UMass is back in the MAC

[sbloombe]

On twitter and boards, these could be the 3 institutions.
A tweeters tweet that I like.

Love to see Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, and for Delaware to flip to MAC to make 16 teams. Then would just have to figure out which team joins UMass, Buffalo, Delaware, in the East pod.

Image at 16 teams, perhaps the media contract goes to 18M.

If not Delaware, and the MAC is serious about expanding east, other options could include Buffalo's fellow public NY universities Albany and Stony Brook. Maine, UNH, URI might also be attractive as conference members from a UMass point of view, but I'm not sure how serious their support would be to upgrade.

How about Dayton?

[e_parade]

On twitter and boards, these could be the 3 institutions.
A tweeters tweet that I like.


Image at 16 teams, perhaps the media contract goes to 18M.

If not Delaware, and the MAC is serious about expanding east, other options could include Buffalo's fellow public NY universities Albany and Stony Brook. Maine, UNH, URI might also be attractive as conference members from a UMass point of view, but I'm not sure how serious their support would be to upgrade.

How about Dayton?

Dayton won't be upgrading to FBS any time soon.

Of the list there, Stony Brook would probably be the most likely...but I don't really see that either.

[Old Cage]

Just to stir the muck around a little more:

College Football Campus Tour @CFBcampustour
Unsubstantiated conspiracy theory:
The MAC hasn’t released their football schedule yet because they’re actually adding UMass THIS season

Cliff Bolden @Platinum78
We already play MAC teams for 5 of our first 6 games.


College Football Campus Tour @CFBcampustour ·1h
Exactly not much to rearrange

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Just to stir the muck around a little more:

....

I was actually pretty surprised to hear that football wouldn't be joining for the 2024 season for this exact reason. I can understand if the rest of the department needed to wait another year due to any departure agreements with the A10, but it seemed like football could slide in immediately.

[Miami (Oh) Yeah !]

Just to stir the muck around a little more:

College Football Campus Tour @CFBcampustour
Unsubstantiated conspiracy theory:
The MAC hasn’t released their football schedule yet because they’re actually adding UMass THIS season

Cliff Bolden @Platinum78
We already play MAC teams for 5 of our first 6 games.


College Football Campus Tour @CFBcampustour ·1h
Exactly not much to rearrange

I could see where UMass is MAC football this season and all other sports the next. It does make sense since UMass has such a MAC heavy football schedule already. Would just have to defer Wagner, Central Connecticut, and one other to a further out year and then you have the 8 MAC league games for 2024. This would have no impact to the A10 so wouldn't effect buyouts.

[Steve81]

Those kudos plus the pool stick...ifykyk

Steve is an army of one willing UMass FB into a conference.

Hey Big Ben Miami dude, please stop enabling Steve! The dude has been obsessed with conference talk and might really think he contributed to the Umass move. He is not a true representative of the normal Umass fan.

He gave a good summary and layered in some stuff.

If 14th is happening, I like any of what seem to be most obvious options: WKU, or UConn (presumably football only) or if we somehow flip Delaware (feels least likely scenario).

This seems most likely. I don't know why we would pass on Delaware and take UMass for an odd number and tell them "not now" as was rumored if we didn't have a #14 we were talking to already. Delaware was talking to the MAC and when the MAC said no then they jumped to CUSA as their only option left. So the two that make the most sense is WKU and then UConn next and if they balk then the MAC goes back for another run at Delaware in my opinion. I think I read the "not now" by somebody connect to UD on the GoHens.net message board. They said talks were happening and then MAC said not now and then moved on and CUSA was predicted after the not now and shortly after UD announced a move to CUSA, but MAC was the first choice.

Add on top of that a connected Marshall poster on the SBC board who predicted some of this realignment who said the MAC is actively talking to a few schools as #14 and that he had heard that news will surface in the next week or so. Which would be logical timing and then head into renegotiation with ESPN where everything lines up for the MAC taking 2 more schools for TV deal and then coming out ahead in money per school to announce a new TV deal with more TV slots and money. MUHERD76 said he had heard the 3 schools being talked to as #14 were WKU, MTSU, UConn, and Delaware. Likely in that order. Possibly WKU, MTSU & UConn for 16. All rumors of course but with credibility behind it. So we have a connected Marshall/SBC fan with no skin in the game, the Toledo Blade beatwriter, others, and the 2021 almost bringing in of WKU all pointing toward WKU.

Adding Massachusetts, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Connecticut as states to the MAC profile would be a great get and the MAC leadership has always said they will only add if it benefits in money and overall so the new MAC deputy hired with ESPN experience has likely done their homework.

