🗣 UMass to the MAC: Dedicated Thread

[dennisdent]

^ Great comment and I agree! A BC fan could never write something that well thought out and researched. UMass just doesn't fit in the MAC, academically or athletically. Of course if the MAC is the only option, while......

[m626t]

^
He thinks we should drop to the FCS for football. Kind of a slap in the face if you ask me.

[dennisdent]

^ UMass football has been a sledge hammer to my senses. If going back to FCS make the football program competitive to watch again, helps hockey and basketball, I'm all for it.

[Merlin Samuels]

Disclaimer: I am a UConn fan. Now that we have gotten that out of the way:

I think UMass joining the MAC for all sports would be a massive mistake. Here are the reasons:

1. At least two of your home games will be on a Tuesday or Wednesday. If you think you have attendance problems now….

2. UConn won’t play you anymore. We can’t afford to play you in September. We need those slots to schedule P5 H/H series.

3. The A-10 will likely be the #8 basketball league going forward (behind the AAC and MW/PAC-12 and ahead of the Gonzaga-less WCC and MVC). The MAC at best is around #13 (and that’s being generous).

4. No big home games. At least now you play teams like Dayton, URI, St. Louis, VCU, Davidson, and Loyola. Nobody in the MAC carries the cache of any of those schools.

5. The A-10 is normally a multi-bid league. There has been consolidation in college basketball but the A-10 will likely average 2 bids going forward. In the MAC, the regular season is meaningless. If you don’t win the conference tournament, your season is over.

6. There is absolutely no guarantee that the MAC will get a raise in the new CFP. In fact, I would not be surprised if the trade-off for the G5 CFP spot is the same amount (a relative decrease compared to the P4 leagues).

7. An undefeated MAC champ is HIGHLY unlikely to get into the 12-team CFP. A MAC team has only won the G5 NY6 bowl spot once, and that was because both the AAC and MW champs had at least two losses.

IMO, UMass should bump up investment in basketball and hockey, attempt to get low-level power conference schools to come to Mullins for basketball, and cut some sports to get closer to the minimum.

Also, I think UMass should drop to FCS and form a 6-team A-10 football league.

UMass
Villanova
New Hampshire
Richmond
Maine
Rhode Island

At this point, no P4 teams are scheduled to come to Amherst past 2024. The whole point of joining FBS was to play power conference teams at home, and that is not happening anymore.

1. Our stadium is on campus, remember that?

2. UConn avoided us for years. We won’t have room on our schedule for you. Good luck.

3. The goal is to dominate MAC hoops, not rely on an at-large.

4. We can schedule big home games out of conference like Gonzaga does, but to a smaller degree. St. John’s, Providence, I’d like to see Holy Cross and BU every season.

5. See #3

6. Is it more than we make now?

7. I know a MAC program made the Orange Bowl and I think Western Michigan made a major bowl not too long ago.

8. Gross. No thanks. Watching the Toledo game was far more interesting; we were just screwed over by the refs and ran out of gas.

[shizzle787]

Disclaimer: I am a UConn fan. Now that we have gotten that out of the way:

I think UMass joining the MAC for all sports would be a massive mistake. Here are the reasons:

1. At least two of your home games will be on a Tuesday or Wednesday. If you think you have attendance problems now….

2. UConn won’t play you anymore. We can’t afford to play you in September. We need those slots to schedule P5 H/H series.

3. The A-10 will likely be the #8 basketball league going forward (behind the AAC and MW/PAC-12 and ahead of the Gonzaga-less WCC and MVC). The MAC at best is around #13 (and that’s being generous).

4. No big home games. At least now you play teams like Dayton, URI, St. Louis, VCU, Davidson, and Loyola. Nobody in the MAC carries the cache of any of those schools.

5. The A-10 is normally a multi-bid league. There has been consolidation in college basketball but the A-10 will likely average 2 bids going forward. In the MAC, the regular season is meaningless. If you don’t win the conference tournament, your season is over.

6. There is absolutely no guarantee that the MAC will get a raise in the new CFP. In fact, I would not be surprised if the trade-off for the G5 CFP spot is the same amount (a relative decrease compared to the P4 leagues).

7. An undefeated MAC champ is HIGHLY unlikely to get into the 12-team CFP. A MAC team has only won the G5 NY6 bowl spot once, and that was because both the AAC and MW champs had at least two losses.

