UMass > MAC for all sports in 2025-2026

[nelsonmuntz]

The UMass/MAC thread got to 6 pages.

 

[cellocgg]

As said then uconn was the option if the chairs ended in an odd number. As it was, ASU became 14... Arizona became 15 because it didn't want to be apart from a sinking conference and from ASU. Utah, who is going to win all football centric conversations became number 16 once it was clear the PAC was going to be done.

At no point was there an open slot for uconn as they were not passing those schools.

My point was if not for Utah, UConn would've been a lock

 

[Patman]

My point was if not for Utah, UConn would've been a lock

not disagreeing... though i forgot at what degree of disassembly the PAC was at that moment.

 

[cellocgg]

not disagreeing... though i forgot at what degree of disassembly the PAC was at that moment.

The Pac was down to just OSU, Wazzu, and the future ACC members like days after that UConn/UA/ASU plan to 16

We were more desired than Stanford and Cal apparently

 

[RSTuthill]

the big 12 will expand again and that will be our time.

Not unless they offer UConn a full share from the onset. I do not think UConn would consider overtures from the B12 unless the terms offered up front were exceptional.

 

[RSTuthill]

Explain

Historically good basketball, academics, and selective admissions at most schools. With one or two exceptions like every conference has. A lot of them seem open to scheduling UConn. And of course they have several of UConn's old rivals as members.

ACC FB has enjoyed some great successes, but I remember going to a lot of DOE conferences at Clemson during the oughts and they weren't much better than UConn in those days. Loved that little town, though, and their conference center was great.

 

[buddy]

oh good, so the legion of people not agreeing with you is speaking volumes

Becuase some disagree doesn't mean they are correct. They doubted me when I said a defensive coordinator would be hired. And I did hear without doubt that the UConn administration firmly believed they were getting the invite on that webinar. Maybe if you supported UConn football you would have been invited to participate.

 

[freescooter]

If we were still in the AAC we would have nothing. No basketball or football. No hope.

See I don’t know that is true. We had turned the corner on basketball. We were at least a bubble team in 2020 when everything shut down. Probably in the tournament. People conflate Ollie’s ineptitude with the AAC. Ollie was a horrible coach. He drove the program into a ditch. The program would have been awful in the ACC, the Big East, the Big 12 or the NEC. Conference was irrelevant. He was awful. And if last year’s Final Four with San Diego Star and FAU plus Houston’s rise and Gonzaga’s history doesn’t show that conference is not so relevant for basketball, I don’t know what to tell you. I mean the Sunbelt and the MWC had as many Final Four teams as the so-called power conferences. In 2021 Houston and Gonzaga both went to the Final Four. So again 2 programs from non-P5 conferences.

On the football side we tried to do it on the cheap. Had we made a serious effort I think we’d be much more likely to have been in either the B12 or the ACC today. But we didn’t. Maybe not but a history of winning would have helped a good deal. Instead we had a decade of ineptitude, and disinterest on the part of the administration. Now we are playing catch up.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Historically good basketball, academics, and selective admissions at most schools. With one or two exceptions like every conference has. A lot of them seem open to scheduling UConn. And of course they have several of UConn's old rivals as members.

ACC FB has enjoyed some great successes, but I remember going to a lot of DOE conferences at Clemson during the oughts and they weren't much better than UConn in those days. Loved that little town, though, and their conference center was great.

Whoops, initially thought the reference was the AAC..

 

[freescooter]

Lmaoo you really comparing UNC to Vanderbilt and Rutgirls?

UNC is a brand. Probably the biggest brand in college basketball. They have also won at least 8 games in 3 of the last 4 football seasons.

Other than FSU, they are the second biggest prize in the ACC. You're kidding yourself if you don't think they will have a lifejackets if and when the ACC blows up

I suspect they will have a life jacket IF the ACC blows up. Just like Cal and Stanford. I don’t think it will blow up because I don’t think there is much of value to the SEC or Big 10. Probably FSU and possibly Clemson. And both have warts. People say Miami since they are a Top 5 team. Unfortunately that is only in August. By October they are irrelevant again. I mean they are 1-9 in their last 10 bowl games and only 1 NY 6 in the group. Never won the ACC. They are sort of the Georgetown of college football. Their reputation is based on a relatively short run in the late 90s-early 2000s. Since then they have bounced between pretty good and mediocre. Are they pretty good? Yeah. Would you blow up a conference to get them? I doubt it.