.

This is a good summary of speculations and will layer mine from an UMass perspective and with the stuff that was on The Fan 92.3. Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said the talks with UMass did not begin until late fall. https://twitter.com/923TheFan/status/17 ... 2940554703

Perhaps UMass Athletics did not receive the green light for all sports until Army decided to go to the AAC. That is kind of late fall. Assuming Delaware's conversations with the MAC were earlier, can see the 'not now' from the MAC. UMass could even have received the green light while at the Army game with the UMass President and Chancellor hearing the reasons Army ended their long stand preference to be independent. The ESPN announces heard this and ad libbed CUSA. UMass has the green light and UMass is doing due diligence and now actively talking with the MAC hoping for an invite. (After UConn left the AAC, the MAC has been the first chose.) My source said so earlier in the football season and forget about CUSA.) We fan's heard the ESPN announcers, we saw the MAC publish the pods out into the future and Delaware accepted CUSA invitation. UMass never talked about a conference, but said it's best to operate with private conversations. We had MAC plan A and CUSA plan B. We are all glad plan A worked out as it is unclear if UMass would have accepted CUSA, but very possible.

[ZooMass84]

Steve is an army of one willing UMass FB into a conference.

Hey Big Ben Miami dude, please stop enabling Steve! The dude has been obsessed with conference talk and might really think he contributed to the Umass move. He is not a true representative of the normal Umass fan.

He gave a good summary and layered in some stuff.

If 14th is happening, I like any of what seem to be most obvious options: WKU, or UConn (presumably football only) or if we somehow flip Delaware (feels least likely scenario).

This seems most likely. I don't know why we would pass on Delaware and take UMass for an odd number and tell them "not now" as was rumored if we didn't have a #14 we were talking to already. Delaware was talking to the MAC and when the MAC said no then they jumped to CUSA as their only option left. So the two that make the most sense is WKU and then UConn next and if they balk then the MAC goes back for another run at Delaware in my opinion. I think I read the "not now" by somebody connect to UD on the GoHens.net message board. They said talks were happening and then MAC said not now and then moved on and CUSA was predicted after the not now and shortly after UD announced a move to CUSA, but MAC was the first choice.

Add on top of that a connected Marshall poster on the SBC board who predicted some of this realignment who said the MAC is actively talking to a few schools as #14 and that he had heard that news will surface in the next week or so. Which would be logical timing and then head into renegotiation with ESPN where everything lines up for the MAC taking 2 more schools for TV deal and then coming out ahead in money per school to announce a new TV deal with more TV slots and money. MUHERD76 said he had heard the 3 schools being talked to as #14 were WKU, MTSU, UConn, and Delaware. Likely in that order. Possibly WKU, MTSU & UConn for 16. All rumors of course but with credibility behind it. So we have a connected Marshall/SBC fan with no skin in the game, the Toledo Blade beatwriter, others, and the 2021 almost bringing in of WKU all pointing toward WKU.

Adding Massachusetts, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Connecticut as states to the MAC profile would be a great get and the MAC leadership has always said they will only add if it benefits in money and overall so the new MAC deputy hired with ESPN experience has likely done their homework.

.

This is a good summary of speculations and will layer mine from an UMass perspective and with the stuff that was on The Fan 92.3. Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said the talks with UMass did not begin until late fall. https://twitter.com/923TheFan/status/17 ... 2940554703

Perhaps UMass Athletics did not receive the green light for all sports until Army decided to go to the AAC. That is kind of late fall. Assuming Delaware's conversations with the MAC were earlier, can see the 'not now' from the MAC. UMass could even have received the green light while at the Army game with the UMass President and Chancellor hearing the reasons Army ended their long stand preference to be independent. The ESPN announces heard this and ad libbed CUSA. UMass has the green light and UMass is doing due diligence and now actively talking with the MAC hoping for an invite. (After UConn left the AAC, the MAC has been the first chose.) My source said so earlier in the football season and forget about CUSA.) We fan's heard the ESPN announcers, we saw the MAC publish the pods out into the future and Delaware accepted CUSA invitation. UMass never talked about a conference, but said it's best to operate with private conversations. We had MAC plan A and CUSA plan B. We are all glad plan A worked out as it is unclear if UMass would have accepted CUSA, but very possible.

We are all glad plan A worked out as it is unclear if UMass would have accepted CUSA, but very possible. For once UMass actually played their cards right. Didn't fold the winning hand, didn't get bluffed The MAC is the best option of the two. Conf USA just wouldn't make a lot of sense for UMass. With the exception of Delaware, the schools are all very smallish endowment wise and academic-wise. Jacksonville State? Kennesaw State? Liberty has a large endowment but its an odd ball for sure. Would we be flying out to New Mexico and west Texas for basketball games???

