First reaction: UMass to the MAC

[runner_bric]

Alright, I am going to try to look on this in a more positive light!
My biggest concern was money from the conference, and e_parade corrected me- I think we could get as much as $1 million more before the new MAC TV contract, which I would imagine would be better. It's all about money, unfortunately, and currently football is where the money is. Watched a video today that pointed out that Idaho lost a lot money/donors and name recognition when they dropped to FCS.

If SteveMaz is right, and in 5 years we are in the ACC or some sort of Big East, I would be ecstatic.
I always worry about men's XC/TF (the MAC currently only has 4 Men's Indoor TF teams and 5 Men's outdoor), but hopefully the renovation of the cage helps with that (sorry to everyone sad about it not being a basketball facility, I get it)

For basketball- we still have this year and next year in the A10 and Frank is definitely building something. Maybe an easier road through the conference tournament is not a bad thing if recruiting stays good. Again, if we are in the ACC in 5 years that would be pretty amazing.

Considering the recent demise of the PAC12, it's important to be pro-active, and Umass is doing that. SteveMaz is probably right- staying in the A10 is probably not an option for survival and the MAC is better than CUSA I think. At least we aren't getting downgraded out of a power 5 conference like OSU or WSU! (Although if they end up in the MWC, they will not be completely dead, but the lost of $18 million a year plus of TV money is brutal).

[Roadtrip]

Fuck the MAC, and everything about the MAC. This is an absolutely bad fit for UMass, no good will come from this. Whatever increase in dollars from going MAC will be offset by fan disinterest in playing these teams. Nice going pulling the lift on a hoops program that was just showing signs of life, to attempt to salvage a football program that was doomed to mediocrity from day one.

[bunkerhill87]

Through the time of this post:

38.5% hate or do not like it
23.9% are Meh on it



Which means that 62.5% of voter are uninspired or worse by this move. It is a small sample, but the posters here are the die-hards. I cannot imagine the rest of people casually aware of Umass sports are feeling any better.

Or looked at another way:

61.5% either don't care what conference we're in or are happy about this.


I'd venture a guess that a larger chunk of the more casual fans aren't impacted in any way at all by this and would fall in the "meh" category.

looking at the MAC message boards there is a lot of meh from them as well regarding football and disrupting their regional pods. On the hoops side they feel we are an upgrade.

[Roadtrip]

There is no forward, just more aimless meandering, until UMass has both football and basketball programs that totally suck.

[inthescoop]

Fuck the MAC, and everything about the MAC. This is an absolutely bad fit for UMass, no good will come from this. Whatever increase in dollars from going MAC will be offset by fan disinterest in playing these teams. Nice going pulling the lift on a hoops program that was just showing signs of life, to attempt to salvage a football program that was doomed to mediocrity from day one.

Keeping it real 101

[InnervisionsUMASS]

"Fan disinterest"


It's as if the fans saying this haven't paid any attention to the history of UMass basketball and athletics as a while. What a joke.

[Floyd]

Fuck the MAC, and everything about the MAC. This is an absolutely bad fit for UMass, no good will come from this. Whatever increase in dollars from going MAC will be offset by fan disinterest in playing these teams. Nice going pulling the lift on a hoops program that was just showing signs of life, to attempt to salvage a football program that was doomed to mediocrity from day one.

Get that man some gummies!

[Steve81]

Will be interesting to see the initial schedules. They have been pods plan and we would fit nicely in the Akron, Kent State, and Buffalo pod. All teams had success with the first two much better than Buffalo.

[DoctorJ]

Pods of 4? That wouldn't be too bad if we play our pod H-H. So we would have 9 road games in conference?

[MikeUMA]

Officially official
https://getsomemaction.com/news/2024/2/ ... ember.aspx
https://umassathletics.com/hidden/news/ ... ull-member

Affiliation with Hockey East unchanged, as expected

"More information will become available in the coming months regarding future conference membership plans for the UMass men's soccer, men's lacrosse and women's rowing programs."

[DoctorJ]

Hoop is best it has been since '14, doesn't suck. Considering the number of freshmen, we are damn good.

