MAC Sports topics that include Hoops

[eldonabe]

Floyd, the only people who will give a shit about Top Dog in the MAC post here and it is not even all of the people who post here.

This Football move had better pay off or Umass will never be able to get out this spiral. They need Bowl Eligible seasons to start in MAC Year 2 or they are doneski....

If top dog in the MAC gets you into the dance, anything can happen. Fans love an underdog, and the visibility elevates the program. Frank has already improved the team, and the talent coming in this year looks to improve on that. People here may not give a shit about Top Dog in the MAC, but if it gets you in the tourney it's elevating the program. Helps recruiting and you can schedule better OOC games to draw fans in. Post season is king

Agree, football is key to getting into a bigger conference, but hoops has a great opportunity to get the name out there again

Floyd, this is what I’ve been preaching about umass hoops since the move to the MAC was announced. I’m glad someone gets it because we’ve wallowed in misery for the last 25 years in the A10.

This is NOT a slam on Football MAC. This is a simple analysis of the Hoops situation. While it is my opinion, it is hard to argue the points.


All i can say is that this is not the 90's any more and the playing field has shifted significantly; and not in any positive way concerning your Umass Basketball aspirations. The A-10 is no longer an Upper Mid-Major conference as a whole already. They are no longer getting multiple bids every year and probably not getting more than 2 in a really good year. MAC may get more than 1 bid every few seasons but those odds are still pretty long.

If they ever fix the transfer portal rules (which they won't) and set some rules to level the playing field in NIL $$$ (which they won't) Umass Hoops has very, very little chance of any sustained level of success in MAC. Virtually any player who can help a P4/multi bid conference is leaving - and can you blame any of them.

If they manage to field a good team and make the tourney they are automatically in a rebuilding mode the next season. if they are not that good to begin with - they are already not that good to begin with, and even if they benefit from another better team getting poached and manage to elevate for a year, you start the poaching and rebuild process all over again - again.


It would be arrogant and ignorant to think Umass can just walk in and take over MAC because we are Umass and we are coming from a better conference to begin with. With the new rules as currently constituted, we will become a MAC-level team almost immediately. Making matters worse, would be a really successful season this year. While I/We want them to go out with an A-10 Championship this year, that will come with a roster that probably get's pillaged, add to that a league downgrade and you have all kinds of problems.


All of that said, I will take A-10 success this year and let the chips fall from there.

[Floyd]

Jeez that's quite depressing

[Quann]

Disagree that you become a lower level team automatically by joining the MAC in basketball. With a top tier coach like Frank Martin I think that keeps us in pretty good standing for the short term.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Disagree that you become a lower level team automatically by joining the MAC in basketball. With a top tier coach like Frank Martin I think that keeps us in pretty good standing for the short term.

That's exactly why they need to be a good team right now walking out of the A10 and walk into the MAC dominating the first few years there. That's how they avoid the immediate lowering that the conference brings on the basketball side of things.

[eldonabe]

Disagree that you become a lower level team automatically by joining the MAC in basketball. With a top tier coach like Frank Martin I think that keeps us in pretty good standing for the short term.

I did not say that - I said if they have a great season this year and make the tourney, they likely get poached. If that happens, they have to replace a lot more spaces with new freshmen - they are not just going to walk in an be top 4.

Jesus could be the coach, but he is recruiting MAC level talent - you are not attracting a game changer at that level - they are going to the better conferences.

I am not discounting Frank's ability to coach players up. it has nothing to do with that.

Did anyone watch the two feature games last night? Duke/Kentucky and Kansas/M State. Almost the entire Kentucky roster is transfers and about 30% of the other 3 teams were made up of transfers. Kentucky had a good reason - but back in the "old days" that was impossible because you had to sit out a year. They would have been playing almost 12 freshmen last night back in the day - and gotten destroyed.


Anything can happen, I do think Frank can keep Umass in the top half of the MAC, but making the tourney is a not a given, and probably less than a 20% chance in any given year.

I hope Umass can get into the top 4 in the A-10 this year and let's go from there.

[Quann]

If this was the 90s then going from the A10 to the MAC is a huge dropoff. Current day, not so much. I think the coach is more important than the conference at this point unless we were playing in the Big East or ACC. I'd rather have Frank Martin in the MAC than Matt McCall or Derek Kellogg coaching in the A10.

[Juice Stand]

^ I agree, but my concern is how long Frank decides to stick around. If he gets sick of the constant transfers and rebuilds, he could easily walk away. He's all about teaching and molding young men, which is harder to do today. I think he's under contract for 5 more years and I don't know what his buyout is, but that's a factor. When he leaves, does UMass go big again, or do they hire at the MAC level?

[minutefanjsf]

^ I agree, but my concern is how long Frank decides to stick around. If he gets sick of the constant transfers and rebuilds, he could easily walk away. He's all about teaching and molding young men, which is harder to do today. I think he's under contract for 5 more years and I don't know what his buyout is, but that's a factor. When he leaves, does UMass go big again, or do they hire at the MAC level?

Hopefully we are ready to move higher than the MAC and he stays or we have the resources to go big.

[eldonabe]

If this was the 90s then going from the A10 to the MAC is a huge dropoff. Current day, not so much. I think the coach is more important than the conference at this point unless we were playing in the Big East or ACC. I'd rather have Frank Martin in the MAC than Matt McCall or Derek Kellogg coaching in the A10.

On this we agree....

[InnervisionsUMASS]

If this was the 90s then going from the A10 to the MAC is a huge dropoff. Current day, not so much. I think the coach is more important than the conference at this point unless we were playing in the Big East or ACC. I'd rather have Frank Martin in the MAC than Matt McCall or Derek Kellogg coaching in the A10.

I also don't disagree with this... and the A10 will continue to move down as other schools (likely) bolt. But as currently situated, there is still a drop off.

So with that said, we still need to try to walk into the MAC having had a very good final A10 season and be the top dog in the first few years to help mitigate that. Jury is still out on whether that can occur.

[Old Cage]

"MAC Hoops Crashes and Burns"

www.toledoblade.com/sports/ut/2025/02/0 ... 250208112/

"The MAC men have fallen so far out of the conversation for multiple tourney bids that it would need the Hubble Telescope to see the bubble. A league that not long ago was knocking hard on March’s door is in a full-blown tailspin. It has never been rated lower … a year after it had never been rated lower."

Argh!

[JoleonLescottsHair]

Go FBS!

[eldonabe]

Go FBS!

This just makes it easier for Umass to walk in and DOMINATE in year 1.

[MakeMullinsGreatAgain]

Go FBS!

This just makes it easier for Umass to walk in and DOMINATE in year 1.

I actually looked over the weekend and the MAC conference RPI was 18th which was actually up from 22nd earlier this season - not great obviously but I just find the timing of that article/post to be odd since they are actually stronger overall than earlier. And who said they were a multibid conference? certainly not anyone here on this board - most knowledgeable fans know the MAC is always a 1 bid league.

[Juice Stand]

It's been 11 years since UMass made their last tournament appearance, and it was 16 years before that. We haven't been remotely close to at-large consideration since that last appearance. Last season was our best in a decade and it wasn't even good enough to get looked at by the NIT. If the choice is between winning 20+ games every year and being in contention for a conference title, or remaining a 15-15 team every year, I'll take the wins. I'm not saying we're going to go in and dominate the MAC, but we should be in contention immediately.