No More MACtion for UMass
Today we learned that UMass and the MAC are parting ways after 2015. UMass has played FBS football in the MAC for the past two years. In that time, the Minutemen compiled a record of 2-22, while playing home games 90 miles away in Foxborough. The school remained a member of the A-10 for all other sports. UMass’ decision came after the MAC issued an ultimatum, either join the league for all sports or exit in two years. UMass chose the latter.
Welp, things just got interesting. Of course depending on your perspective, that could mean “good” interesting or “dear God the sky is falling” interesting. In fact if you were one of the people who actually thought a JMU move the MAC was imminent, this is probably bad news for you.
With UMass’ departure, the MAC is left with 12 teams. All indications from the league are that they intend to stick to that number. Maybe there was a plan to add a 14th team if UMass joined for all sports. And maybe JMU had a shot at grabbing that spot. Unless the MAC is just sending up smokescreens while they look for two additional schools to add though, the door appears to be closed for now.
But that doesn’t mean JMU has no other options. UMass today stated that they intend to stay in the FBS and will be looking for a new football league to join. That could mean that JMU is suddenly competing with UMass for an FBS spot. Or it could mean that UMass’ efforts to insert itself into a league could start the dominoes falling again. And that could open up some opportunities for the Dukes.
Of course, the Sun Belt is still waiting patiently and weighing its options. While nearly every bit of “news” related to conference realignment is suspect, indications were that the Sun Belt was definitely interested in adding JMU last year. But JMU didn’t pursue the opportunity, choosing instead to consider all of its options. Today’s news changes things.
Liberty has been quite open about its desire to move up. UMass is now looking for a home for its football team. And there are a number of schools that like JMU, are rumored to be on the move to FBS. Which means the Sun Belt might hold the one FBS card that everyone is vying for. They essentially luck boxed their way into some serious leverage. But at the risk of sounding biased, JMU would seem to be a far better get for the Sun Belt than Liberty. And UMass to the Sun Belt just makes no sense at all.
The big rumor now is that UMass will try to work its way into the AAC for all sports. It is nothing more than a rumor, but it’s a move that would seem to make sense for UMass. It would be a good for both football and basketball. UMass was never going to leave A10 hoops to go play in the MAC. Even with the departure of Louisville, the AAC is still a decent hoops league. And it would give UMass a chance to build a rivalry with UConn. Of course it could also be a move that UConn opposed in an attempt to control the New England college hoops scene. We shall see.
So here we are. I’m not even going to attempt to predict where JMU ends up after everything settles down. However, after a few years of fans establishing completely fictitious deadlines and dates for action, the upcoming June 1 date could be telling. That’s the date by which schools must announce their intentions to move FBS if they want to start the transition in the Fall. So if JMU doesn’t make an announcement before then, a move can’t start for at least another year. Whether you believe that would indicate JMU is sticking in FCS forever, is up to.
Like I said, things just got interesting. To me they did at least. And I’m not sure it’s been obvious or not, but I’ve tried to stay out of the conference realignment talk here on the blog for a while now. Because I really don’t care. That’s not true. I definitely care about JMU and want it to place its athletic department in the best position possible. I just don’t care to worry about things that I have no control over. And I have no control over JMU’s conference affiliation. At all. This morning we have one new fact, that UMass is leaving the MAC. It’s a fact that is likely pertinent to JMU’s future. But beyond that, we have nothing other than rumor and speculation. For some folks it can be very fun to play the guessing game and try to predict what JMU does. But it’s just guessing at this point.
The JMU Admin just looks more and more like idiots with every passing day as it relates to moving to FBS and getting out of the POS that is the CAA. The only school left in the CAA as full member that is even close to being a peer institution in Delaware. I have no issue at all going to the SunBelt but if that is where we end up (and I hope we do at this point) we still look like idiots because we wasted at least a year because we could have already done that and begun the transition process last year.
I am prepared to let my donation $$$ talk. Stay in the CAA and I back my donation back to the minimum to secure parking. While EW is trying to put some JUICE back in the football program the JMU Admin sucks it right back out. I just hear a lot of talk from JMU about being ‘big time’ but that’s all it is — JMU has either declined or monitored the situation everytime to date they have had an opportunity to move forward.
Maybe it’s just me but I see nothing but opportunity here to take JMU to the next level, not just as a football program, or an athletics department but as a university. I recently read the story of how TCU became a member of the Big XII, apparently TCU’s AD, got in a car and drove to meet with DeLoss Dodds, the powerful AD at Texas unannounced. He had to literally wait all day, finally got to take him out for drinks and talked him into persuading the other schools to bring on TCU. In my world that is called a “sales call” and that is what a school that cares about it athletics department does. If JMU really wants to move up I will give them the plan of action that they should take immediately:
1. Find a partner. I would start with Marshall then move to Delaware then Towson to find someone that is wiling to go with us as a partner to the MAC.
