next few years. No one knows if the A10 as we know it today will still be around. Look at what it was 10-15 years ago. It’s not as powerful today as it was then. And it’s getting worse. The number of NCAAT bids to confirm this. And if the “Power 4” conferences have their way, there will be even fewer spots for mid-major at large berths which means the A10 is just another one-bid conference. Better hope you run the table come conf tournament time. 

Maybe Dayton and Richmond are privately angling to jump to FBS and quietly putting out feelers for partner conferences. Whether it’s the MAC or not doesn’t matter, but it DOES matter that they might not be in the A10 anymore. So what does A10 basketball look like with Charleston, Hofstra, Towson or Iona as opposed to UMass, Dayton, and Richmond. (Just examples here, folks, don’t freak out about exact schools mentioned). Again, no one knows exactly what will happen but the only thing you can count on lately is change.

UMass had to read the tea leaves based on all the information they’ve collected over the last few years regarding college athletics, network contracts, CFP changes, realignment, NIL, athletes-as-employees, streaming platforms, weakening of NCAA, potential antitrust lawsuits, demise of Power Conferences, and a host of other potentially seismic changes still to come, and they had to make a decision. 

UMass made a decision, realizing the potential (even likely) short-term consequences. 

How many times have we called out Ryan Bamford and the administration for sitting there and doing nothing while the NCAA landscape changed around us? This even pre-dates Bamford though he’s been the face of much of this all-sports conference journey during his tenure. 

So now UMass takes a highly-calculated leap of faith that this not only keeps our Athletics afloat as an FBS athletic dept, but that the MAC can become one of the top G5 programs in the country in all sports, compete at a national level, increase revenues and even create new revenue streams for its member programs, and most importantly (let’s never forget) put our student athletes in a position to succeed on-and-off the court/field.

And upon hearing the news, some of our more loyal and vocal basketball fans (including some former players) crapped on it. Crapped on it Monday when news broke and continue to do so today. Hey, they have a right. They’re invested too — emotional and financially.

I’m far more optimistic. And it will take time and it will take financial support of @MidnightRideNIL and @TheMassCo and other programs. And it will also take some of the 300,000 in-state @UMass alums to commit to attend football and basketball games in the future. Not because you’re excited to see us play Kent State but because this is a part of who you were, who you are, and hopefully who you will continue to be in the future. 

It’s not that hard, really. UMass is asking for your support, not your approval. As an alum or even just as a fan, I think it’s on us to ride along with them. 

Go. 
Go U. 
Go U-Mass.
Go U Mass. 

TL:DR — LFG!  

[Soderball]

7 minutes ago, 93sporty said:

What if constriction moves the other way.

from Derek Silva on X

My thoughts on UMass-to-the-MAC and the mixed response. 

Long read. 

I don’t believe this was Plan A, nor do I see it as our forever home if there’s such a thing in college sports. But I do see it as a good fit for a lot of reasons and I’m optimistic about our future in the MAC for all the @UMassAthletics teams that make the move. 

I see it as a lifeboat, and somewhat charitable on the MAC’s part to be honest. We’ve done nothing in football to warrant an invite, but there’s some hope and some promise there. Our basketball team is definitely a draw for them — perhaps our most valuable asset behind hockey which obviously isn’t leaving Hockey East. 

Our Athletic Dept spend, commitment, resources, facilities and alum base are more positives, at least relative to other MAC schools. 

But the reality is that the MAC offered us a lifeboat when we were looking at the potential risk of drowning in the next few years. No one knows if the A10 as we know it today will still be around. Look at what it was 10-15 years ago. It’s not as powerful today as it was then. And it’s getting worse. The number of NCAAT bids to confirm this. And if the “Power 4” conferences have their way, there will be even fewer spots for mid-major at large berths which means the A10 is just another one-bid conference. Better hope you run the table come conf tournament time. 

Maybe Dayton and Richmond are privately angling to jump to FBS and quietly putting out feelers for partner conferences. Whether it’s the MAC or not doesn’t matter, but it DOES matter that they might not be in the A10 anymore. So what does A10 basketball look like with Charleston, Hofstra, Towson or Iona as opposed to UMass, Dayton, and Richmond. (Just examples here, folks, don’t freak out about exact schools mentioned). Again, no one knows exactly what will happen but the only thing you can count on lately is change.

UMass had to read the tea leaves based on all the information they’ve collected over the last few years regarding college athletics, network contracts, CFP changes, realignment, NIL, athletes-as-employees, streaming platforms, weakening of NCAA, potential antitrust lawsuits, demise of Power Conferences, and a host of other potentially seismic changes still to come, and they had to make a decision. 

