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Conference and Athletics / Re: Conference Realignment Rumors
« on: March 05, 2024, 01:24:50 am »UMass is headed from the A-10 to the MAC for all sports (except hockey I'm guessing/I hope). That drops the A-10 to 14 teams. You wonder if they're content there or if they're still looking at adding a couple. There are a lot of sub-FBS/non-football schools in that conference, and we have a few attractive schools who fit that mold in our conference including, well, us . Yeah, but really, not happening.
https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/1762198328673006013Man, even the CAA (19) is ranked higher than the MAC (24) in KenPom conferences right now.
UMass basketball enthusiasts are not pleased. In the KenPom ratings, you can list off seven A-10 schools before you reach Akron at #100, and another three A-10s before reaching a second MAC team. Does Frank Martin skip town? Can they recruit at the same level? I dunno. I'm skeptical.
Here's a good rundown of what it all means for the program. All you need to know is that UMass Lowell is in a better basketball conference than UMass. On Saturday, they had their best crowd in years .... YEARS (7,000+) ... and this news broke two days later. Brutal.
https://www.masslive.com/umassfootball/2024/02/umass-move-to-mac-is-brutal-blow-to-its-mens-basketball-program-vautour.html
Delaware and UMass together to MAC would have been a more logical addition to MAC. Delaware must be regretting now for making the move too early to a far flung CUSA.
So now that MAC is sitting on 13, and logic says that they will add another one, will the 14th team come from northeast? Does this open the door for Stony Brook to FBS? I say our AD should at least have a talk with MAC. In Buffalo and UMass, there are peer schools in proximity in place. I would even root for all SUNY 4 centers to be in MAC !!
If that were ever gonna happen, this kind of move by Umass would be the first domino.... had this happened say a decade ago and our athletic department hadn't fallen off a cliff, I'd say us moving to the MAC would be a done deal
But yeah makes you wonder why Delaware jumped to CUSA. MAC is better than current CUSA, but maybe Delaware thinks they can land in the Sun Belt soon? IDK. With all the shuffling going on at the P5 level, the new playoff, talk of the Big Ten and SEC breaking away.... I honestly think if anything we should stay put. Hell, hindsight says maybe stay in the AE and see how this all shakes out because all the movement is by no means done.
I think if when all is said and done we wind up in a league with Buffalo, UMass, Temple, Delaware, etc I think that's a great end state. What it takes to get there and what that looks like in the interim I don't know.