 

[jostar1]

And I did hear without doubt that the UConn administration firmly believed they were getting the invite on that webinar.

They probably did believe that... and then the PAC fell apart and everything changed.

What was the date of the webinar?

 

[Kolumbo]

I suspect they will have a life jacket IF the ACC blows up. Just like Cal and Stanford. I don’t think it will blow up because I don’t think there is much of value to the SEC or Big 10. Probably FSU and possibly Clemson. And both have warts. People say Miami since they are a Top 5 team. Unfortunately that is only in August. By October they are irrelevant again. I mean they are 1-9 in their last 10 bowl games and only 1 NY 6 in the group. Never won the ACC. They are sort of the Georgetown of college football. Their reputation is based on a relatively short run in the late 90s-early 2000s. Since then they have bounced between pretty good and mediocre. Are they pretty good? Yeah. Would you blow up a conference to get them? I doubt it.

The best stretch for Miami was the 80's so it wasn't exactly a short run. It's been the curse of the ACC.

 

[buddy]

They probably did believe that... and then the PAC fell apart and everything changed.

What was the date of the webinar?

January 18, 2024

 

[freescooter]

The best stretch for Miami was the 80's so it wasn't exactly a short run. It's been the curse of the ACC.

I get a chuckle every August when I read about how this will be Miami’s year! The new coach is exactly what they need. Then come the games and they end the year in the Chucky Cheese Bowl losing to Rutgers or Some other nondescript team. Miami’s problem, I suspect is that they are a mid-sized private school. It is much tougher to be that and a top football program than it is to be Florida or FSU.

 

[RSTuthill]

Whoops, initially thought the reference was the AAC..

No worries.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[UCFBfan]

The Pac was down to just OSU, Wazzu, and the future ACC members like days after that UConn/UA/ASU plan to 16

We were more desired than Stanford and Cal apparently

Which says all that needs to be said about us and the ACC. They took the less desirable schools that the Big 12 didn't want from the Pac, instead of the one on the same freaking coast and who brings more to the table. This was the final middle finger from the ACC to us. Only chance we have there is if the conference blows up and the teams scatter and form something new.

 

[cellocgg]

Which says all that needs to be said about us and the ACC. They took the less desirable schools that the Big 12 didn't want from the Pac, instead of the one on the same freaking coast and who brings more to the table. This was the final middle finger from the ACC to us. Only chance we have there is if the conference blows up and the teams scatter and form something new.

But we're still more valuable to the B12 than OSU, Wazzu, Stanford, and Cal which is what we should prioritize anyway as it's more stable than the ACC

Also Stanford and Cal initially got rejected and had to beg for reduced revenue sharing to get in. Talk about being the most successful college athletic program of all time...

 

[Patman]

Becuase some disagree doesn't mean they are correct. They doubted me when I said a defensive coordinator would be hired. And I did hear without doubt that the UConn administration firmly believed they were getting the invite on that webinar. Maybe if you supported UConn football you would have been invited to participate.

So you were the only one on this board invited to participate? Congratulations.

 

[buddy]

So you were the only one on this board invited to participate? Congratulations.

Thank you! If you and others put your money where your mouth is and support all UConn athletics maybe you would be truly informed.

 

[buddy]

So you were the only one on this board invited to participate? Congratulations.

There were only about 37 people on line for that. Mostly former football players and some donors. Overall, pretty sad support for football.

Thank you! If you and others put your money where your mouth is and support all UConn athletics maybe you would be truly informed.

 

[CL82]

His job is to make money for the athletic dept and to have winning programs.

I believe power conferences pay their member teams fairly significant money.

 

[Patman]

There were only about 37 people on line for that. Mostly former football players and some donors. Overall, pretty sad support for football.

I'll trust the person who talked to the Athletic Director.

 

[buddy]

I'll trust the person who talked to the Athletic Director.

He is the one who said it on the webinar! LOL! Anyone can say they spoke with someone in the administration, but there is no proof that they did! This was stated in public. Somewhere there must be a documentation of the webinar. You can also ask the head of the bleeding blue for good NIL initiative when you give your donation. I'm sure it will be confirmed.

 

[Patman]

He is the one who said it on the webinar! LOL! Anyone can say they spoke with someone in the administration, but there is no proof that they did! This was stated in public. Somewhere there must be a documentation of the webinar. You can also ask the head of the bleeding blue for good NIL initiative when you give your donation. I'm sure it will be confirmed.

He knows far more than you. What he said was consistent with every public article and every public statement.