2025-26 Season

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Wish we had stayed loyal to and in the conference that schools like Penn State, West Virginia, Xavier, Temple, Pitt, Villanova, Rutgers and Virginia Tech have all previously left.


Moving on - yeah, not sure what that writer is talking about. I've heard little to no buzz about the upcoming season, even from the die-hards I know here and outside of this board. There's been little to no reason since 2014 for there to be any buzz about the program. Hopefully that changes soon.

[eldonabe]

I think that buzz you are hearing is the feedback on the open mic in an empty Mullins center as Ball State, Akron, Eastern and Western Michigan and Kent roll through.

[Floyd]

Wish we had stayed loyal to and in the conference that schools like Penn State, West Virginia, Xavier, Temple, Pitt, Villanova, Rutgers and Virginia Tech have all previously left.

Eastern 8 baby!

[Floyd]

I think that buzz you are hearing is the feedback on the open mic in an empty Mullins center as Ball State, Akron, Eastern and Western Michigan and Kent roll through.

Imagine pulling up and having to pay your $10 parking fee in an empty lot?

[Steve81]

Guessing, based off of last year MAC releases, the men's and women's schedules will be released Aug 13th. It is just one data point and could be off, but last years schedules were released Aug 14, second Wednesday.

[eldonabe]

I think that buzz you are hearing is the feedback on the open mic in an empty Mullins center as Ball State, Akron, Eastern and Western Michigan and Kent roll through.

Imagine pulling up and having to pay your $10 parking fee in an empty lot?

I hate to say it, but given the "fickleness" of this fan base, this team had better put up (be on pace for) a 20+ win season or the M is gonna be really quiet by the time February rolls around.

A already mediocre team taking a big step backwards in conference competition and then compiling a bad record is going to be a really bad recipe for asses in the seats.

I said this earlier.... There is enough morbid curiosity for this hoop season to get off to a respectable start, but Basketball MUST have a decent season this year or this will spiral. Bad enough being marginal in A-10 but being marginal in a far worse conference will be the end of this for a while.

[Floyd]

I agree Mr Eldon. I think the start of this season is the most important one in a long time. Have to come out the gate very strong. If they do, even in a lesser conference, the casual fan that doesnt really follow much, will come out if they're winning. All they care about is the wins, not so much the competition. If they dont win, they wont as the opponent names arent big. UMass athletics media should be able to pump up the interest if they win early, or at least I hope they could

[Juice Stand]

^ +1. This is a win-now season.

Can this group of new guys do it? I have no idea what to expect. Here's what I'm excited for and my concerns:

Excited:
- Daniel Hankins-Sanford. I bet he got some pretty good offers to play P5 (P4?) ball and decided to stay at UMass. He can be an all-league player
- Marcus Banks. If he plays here like he did at UMBC, he should be pretty good.
- Wimbley Jr. Highly rated freshman that we stole from Florida St. How does he look out of the gate, and will he become a big impact piece

Concerns:
- So many new guys. More than ever, probably.
- Point guard. Is it Carbuccia, and can he shoot well enough to keep the D honest? Is it Brown, is it Parker? Can these 3 guys play "up" a level from HS, D2, and JUCO?
- Style of play. UMass has pinballed between styles in recent seasons. What will be this team's identity?

[eldonabe]

- Style of play. UMass has pinballed between styles in recent seasons. What will be this team's identity?

That is what Frank gets paid for. The only HC since Cal left that was able to adjust his style to the team he had was Ford. I still feel terrible for Lari Ketner, Bru demanded that Man-To-Man in your face defense and that was not Lari's game - so under utilized.

Every other coach/season either had enough of the right mix for them to be OK with the system or didn't and came up short.

[Floyd]

Balance is gonna be the key. Need at least 3 guys ( at 3 different positions) to be capable of carrying the team any given night. Last year it was Rahsool as the 1 who had to carry the load. This year it would be nice to see DHS, Banks, & Wimbley all step up so we have production consistently from 3 positions. The overall talent looks to be better this year

[TruBluMaroon]

Wish we had stayed loyal to and in the conference that schools like Penn State, West Virginia, Xavier, Temple, Pitt, Villanova, Rutgers and Virginia Tech have all previously left.

Eastern 8 baby!

For the young;

Eastern 8 ( began. 1976-77)

Duquesne
George Washington
Penn State
Pitt
Rutgers
Villanova
West Virginia
UM

[Sheck]

Interesting article in The Athletic today about what realignment might look like if college basketball drove the bus instead of football. They have us in an A10 that would look like this:

Boston College, Duquesne, Fordham, George Mason, George Washington, La Salle, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph's, St. Bonaventure, Temple

[minutefanjsf]

Interesting article in The Athletic today about what realignment might look like if college basketball drove the bus instead of football. They have us in an A10 that would look like this:

Boston College, Duquesne, Fordham, George Mason, George Washington, La Salle, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph's, St. Bonaventure, Temple

If hoops drove the bus, BC would have stayed in the Big East and that league would not have split into the American. Hoops is much better as regional bus ride games, so the mega conferences would not have emerged.

[Floyd]

Wish we had stayed loyal to and in the conference that schools like Penn State, West Virginia, Xavier, Temple, Pitt, Villanova, Rutgers and Virginia Tech have all previously left.

Eastern 8 baby!

For the young;

Eastern 8 ( began. 1976-77)

Duquesne
George Washington
Penn State
Pitt
Rutgers
Villanova
West Virginia
UM

TruBlu, wasn't St. Bona in there as well? Earl Belcher was pretty good. That league had some good players

[UMassfan_19]

The thing that gives me hope is frank has fully acknowledged multiple times he got the mix of players wrong last year. Both from a skill set pov and a personality pov. He has talked a lot this year about how they believe they have multiple guards who can create and bigs that give them different look. I’m less worried about guys being able to step up from juco or or d2 enough evidence that if you are scoring 15-20 at that level you can score at the d1 level especially in a conference like the mac