"MAC has an option to kick UMass out and get back to 12 members, but first must offer them all-sport membership."

"Now, @blauds is reporting that the MAC could exercise that option. What should UMass do? Where else could they park football?"

https://twitter.com/Brian_Ewart/status/341566794072469504
https://twitter.com/Brian_Ewart/status/341566997898866689

Wow. I sure hope this is right, but wouldn't hold my breath. UMass brings nothing to the conference as a football-only member. They have no other viable options - either go "all in" or look for a new home. I'd be equally happy with either decision.

As much as it would be nice to get their basketball program (which, I'll also say, is a tad overrated)....the challenge of having 13 schools in all sports would be nothing short of a headache.

I wouldn't mind seeing Richmond, but they would need to almost double the capacity of their stadium in order to meet the attendance requirement for football. Schools need to average at least 15,000 a game every other season to stay in FBS. A lot of the non-BCS schools (like half the MAC) get around the requirement by buying the tickets themselves. However, if your stadium can't even hold 15,000, there's no way to fudge the numbers. That would also eliminate Duquesne, New Hampshire and Bryant without major stadium renovations or finding a bigger stadium.

Delaware's stadium is large enough, but I'd rather drop UMass in football than add them and Delaware in all sports.

UNH-decent AA program.  Had 24k for UMASS a couple of years ago.  Playing CMU this year to open.

Bryant?? Really?? A 5,500 seat stadium is not going to cut it. Although it would be great for EMU.

I like UMass but they need to get in or get out and I'm totally ok with them getting out.

The biggest problem with the MAC currently is  Akron, EMU, Buffalo, and UMass.

Number of winning seasons since 1990-
EMU-1 (last 1995, 6-5)
Buffalo- 2 (last 2008, 8-6)
Akron- 6 (last 2005, 7-6)

These teams are so bad they usually only beat each other and FCS teams. UMass is no better. They don't have to start winning championships, or even go bowling regularly, but they do need to be able to win an OOC game and not roll over and get blown out by 40 on their paycheck games.

Losing UMass drops the number of dreadful teams down from 4 to 3.

I don't have so much of a problem with Akron and Buffalo. Why did you choose to go all the way back to 1990?  
EMU, however...

1990 was arbitrary, just grabbing a snapshot of the last couple of decades. Buffalo joined the MAC in 1992 and has had 1 winning season, where they had 8 wins. In the other 13 seasons they have a total of 31 wins, or 2.4/yr. You should have a problem with them.





Akron isn't as bad long term as EMU, but is worse lately. Their location, facilities, coach, and bball team are irrelevant, this is about football performance. Three 1 win seasons in a row, only 6 wins in the last 4 years, only 1 was against a team other than Buffalo, EMU or FCS. Last road win was @EMU 10/18/08. You get the idea. It's one thing to be the worst team in the conference, its another thing to be the worst in all of FBS and lately Akron has been a contender for that crown.

Sure, Akron won a MAC Championship, in a year they finished 7-6. Buffalo won one too with an 8-6 record. Not exactly world beaters. More importantly, neither team has had a winning season since.

Akron(1992) and Buffalo(1998) are the MAC's 2 newest full time members and they have not contributed positively to the competitiveness of the league. To this point, and we're going on 14+ years, they are both bad football adds. UMass is in that same mold, it concerns me.

I do believe EMU is the most hopeless of the group but at the moment they are all equally terrible. As I said, they don't need to start winning championships, they just need to be able to compete and beat someone other than themselves and FCS teams.

If the MAC can get to a point where the top half keeps getting quality OOC wins and the bottom half (except EMU) can not go 1-3 or 0-4 in OOC every year then we'll be a very formidable Go5 conference.

I predict If UMASS stays in the MAC they will win a MAC Championship in the next 5 years.

Between this and the post about U of R, possibly, my happy Virginian self is beaming. I'd love to have the Bobcats play in Bridgeforth against JMU or at UR. I would find all the money in the world to give the conference to make that happen.