UMass > MAC for all sports in 2025-2026

[buddy]

Maybe UConn can be included in the raid. I do think Yormark wants NYC.

Yormark led people to believe that he thought basketball would bring value, but when push came to shove, he ended up caving to Big 12 presidents who wanted football first, thus UConn left behind. It seems that commenters here still think basketball will bring a power conference invite, but that is clearly not the case. The only hope is to get an invite to the ACC remnant conference when their football powers peel away. Yormark really pulled the rug out from under UConn Administration that were truly led to believe an invite to the Big 12 was coming.

 

[Vowelguy]

Not to mention bringing in some of the highest regular season viewership of any school of the season (and BE history), being the first non ESPN school this season to host GameDay,

Technically first was Iowa women.

 

[Kolumbo]

More yada...yada...yada from Stewie:

https://twitter.com/theathleticcfb/status/1762838957082251626?s=12

-> Now that UMass and Army have found conferences to call home, how do you see UConn managing football given it doesn’t have the NBC safety net that Notre Dame has? — Andrew W., New York

You’ve got me. Any suggestions? From where I sit, Jim Mora is being handed a losing deck. UConn is the rare, rare school that has opted to prioritize basketball over football in terms of its conference alignment. And it’s hard to argue the results. The men’s program was floundering during its years in the AAC. Since rejoining the Big East, Dan Hurley has won one national title and is contending for another. The Huskies are back where they once belonged in the national conversation. Mission accomplished.

But UConn football is out there on an island, playing a hodgepodge schedule that has a few Power 5 foes (this year: at Maryland, at Duke, Wake Forest and at Syracuse) and a bunch of yawners (Merrimack, FAU, Buffalo, Temple, Rice, Georgia State, at Syracuse and at UMass). In Mora’s first season, the Huskies went 6-6, earning an invite to the Myrtle Beach Bowl. I guess that’s something. But this is the same program that reached the 2010 Fiesta Bowl as a BCS-conference member. And many Huskies fans still hold out hope of returning to the power-conference level.

So UConn is stuck in football purgatory. Joining the MAC, as UMass did, is not desirable to the fan base, even if the MAC were open to taking the Huskies in football only. Which, if you can’t have the men’s and women’s basketball programs, what’s the point? And it’s not like joining the MAC would provide some sort of financial salvation. In 2022, the conference brought in just $35.7 million in revenue, total. That’s less than $3 million per school (and not all that revenue gets distributed to the schools). That’s barely a dent in the reported $35.8 million university subsidy UConn needed to meet its budget in 2023.

So despite the fact UConn and Notre Dame are the only remaining independents, it’s still probably UConn’s only feasible option that wouldn’t jeopardize basketball. The good news is, the school has booked at least 11 opponents each season through 2027. But with no conference championship to play for, and no realistic path to the CFP, it feels like a hollow existence. It frankly would make more sense to drop back down to FCS, where the Huskies memorably reached the playoff quarterfinals in 1998, but the fan base — most notably QB great Dan Orlovsky — would mutiny. <

All accurate. I'm at the point where we need to keep the basketball rolling and just wait to see what happens on the football side. Things will keep changing. I expect that Benedict was very clear with Mora on what he was getting into. A Big East - ACC merger would be 100% ideal for UConn. An invite from the Big 12 or ACC would be an automatic yes, but I'm not even as thrilled anymore with the prospect of playing hoops in the unknown ACC vs the Big East.

 

[uconnric]

All true. I am hoping Benedict knows what he is doing.

His job is to get us into a Power conference. I'm sure it's on his mind every single day, and yes, I'm sure he's knows what he's doing.

 

[tiger paw]

1. Two independents left. Everyone wants ND, no one wants UConn.
2. Does not the MAC play most of their November games on Tues + Wed nights ?
No thanks to that.
3. The ACC will be dismantled. No left overs for UC to align with.
B1G takes 4 teams. SEC takes 4 teams. B12 takes 4 teams. AAC takes 4 teams.
4. Looks more + more like the future is at the FCS level. We will become another version of Villanova + Georgetown.

 

[Luna]

His job is to get us into a Power conference. I'm sure it's on his mind every single day, and yes, I'm sure he's knows what he's doing.

We are in a power conference in basketball..the big east the the best for our basketball teams

 

[CCSUblue]

3. The ACC will be dismantled. No left overs for UC to align with.
B1G takes 4 teams. SEC takes 4 teams. B12 takes 4 teams. AAC takes 4 teams.

Who goes where? This is not happening... Yes the ACC will fall apart. But to claim that the other 3 will take 4 teams each is just dumb.
FSU, Miami, Clemson, UNC... And there are 14 teams btw. But the point remains, most ACC teams don't bring enough value to the other conferences and instead will end up pulling up some AAC teams to fill out a league that will try to become the best of the rest.

 

[John]

We are in a power conference in basketball..the big east the the best for our basketball teams

An athletic department is a lot more than one sports program, and being a "power conference" in one non-football sport isn't going to hold much water in the current landscape.

 

[CTBasketball]

His job is to get us into a Power conference. I'm sure it's on his mind every single day, and yes, I'm sure he's knows what he's doing.

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

 

[freescooter]

1. Two independents left. Everyone wants ND, no one wants UConn.
2. Does not the MAC play most of their November games on Tues + Wed nights ?
No thanks to that.
3. The ACC will be dismantled. No left overs for UC to align with.
B1G takes 4 teams. SEC takes 4 teams. B12 takes 4 teams. AAC takes 4 teams.
4. Looks more + more like the future is at the FCS level. We will become another version of Villanova + Georgetown.

