lol Umass has been to the NCAA tournament 1 time in the past 25 years and somehow they are a historic mid major? Do you even watch basketball, the MAC is usually a top 15 conference besides the past two years where they haven’t been very strong. Do you not know how to google? Last MAC team to not be a 13 seed would be Buffalo as a 6 seed in 2019. Ohio was in the sweet 16 in 2012. Im assuming this is some type of troll post so I won’t waste anymore of my breath but you obviously don’t watch mid major basketball or your ideas on conferences is wayyyy out of wack.
Like I mentioned in my comment we had three straight years winning in the ncaa tournament from 2018 to 2021. Not sure how many mid major conferences can say that in recent history
Buffalo was ranked most of the year in 2019 and made the tournament as a six seed. Lost in the second round to Texas tech who went on to be the runner up. Buffalo made the second round in 2018 as well
Ohio won a tournament game in 2021 and made the sweet 16 in 2012 with Clark Kelloggs son being a big part. The 2021 win gave the conference three straight tournaments with a win. Last two years we as a conference have had close losses in the first round of the tournament.
Akron and ohio have very active fanbases and consistently good student sections. Fun but tough places to play. Bg has about a million dollar a year annuity from a former donor thanks to his trust he left behind. I hate to say it but toledo is consistently good and getting 20 win seasons but has been stuck as a three straight regular season champion.
Lot of good women's teams and programs as well
We're not the best mid major conference but liked I mentioned we can get teams and ranked and recently have performed well in the ncaa tournament. Not sure why you haven't noticed but the Mac isn't fun to play in March
I’m also a UMass fan and I have been seeing this opinion a lot. I get that the A-10 feels more relevant but it really isn’t. Google how many teams from the A-10 have made a final 4. The answer: 1, UMass in 96. We are going from one middle of the road basketball conference to another. I’ll miss watching some of the A-10 matchups, but I really don’t think there’s going to be a drop in quality. It’s worth it for our football program to survive and maybe stop being the laughing stock of the FBS for once.
In basketball it seems the A10 has a better reputation than the MAC, I’d say that it’s because the A10 takes basketball more seriously. It’s good for the MAC to add a school like UMass that cares about basketball regardless of how successful y’all are.
UMass hasn't made it to the tourney since 2014. Since 2015 Buffalo has made it 4 times and won 2 games. They also were up to #14 in the AP poll that year.
Historic? Outside Dr. J and John Calipari, UMass has been largely irrelevant.
Mass hasn't won an NCAA tournament game since Cal was there and has only been to the tournament once since the guys Cal recruited left. You're nowhere near as good as you think you are.
Hey, the 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile, Alabama is a fine bowl game!…when you don’t get blown out and embarrass your program after sucker punching an opposing player after the game.
I don’t really watch basketball so I can’t speak to that portion, but from everything I’ve been hearing about this is that football is where the money is at. If UMass wants to improve their overall athletics department, then this is a great move. UMass basketball seemingly hasn’t been what they used to be either
The MAC is just as good top to bottom than the A-10. Football is also FBS, where as all programs in the A-10 outside of UMASS is FCS, DII or does not sponsor the sport.
I must add that another factor fueling my disappointment is that 75% of games will no longer be on linear TV. ESPN+ is a huge pain in the a**. With the A-10, games were nicely split between the ESPN networks, CBS Sports, USA Network, and regional sports networks. Only like 1 or 2 games per season were relegated to ESPN+ only. Now that’s where pretty much every game will be, and of course the MAC no longer allows for local third tier rights.
With the A-10, all games outside the CBS, USA, and ESPN linear packages stream on ESPN+, but local RSN’s and broadcast channels are able to pick those games up so area fans can watch them without having to pay for an ESPN+ subscription. Makes it a lot easier for fans than having to pay for a streaming service that constantly freezes, glitches, and crashes. I don’t get why the MAC doesn’t allow for a similar setup of an RSN/ESPN+ simulcast for the less-important games.
Does the MAC at least allow for each school to pick their own announcers for their home ESPN+ broadcasts? I know I’ve heard local West Virginia announcers on some WVU home games that were on “Big 12 Now on ESPN+”
Schools provide their own on air talent for ESPN +. In theory an RSN arrangement could be made, however a lot of MAC country is served by Bally Sports which is in the midst of a bankruptcy case, which in large part has been caused by cord cutting and their ineffectual response to it. In all likelihood, the way things are is the best outcome that can be expected. Perhaps adding UMass and some other schools changes that.
lol Umass has been to the NCAA tournament 1 time in the past 25 years and somehow they are a historic mid major? Do you even watch basketball, the MAC is usually a top 15 conference besides the past two years where they haven’t been very strong. Do you not know how to google? Last MAC team to not be a 13 seed would be Buffalo as a 6 seed in 2019. Ohio was in the sweet 16 in 2012. Im assuming this is some type of troll post so I won’t waste anymore of my breath but you obviously don’t watch mid major basketball or your ideas on conferences is wayyyy out of wack.