IMO, UMass should bump up investment in basketball and hockey, attempt to get low-level power conference schools to come to Mullins for basketball, and cut some sports to get closer to the minimum.

Also, I think UMass should drop to FCS and form a 6-team A-10 football league.

UMass
Villanova
New Hampshire
Richmond
Maine
Rhode Island

At this point, no P4 teams are scheduled to come to Amherst past 2024. The whole point of joining FBS was to play power conference teams at home, and that is not happening anymore.

1. Our stadium is on campus, remember that?

2. UConn avoided us for years. We won’t have room on our schedule for you. Good luck.

3. The goal is to dominate MAC hoops, not rely on an at-large.

4. We can schedule big home games out of conference like Gonzaga does, but to a smaller degree. St. John’s, Providence, I’d like to see Holy Cross and BU every season.

5. See #3

6. Is it more than we make now?

7. I know a MAC program made the Orange Bowl and I think Western Michigan made a major bowl not too long ago.

8. Gross. No thanks. Watching the Toledo game was far more interesting; we were just screwed over by the refs and ran out of gas.

1. You are averaging 9,000 a game playing games on Saturdays. Attendance will go down if you play on weeknights.

2. Without P4 home opponents, we are your most important home game.

3. If you want to know what it’s like to go 27-6, lose in a conference title game, and miss the tournament; the MAC is for you.

4. You can schedule those teams now as your OOC schedule. Also, what makes you think Big East teams will do home and homes with MAC teams?

6. Would you rather be more relevant or make 2 million more per year?

7. WMU was the freak year. Also, you already play a bunch of MAC schools. Why join their league and destroy your basketball program?

8. Nothing wrong with following the Nova model.

[minutefanjsf]

Disclaimer: I am a UConn fan. Now that we have gotten that out of the way:

I think UMass joining the MAC for all sports would be a massive mistake. Here are the reasons:

1. At least two of your home games will be on a Tuesday or Wednesday. If you think you have attendance problems now….

2. UConn won’t play you anymore. We can’t afford to play you in September. We need those slots to schedule P5 H/H series.

3. The A-10 will likely be the #8 basketball league going forward (behind the AAC and MW/PAC-12 and ahead of the Gonzaga-less WCC and MVC). The MAC at best is around #13 (and that’s being generous).

4. No big home games. At least now you play teams like Dayton, URI, St. Louis, VCU, Davidson, and Loyola. Nobody in the MAC carries the cache of any of those schools.

5. The A-10 is normally a multi-bid league. There has been consolidation in college basketball but the A-10 will likely average 2 bids going forward. In the MAC, the regular season is meaningless. If you don’t win the conference tournament, your season is over.

6. There is absolutely no guarantee that the MAC will get a raise in the new CFP. In fact, I would not be surprised if the trade-off for the G5 CFP spot is the same amount (a relative decrease compared to the P4 leagues).

7. An undefeated MAC champ is HIGHLY unlikely to get into the 12-team CFP. A MAC team has only won the G5 NY6 bowl spot once, and that was because both the AAC and MW champs had at least two losses.

IMO, UMass should bump up investment in basketball and hockey, attempt to get low-level power conference schools to come to Mullins for basketball, and cut some sports to get closer to the minimum.

Also, I think UMass should drop to FCS and form a 6-team A-10 football league.

UMass
Villanova
New Hampshire
Richmond
Maine
Rhode Island

At this point, no P4 teams are scheduled to come to Amherst past 2024. The whole point of joining FBS was to play power conference teams at home, and that is not happening anymore.

1. Our stadium is on campus, remember that?

2. UConn avoided us for years. We won’t have room on our schedule for you. Good luck.

3. The goal is to dominate MAC hoops, not rely on an at-large.

4. We can schedule big home games out of conference like Gonzaga does, but to a smaller degree. St. John’s, Providence, I’d like to see Holy Cross and BU every season.

5. See #3

6. Is it more than we make now?

7. I know a MAC program made the Orange Bowl and I think Western Michigan made a major bowl not too long ago.

8. Gross. No thanks. Watching the Toledo game was far more interesting; we were just screwed over by the refs and ran out of gas.

1. You are averaging 9,000 a game playing games on Saturdays. Attendance will go down if you play on weeknights.

2. Without P4 home opponents, we are your most important home game.

3. If you want to know what it’s like to go 27-6, lose in a conference title game, and miss the tournament; the MAC is for you.

