Future Basketball Success Hinges on Football

[jjw23]

As the title suggests, I strongly believe that the future success of the basketball program lies solely on the success of the football program. I was (and still am) disappointed about UMass leaving the A10. Many great games and rivalries were forged in the A10.

With that said, football is king and drives all other sports (both at the professional and collegiate level). The landscape of college sports has changed tremendously over the past 5,10,and even 15 years. Conference realignment by the “power players” have really shaken things up. In addition, new rules allowing players to get paid (via NIL) and relaxing of transfer rules have further complicated matters.

UMass, being a mid-tier team in sports, was/is in a bad situation. They are no where near good enough to join one of the “power” conferences. They had essentially no choice but to join the MAC. (I believe those D1 schools that are not in FBS will be left behind as football trumps all other sports).

By joining the MAC, the basketball team takes a big hit. One cannot compare the competition level between MAC schools and A10 schools, as the A10 schools are significantly better at basketball. With that in mind, we need to be realistic with ourselves. UMass has only made the NCAA tourney one time since 1998. One time in 27 years. This doesn’t exactly spell success.

UMass cannot continue down the path of doing things half ass, by that I mean saying they are a FBS school but don’t invest in the football program to improve it. The powers at be (Chancellor, Board of Trustees, Athletic Department etc.) need to show they are committed to this move. The way to do that is to improve the football facilities.

UMass’ McGuirk Stadium is one of the smallest and most outdated FBS stadiums. We will never be able to move into a better conference without upgrading this stadium. The MAC should be viewed as a stepping stone for us, but I’m afraid that without such investment we will not be able to move up.

It certainly can be hard to justify spending $50-100 million to “throw money at a sinking ship”, but what other choice does UMass have? UMass can cut the football program and continue to remain irrelevant in basketball, or hope that the football program will turn around which has the potential to elevate all other sports.

Getting an upgraded stadium will attract better student athletes. It shows the university is committed to the program. It will also attract more fans, which will bring in more money.

The last I knew (please correct me if I’m wrong here) there isn’t anything currently in the pipeline as far as major upgrades to McGuirk Stadium. It’s understandable that money is most likely an issue.
-Has private fundraising been considered?
-How about corporate sponsors?
-What about other ways to increase revenue?
-Student activity fees for undergrads can be raised. An extra $25 per semester would yield over a million dollars each year.
-Tack on an extra fee of .50 cents for all sporting event tickets. This money can go into a special fund for the stadium
-Utilize well-known former athletes to raise funds. Sell autograph memorabilia from these people. Dr. J, Camby, Cruz, etc.
-50/50 Raffles. (They might already do this at games).
The list goes on.

Back to my original point. Love it or hate it, we will soon be in the MAC. The only way out of the MAC and into greener pastures is to be successful in football. Doing so will elevate other sports such as basketball.

[eldonabe]

I swear I do not have a second alias account here....

[fenway617]

The Top-Ten Strategies For Dealing With a Dead Horse

1. Buy a stronger whip. CHECK
2. Change riders. CHECK
3. Appoint a committee to study the horse.CHECK
4. Appoint a team to revive the horse.CHECK
5. Send out a memo declaring the horse isn’t really dead.CHECK
6. Hire an expensive consultant to “find the real problem.” CHECK
7. Harness several dead horses together for increased speed and efficiency. <------------- FOOTBALL IS HERE
8. Rewrite the standard definition of live horse.
9. Declare the horse to be better, faster, and cheaper when dead.
10. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.

[eldonabe]

It certainly can be hard to justify spending $50-100 million to “throw money at a sinking ship”, but what other choice does UMass have? UMass can cut the football program and continue to remain irrelevant in basketball, or hope that the football program will turn around which has the potential to elevate all other sports.

Your point on the Stadium is correct in that they need one, but the costs I am afraid are at least triple what you note here. Boston is dropping $300M on a women's pro soccer barn (White Stadium) - and that is only to upgrade an existing facility.

[doubledribble]

Can’t say I agree. How does pouring a TON of $$ into a losing football program help the basketball program?

[Steve81]

jjw23, I have posted this a few places, but there is both a short term 10-12M McGuirk improvement and a 50+M. With UMass at the bond limit, think this is how it needs to be done and will repost a prior post and the thread link.
Think this RFP with private partnership, could be a way UMass eventual completes the McGuirk long term upgrade. Quoting from above.

We have developed a master plan for McGuirk that includes short-term (next 1-2 years) investments of an additional $10-12M and long-term (8-10 years) investments ($50M+) that will update and modernize the facility. With many of the important health and safety projects either completed or in-process, our primary objective with any short-or-long-term stadium project is to upgrade the fan experience.

Here is an RFP for modernizing campus housing and will link it and include some interesting quotes. https://bostonrealestatetimes.com/umass ... -housing/?

Newmark, a leading commercial real estate advisory firm, will manage the procurement process. The procurement is designed to devise responsible and creative mixed-use plans to strategically renovate and/or expand the flagship campus’ existing housing stock to meet diverse affordability needs; integrate sustainable design; enhance infrastructure supporting the academic and campus life experience for students, faculty and staff; and ease regional pressures for undergraduate, graduate and non-student housing.
...
The proposal process opened Jan. 22, 2025. This RFP is the first step in exploring what public-private partnership opportunities may be available to the university as it implements its 10-year strategic plan.

