2025-26 Season

[Juice Stand]

S-T-U-P-I-D

Yep.

[Juice Stand]

MAC media day will be on Tuesday, Oct 21. Field of 68 will be streaming it live on YouTube and Twitter.
https://twitter.com/TheFieldOf68/status ... 1505679677

[MikeUMA]

Akron Zips 2025-26: Can They THREE-PEAT as MAC Champions?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yboftuHluY

Valentine's Day MACtion for UMass at Akron.
UM also has a small chance of seeing Akron in day 3 of the Paradise Jam (11/24).

[bobolink]

Don't know who these 3 guys are and can't recommend their MAC preview, but there's not much like it out there, so here you go. One of the talkers has high regard for Coach Martin and predicts he'll bounce back from the 2024-25 season to finish 4th in the MAC and go on to win their tournament and make the NCAAT. The other 2 predict UMass in the middle of the MAC pack, with something like a 7th place finish. They expect (as many of us do, appropriately) that DHS will be very good and will anchor a good front court but they doubt the back court.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5G1bBO ... FzvQ2UTH3A

[Mike0473]

I still have a hard time accepting Umass is a middle of the pack MAC team. I will continue to follow the program because I love Umass bascketball, but every time I think we have finally hit the bottom, it gets worse. That said, let's see what actually happens on the court this season and hope for the best.

[devildawg3010]

28 days till we face Marshall in season opener.

[69MG]

Don't know who these 3 guys are and can't recommend their MAC preview, but there's not much like it out there, so here you go. One of the talkers has high regard for Coach Martin and predicts he'll bounce back from the 2024-25 season to finish 4th in the MAC and go on to win their tournament and make the NCAAT. The other 2 predict UMass in the middle of the MAC pack, with something like a 7th place finish. They expect (as many of us do, appropriately) that DHS will be very good and will anchor a good front court but they doubt the back court.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5G1bBO ... FzvQ2UTH3A

That last part is an interesting take. I'm more curious as to what we'll get from the center position than the backcourt. No question that Daniel should be very good. I think we have great depth at guard. The guys have different skill sets (Danny is a floor general, penetrator; Parker is a PG who can shoot; Brown is a combo guard who can score but can also handle the ball; Banks is a pure shooter; Placide is a bigger guard who can shoot).

At the 3 we have Jayden and we know what he brings. Wimbley is our highest rated recruit and may end up playing 20+ minutes when conference play starts. We also have Osman, a bigger SF who supposedly can shoot.

So I don't agree with the 2 guys bobolink referenced, but as we all know, let's see what they look like on the court. I will be there for the exhibition on 10/25.

[Juice Stand]

At the 3 we have Jayden and we know what he brings. Wimbley is our highest rated recruit and may end up playing 20+ minutes when conference play starts. We also have Osman, a bigger SF who supposedly can shoot.

Careful with your expectations for Osman. He's behind established starter Ndjigue and highly rated freshman Wimbley as you referenced, and I think it was Mike that posted a picture that showed his arm in a sling. Might not be ready for opening day if that's the case, and could find himself at the end of the bench.

[69MG]

^ Forgot about the sling picture. Either way, he's far down the list at the 3 behind Jayden and Wimbley.

[Floyd]

Early predictions as to who will take the brunt of the wrath of Frank?

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Early predictions as to who will take the brunt of the wrath of Frank?

Everyone.

[nv73]

Bart Torvik released his first rankings for the upcoming season. He has UMass at 171, behind the likes of Fordham(150),URI(156) and even Siena(162). He has Akron(96) as the highest ranked MAC school, followed by Miami of Ohio at 108. FWIW.
https://barttorvik.com/trankpre.php?con ... 2026&sort=

[MikeUMA]

FWIW.

That last part is the key. I don't know how the heck some of the formulas work. How would they account for some of our guys coming out of D2 and JuCo? Can't take it seriously.

What is interesting are the Returning numbers. Northern Illinois at flat zero, and Central Michigan next to zero. Yikes. I haven't been paying attention but to turn over the entire roster is insane. Is that even right? I don't care enough to analyze. You might expect that with a coaching change, but NIU's guy (Rashon Burno) is going into his 5th season.

Another tangent: I see Jacob Kurtz is on NIU's staff. He worked for us during the McCall years.

[Steve81]

This was posted on the MAC board as a MBB Preview, but could not get past the intro, but will try again.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5G1bBO ... 4f2b224f5a

Well, I got there at the 1hour 15 minute mark.

[m626t]

pithy analysis:

"Why is UMass in the MAC? I don't know"