4. You can schedule those teams now as your OOC schedule. Also, what makes you think Big East teams will do home and homes with MAC teams?

6. Would you rather be more relevant or make 2 million more per year?

7. WMU was the freak year. Also, you already play a bunch of MAC schools. Why join their league and destroy your basketball program?

8. Nothing wrong with following the Nova model.

UMass is not going back to FCS. UConn is not the biggest game, and we all know that no P4 team is coming to Amherst until the stadium is improved. We don’t have another home game vs BC, which is a bigger game than UConn. Army coming to Amherst is a better game and bigger draw than UConn, too. Moving to the MAC would be a down grade for basketball. Being in the MAC does complicate scheduling bigger programs in hoops. The attendance figures for football are mainly due to the horrible performance. When we had MACtion mid week games, the attendance was horrible, and would be decent as would Saturdays if they won a game or five.

[Merlin Samuels]

Disclaimer: I am a UConn fan. Now that we have gotten that out of the way:

I think UMass joining the MAC for all sports would be a massive mistake. Here are the reasons:

1. At least two of your home games will be on a Tuesday or Wednesday. If you think you have attendance problems now….

2. UConn won’t play you anymore. We can’t afford to play you in September. We need those slots to schedule P5 H/H series.

3. The A-10 will likely be the #8 basketball league going forward (behind the AAC and MW/PAC-12 and ahead of the Gonzaga-less WCC and MVC). The MAC at best is around #13 (and that’s being generous).

4. No big home games. At least now you play teams like Dayton, URI, St. Louis, VCU, Davidson, and Loyola. Nobody in the MAC carries the cache of any of those schools.

5. The A-10 is normally a multi-bid league. There has been consolidation in college basketball but the A-10 will likely average 2 bids going forward. In the MAC, the regular season is meaningless. If you don’t win the conference tournament, your season is over.

6. There is absolutely no guarantee that the MAC will get a raise in the new CFP. In fact, I would not be surprised if the trade-off for the G5 CFP spot is the same amount (a relative decrease compared to the P4 leagues).

7. An undefeated MAC champ is HIGHLY unlikely to get into the 12-team CFP. A MAC team has only won the G5 NY6 bowl spot once, and that was because both the AAC and MW champs had at least two losses.

IMO, UMass should bump up investment in basketball and hockey, attempt to get low-level power conference schools to come to Mullins for basketball, and cut some sports to get closer to the minimum.

Also, I think UMass should drop to FCS and form a 6-team A-10 football league.

UMass
Villanova
New Hampshire
Richmond
Maine
Rhode Island

At this point, no P4 teams are scheduled to come to Amherst past 2024. The whole point of joining FBS was to play power conference teams at home, and that is not happening anymore.

1. Our stadium is on campus, remember that?

2. UConn avoided us for years. We won’t have room on our schedule for you. Good luck.

3. The goal is to dominate MAC hoops, not rely on an at-large.

4. We can schedule big home games out of conference like Gonzaga does, but to a smaller degree. St. John’s, Providence, I’d like to see Holy Cross and BU every season.

5. See #3

6. Is it more than we make now?

7. I know a MAC program made the Orange Bowl and I think Western Michigan made a major bowl not too long ago.

8. Gross. No thanks. Watching the Toledo game was far more interesting; we were just screwed over by the refs and ran out of gas.

1. You are averaging 9,000 a game playing games on Saturdays. Attendance will go down if you play on weeknights.

2. Without P4 home opponents, we are your most important home game.

3. If you want to know what it’s like to go 27-6, lose in a conference title game, and miss the tournament; the MAC is for you.

4. You can schedule those teams now as your OOC schedule. Also, what makes you think Big East teams will do home and homes with MAC teams?

6. Would you rather be more relevant or make 2 million more per year?

7. WMU was the freak year. Also, you already play a bunch of MAC schools. Why join their league and destroy your basketball program?

8. Nothing wrong with following the Nova model.

1. Better program = better attendance. The program was headed in the right direction in the MAC when we had a competent coach.

2. That’s very presumptuous of you.

3. Depends on the record outside the conference, no?

4. The Big East does home and homes now. It’s the name on the jersey not the conference logo patch.

6. Both

7. The A10 is not what it used to be. It doesn’t prop up our program whatsoever.

8. Good for them. We aren’t a private school in Philadelphia.

[shizzle787]

1. Our stadium is on campus, remember that?

2. UConn avoided us for years. We won’t have room on our schedule for you. Good luck.

3. The goal is to dominate MAC hoops, not rely on an at-large.

4. We can schedule big home games out of conference like Gonzaga does, but to a smaller degree. St. John’s, Providence, I’d like to see Holy Cross and BU every season.

