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UMass leaving MAC

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huskymedic said:
Rather see ya do the naked Heisman pose on the field @ the Rent w/ Nostical this season if you're wrong...
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There are already too many hairy nuts on the BB board...gotta put a stop to this naked man stuff. :eek:
 
On paper, UConn is an outlier in terms of academics (SMU and Tulane are the only two near UConn in the rankings), athletic budget, and depth of success in the athletic department for the AAC as we all know. UMass is actually closed to the AAC than we are and adds a natural pair for Temple. Biggest challenges to UMass, as I have said before, is 1) lack of support from state government, 2) lack of fan interest in its key market – Boston, and 3) UMass’s academic half wants the football program gone.

As for UConn, I can only hope that UMass joins the AAC as our replacement after the ACC and B1G get into a bidding war for UConn’s services after the Huskies double up on basketball championship trophies in 2014 (again).
 
Dooley said:
I'll throw up if the AAC adds UMass while we are still stuck in this league.
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Agree. I love playing all these southern schools. Why add a drivable game and a good hoops program?
 
Jimmy Serrano said:
There is no reason to add UMass other than replacing us. None. Nada. Zip. Makes no sense whatsoever.
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And yet UMass joining the AAC is by far the most logical reason for this move. UMass said unequivocably that they are not bailing on FBS football with this move. Adding these facts together, you come up with a rather delightful result.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
Agree. I love playing all these southern schools. Why add a drivable game and a good hoops program?
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I never knew a good hoops program was making the tournament once every 16 years and then not winning a game. Can we invite Mercer? They must be a GREAT hoops program!
 
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HuskyHawk said:
And yet UMass joining the AAC is by far the most logical reason for this move. UMass said unequivocably that they are not bailing on FBS football with this move. Adding these facts together, you come up with a rather delightful result.
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UMass is leaving the MAC because they are getting kicked out. The MAC knew that UMass wouldn't join for all sports so they would be forced to leave and after 2 years of dreadful football and a 13 school football conference, the MAC decided they had had enough.

If UMass football adds no value to the MAC, how are they going to add any value to the AAC?
 
HuskyHawk said:
And yet UMass joining the AAC is by far the most logical reason for this move. UMass said unequivocably that they are not bailing on FBS football with this move. Adding these facts together, you come up with a rather delightful result.
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UconnJim is right on this. Umass' hand was forced. The MAC Presidents voted per the agreement they had with Umass that they would either 1) join the MAC in all sports or 2) play football in the league for 2 more years before leaving with no penalty. Umass does not have a place to go right now, they just didnt want all their programs to be playing at MAC level. Umass' AD said yesterday that he wished that the transition period was longer (likely because they have no landing place right now). I don't think you can read all that and come to the conclusion that yes, there must be a deal with the AAC to add a horrible football program and mediocre hoops program which will get us even LESS money than we are getting now
 
Vuce said:
UconnJim is right on this. Umass' hand was forced. The MAC Presidents voted per the agreement they had with Umass that they would either 1) join the MAC in all sports or 2) play football in the league for 2 more years before leaving with no penalty. Umass does not have a place to go right now, they just didnt want all their programs to be playing at MAC level. Umass' AD said yesterday that he wished that the transition period was longer (likely because they have no landing place right now). I don't think you can read all that and come to the conclusion that yes, there must be a deal with the AAC to add a horrible football program and mediocre hoops program which will get us even LESS money than we are getting now
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It was still UMASS' choice, not the MAC's. UMASS could stay as a full member, and hoops would play in the downgraded league. The A10 getting six bids probably made the decision easier for them. But since we all know that they can't survive as an independent, I believe that they have a conference that will take them, either for all sports or just football. I don't think the AAC would take them for just football in a million years (why would they). They likely would consider UMASS for all sports if UConn left.
 
