(03-15-2012 08:30 PM)Beckman4President Wrote: I honestly don't see the point in letting UMASS go in two years...it doesn't make sense. We would be kicking them out because we are afraid of them leaving? What's done is done and we should just keep them now until the Big East calls them up in a couple of years. But, we should have learned our lesson for no more football onlies. They won't hurt us by being in the conference until then so I see no point in kicking them out.
It will be annoying though to see another FCS program move up to FBS and in a couple years be looking down on all of us from their position in a power 6 conference while we are all stagnating. But that's just envy on my part.
The more I think about it (
thanks again to LastMinuteman for the contract clarification) the more it makes sense for the MAC to exercise the “terminate football-only” clause.
Perhaps I was a bit hard on the MAC attorneys. While technically UMass has the right of refusal to join as an all sports member, the contract term is essentially and “all in or you are gone” condition and the MAC would not have included it if it wasn’t okay with either walking away or retaining UMass as a full member. The latter, I think, is the MAC’s end game.
With all the shuffling going on and the Big East’s declaration that it wants to go to 14 football playing members, there is a chance that if the first 2-3 years go smoothly, UMass can receive an invitation to the Big East after that relatively short “probation” period. So, it could be a net "wash" for UMass. UMass isn't looking for football-only membership in the Big East, if things go well for them, they would be moving their Olympic sports out of the A-10 in 2-3 years anyway.
But also, with the Big 12 landing its monumental TV deal, it may not be in a rush (if at all) to expand and that maybe the linchpin that keeps the realignment carousel inert for the next 5-10 years. And this is what the MAC should focus on. There is a chance that if it can get UMass now, it may be able to keep it in the conference for the next decade and grow the northeast brand as it wants to.
If the MAC gives UMass this ultimatum, what are the REAL options for UMass after the two-year period?
If UMass insists on keeping it’s Olympic sports in the A-10, joining the “merger” (if it’s still viable) as a football only will probably NOT be an option. Also doubtful is that the Sun Belt allows for a football-only arrangement. So that leaves…
• Leave and place its (new) football program in the FBS independent ranks.
• Joining the WAC (if it’s still around as an FBS conference) as a football only.
IF circumstances turn so that the Big East is looking for additional member(s) those two options would probably not help UMass make a case. I seriously doubt that Temple would have received a Big East invitation had it gone the football independent route.
There is PRECEDENT, a program CAN and HAS made the jump from the MAC to the Big East, that is a REALITY.
So if UMass is forced to abandon the A-10 for an all sports conference, does jumping to the “merger” after the two years make more sense than staying in the MAC? That is the question that UMass will have to answer. I think the answer is now and would be still be in two years, NO. There is no telling what that conglomeration will look like in two years, hell, they themselves don’t have a clue what it will look like next week.
If UMass can build a solid program and
take care of business at home the difference between having an attractive football program (in the eyes of the Big East) could be up to how successful UMass plays on the road, and having to take cross-country 5+hr. flights to away games can make winning on the road more difficult. Why not pad the record with road games against the soft and easier-to-travel-to MAC East, the formula worked for Temple.
There is NO reason to have that clause in the contract if you are not ready to enact it the second that the opportunity presents itself. This will show just how competent (or incompetent) the MAC leadership is. It’s unfortunate that it has to be like this but the MAC needs to terminate the football-only aspect of the contract.
UMass:
The ball is in your court.