Where do you guys get that the ACC will be dismantled? When you look at ACC football there are 2 teams with value. FSU and Clemson. I’m not sure where the concept that the Big 10 is just drooling to get its hands on North Carolina and Virginia comes from. Maybe UNC and UVA, but I doubt anyone in the real world feels that way. Truthfully I’m not even sure South Carolina wants Clemson in the SEC or Florida wants FSU. Maybe Notre Dame leaves too but I’m not even sure they would. They have a pretty sweet deal. All the benefits of a conference with none of the restrictions.

Basically I think the remaining ACC would be just fine and at least equal to our current arrangement for basketball much superior for football.

 

[John]

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

Exactly, another way of saying his job is to get us into a power conference.

 

[RSTuthill]

Does the MAC have a future with the way things are evolving? Does any G5 conference/team have a future? At this point I'm kind of losing sight of the point of G5 teams other than offering cannon fodder for the P2/P4 to pad wins. I'm reaching a point where I would be in support of a new subdivision being established.

We already have that. FCS. And a further step down, the Patriot League. What is your vision? Is yet another division needed?

 

[RSTuthill]

Basically I think the remaining ACC would be just fine and at least equal to our current arrangement for basketball much superior for football.

Agreed, culturally a good fit too.

 

[RSTuthill]

That’s right. And time has passed. I remember when we were NEVER going to play BC in anything ever again. Guess what? We play them in lots of things. We’ve played them in basketball, football, baseball, we are in a conference for mens and womens hockey and they wee one of the biggest supporters for adding us. We now play Syracuse in football. Basically the world changes. We have a series with Pitt in the works. Animosities wane over time. And things that make sense overtake things things that are problematic. UMass was never joining the MAC for all sports. Remember that? Again, times and circumstances changed.

BC drove UConn's admission to Hockey East even though UConn had been a target for a long time. Jerry Yorke, Malloy, and the president of BC. I think they are hoping for UConn football to get good enough to get a good rivalry going here in the Northeast.

Btw, for those who have not heard, UConn Women's Hockey won the HE RS title and play at 1:00 on Saturday at Toscano against the winner of one of tonight's games.

 

[cellocgg]

1. Two independents left. Everyone wants ND, no one wants UConn.
2. Does not the MAC play most of their November games on Tues + Wed nights ?
No thanks to that.
3. The ACC will be dismantled. No left overs for UC to align with.
B1G takes 4 teams. SEC takes 4 teams. B12 takes 4 teams. AAC takes 4 teams.
4. Looks more + more like the future is at the FCS level. We will become another version of Villanova + Georgetown.

Technically first was Iowa women.

Well only one of the schools big enough to participate in Gameday this season is looking for a new home

 

[Nostical]

Once the dust settles with their version of musical chairs, we'll be invited to the ACC. And that's probably the best fit, geographically and rivalry-wise. Even after USC and UCLA announced they were bolting for the B1G, we were still a slam dunk certain for the BIG 12---until the PAC 12 collapse occurred and the 4 Corner schools became available. It's now unlikely we'll ever be in that conference. I don't believe we'd join as a basketball only, even if offered.

 

[Vowelguy]

Where do you guys get that the ACC will be dismantled? When you look at ACC football there are 2 teams with value. FSU and Clemson. I’m not sure where the concept that the Big 10 is just drooling to get its hands on North Carolina and Virginia comes from. Maybe UNC and UVA, but I doubt anyone in the real world feels that way. Truthfully I’m not even sure South Carolina wants Clemson in the SEC or Florida wants FSU. Maybe Notre Dame leaves too but I’m not even sure they would. They have a pretty sweet deal. All the benefits of a conference with none of the restrictions.

Basically I think the remaining ACC would be just fine and at least equal to our current arrangement for basketball much superior for football.

NC is a very large, rapidly growing state, that has no SEC or BiG teams.
OF COURSE it is highly desired!

 

[Patman]

Yormark led people to believe that he thought basketball would bring value, but when push came to shove, he ended up caving to Big 12 presidents who wanted football first, thus UConn left behind. It seems that commenters here still think basketball will bring a power conference invite, but that is clearly not the case. The only hope is to get an invite to the ACC remnant conference when their football powers peel away. Yormark really pulled the rug out from under UConn Administration that were truly led to believe an invite to the Big 12 was coming.

You mean he did his job. Holy . Yomark owes you nothing. Nothing. UConn was always the "odd number option". The musical chairs didn't end in an odd number. He didn't do a snow job on basketball. I'm sure he does think that way. Guess what. The schools thought otherwise. They're the ones in charge, not yomark.

This is where I'm glad I did my undergrad elsewhere. "UConn think" is really precious some days.

 

[jostar1]

Yormark led people to believe that he thought basketball would bring value, but when push came to shove, he ended up caving to Big 12 presidents who wanted football first, thus UConn left behind.

No, it was the collapse of the PAC and the availability of those schools that caused UConn to be left out.

 

[uconnbill]

No, it was the collapse of the PAC and the availability of those schools that caused UConn to be left out.

When the two Arizona schools pushed to be included that was the death of UConn being brought in.

 

[CTBasketball]

Exactly, another way of saying his job is to get us into a power conference.

Maybe, they don’t have to be connected.

 

[uconnric]

Maybe, they don’t have to be connected.

In today's college athletics landscape, yes they do.

 

[GoConn]

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

 

[John]

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

let's hope - #1 basketball conference and good football.

 

[CTBasketball]

In today's college athletics landscape, yes they do.

He could cut football and all Olympic sports to turn a profit.