[InnervisionsUMASS]

We would have been just fine going with the CUSA as well. There was no "best option" outside of a miracle happening with the AAC or ACC.

[ZooMass84]

We would have been just fine going with the CUSA as well. There was no "best option" outside of a miracle happening with the AAC or ACC.

yeah maybe. The $$$$ is probably the same. The AAC and certainly the ACC are beyond us. We might have a shot at the AAC if we enlarge our "stadium". Only UNC Charlotte has a tiny stadium like us. 17k and 60 years old = tear down and build a new one maybe 25k capacity.

[LS71]

^^^ Go to Texas/New Mexico for basketball, stay for the food!

[Steve81]

https://www.gazettenet.com/UMass-NIL-co ... C-54249741

UMass’ NIL Collectives excited about move to the MAC: “If we get this right, we have a bright future” by Garrette Cote Daily Hampshire Gazette.
First half of article:

AMHERST — All signs pointed to something happening soon, but Corey Schneider had no idea it would be that soon.

At a Feb. 22 event held at the UMass Club in Boston, nearly the entire UMass Board of Trustees was in attendance – which is fairly unusual, according to Schneider. He was told that night that things had started to move, but he wasn’t exactly sure what that meant.

Schneider’s initial thought? UMass was heading to Conference USA.

The following Monday, he picked up his phone and called UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford to pick his brain about the athletics department’s golf tournament in August. Bamford sounded preoccupied, and, quite frankly, a little overwhelmed. Not really paying attention to the call, Bamford told Schneider he had to go.

So Schneider scrolled on his phone, opening up Twitter/X to poke around. The first post he saw filled him with pure excitement and elation.

The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach reported that UMass would be joining the Mid-American Conference following the 2024-25 season.

Schneider, the head of The Midnight Ride Collective – UMass’ donor-driven NIL football collective –finally had the news that he and presumably all of the Minutemen football fanbase had been waiting for.

“I immediately was like, ‘That son of a b****,’ but in a good way,” Schneider said, referring to his talk with Bamford. “I honestly think that people still don't fully grasp how important and impactful this move is for UMass as a whole. Not just for football, but the potential this has for all of our athletics.”

The move doesn’t just have an impact on UMass athletics, it’s already had a tremendous influence on both The Midnight Ride and The Massachusetts Collective, UMass’ NIL basketball collective.

Since Monday’s news, both collectives have reached weekly numbers they’ve never seen before. The two groups saw record-breaking 24-hour totals as well as single-week totals, and each have had handfuls of new members join.

“Both collectives are having a great week, and I think that speaks to the alumni base, in general, their appetite and want to win,” Schneider said. “I think that also sends a message to UMass as well, that like people are expecting to win and they want to win.”

[Old Cage]

^ Pardon my lack of paying attention, but I am a long-time football season ticket holder who has not been contacted at all by the football collective, and who has never heard of Corey Schneider.

Can someone enlighten us about his UMass background, and his connection to the collective?

[Steve81]

^ Pardon my lack of paying attention, but I am a long-time football season ticket holder who has not been contacted at all by the football collective, and who has never heard of Corey Schneider.

Can someone enlighten us about his UMass background, and his connection to the collective?

Here is the Midnight Ride NIL site and there is an about tab, but not much about them. Too tired to remember but Alums, one connect with sports is all I can remember. Still a lot of good answer to questions on the landing page.

Also 17 minutes of Coach Brown with New England Football Journal, from 14 Plus minute mark.
https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1YqJDgDnWXQGV

[ZooMass84]

^ Pardon my lack of paying attention, but I am a long-time football season ticket holder who has not been contacted at all by the football collective, and who has never heard of Corey Schneider.

Can someone enlighten us about his UMass background, and his connection to the collective?

Here is the Midnight Ride NIL site and there is an about tab, but not much about them. Too tired to remember but Alums, one connect with sports is all I can remember. Still a lot of good answer to questions on the landing page.

Also 17 minutes of Coach Brown with New England Football Journal, from 14 Plus minute mark.
https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1YqJDgDnWXQGV

Steve you changed your saying at the bottom of your posts!!!

[Jack]

I'm happy to have a home for football and am looking forward to MAC games and road trips. Overall this was a very smart move by UMass. It will be interesting to see whether Uconn comes along as a FB only since its no longer feasible to be Indy unless you are ND.

The Midnight Collective needs to to a better job of transparency and letting us know how they intend to use our donations. Alot of room for improvement