UMass May Be Going FBS

[Eric]

To the MAC?

http://bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1299775&srvc=sports&position=2

It would be a great addition, I think. UMass would only be competing with Syracuse, Boston College, and UConn for Northeast presence. This move is being pondered because the Colonial Athletic Association is definitely moving its center of gravity southward with the dissolution of Northeastern and Hofstra's football progams. The conference only has Maine and New Hampshire in the northeast section, so those schools may abandon the league as well if the UMass domino drops. This seems like a calculated move to maybe pave their way to the Big East if they come into the MAC and play well right away, which is certainly possible (there's not much of a discernible difference between the two conferences in recent history).

If that's the case, one of the MAC East schools would probably relocate to the West, and my money would be on Bowling Green. So the new alignment may be:

East
------
1. UMass
2. Temple
3. Akron
4. Kent State
5. Miami OH
6. Ohio
7. Buffalo

West
------
1. Bowling Green
2. Toledo
3. Central Michigan
4. Western Michigan
5. Eastern Michigan
6. Northern Illinois
7. Ball State

[WoVeU]

I think all 3 programs could rather quickly climb in the FBS. College Football is still growing in popularity...the North East lags in participation. Looking at the programs, population densities, and the current climate. I think UMass and New Hampshire (and Nova) could all out pace UConn's growth rate.

Right now...the Big East is really the big Northern Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast has a whole lot of people and very little big time college football presence.

[Eric]

Right now...the Big East is really the big Northern Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast has a whole lot of people and very little big time college football presence.

A lot of people, not a top-notch football population though

I think the number of colleges with serious football programs is generally representative of the football population as it stands right now. The South, for instance, supports four conferences (Sun Belt, C-USA, SEC, ACC) and even more individual teams within different conferences (like USF, Louisville, etc.). I don't think the Northeast could support much more than 4 FBS schools.

Also something interesting in that article, if UMass goes through with this, they are trying to get to host their games at Foxboro in Gillette Stadium. That's an intriguing possibility.

[armchairqb]

In the MAC, I could see the UMass move working.

On paper, the Big East seems like a reachable goal. UConn was able to do it and would have a natural rival with UMass.