UMass > MAC for all sports in 2025-2026

[jostar1]

Well that was embarassing.

 

[FightOnCT]

Not as embarrassing as the NIL Collective attacking Curry Hicks Sage of all people

 

[ZooCougar]

Not as embarrassing as the NIL Collective calling out Curry Hicks Sage

No. No it’s not.

They are getting killed below that comment.

 

[FightOnCT]

No. No it’s not.

They are getting killed below that comment.

Misworded the post, edited it for clarity.

 

[ZooCougar]

Misworded the post, edited it for clarity.

Goodness. They should just delete it.

 

[JwittersPAC]

Amazing. 27 pages discussing the athletic prowess of UMass.

 

[CL82]

Amazing. 27 pages discussing the athletic prowess of UMass.

It is fascinating.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Some believe that a good UMass AD is good for UConn. Should go the way of BC and Holy Cross.

 

[Fishy]

No one thinks UMass has any bearing on UConn.

 

[noeynox]

Some believe that a good UMass AD is good for UConn. Should go the way of BC and Holy Cross.

It would just be nice to play to nearby school where there is history in competitive meaningful games. UMass BB needed Calipari to be their Calhoun. They backed the wrong horse.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Undoubtedly, Stonehill will absolutely help the umess AD’s Weekend Stay and Play in Amherst marketing scheme.

 

[FightOnCT]

Amazing. 27 pages discussing the athletic prowess of UMass.

It’s an interesting case study of a nearby school that once drew a lot of parallels to UConn only where we succeeded, they failed horribly. Almost like watching what we could have been in the wrong timeline.

 

[Fishy]

UMass is the canary in the mineshaft for college sports.

You really cannot even have a prominent basketball program outside of the power conference structure unless you get everything right all of the time. Gonzaga is a miracle.

 

[greenday61892]

UMass is the canary in the mineshaft for college sports.

You really cannot even have a prominent basketball program outside of the power conference structure unless you get everything right all of the time. Gonzaga is a miracle.

This argument might work for.... literally any other school but UMass haha, rake after rake after rake after...

 

[Chuck]

It’s an interesting case study of a nearby school that once drew a lot of parallels to UConn only where we succeeded, they failed horribly. Almost like watching what we could have been in the wrong timeline.

It's also an interesting case study of the correlation between academics and athletics. I believe that UConn was ranked slightly higher than UMass in the late 1980s and early 1990s. That gap widened in the 1990s and through the 2010s when UConn became a national sports power and received better funding from the state. But, UMass made up that gap and has been ranked ahead of UConn for the last few years despite being horrible in sports.

 

[CL82]

It's also an interesting case study of the correlation between academics and athletics. I believe that UConn was ranked slightly higher than UMass in the late 1980s and early 1990s. That gap widened in the 1990s and through the 2010s when UConn became a national sports power and received better funding from the state. But, UMass made up that gap and has been ranked ahead of UConn for the last few years despite being horrible in sports.

If you are basing that on USNWR rankings, you have to understand that those fluctuate based upon current state investment in a university. During the UConn 2000 campaign our ranking numbers went up because of that investment in the campus. After those projects were completed, the new buildings were still on campus, but since there wasn't the same influx of cash our USNWR ranking dropped.

The USNWR rankings are known to be flawed as a measure of academic institution standings and are often manipulated by universities. Still, they are important since they are widely used by the public.

 

[CashewCrew]

If you are basing that on USNWR rankings, you have to understand that those fluctuate based upon current state investment in a university. During the UConn 2000 campaign are ranking numbers went up because of that investment in the campus. After those projects were completed, the new buildings were still on campus, but since there wasn't the same influx of cash are USNWR ranking dropped.

The USNWR rankings are known to be flawed as a measure of academic institution standings and are often manipulated by universities. Still, they are important since they are widely used by the public.

There's something very funny to me about you speaking about academic rankings while misusing "are" for "our" twice in the same post lol

 

[Hoophound]

There's something very funny to me about you speaking about academic rankings while misusing "are" for "our" twice in the same post lol

I think he uses voice to text a lot.

 

[CL82]

There's something very funny to me about you speaking about academic rankings while misusing "are" for "our" twice in the same post lol

I'm happy you're happy. 🙂

 

[Chuck]

If you are basing that on USNWR rankings, you have to understand that those fluctuate based upon current state investment in a university. During the UConn 2000 campaign our ranking numbers went up because of that investment in the campus. After those projects were completed, the new buildings were still on campus, but since there wasn't the same influx of cash our USNWR ranking dropped.

The USNWR rankings are known to be flawed as a measure of academic institution standings and are often manipulated by universities. Still, they are important since they are widely used by the public.

All the rankings are flawed. No question. And UMass is one spot ahead of UConn in state school rankings, which is a meaningless difference. But there is some validity to groupings. I've seen the argument that UConn would be harmed academically if it couldn't keep up athletically. That may be true, but UMass has been able to dissociate the two. Just an observation.

 

[FightOnCT]

Different schools find their way through different avenues. UConn used its growing national brand to fast track its academic improvement whereas for UMass it took a bit longer but they found their way through other means like trickle-down effect from other Mass schools or being a part of a large state school system.

 

[Alum86]

I don’t get the AAU/R1, rankings, or whatever love affair by many on these threads. Win consistently and you’ll get invited to a conference you desire. There are always exceptions.

 

[CL82]

All the rankings are flawed. No question. And UMass is one spot ahead of UConn in state school rankings, which is a meaningless difference. But there is some validity to groupings. I've seen the argument that UConn would be harmed academically if it couldn't keep up athletically. That may be true, but UMass has been able to dissociate the two. Just an observation.

I don't know if Connecticut would be "harmed academically" without its athletic department, but successful athletics is useful, marketing tool, helping to establish brand of awareness.

 

[CL82]

I don’t get the AAU/R1, rankings, or whatever love affair by many on these threads. Win consistently and you’ll get invited to a conference you desire. There are always exceptions.

Winning certainly doesn't hurt, but it isn't a guarantee, otherwise Connecticut with its 18 basketball national championships would be in a power conference.

 

[FightOnCT]

0-4 in the MAC for UMass MBB…