UMass is joining the MAC in 2025

UMass is joining the MAC in 2025

(photo via BG Athletics)

    UMass was a football only member of the MAC from 2012-2015 when they first joined FBS football. However, since they would not move their other sports out of the Atlantic 10, the MAC kicked them and they have football independent since. UMass went 1-7, 1-7, 3-5, and 2-6 in conference play during their 4 seasons. From 2019 to 2022 UMass was an astonishing 3-37. 

    Do I like this move for the MAC? Short answer, no. UMass adds zero credibility in football. Some would argue that adding more teams is what everyone else is doing so shouldn't we do the same? Again, no. The MAC has a nice niche of MACtion in November. As of right now, all this move does is split whatever ESPN will pay the MAC into 13 shares instead of 12. Trust me, UMass football does not mean the MAC has moved into the Boston market. UMass is 2 hours away from Boston and literally no one cares about UMass football in the city. Now what this move does possibly do is increase the basketball prestige of the conference. UMass pays their head coach 2 millions dollars, while BGSU was paying our last coach less than 500,000. I am not sure how much current coach Todd Simon is getting but it is likely the same. If a school is paying 4x towards their basketball staff, you can bet they will likely be the bully of that sport. So far from a pure money standpoint, I do not see UMass getting ESPN to pay us more to justify a 13th share of the contract. 

    Now from the BGSU FAN perspective, this move is bittersweet. Were not talking money from TV anymore, just pure sports fandom now. The sweet part is UMass football stinks. They have a bad location in terms of recruiting, have a higher academic standard than any school in the MAC, and have zero history of success. BG went 4-0 against the Minutemen when they were here, winning 24-0, 28-7, 47-42, and 62-38. This trend will likely continue. However if you are a big basketball fan, this move is bitter. UMass is much more committed to basketball and has more cache than any MAC school simply because of their dominance in the 90s and the A10 recruiting prestige. Will that wear off? Possibly. From a UMass perspective they will need to commit themselves to not being complacent. They are not in an arms race with Dayton or Richmond anymore, they just have to beat Kent and Ohio who do not spend nearly what UMass does on basketball. 

Conclusion

    In conclusion, I think this is the MAC changing just for change sake which is never good. We just rolled out a pod system that after one month is useless because we added a 13th team. Even if WKU joins next, we would need a 15th team to get the pod system to work again. I thought in the nuclear chaos that is college football right now, the MAC staying within its scope was the best move, clearly the "brain" trust thinks not. 



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