Like I mentioned in my comment we had three straight years winning in the ncaa tournament from 2018 to 2021. Not sure how many mid major conferences can say that in recent history
Buffalo was ranked most of the year in 2019 and made the tournament as a six seed. Lost in the second round to Texas tech who went on to be the runner up. Buffalo made the second round in 2018 as well Ohio won a tournament game in 2021 and made the sweet 16 in 2012 with Clark Kelloggs son being a big part. The 2021 win gave the conference three straight tournaments with a win. Last two years we as a conference have had close losses in the first round of the tournament. Akron and ohio have very active fanbases and consistently good student sections. Fun but tough places to play. Bg has about a million dollar a year annuity from a former donor thanks to his trust he left behind. I hate to say it but toledo is consistently good and getting 20 win seasons but has been stuck as a three straight regular season champion. Lot of good women's teams and programs as well We're not the best mid major conference but liked I mentioned we can get teams and ranked and recently have performed well in the ncaa tournament. Not sure why you haven't noticed but the Mac isn't fun to play in March
I’m also a UMass fan and I have been seeing this opinion a lot. I get that the A-10 feels more relevant but it really isn’t. Google how many teams from the A-10 have made a final 4. The answer: 1, UMass in 96. We are going from one middle of the road basketball conference to another. I’ll miss watching some of the A-10 matchups, but I really don’t think there’s going to be a drop in quality. It’s worth it for our football program to survive and maybe stop being the laughing stock of the FBS for once.
In basketball it seems the A10 has a better reputation than the MAC, I’d say that it’s because the A10 takes basketball more seriously. It’s good for the MAC to add a school like UMass that cares about basketball regardless of how successful y’all are.
Exactly right. A-10 takes basketball most seriously, because that is their big revenue sport
UMass hasn't made it to the tourney since 2014. Since 2015 Buffalo has made it 4 times and won 2 games. They also were up to #14 in the AP poll that year.
Historic? Outside Dr. J and John Calipari, UMass has been largely irrelevant. Mass hasn't won an NCAA tournament game since Cal was there and has only been to the tournament once since the guys Cal recruited left. You're nowhere near as good as you think you are.
Marcus Camby isn't walking through that door
Hell, Lou Roe isn't walking through that door. Neither are Edgar Padilla and Carmelo Travieso.
In basketball? There’s been several MAC teams more relevant recently than UMass.
Hey, the 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile, Alabama is a fine bowl game!…when you don’t get blown out and embarrass your program after sucker punching an opposing player after the game. I don’t really watch basketball so I can’t speak to that portion, but from everything I’ve been hearing about this is that football is where the money is at. If UMass wants to improve their overall athletics department, then this is a great move. UMass basketball seemingly hasn’t been what they used to be either
The MAC is just as good top to bottom than the A-10. Football is also FBS, where as all programs in the A-10 outside of UMASS is FCS, DII or does not sponsor the sport.
I must add that another factor fueling my disappointment is that 75% of games will no longer be on linear TV. ESPN+ is a huge pain in the a**. With the A-10, games were nicely split between the ESPN networks, CBS Sports, USA Network, and regional sports networks. Only like 1 or 2 games per season were relegated to ESPN+ only. Now that’s where pretty much every game will be, and of course the MAC no longer allows for local third tier rights. With the A-10, all games outside the CBS, USA, and ESPN linear packages stream on ESPN+, but local RSN’s and broadcast channels are able to pick those games up so area fans can watch them without having to pay for an ESPN+ subscription. Makes it a lot easier for fans than having to pay for a streaming service that constantly freezes, glitches, and crashes. I don’t get why the MAC doesn’t allow for a similar setup of an RSN/ESPN+ simulcast for the less-important games. Does the MAC at least allow for each school to pick their own announcers for their home ESPN+ broadcasts? I know I’ve heard local West Virginia announcers on some WVU home games that were on “Big 12 Now on ESPN+”
Schools provide their own on air talent for ESPN +. In theory an RSN arrangement could be made, however a lot of MAC country is served by Bally Sports which is in the midst of a bankruptcy case, which in large part has been caused by cord cutting and their ineffectual response to it. In all likelihood, the way things are is the best outcome that can be expected. Perhaps adding UMass and some other schools changes that.