5. See #3

6. Is it more than we make now?

7. I know a MAC program made the Orange Bowl and I think Western Michigan made a major bowl not too long ago.

8. Gross. No thanks. Watching the Toledo game was far more interesting; we were just screwed over by the refs and ran out of gas.

1. You are averaging 9,000 a game playing games on Saturdays. Attendance will go down if you play on weeknights.

2. Without P4 home opponents, we are your most important home game.

3. If you want to know what it’s like to go 27-6, lose in a conference title game, and miss the tournament; the MAC is for you.

4. You can schedule those teams now as your OOC schedule. Also, what makes you think Big East teams will do home and homes with MAC teams?

6. Would you rather be more relevant or make 2 million more per year?

7. WMU was the freak year. Also, you already play a bunch of MAC schools. Why join their league and destroy your basketball program?

8. Nothing wrong with following the Nova model.

UMass is not going back to FCS. UConn is not the biggest game, and we all know that no P4 team is coming to Amherst until the stadium is improved. We don’t have another home game vs BC, which is a bigger game than UConn. Army coming to Amherst is a better game and bigger draw than UConn, too. Moving to the MAC would be a down grade for basketball. Being in the MAC does complicate scheduling bigger programs in hoops. The attendance figures for football are mainly due to the horrible performance. When we had MACtion mid week games, the attendance was horrible, and would be decent as would Saturdays if they won a game or five.

This is a UMass forum, and I am guest so I'm not here to start a fight. Army will likely be joining the American. You and us will no longer be on their schedule. They will have no room for either of us.
Therefore, we will be your most important home game if no P4 or MW/Pac-12 schools come to Amherst in the future.

[shizzle787]

1. Our stadium is on campus, remember that?

2. UConn avoided us for years. We won’t have room on our schedule for you. Good luck.

3. The goal is to dominate MAC hoops, not rely on an at-large.

4. We can schedule big home games out of conference like Gonzaga does, but to a smaller degree. St. John’s, Providence, I’d like to see Holy Cross and BU every season.

5. See #3

6. Is it more than we make now?

7. I know a MAC program made the Orange Bowl and I think Western Michigan made a major bowl not too long ago.

8. Gross. No thanks. Watching the Toledo game was far more interesting; we were just screwed over by the refs and ran out of gas.

1. You are averaging 9,000 a game playing games on Saturdays. Attendance will go down if you play on weeknights.

2. Without P4 home opponents, we are your most important home game.

3. If you want to know what it’s like to go 27-6, lose in a conference title game, and miss the tournament; the MAC is for you.

4. You can schedule those teams now as your OOC schedule. Also, what makes you think Big East teams will do home and homes with MAC teams?

6. Would you rather be more relevant or make 2 million more per year?

7. WMU was the freak year. Also, you already play a bunch of MAC schools. Why join their league and destroy your basketball program?

8. Nothing wrong with following the Nova model.

1. Better program = better attendance. The program was headed in the right direction in the MAC when we had a competent coach.

2. That’s very presumptuous of you.

3. Depends on the record outside the conference, no?

4. The Big East does home and homes now. It’s the name on the jersey not the conference logo patch.

6. Both

7. The A10 is not what it used to be. It doesn’t prop up our program whatsoever.

8. Good for them. We aren’t a private school in Philadelphia.

I'm 50/50 on whether I as a UConn fan would want you to drop down: on one hand, it's one less FBS program in the northeast; on the other, we would lose a reliable winnable late season H/H series game. So it doesn't really matter to me. The main point is that I think it would be really stupid to the join the MAC if you stay FBS. UMass has a large enough brand that it doesn't need to slum it in the 19th ranked (according to KenPom for 23/24 season which just came out) basketball league. Have some pride. Playing in the bottom half of Division 1 for a state flagship of a state with 7 million people is embarrassing. The A-10 is the way to go. Also, Frank Martin quits the day you guys join the MAC. Basketball is the school's #1 sport. Don't throw it away for the school's #3 sport.

A couple of other things: the Big East does not do H/H with MAC programs. Doesn't matter the school.