UMass made a decision, realizing the potential (even likely) short-term consequences. 

How many times have we called out Ryan Bamford and the administration for sitting there and doing nothing while the NCAA landscape changed around us? This even pre-dates Bamford though he’s been the face of much of this all-sports conference journey during his tenure. 

So now UMass takes a highly-calculated leap of faith that this not only keeps our Athletics afloat as an FBS athletic dept, but that the MAC can become one of the top G5 programs in the country in all sports, compete at a national level, increase revenues and even create new revenue streams for its member programs, and most importantly (let’s never forget) put our student athletes in a position to succeed on-and-off the court/field.

And upon hearing the news, some of our more loyal and vocal basketball fans (including some former players) crapped on it. Crapped on it Monday when news broke and continue to do so today. Hey, they have a right. They’re invested too — emotional and financially.

I’m far more optimistic. And it will take time and it will take financial support of @MidnightRideNIL and @TheMassCo and other programs. And it will also take some of the 300,000 in-state @UMass alums to commit to attend football and basketball games in the future. Not because you’re excited to see us play Kent State but because this is a part of who you were, who you are, and hopefully who you will continue to be in the future. 

It’s not that hard, really. UMass is asking for your support, not your approval. As an alum or even just as a fan, I think it’s on us to ride along with them. 

Go. 
Go U. 
Go U-Mass.
Go U Mass. 

TL:DR — LFG!  

What a bunch of stupidity. The MAC f%&$ing sucks a$$. It's a horrible conference. Horizon league. Worse than MVC.

 

UMass went there because they need to be able to schedule for their football team. The MAC was only willing to take them if they could sponge off of UMass in other sports like basketball and so on. The A10 is lightyears ahead of the MAC in everything except playing bad, nationally-irrelevant football(UMass is a perfect fit here.)

 

They wanted to keep playing football. The price was having to join the MAC. simple as that.

[billiken_roy]

imo umass never fit the most common thread of the A10, private schools.   i am sure not crying about them being gone. 

[thatskablamo]

3 minutes ago, Soderball said:

What a bunch of stupidity. The MAC f%&$ing sucks a$$. It's a horrible conference. Horizon league. Worse than MVC.

 

UMass went there because they need to be able to schedule for their football team. The MAC was only willing to take them if they could sponge off of UMass in other sports like basketball and so on. The A10 is lightyears ahead of the MAC in everything except playing bad, nationally-irrelevant football(UMass is a perfect fit here.)

 

They wanted to keep playing football. The price was having to join the MAC. simple as that.

Gotta keep that Irrelevancy Cup Rivalry game with UConn relevant somehow. They don’t want to fall into the black hole that is the CAA with UNH, URI and UMaine. Hell, Vermont hasn’t fielded a football team since the Ford administration (Gerald, not Travis). Probably a good move for the Catamounts. Don Brown is a heck of a coach and they will probably be at the top of the MAC standings. 

[wgstl]

2 hours ago, thatskablamo said:

UT is home to one of the premier Jesuit theological schools on the continent in Regis College; from a doctrinal sense, along with the other 8 Catholic schools in the conference, the U of T would be a welcome addition. I’m just not sure how some of their sports (like baseball) which is played in the fall in Canada, would translate to spring play. Hard to have home games in March or even April up there. It’s been done (see Exhibition Stadium in Toronto and Jarry Park in Montreal), but my hands already feel numb from thinking about getting a fastball off the handle of an aluminum bat. 
 

why not pick Carleton, the Duke of the North, while we’re adding on? Bring a natural rivalry to boot.

Toronto at some point will get picked up by a bigger conference. It just makes too much sense, being in the 9th biggest metro is a big get.  Not to mention, whenever this does happen, they will be a regular T25 team.  So much talent in Toronto that they cant keep because kids want to play in the NCAA.   There was even an article written 13 years ago about building their football program to get into the B10.  And last, geographically its ideal.  We're the furthest away from Toronto of any school(obviously) and yet, its just 660 miles - equal to Pittsburgh from here. 

 

[Brighton]

Dayton football is no where near FBS ready.

[Lord Elrond]

Being an FBS independent not named Notre Dame has no way of working the way things are changing.  UMass had to chose between 3 options:

1.) - join an FBS conference.

2.) - go down to FCS in football.

3.) - just kill the football program.

They chose option 1. The MAC was the best choice they had right now. Whatever the effect the decision they made about football had on the basketball program was irrelevant, the basketball program needs to just roll with it and do the best it can wherever they ended up.