UMass to the MAC...

[powerofX]

...in Football.

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2011/04/university_of_massachusetts_fo.html

Like Temple, the deal requires 4 bball games a year against MAC teams. Not sure I like the league RPI influenced so much by the MAC considering X and UD typically play a handful of MAC games as well.

[Masterofreality]

Judging by how Derek Kellogg coaches, they should just go to the MAC in all sports. They'd have a better chance to win.

As to playing MAC teams affecting the RPI, Oh-ho-ho State almost plays the whole league. They don't care.

[Masterofreality]

Article in the Plain Dealer this morning said that UMess has been losing over $3 million a year on their D1AA football program and that is why they want to move up to a 1A conference.

I'm not sure how that computes to making more money- especially in the MAC. I'd see Villanova's move in going D1 in the Big Greased as making more sense as far as money is concerned. MAC schools lose their asses on football too.

Maybe UMess should just worry about making their basketball program better.

[Juice]

Article in the Plain Dealer this morning said that UMess has been losing over $3 million a year on their D1AA football program and that is why they want to move up to a 1A conference.

I'm not sure how that computes to making more money- especially in the MAC. I'd see Villanova's move in going D1 in the Big Greased as making more sense as far as money is concerned. MAC schools lose their asses on football too.

Maybe UMess should just worry about making their basketball program better.

They are going to play their games in Gillette so attendance could go up. And one would think it would since they're going from 1-AA to 1-A. Villanova wanted to renovate their small stadium or play in the Linc. Villnova has about 6,000 undergrads while UMass has about 21,000 so UMass obviously has a larger fanbase.

[dc_x]

They are going to play their games in Gillette so attendance could go up. And one would think it would since they're going from 1-AA to 1-A. Villanova wanted to renovate their small stadium or play in the Linc. Villnova has about 6,000 undergrads while UMass has about 21,000 so UMass obviously has a larger fanbase.

But isn't Gillette about 90 miles from Amherst? I don't see a lot of students driving an hour and half to watch MAC football. I guess there are probably more alums in the Boston area than in Amherst, though.

[Juice]

But isn't Gillette about 90 miles from Amherst? I don't see a lot of students driving an hour and half to watch MAC football. I guess there are probably more alums in the Boston area than in Amherst, though.

I'm not from anywhere close to the northeast at all so I don't know the dynamics but I could see UMass becoming more of Massachusett's team over say Boston College, which from what I have heard, is a school that everyone hates up there. And you're probably right on the alumni part, which is more important than actual student attendance.

[X-band '01]

They are going to play their games in Gillette so attendance could go up. And one would think it would since they're going from 1-AA to 1-A. Villanova wanted to renovate their small stadium or play in the Linc. Villnova has about 6,000 undergrads while UMass has about 21,000 so UMass obviously has a larger fanbase.

They may also have to pay rent to play in Gillette; I don't really know the specifics of their deal as far as going up to I-A, err, "the Bowl Subdivision."

[Roach]

The endgame that UMass is playing here is to ultimately garner an invite to the Big East. Everyone knows it, and yet the media seems to be ignoring it. UMass football blogs are all saying as much. Is it not obvious? Since the days of Marcus Camby and John Calipari, UMass has been nothing short of a joke in sports. They won the 1-AA championship in 1998, yet still manage to lose millions every year on football. Their basketball team is a shadow of its former shadow. Clearly the school is trying to pull itself out of the doldrums. But the MAC? Seriously? Get real. MAC schools lose millions in football every year. I often wonder why they bother fielding programs. The MAC cannot be UMass' longterm goal. No way, no how. Without the Big East, UMass will never make enough money to justify this move.

I can't help but think that the UMass administration wants to make this move to improve their long-floundering basketball program, establish a bigger revenue base in 1A football, and eventually have access to the BCS millions. UConn provided a blueprint for this when it made the move, and UMass must be thinking along the same lines.

Of course, this all assumes that they can replicate the success of UConn and merit an invite to the program-hungry Big East. It's no slam dunk, however. In fact, I would argue that such success is highly unlikely. I think UMass is kidding itself. First, UConn was promised an invitation into the Big East when it made the move to 1A; UMass has no such luxury. For the Minutemen, moving to the Big East will require dominance in the MAC for a number of years. Starting from the ground up, this will be difficult. UConn was able to immediately recruit kids to the Big East, while UMass will be selling recruits the MAC. Say what you will about the weakness of the Big East. As bad as it might be, it's not the MAC. The MAC is a tougher sell, and UMass will struggle to position itself as a powerful enough program to merit an invitation to the Big East. With TCU and Villanova coming into the fold and a secure BCS bid all but assured for the Conference, why would the Big East invite a shitty UMass program? Answer? It wouldn't. Moreover, with the Big East already at a bloated 17 teams in basketball, what are the chances that it'll shoot for 18 with an inferior UMass program?