27-6 record was a record including OOC games. The MAC is a one-bid league. If you slip up once in their tournament, your season is over. The A-10 provides more room for error.

[Steve81]

Think it's comical that a UConn fan comes over here tell us what to do. You think there is a big separation in football between the power conferences and G5, same thing exists with basketball. If you are not in a power conference or the Big East, really does not make a huge difference. You are still ruled by the power conferences and the best thing for us is to go to the MAC and fund the program the same way as basketball. Do not want to take money away from any sport, but getting a full share of College Football Playoffs will be nice, with a much better media contract. Have a more predictable schedule with peer level competition. MAC basketball has good teams at the top, but does drop off. It should be very doable to rise to the top of the MAC in a stable conference. The AAC gets raided and so will the A10, which has also lost 10 teams.

Glad you know all about UConn's scheduling. What I know is UConn lost nearly 20 years ago in bb and would never schedule us again. UConn being indy will need games and if it suits UConn, they schedule us. You are on the schedule for a number of years and if you ever stop being the bridesmaid, you would never schedule us anyhow.

ps. The MAC gets multiple NIT bids in both women's and men's basketball. It's a slug vest in the A10, which gets 2 bids most years. (Last 5 years, which is a solid trend.)

Noting, ESPN already selected the 1 required game to be on one of their tradition channels, it was Toledo.

[Merlin Samuels]

1. You are averaging 9,000 a game playing games on Saturdays. Attendance will go down if you play on weeknights.

2. Without P4 home opponents, we are your most important home game.

3. If you want to know what it’s like to go 27-6, lose in a conference title game, and miss the tournament; the MAC is for you.

4. You can schedule those teams now as your OOC schedule. Also, what makes you think Big East teams will do home and homes with MAC teams?

6. Would you rather be more relevant or make 2 million more per year?

7. WMU was the freak year. Also, you already play a bunch of MAC schools. Why join their league and destroy your basketball program?

8. Nothing wrong with following the Nova model.

1. Better program = better attendance. The program was headed in the right direction in the MAC when we had a competent coach.

2. That’s very presumptuous of you.

3. Depends on the record outside the conference, no?

4. The Big East does home and homes now. It’s the name on the jersey not the conference logo patch.

6. Both

7. The A10 is not what it used to be. It doesn’t prop up our program whatsoever.

8. Good for them. We aren’t a private school in Philadelphia.

I'm 50/50 on whether I as a UConn fan would want you to drop down: on one hand, it's one less FBS program in the northeast; on the other, we would lose a reliable winnable late season H/H series game. So it doesn't really matter to me. The main point is that I think it would be really stupid to the join the MAC if you stay FBS. UMass has a large enough brand that it doesn't need to slum it in the 19th ranked (according to KenPom for 23/24 season which just came out) basketball league. Have some pride. Playing in the bottom half of Division 1 for a state flagship of a state with 7 million people is embarrassing. The A-10 is the way to go. Also, Frank Martin quits the day you guys join the MAC. Basketball is the school's #1 sport. Don't throw it away for the school's #3 sport.

A couple of other things: the Big East does not do H/H with MAC programs. Doesn't matter the school.

27-6 record was a record including OOC games. The MAC is a one-bid league. If you slip up once in their tournament, your season is over. The A-10 provides more room for error.

What I have deciphered here:

You realize a stable UMass football program in the MAC would hurt UConn football so you are veiling your trepidation behind concern for our “large enough brand” basketball program.

Once again, Big East programs don’t schedule home and homes with just any A10 team either. Other major programs don’t schedule home and homes with just any West Coast program…. except Gonzaga.

I would rather be Gonzaga of the MAC than UMass of the A10 right now. Like Steve said, no reason to fund the basketball program any less than now.

[eldonabe]

^
He thinks we should drop to the FCS for football. Kind of a slap in the face if you ask me.

Um I hate to tell you but always getting fucking annihilated by good schools and losing consistently to shitty schools is no fun either.

