>>In a move that improves the long-term viability of their status as an independent football program, UMass is expected to announce bowl tie-ins for the next six seasons.<<
>>“We’re down the path with some relationships with some bowls that we’re going to be announcing in the next 30-45 days that we feel good about,” Bamford said. “We’re going to have a relationship that’s going to cover us through 2025. That will cover us so if we’re bowl eligible we feel very good about being placed in a bowl if we get to 6-6.<<
>>Any agreement is likely to be a secondary bowl affiliation for UMass. That means if that bowl is slated to take the sixth-place team from Conference A and the fifth-place team from Conference B, and Conference A only has five bowl-eligible teams (a record of .500), UMass would move into that spot, as long as the Minutemen are eligible themselves.
Bamford said ESPN was involved.<<