We will see how it affects recruiting.

[TheGuruMattJames]

I haven't posted on here in a long time, but the negativity regarding this move is insane to me.

Everyone is acting like this is a death sentence for UMass basketball without any bit of evidence. Is the MAC a worse basketball conference than today's A10? Undoubtedly. But my suspicion is that ability to realistically make the NCAA tournament will help offset any recruiting loss, especially if the NIL support is there. It is crucial that the NIL collective has already come out in support of the move.

Also people are assuming this means the school will no longer financially support basketball in the way they have. I don't see how you make that assumption. They have recently started spending (Franks contract, new practice facility, etc...)but you have to assume that a move to MAC or CUSA was not only contemplated but a goal at the time that money was spent. I would be SHOCKED if Frank Martin did not know this was a likelihood when he accepted the job. Why they would just give up on that now that it's official doesn't make sense to me.

I agree with idea that the school needs to come out and reaffirm it's support for high level basketball. However, they haven't even officially announced the move yet so I'm not holding that against them.

As to the fans not coming out to see UMass play teams like Central Michigan...the most well attended game in the last 10 years at the Mullins Center was against noted name brand school Sienna. I think making the tournament will do more to get fans out than playing La Salle.

Also many people seem to be making the assumption that these conferences are going to stay the same. Dayton, St Louis, St Joe's, VCU are all obvious candidates for an eventual Big East expansion. And we have to assume the MAC will add another team or two as well. Given the trajectory of college sports, it is not out of the realm of possibility that the MAC is the superior BASKETBALL conference within 5 years.

Finally, the elitism on display towards these MAC schools/cities is appalling. UMass has more in common with these public schools in smaller cities than it does with rich private schools in DC and Charlotte. Need I remind you that UMass is in AMHERST. Personally I think Amherst is great, but I don't think other fanbases consider it a thriving metropolis.

[Steve81]

Very happy for the move and bumped can't make the Mar 7th press conference. Give a big fat kiss to Matty V for me.

[ZooMass84]

Very happy for the move and bumped can't make the Mar 7th press conference. Give a big fat kiss to Matty V for me.

Congratulations Steve it happened!!! I just wonder if CONF USA would’ve been a better fit though . the a-10 was a sad place

[natwam2547]

Rankings: A10 is a one bid league. I don’t care about NET garbage or anything else. It’s Dayton and the dwarfs.

Attendance: our attendance stinks in the A10. Nobody cares about the teams we’re already playing.

National exposure: all MAC games are on TV

Recruiting: we’ve been playing the same teams for decades. This is all about the coach, and he hasn’t spoken out against the move. And he’s outspoken.

Wrong on all counts. The A10 has had 2 or more bids 17 of the last 18 seasons and three or more in 11 of the last 15. Moreover, rankings matter not just for the NCAA but for the NIT as well.
Attendance has been up significantly this year culminating in 7K for the St. Bonaventure's game.
How many MAC games are on national TV?
What does who we are playing have to do with recruiting?
Finally, unless Frank was going to quit tomorrow, what do you expect him to say? How would it benefit him or the team now to fight the move? Time will tell.

Smaller sample size post tournament cancelled year is 5 total A10 bids in 3 years. The league is trending towards a 1 at large plus auto bid league. It’s not even listed on espn bubble watch anymore. MAC is currently a true 1 bid league. Take that for what it’s worth but it’s trending that both leagues won’t be much different when it comes to number of tourney teams as the Power conferences continue to take over. Mid majors need to have a ridiculous record just for bubble consideration.

And the smaller, more recent sample size is the more accurate depiction of what's to come. With NIL and the 5th COVID year/no penalty transfers, it doesn't matter what conference you are in if you aren't in a Big 6 conference. Each conference is pretty much all the same. I don't care about how good our NET is compared to the MAC, if both get 1 team in, what's the difference? Add on to that that no one wants to schedule us already, how would we (or any team in the A-10 for that matter) build upon our resume? We'll be stuck with Dayton, maybe VCU, and a bunch of teams with NET's in the 75-150 range like right now.