Second, there simply isn't enough elite talent in New England prep football to enable UMass to prove its mettle to the Big East. When UConn moved to 1A and joined the Big East, there was only one other 1A program in New England (Boston College), and even at the time, BC's roster was largely comprised of kids from outside New England. Let's face it, prep football in New England is a joke. The competition sucks, division 1 recruits are few, and it simply isn't a popular sport at the prep level. For crying out loud, they don't even play high school football on Friday nights in Massachusetts (they play on Saturday mornings)! Now, look at BC's and UConn's rosters - they're chock full of kids from Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and even Ohio. The only thing another 1A program in New England will do is dilute the second-rate talent pool from which the schools already draw.

All told, UMass' move to the MAC represents a pipe dream that doing so will land them in the Big East. I'll be shocked if this comes to fruition.

[GoMuskies]

Are they going to play all their "home" games in Boston? If so, that's whacky. Never heard of a school playing its "home" games 90 miles from campus. Maybe they should transfer their program to UMass-Boston instead. All the BC High football studs could walk across the street after high school for their college careers.

Think of how excited the UMass recruits are going to be about playing their games in front of 70,000 empty seats!

[DC Muskie]

UMass going D1 in football is the funniest thing I have heard in awhile.

[Steve81]

Just a bit of reality of positioning ourselves for the future. We are getting Gillette rent free, Bob Kraft lobbied the Big East for UMass and they declined. We have heard from every major conference of teams interested in playing at Gillette. Don't underestimate the Krafts in marketing the UMass brand.


Bob Kraft has always been a big-picture guy. He saw it 17 years ago when he bought the Patriots, then built a stadium, turning a mom-and-pop NFL franchise (in terms of facilities) into a state-of-the-art operation.

So when University of Massachusetts administrators asked Kraft for help in their quest to elevate the program from the FCS to the FBS level, Kraft not only helped, he made the biggest donation any backer could: He gave them Gillette Stadium rent-free. For the foreseeable future.

“I’m passionate about the sport of football,’’ Kraft said yesterday at a press conference to make official UMass’s move to the Mid-American Conference — in football only — starting in 2012. “I want to see it develop in a lot of ways.’’

...

Sure, the deals will be on a two-for-one basis in term of home dates. But the big schools are looking for paydays against competition they can beat — which should be the case against a UMass team that will be in a transitional stage for a few years. Schools such as Virginia Tech, Washington, and Texas A&M have already talked to UMass about possible dates in Foxborough.http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2011/04/21/rent_free_deal_at_gillette_allows_umass_to_climb_t o_fbs/?page=1

[XUFan09]

Thanks for the info, Steve. Interesting...

[GoMuskies]

None of this changes the fact that UMass is located nowhere near Foxboro. It would be like Ohio State playing all its home games in Cincinnati.

[Muskie]

None of this changes the fact that UMass is located nowhere near Foxboro. It would be like Ohio State playing all its home games in Cincinnati.

Good for UMASS. We're always complaining that our conference mates don't invest in themselves. Maybe this agreement will help bring in more revenue so that UMASS can upgrade it's basketball facilities as well? I realize this may mean that UMASS leaves the conference, but we'll wait and see about that.


How far is Foxboro from UMASS?

[GoMuskies]

How far is Foxboro from UMASS?

90 miles

[Muskie]

90 miles

Hey I drive that for Xavier games.

[GoMuskies]

Hey I drive that for Xavier games.

Tu Holloway doesn't, though.

[waggy]

Maybe this agreement will help bring in more revenue so that UMASS can upgrade it's basketball facilities as well?

Actually, UMass has a very nice arena that isn't real old.

[Masterofreality]

Actually, UMass has a very nice arena that isn't real old.

Mullin Center is very nice.

They just don't get very good crowds.

Oh, and their coach blows.

[STL_XUfan]

Did legislation ever pass to keep football teams from staying at a hotel the night before a home game? Would suck if UMass had to bus 90 miles on the morning of the home game, while their opponents get to stay across the street.

[SM#24]

On the one hand, I think they will draw more in Foxboro than Amherst given their large alumni base and the facility; but on the other hand, I don't know that people will distinguish MAC opponents as being a better draw than their current CAA opponents. Actually, last year's Sagarin Ratings show the CAA ranked higher than the MAC.

Like others, I also believe they are trying to set themselves up for an ultimate Big East invite. While I'm sure UConn would strongly object, I think others in the Big East desire the Boston market. While the Big East is adding TCU and maybe Villanova, they will still at some point want to get to 12 to hold a championship game. I also think the Big 10 may not be done with expansion and will look to the Big East next, thus opening up more football slots.