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Okay...I guess it's fair to beat up on UMass a little here. In some ways I guess we deserve it in the way we went about this move to FBS. This is a dangerous time indeed for UMass football and I'm a glass half-full kind of guy. You should hear some of the morons over on UMasshoops.com with all the doom and gloom stuff.
My take is UMass football will undoubtably get better under Whipple. We've got 2 years left in the MAC to show some life. It will help a lot when we stomp BC on Aug 30th. Okay, seriously, I believe UMass will be a replacement into the AAC. In my opinion there is no way UConn stays in the AAC. I believe you guys have a legitimate shot at your 4th NC this year and even a final 4 run will make you far too valuable to the ACC for them to continue to ignore you. As far as the BIG, I don't really know that much about UConn to make that assessment. But what I do know is you guys are a perfect fit for the ACC and would be in the upper echelon from day 1.
Two years may not be enough for us however. I see the possibility of UMass going to the Sun Belt as football only until we can get the program on solid footing. Going independent would be disastrous and more than likely the end of the program. Supposedly Carr and Assoc. , the firm UMass has hired, has reached out to the Sun Belt and got positive feedback as far as a football only membership.
One thing I am positive about through people in the know here on campus is that going back down to FCS is not an option. I guess you can say that we are going "all in" on FBS. Have to wait and see what happens
 
I dont think so Hawk. You are right in one respect - their decision was a no brainer. They could not drag down the basketball program any further after spending all these years getting back to the NCAA Tourney. If you read the UMass' AD comments it is clear they dont have anywhere to go right now. He wanted their agreement with the MAC to last a little longer. Itf it were really UMass choice they would have stayed in the MAC for now in football only....but the MAC Presidents invoked the clause which required them to join or only play 2 more years. Umass chose the latter hoping that in two years something opens up for them....but right now they don't have anything in the bank.
 
In two years UMASS will either drop down a level for football or rejoin the MAC for all sports. I highly doubt they have a secret offer to join the AAC. The AAC is not expanding unless ESPN funds it.

If UCONN were to leave the AAC for the B1G the AAC would likely pick a southern school as a replacement not UMASS.
 
I think the MAC gave them a choice while at the same time giving the nudge to leave.. Here is my thought process on this. Given the fact that UMass is one of the worst FBS football teams aroud, and that the MAC is one of the next 5. Is it possible that they are trying to strengthen their conference by getting rid of dead weight? Every time a team would play UMass their SOS would go down, with a possible negitive effect on their ranking, and lets face it, the goal of every team in one of the next 5 conferences is to be ranked as high as possible for that last Major bowl bid. My point is UMass hurts their conference so.... good bye. No way we should invite them in. Only teams that should be added to AAC is teams that will help and not hurt football.
 
Vuce said:
I dont think so Hawk. You are right in one respect - their decision was a no brainer. They could not drag down the basketball program any further after spending all these years getting back to the NCAA Tourney. If you read the UMass' AD comments it is clear they dont have anywhere to go right now. He wanted their agreement with the MAC to last a little longer. Itf it were really UMass choice they would have stayed in the MAC for now in football only....but the MAC Presidents invoked the clause which required them to join or only play 2 more years. Umass chose the latter hoping that in two years something opens up for them....but right now they don't have anything in the bank.
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You are probably right. Clearly they wanted the inverted Notre Dame deal to last a little longer. I was just engaging in a little wishful thinking in hoping that university presidents are privy to much more information than the average twitter freak from West Virginia and that while they could never spill the beans, they might have a pretty good idea where they could find an opening in the next two years. If UConn was moving on in a year, and if the AAC gave UMASS a handshake deal to take the open spot, we certainly wouldn't hear about it. He would have to say they have no landing spot. So it's still a possibility, but you are right they make the same decision either way (but it would be much easier if UConn was moving).

By the way, I never suggested (as Nelson did) that the AAC would just straight add UMass as is. In two years, if football is better, they certainly might.
 
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http://www.masslive.com/sports/inde...itiv.html#incart_river_default#incart_m-rpt-1

"As a rule, FBS schools don't leave one league until they are sure of their next one. That is not the case with UMass, which has little to offer unless it caves in and joins another league in all sports - which could wind up as a desperate, no-choice solution down the road.
Can it offer the Boston market? Check the Gillette attendance figures and the 2014 schedule (with three games moved back in Amherst) for your answer."
 
nelsonmuntz said:
Agree. I love playing all these southern schools. Why add a drivable game and a good hoops program?
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By adding the worst FBS program, we would be hurting our only chance of getting into an access bowl.

But, given that you're a self-proclaimed master of RPI and analytics, I'm sure you considered that.
 
HuskyHawk said:
It was still UMASS' choice, not the MAC's. UMASS could stay as a full member, and hoops would play in the downgraded league. The A10 getting six bids probably made the decision easier for them. But since we all know that they can't survive as an independent, I believe that they have a conference that will take them, either for all sports or just football. I don't think the AAC would take them for just football in a million years (why would they). They likely would consider UMASS for all sports if UConn left.
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Not really.