This link spells out the football vision, strategy, goals, scheduling, NIL and dollar commitments. We are no longer trying to do more with less and investing in football!
https://csnbbs.com/thread-1003706.html

[eldonabe]

Can’t say I agree. How does pouring a TON of $$ into a losing football program help the basketball program?

It probably will not but Football drives the bus. This goes one of two ways in the first part, then one of two ways after the first part runs its' course.


Umass Hoops will not be anything more than a D1 participant as long as they are in the MAC - so....

- They figure out football and get good enough to relocate to a better conference - basketball of course goes with them. As of right now, there is only one conference direction to go and that is up. In case you have not notice, if you won't spend money you are not getting any better at football - AND we play in one of the most dated stadiums in FBS. Kids are not coming to play in a concrete barn - especially for a school in a bad conference.

OR

- Football dies a likely death and Umass immediately puts all it's efforts into Hoop and getting out of MAC for a better arrangement - better geographics, competition etc..

That path is still full of huge potholes as the school still needs to dig its way out of the hole they dug for themselves in the first place.


At absolute bare minimum - it will take football 5 years to even think about a conference upgrade and if they don't spend money (correctly) they are not getting there.

If/when football dies, it will take Hoops a minimum of 4 years IF/AFTER they are able to get out of MAC and into a better conference. We are looking at a decade at least - probably longer (if it even works to begin with).




WHAT DO YOU DO if you are Umass at this point? Whether it was the plan to do so or not, they have now boxed themselves in on football or bust. I suspect they will continue to flounder spending 10%-20% of what they really should spend and keep pretending they are making the moves they need to ....

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Billy Preston is loving these continued threads.

[Juice Stand]

Billy Preston is loving these continued threads.

I assume you're referencing "will it go 'round in circles", but if Eldon gets a chance to chime in, "nothing from nothing leaves nothing" also works.

[UMass1991]

Don’t understand this big hit for the bball team. They have been mediocre to bad for a decade. The A10 is not what it was. FM has not turned the program around and will need to rebuild the roster yet again. Its a big win next year if they can win the MAC title and get that auto bid.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Billy Preston is loving these continued threads.

I assume you're referencing "will it go 'round in circles", but if Eldon gets a chance to chime in, "nothing from nothing leaves nothing" also works.

Nail on the head for both. Well done!

[doubledribble]

Can’t say I agree. How does pouring a TON of $$ into a losing football program help the basketball program?

It probably will not but Football drives the bus. This goes one of two ways in the first part, then one of two ways after the first part runs its' course.


Umass Hoops will not be anything more than a D1 participant as long as they are in the MAC - so....

- They figure out football and get good enough to relocate to a better conference - basketball of course goes with them. As of right now, there is only one conference direction to go and that is up. In case you have not notice, if you won't spend money you are not getting any better at football - AND we play in one of the most dated stadiums in FBS. Kids are not coming to play in a concrete barn - especially for a school in a bad conference.

OR

- Football dies a likely death and Umass immediately puts all it's efforts into Hoop and getting out of MAC for a better arrangement - better geographics, competition etc..

That path is still full of huge potholes as the school still needs to dig its way out of the hole they dug for themselves in the first place.


At absolute bare minimum - it will take football 5 years to even think about a conference upgrade and if they don't spend money (correctly) they are not getting there.

If/when football dies, it will take Hoops a minimum of 4 years IF/AFTER they are able to get out of MAC and into a better conference. We are looking at a decade at least - probably longer (if it even works to begin with).




WHAT DO YOU DO if you are Umass at this point? Whether it was the plan to do so or not, they have now boxed themselves in on football or bust. I suspect they will continue to flounder spending 10%-20% of what they really should spend and keep pretending they are making the moves they need to ....

I agree with your points but am hoping for the latter second way

[jjw23]

Can’t say I agree. How does pouring a TON of $$ into a losing football program help the basketball program?

Football is king. Every conference realignment has been done due to football. The MAC should not be our final resting stop. We should be striving to get into a better conference. UMass is a world class institution and ranked academically higher than many schools in power conferences. If we are to move into a better conference football needs to be successful. If we get into a better conference, we will have more chances for success in basketball. The programs will also get more $$$ due to revenue sharing etc. It’s not hard concept to understand.

[jjw23]

It certainly can be hard to justify spending $50-100 million to “throw money at a sinking ship”, but what other choice does UMass have? UMass can cut the football program and continue to remain irrelevant in basketball, or hope that the football program will turn around which has the potential to elevate all other sports.

Your point on the Stadium is correct in that they need one, but the costs I am afraid are at least triple what you note here. Boston is dropping $300M on a women's pro soccer barn (White Stadium) - and that is only to upgrade an existing facility.

Look at what James Madison U did. Their stadium looks great. The stadium in Boston you are referencing is also being scaled back I believe. Don’t think it’s anywhere near that high.

[jjw23]

Don’t understand this big hit for the bball team. They have been mediocre to bad for a decade. The A10 is not what it was. FM has not turned the program around and will need to rebuild the roster yet again. Its a big win next year if they can win the MAC title and get that auto bid.

Not disagreeing with you. The A10 is not what it was even 10-15 years ago. Temple and Xavier are long gone. Butler was only in it for a few short years. What once was a multi bid (2-3+) a year, is now down to one maybe two on a good year.

It’s getting harder and harder to keep teams together when players can transfer right away and play, without having to sit out a year. Can you blame them for wanting to chase the money too? If I was in their shoes I’d cash in while I could because they could have a career ending injury tomorrow.