UMass Athletics ready for MACtion
The University of Massachusetts in Amherst will be changing conferences for all sports beginning in 2025and heading to the Mid-American Conference. The Minutemen football team are currently are an independent and compete in the Atlantic 10 in Basketball. The men’s hockey team will still be a part of Hockey East. UMass will play its final season as a football independent this year, and its schedule includes five current MAC members. UMass is the only A-10 school that plays football at the Bowl Subdivision. The addition of UMass gives the MAC 13 full members, mostly located in Ohio and Michigan. UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford made clear in recent comments that joining a league was a priority for UMass.
UMass, which was a football-only member of the MAC from 2012-15 had also been engaged with Conference USA. The MAC made more geographic sense, and it also houses more of the sports that UMass offers. UMass will play its final season as a football independent this year, and its schedule includes five current MAC members. This leaves Notre Dame and Connecticut as the lone independents in college football, with Army set to join the American Athletic Conference in the upcoming season.
This will really impact coach Frank Martin and the mens basketball team , who will go from the Atlantic 10 conference to the Mid-American Conference. According to KenPom conference rankings, the Atlantic 10 ranks eighth out of the 33 Division 1 men’s basketball conferences, while the MAC is ranked 24th.The UMass men’s chances of an at-large bid from the A-10 decrease from little to essentially none if it doesn’t win the conference championship. The A-10 is a much more competitive and could be an advantage being in the MAC.
The Atlantic 10 Conference, where UMass has had a home since 1976. UMass’ Final Four appearance in 1996 is the only Final Four appearance in Atlantic 10 history.None more memorable that John Calipari and John Cheaney’s famous press conference match.