2. Visit EVERY school in the MAC with my partner personally to pitch the idea of why they should bring us on. The Presidents should meet with their counterparts and the AD’s with the other AD’s.
3. SELL THEM, DO NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER !!!
This is possibly our last shot and we need to make it count. If we truly want to be a legitimate mid-major school then we really have no other option but to act forcefully now. I love JMU, played football there and have been an active supporter both financially and in spirit for almost twenty years, but if we don’t make this happen then I will not be renewing my pledge or season tickets for 2014. I am tired of excuses and stall tactics, either we want this or we don’t and if we as fans and alumni do not demand action then I am convinced that nothing will happen.
My dream still lives on! Move to any conference, get to FBS, bring Delaware, make new conference of JMU, Delaware, App State, Charlotte, Georgia Southern, Marshall, Georgia State and Liberty. Pipe dream? Probably. Crazy awesome conference with teams I would care about playing? Definitely.
Sean, I think I would like the new conference idea more than trying to join another conference; Just don’t give the conference a number…
MAC= Gutter
Slum Belt= Sewer
Probably should go rally UDee and try to make us a package deal. This situation would be infinately easier if our men’s hoops didn’t SUCK so badly.
if umass gets to the AAC, that will put the them at 13 members (Louisville and Rutgers exit this year, Tulsa, ECU and Tulane join this year and Navy next year, for a total of 12). Football wouldn’t be horrible with UCF, USF, Houston and Cincinnati and having UConn’s women’s team in the convo every other year would be pretty cool. Louisville put 22,000+ in the KFC Yum! Center for the UConn game this year. in my opinion it beats playing at Rice in c-usa or louisiana-lafayette or central arkansas in the sun belt.
at this point, it would be nice just to see the jmu administration show some energy to find a spot where the football is competitive and the rest of the sports have a reasonable chance to win (granted in the AAC scenario the women’s b-ball team would never win another conference title, so that would suck…but having watched AAC basketball this year, they would finish as the #2 seed most years.)
JMU continues to muck up in the saga of conference alignment. I don’t give a rats behind what the administration has been doing behind the scenes. It’s results, and they are failing miserably. If we don’t announce a move soon I for one will be pulling my donations from the university and redirect the funds to an organization who knows what the heck they are doing.
@Ken-
I like the AAC idea. Could you imagine the basketball program playing an AAC schedule? We’d be like 0-25.
Does Mac have all men’s sports?
With umass leaving I think jmu will have a chance at moving to Mac! Does Mac sponsor our other sports like tennis golf and soccer for men. I just hope they don’t ditch a sport as I have a son on scholarship.
What would happen to a sport, like women’s lacrosse, that none of these conferences sponsor?
Here is an an article on an interesting take on MAC expansion
http://www.ubbullrun.com/2014/3/28/5550964/mid-american-conference-expansion
JMU Partent, what usually happens with sports that are not sponsored by the primary conference affiliation is that they become associate members of conferences that do. It a fairly common thing ODU has some sports not sponsored by C-USA.
Thank you formerdukeblocker.. but what is the chance they will cut a mens sport like golf or tennis. MAC doesn’t seem to have many of those schools in the east and that seems to be where we are headed. I guess like you said we can be affiliate somewhere else but are you welcomed with open arms at that conference. Also MAC wants full membership so it is confusing to me. I worry about a university of Maryland situation where all these kids find out sport is dropped and there goes scholarship and love of sport and what in the world would a kid do this late in the season.
@robert JMU can’t drop any sports. It already sponsors the minimum number to qualify for D1. If the school moves to the MAC or any other conference, it would need to find affiliate memberships for all the current sports that the new conference didn’t sponsor. It might not be perfect, but it wouldn’t be like the MD or Temple where sports were wiped out and athletes had to move on elsewhere.
Robert & Others:
I really believe that the biggest threat to ALL sports at JMU is to not have our football program keep up with our (until recently) peers. Letting football fall behind (like we have done so far) hurts our revenue and donation opportunities. I know it is not “politically correct” but if I was the parent of a child who was participating in a sport other than football at JMU I would be hoping like crazy that our football program moves up. Read the Carr report and listen to what lawmakers are saying about the use of student fees to fund sports. One might also watch the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “Requiem for the Big East” to see what happens to schools that do not participate at the highest level of collegiate football.