[NE Cat]

Hey guys, I still come here daily during football season to keep up with your situation, and I thought that Shizzle787's posit that UMASS was a better academic fit for the A10 than the MAC was worth digging into. The MAC does get a lot of flack for supposedly not being as academically rigorous as other institutions, but that is often not paired with an understanding of exactly why these institutions were formed. Many were initially founded as "normal" schools, with the primary mission of educating teachers. The overriding state edict has been to keep the education at the MAC schools affordable for the population base that the schools serve. (and sorry about having some many directional names, but those place names were "de rigueur at the time", and the directional name should not be perceived as a pejorative, as many of the institutions do have very good, stand alone programs)

Over time, these schools have expanded into other academic missions, but have been doing so while competing against a state flagship and/or Morrill Land Grant school, who have always gotten preferential financial support. With a smaller state share of instruction for support of the MAC schools, and also with restrictions on increasing tuition costs, they have not been able to hire the same level of faculty as flagships and the numerous private institutions in the Midwest. Because of that, academic improvement has been slow, but some institutions like Buffalo (flagship), Fiami, OHIO, Ball State and Kent have been able to improve at greater rates, largely because they have aggressively pursued growth of their endowments to fight tuition freezes. Fortunately for UMASS, as a flagship, it has been able to get the predominate share of the pie, and had the state write checks to absolve any deficit spending.

Enough of the background, and to the academic comparisons of UMASS, and their place against the A10 and MAC institutions:

All data from USNWR 2024 rankings:

National Ranking: UMASS 67; MAC Best Ranking: Buffalo 76
State Flagships: A10, one (UMASS); MAC, one (Buffalo)
Land Grand Colleges: A10, one (UMASS); MAC, two (OHIO/Fiami, who were founded over sixty years before the Morrill Act was drafted, via the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which was drafted in Boston)
Public Institutions (UMASS): A10, four of fifteen public, with ten of eleven privates having religious affiliations); MAC, twelve of twelve public.
Research Institutions v Liberal Arts (UMASS): A10, four of fifteen; MAC, twelve of twelve.
R1 Research Institutions (UMASS): A10, four of fifteen; MAC, three of twelve.
AAU Institutions: A10, one; MAC, one.
Undergrad Student Population over 10,000 (UMASS): A10, seven of fifteen, with six under 5,000 students; MAC, twelve of twelve.
Tuition under $20,000 (UMASS): A10, four of fifteen; MAC, twelve of twelve.

So I would humbly suggest that UMASS has more academically in common with MAC schools than A10 schools.

In a recent interview with a radio station in Dayton, MAC Commissioner, Jon Steinbrecher, did share that he is always open to listening to expansion plans of "like minded, academic institutions", so I do believe that plays well into UMASS' position, but there will need to be dance partners.

If someone really wants to see athletic conferences aligned with academic mission, then I would posit an expansion plan for the MAC that includes UMASS, Rhode Island, Delaware and New Hampshire, where you have four schools that are land grants, state flagships, student populations over 10k, annual tuitions under $20k AND, all the schools participate in the same core Men's and Women's sports as the MAC.

That would make a nice Eastern Division with OHIO, Fiami, Buffalo and Kent. I don't have a dog (or cat) in the fight, but I could get behind supporting this expansion plan if URI/UNH/UD all wanted to step up their football.

Good luck turning things around, and all the best to Steve 81 and Rolling Ridge, both of whom have been good to me.

[Uminuteman]

Here we go again. Folks, the MAC DOES NOT WANT A CRAP PROGRAM LIKE UMASS!!! We had our chance and blew it. Now we will have to wait until we aren't the team that was competitive but lost to the worst football programs in the country. As far as moving down is concerned, why bother? We wouldn't be nationally competitive there either. Enjoy your day

[Steve81]

Here we go again. Folks, the MAC DOES NOT WANT A CRAP PROGRAM LIKE UMASS!!! We had our chance and blew it. Now we will have to wait until we aren't the team that was competitive but lost to the worst football programs in the country. As far as moving down is concerned, why bother? We wouldn't be nationally competitive there either. Enjoy your day

How the heck do you know what the MAC is thinking. I have first hand knowledge as have written Jon Steinbrecher, Commissioner of the MAC and has promptly replied back.

Glad you are still around here NE Cat and thanks for the academic profile input. Delaware is also highly academically rated and fits all the same profile matrics you mentioned. As someone pointed out on the CNSbbs board, Universities President's make the decisions. This is why I strongly favor pairing up with Delaware, which is close to Washington, DC. UMass President Marty Meehan service 14 years a a representative and also could appreciate Delaware's location. We do have a strong football long history with Delaware, which never existed with Temple. Only started playing them when we entered the MAC.

Regarding men's soccer we could leave them in the A10 and also keep contact with metro DC. Favor moving the men's lacrosse to the Big East, but the A10 is a possibility as well.