(07-09-2015 09:50 AM)Steve1981 Wrote:  This is from a recent MaroonMusket 247 sports article. AD Ryan Bamford talks about our conference situation and specifical mentions the AAC, CUSA, and the MAC.

Quote:Ryan Bamford is keeping his eye on the unpredictable dance that is conference realignment.

UMass' newly minted athletic director has a tall task in front of him. He must chaperone the university's athletic program through uncertain times and find it a suitable home.

He has a football program that will be Independent after this coming season and a basketball team that - on some level - will dictate what conference is the best fit. Bamford knows he has to be proactive. A conservative approach will leave UMass in limbo.

"If we do things really well internally, I think there are going to be opportunities for us," Bamford told the Maroon Musket. "I need to pay attention to what's happening in terms of restructuring or reorganizing. There's a lot of talk about the Big 12, but I only worry about that as it pertains to UMass. As the dominoes start to fall, I need to figure out where we fit. I need to keep a close eye on that and keep the people above me apprised of where I see things going."

UMass' revenue-generating sports are spread across three conferences. Football currently resides in the Mid-American Conference, basketball plays in the Atlantic 10, and hockey is in Hockey East. UMass and the MAC are about to part ways, leaving the football program as an Independent. That means no bowl tie-ins, no conference money and the arduous task of filling out every date on a 12-game schedule.

If you aren't a traditional powerhouse - or funded by the U.S. government - it's a tough position to be in.

"Being an Independent in football is not a death sentence, but it is not something that's easy to sustain while building a 12-game schedule that's competitive and also gives your kids an opportunity for success," Bamford said. "There are a lot of ingredients that make it hard."

Getting out of the uncertainty of independence isn't easy either. UMass needs one of two situations: 1) a conference willing to take it as a football-only member, or 2) a conference that wants UMass for all sports and benefits programs other than just football.

"I want to get us into a league that best fits for as many offerings as we have. In a perfect world, that would be all 21 sports, but there may not be an opportunity for that," Bamford said. "Any chance for us to be in a league that raises the profile of not only our athletic department, but our university - and also puts us in a situation with like institutions - is an opportunity we're looking at."

To many UMass basketball fans, the Atlantic 10 is a comfortable home. The league is still competitive on a national scale, and there are a few age-old rivals that haven't yet bolted for greener pastures. But UMass and the remaining teams in the A-10 make strange bedfellows. It is the only school with an FBS football program, and UMass is one of only a handful of state schools.

"The Atlantic 10 is a very good conference across the board. But we're in a conference with a lot people who don't look like us, and that's hard," Bamford said. "It's hard to build rivalries. It's hard to build strategy around schools, many of whom don't have football."

That leaves the million-dollar question: Where does UMass go from here? Conventional wisdom indicates that American Athletic Conference would be the optimal fit, with Conference USA as an adequate second option. The Mid-American Conference works for football, but a majority of UMass fans bristle at the idea of having other sports travel to Michigan and Ohio to play directional schools.

But Bamford was adamant that he's looking at all options and isn't interested in making any knee-jerk decisions. When asked about a future in the AAC, CUSA or MAC, Bamford was non-committal.

"Those three are certainly ones that we will look at," he said. "I will say that we're very comfortable in the A-10. It's a good, collegial league. I enjoy the history that we have there. We're not going to be short-sighted and jump to something that doesn't make sense."

http://umass.247sports.com/Article/Bamfo...e-38116135

Sounds like UMass will be Indy for quite some time. Just as they were making progress in the MAC....their recruiting probably will be worse that when they first started in the MAC with no bowl, no Access Bowl possibility and no extra cash from the CFP.