I just saw that too! I wonder if they are jumping back to FCS or another conference? Pretty disappointing, I thought they were improving quite well in the MAC. Their record hasn't shown it yet, but I saw great things coming from them in the near future.

EDIT: I saw a few sources say that the MAC told UMass that they needed to join in all sports or none at all. UMass decided to leave conference, and according to one source this is not a move back to the FCS, they plan on staying in FBS.

My initial reaction is: Good.

But then again, this really hampers the MAC's ability to expand east.

But that only works to the conference's advantage if we shed dead weight, which we aren't willing to do.

So, good for the MAC in trying to better itself by getting UMass basketball, and we wish UMass football well in its future endeavors.

"Honey? UMass Football? I've got a confession. I've always found your sister Basketball really attractive..." (dead phone line)

I never liked the move to begin with. They had no intention of ever leaving the A-10 in basketball and their sites are set on a bigger conference for football.

The MAC needs to decide either to stand pat or recruit two, not one, legit partners to come into the league. And they have to make it feasible for everyone in the league. My top candidates would be:

Youngstown State - Natural rival with pretty much the entire conference. With Butler recently leaving the Horizon, I can't imagine there's much more allure to staying in that league.

Southern Illinois - Creates a rival with NIU and pushes the conference West, rather than East. Steals a basketball commodity from the MVC.

Eastern Kentucky - Pushes the conference South, but not too far South. They seem like a comparable program on many levels for MAC schools.

Marshall - Because it's freakin time. I'm tired of Conference USA and the Herd should be too. Come back to this conference and be the kings like you think you are. And then lose to the Bobcats accordingly.

Obviously some of the programs would have to raise their football status to FBS and increase stadium capacity. Others on that list could be Albany, Eastern Illinois, Illinois St, and others.

There's been talk of JMU, although I think they're probably more interested in CUSA.

Army would be a good addition.  Natural rival for Buffalo and most other East teams.

Northern Iowa regularly beats Iowa & Iowa St.  A drawback might be their 16,000 seat domed stadium.  Don't know if they could expand it somehow (end zone seating?).

C-USA should accept them, and if they could land a Washington or California school they would be renamed Transcontinental-USA.

 

If by stay at 12 you mean boot the community college and replace them with a legitimate higher education institution, then I agree completely.
 

12 real colleges is the perfect number.

EMU's attendance numbers are really embarrassing.  Having EMU with the lowest attendance in D1A football (by about 5,000) and near the bottom in D1 b-ball is a problem that may not be solvable.  Living in the shadow of The Big House may be too much to overcome.  If they can't get attendance up to at least reasonable levels, the MAC should find a way to replace them.

Too bad; I think UMASS was a team that could make noise.  But if the conference said all or nothing, I have no problem with them leaving without committing.  I'm not sure who to bring in now.  I would like to see us bring in someone in the Buffalo area, maybe a Pittsburgh school.  Some branching out to the East Coast, but still good for travel purposes to the Eastern Ohio schools and Buffalo.  I also want to see someone who would be in a place close to Northern Illinois/Ball State to improve travel numbers in the West.  If we would want to expand farther geographically, the JMU/Delaware idea is great, and it wouldn't hurt to go farther south in Kentucky or West Virginia.

As for EMU, I'm fairly sure that they used to draw well in the 90's if what the EMU posters on CSNBB'S said was accurate.  I think given their facilities, they could do well again.  But they have to start winning in football especially, and keep going what went on in Basketball and improve on it.  That and some great marketing strategies.  Maybe they can hire some of our guys to show them how it's done.

UMASS joins the AAC for all sports -

http://www.bcinterruption.com/boston-college-football-umass-2014/2014/4/1/5568546/umass-joins-aac-for-all-sports


Wait, what's today....

I'm not clear that this is an April Fool's joke, but it may be. Certainly the other article, claiming U.Conn was replacing Syracuse in the ACC is one. IF UMass moves to the AAC, it would not be surprising, and I'd say that it's a good move and a step up.  I'd call CUSA a step down from the MAC, but the AAC seems to be reforming as a decent conference.