(10-06-2021 10:46 AM)esayem Wrote: (10-06-2021 10:20 AM)ccd494 Wrote: The solution to "What's Wrong With School X" is never "School X should join a conference with teams that none of its fans care about."
UMass made a huge mistake going FBS. When you make a huge mistake, you don't double down on it by further alienating your fans. No, the A-10 isn't what it was when UMass was in its heyday in the 90's as a northeast based multi-bid conference. But it is still a multi-bid conference. And there are still teams in the A-10 that UMass's fans care about.
I would also question why UMass football is automatically better off in the MAC than it is as an independent. It isn't going to win games in either scenario, it isn't going to draw fans in either scenario, it isn't going to make money in either scenario. So why rearrange those deck chairs and make all of your other sports worse off?
Well, you would know more than I do since I live in the south and you’re a Maine guy, but I have a few questions.
Why would they be worse off? Both western NY and Ohio are firmly A10 territory. Hell, St. Louis is A10 territory all the way over to Virginia and North Carolina. I don’t see travel being an issue for the MAC or C-USA considering there is some combination of schools in those leagues that are also in the A10 footprint.
Marshall, UCF, and Temple (fb-only) stretched the footprint but all have used MAC membership to move up the totem poll. Now UB is being hailed as an AAC replacement, a conference UMass openly covets joining.
The aforementioned playoff money of being in a conference would be attractive. How does that stack up against Independent status w/ buy games and the A10 money? Not sure, but buy games will be there either way.
I don’t think going FBS was a mistake. The mistake was hiring an AD that fired two coaches with UMass roots and replaced them with unproven coaches. Look at the records of their current revenue producing sports. Abysmal. That starts and ends with coaching.
1. The A-10 isn't really as spread out as people make it out to be. There are three geographic outliers in the A-10, outside the northeast/ACELA corridor: Dayton, Saint Louis, and Davidson.
In the MAC, Buffalo is reasonably in the northeast. The next closest school to UMass would be Kent State, about 580 miles away. 8 of 11 A-10 schools are closer to UMass than the second closest MAC school.
That matters, and not just for travel for your athletic teams. UMass's alumni network is in the stretch from DC to Boston. You've got opponents in NYC, Philadelphia, and DC. This hasn't been treated like it matters in conference realignment by people who just point to TV contracts, but it does. You want to play where your fans are, and you want to play schools your fans care about. Spending basketball season playing and traveling to Kent State, Bowling Green, and Ball State is a recipe for apathy.
2. I don't understand how the playoff money would move the needle at all. Every other school in the MAC would be getting the same money (or more if there was a delay in UMass' eligibility to receive a share). UMass would just have to pour that money into football to keep up with the Joneses. It wouldn't help UMass basketball get things straightened out, it wouldn't entice people to come watch football (UMass tried playing MAC schools and no one came to watch). My first rule of college sports realignment should be "Fans aren't going to buy tickets or concessions to sit in the stands and watch your bank account grow."
3. UMass' AD is also the one who hired a hockey coach that led UMass to a national title in its second most important sport.
4. Going FBS was absolutely a mistake. Just because football drives the boat at most schools down south doesn't mean it needs to in New England. Fans of schools in New England have proven time and time again they aggressively do not care about their schools' football teams.
UMass was 129th in attendance in 2019. UMass has had three home games this year: 12,118 against the most local P5 rival possible (BC), 7,012 against Eastern Michigan, and 9,456 against Toledo. Those would not be out of place in the CAA.
So, no one comes to the games. The team loses an embarrassing amount of games. The program loses money hand over fist.
Other than that, going FBS in football was a great idea!