From the MAC perspective, they need UMass football like a submarine needs a screen door. They're much more interested in UMass basketball. If they got UMass basketball, they'd take the football too.

From the UMass perspective, they aren't willing to downgrade from the A-10 to the MAC in hoops. So they forced the MAC's hand.

The only real loser in this is UMass football. This upgrade was FUBARED at every corner.
 
pepband99 said:
By adding the worst FBS program, we would be hurting our only chance of getting into an access bowl.

But, given that you're a self-proclaimed master of RPI and analytics, I'm sure you considered that.
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Great point. We don't want to swap computer friendly (?) games against Temple and Tulane for one against UMass.

I also suspect that the crowd for a UMass game might be a bit larger than the friends and family that showed up for Memphis.
 
Vuce said:
http://www.masslive.com/sports/inde...itiv.html#incart_river_default#incart_m-rpt-1

"As a rule, FBS schools don't leave one league until they are sure of their next one. That is not the case with UMass, which has little to offer unless it caves in and joins another league in all sports - which could wind up as a desperate, no-choice solution down the road.
Can it offer the Boston market? Check the Gillette attendance figures and the 2014 schedule (with three games moved back in Amherst) for your answer."
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And yet they also say this:

The one lonely hope is that UMass can land a spot in the American Athletic Conference, where Connecticut and Temple would offer natural rivals. Most of those teams would beat the pants off UMass in its current state, but that's the least of the Minutemen's problems now.
Maybe UMass secretly has a deal in the works with this league and just isn't saying. It certainly wouldn't be the first time it wasn't telling the full story about The Plan.
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UMass needs to get their sh---t together and make it all work, or get out of division 1A and try to get into the Patriot league.

The reality is that if such a thing existed, as a strong football program at UMass in division 1A, vitally strong, in everything OFF the field, as well as on, as well as a strong athletic department at 1A - it would be a no-brainer for UCONN to be in the same conference with UMass.


Such a UMass thing though - doesn't exist on this plane of reality. So until then......SOL.
 
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HuskyHawk said:
And yet they also say this:
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That part you quoted reads like every wing nut in the Non Key Tweets thread on the Conf realignment board. Talk of "secret deals" and "plans" that make no sense are just people trying to rationalize how this is happening. As we have seen it CAN happen. I honestly think that Umass has no secret plan and they are out there now hoping and praying that within a year they will have a landing spot for their program. They are 2 1/2 years from opening kickoff for the 2016 season. They need something in place sooner rather than later. We are freaking out because we dont have many of our non conference games filled yet for 2016....well they don't have ANY games for 2016 right now. What kind of secret master plan is that?
 
Vuce said:
That part you quoted reads like every wing nut in the Non Key Tweets thread on the Conf realignment board. Talk of "secret deals" and "plans" that make no sense are just people trying to rationalize how this is happening. As we have seen it CAN happen. I honestly think that Umass has no secret plan and they are out there now hoping and praying that within a year they will have a landing spot for their program. They are 2 1/2 years from opening kickoff for the 2016 season. They need something in place sooner rather than later. We are freaking out because we dont have many of our non conference games filled yet for 2016....well they don't have ANY games for 2016 right now. What kind of secret master plan is that?
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Secret plans are secret. Would I bet on it? Hell no. Do I think it is impossible? It's possible. There's no harm in looking for possible silver linings.
 
Only way the AAC would add UMass is if we also added a southern school (BYU, Charlotte, UTSA, UNLV, Southern Miss, Mid Tennessee are all options but none of them besides BYU are particularly appealing)
 
Drew said:
Only way the AAC would add UMass is if we also added a southern school (BYU, Charlotte, UTSA, UNLV, Southern Miss, Mid Tennessee are all options but none of them besides BYU are particularly appealing)
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Realistically, the only way UMass joins the AAC is if Navy bails out, which I put at about 50/50.

I am not sure why you think we need a southern school in order to add UMass.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
Realistically, the only way UMass joins the AAC is if Navy bails out, which I put at about 50/50.

I am not sure why you think we need a southern school in order to add UMass.
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im assuming everyone else remains committed and the conference would be at 12 members. umass by itself doesnt add much but umass basketball paired with byu football or charlotte/san antonio market and you might have something that espn would be willing to pay for.
 
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