Conference realignment

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Well.. I hope that we win one A10 conference tournament before it’s all over

One on the way out would be lovely. Though I wouldn't be surprised if the A10 tries to pull something and not allow us to play in the Tournament next year.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

In case it hasn't been mentioned, the MAC currently has an 8-team conference tournament. It's played in just 3 days (Thurs-Sat). The path to the conference championship is easier. Maybe they will expand it, we'll see.

While I would much prefer a visit to NYC or DC, Cleveland is a low key cool city to visit. It isn't the shithole rust belt city like Buffalo is... it's got the Rock Hall (an epic attraction) and a very vibrant restaurant and bar scene in the downtown area near the stadium. March weather can be a bit iffy I'm sure, but that's nothing we aren't used to here.

[TheInsider]

I can confirm Cleveland has a cool downtown. It's smaller than you think so it easy to get around.

[e_parade]

I've never been to Cleveland. Maybe I can swing a trip in the future for it. Looks like a ~2 hour flight with a price around $200 on a few that I saw in my quick checks just now.

[MakeMullinsGreatAgain]

Anyone know when/if Bamford or Reyes will be holding a press conference to discuss?

Has this actually become official? The initial tweet yesterday was that UMass had been invited and that they were likely to accept. Is it all possible they had that tweeted to see what the reaction would be prior to officially accepting?

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Anyone know when/if Bamford or Reyes will be holding a press conference to discuss?

Has this actually become official? The initial tweet yesterday was that UMass had been invited and that they were likely to accept. Is it all possible they had that tweeted to see what the reaction would be prior to officially accepting?

Per some of the articles I read on this, and they were consistent with this, the process of "applying" and "being accepted" is essentially a formality in the process. I'm sure there are some documents that still need to be signed, but based on how this seems to work, going to a vote by school Presidents means it is a done deal.

[NilesGold]

Tough pill to swallow for the sake of advancing football. The only consolation is that the CUSA route wasn't better/might have been worse. Mullins Center is going to be a ghost town. Imagine trying to get the students fired up to play Ball State or Miami (Ohio), never mind a team we have years of history with. I'm guessing Buffalo was the last ranked team from the MAC. Who before that?

KenPom rankings: A-10 8th; MAC 24th

The students haven't been fired up for anyone we play in about 10 years. New crop of students every year and if they see a winning program when they get to UMass maybe that will get them fired up. La Salle or SJU or Loyola means nothing to them.

69MG is right, fans don't care as much about the opponent, they care much more about whether their team is winning games.

I'm still digesting the news, but it's neither all good or all bad. The biggest deciding factor in how this plays out, is if fans support via NIL. Because if they do, UMass probably won't take a dip in recruiting, and it can dominate the league and get more wins, and more NCAAT appearances.

Good:
Easier to get NCAAT auto-bid
Easier to get more wins

Bad:
Weaker basketball conference
Much harder (nearly impossible) to get an at-large bid
Fewer "name" schools that have casual fan recognition

Neutral:
NIL

[Quann]

^^^^
It's nearly impossible for us currently to get an at large bid in the A10. We've had one since 1998 so I wouldn't worry about that. OOC scheduling is even more paramount starting in 2025, we can't really play many cupcakes if we want to maintain a decent RPI. I would say 80% of the OOC schedule have to be top 150 teams, that's not the easiest thing to schedule.

[DoctorJ]

I get the feeling that we will get games with A10 opponents in the OOC, and on a regular basis.

URI, St. Joe, LaSalle, GWU, Dayton, Richmond, GMU.

I also think bigger teams will be more willing to play a UMass MAC than an A10 team. But I could be wrong.

I'd like a statement from the AD and Frank as to how they are going to assure we are going to battle for the conference championship every year. What is the game plan for this transition?

Long-run, we are trying to get into the AAC. That seems obvious to me.

[gorhody]

Hey guys. New here. I wanted to share this podcast with Curry Hicks Sage as my guest on the topic

Why UMASS is Leaving the A10 for the MAC

https://youtu.be/rTuWfNhdw5A?si=OuMWKg7koqMIZ-TX

[kd68]

Thankyou for posting this. I found it very enlightening.

[inthescoop]

Does Curry Hicks post here?

[Mizor]

I would have liked to ask the question as to whether URI would consider moving up to FBS football. Once the dominos start falling URI might end up in a much weaker A10.

[Sheck]

They did touch on that subject, but the idea of URI moving up to FBS seems to be a non-starter.

Hopefully URI is someone we continue to play every year after we leave the A10.

[kd68]

We use to play UConn regularly years ago in both football and basketball. Hard to keep these regional things going.