Matt Brown (Extra Points) knows more about realignment than Any poster on any site. He is Not always right--but here is his comment from the realignment board-- "I will be very, very, surprised if it isn't UMASS."

IMO UMASS is STILL very much in the mix--but in realignment anything can happen. I will say one thing for Sure----

the addition of UD Helps--Not hurts the possibility of a UMASS all sports add.

(11-27-2023 07:03 PM)Schadenfreude Wrote:  A western Mass sportswriter thinks UMass will make a decision in the next month. He suspects Conference USA will be the choice, but he won't rule out the MAC.

https://www.gazettenet.com/With-Delaware...n-53171554

UMASS if offered will be CUSA in the end for the same reasons UD chose CUSA in the end.

(11-28-2023 08:49 AM)Gemofthehills Wrote:  UMASS if offered will be CUSA in the end for the same reasons UD chose CUSA in the end.

Like we all chose CUSA in the end. Thankfully we are making some high quality lemonade out of lemons (not referring to any teams as lemons).

I would be happy with UMass all sports.

I know their basketball hasn't really been a world beater recently, but WKU fans can't throw stones in glass houses on that front.

CUSA has a fair amount of programs that traditionally care about hoops (WKU, UTEP, MTSU, NMSU, LaTech, SHSU, Liberty). Delaware has had some success in making the tournament over the years as well. KSU was trending in the right direction before they lost their coach. FIU has a new AD, and hopefully a new emphasis on athletics. UMass isn't going to find a better FBS home for their hoops program. The AAC isn't picking up the phone.

They don’t have a NCAA tournament win since 1996. Only appearance since the turn of the century was in 2014.

22-90 in football over the past ten seasons. Atrocious attendance for a state flagship with over a decade of FBS football under their belt. They’re the third, at best, CFB team in pro-sports crazed Massachusetts market. And not a great looking facility (just viewing photos on their website) for a school with a $40M athletic budget.

An extra five hours north of Delaware, not even remotely close to within the footprint. Why add the extra travel for mediocre AT BEST programs?

Academics and money? I get the allure. Hope we don’t offer.

(11-27-2023 01:35 PM)EKUSteve Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 01:17 PM)unalions Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 01:15 PM)EatEmUp11 Wrote:  

(11-27-2023 12:32 PM)Bobcat2013 Wrote:  https://csnbbs.com/thread-982013-page-4.html

Apparently Matt Brown said the next add will be from the west. Tarleton says hi

Not seeing anything from Brown in the thread.

The poster changed it to say “CUSA source” but hasn’t provided any links so far.

It was AllforOne's twitter.

This is correct.

And just for clarification... AllforOne said that the NEXT team (#12) will NOT be UMass, but will be from the West. However, CUSA ultimately intends to expand to 14, and UMass is still being considered for that expansion.

Is this legit? Heaven only knows.

I still maintain that since we've swung east with Delaware, we need to continue that trend with at least one more eastern team. UMass makes sense for some reasons and doesn't make sense for others. EKU makes sense for some reasons and doesn't make sense for others. Rinse and repeat for any other eastern candidates. Or western candidates, for that matter.

But adding a western team as No. 12 just mucks up the works when it comes to divisions or pods, creating a regional imbalance which can't be worked out without moving a team from the center of the footprint (all of whom identify more as eastern) to the West, or if you use pods, shifting La Tech from the west to the Central, and moving a single central team to the East. It's just incredibly messy.

Things certainly aren't perfect if the 12th team is eastern, but it's a whole lot nicer to look at on a map.

"Stolen" from the csnbbs board.

Average CUSA v. MoSt v. Tarleton

https://knightnewhousedata.org/reports/6f5de6c7


Good stuff here.

Check it out vs UMass:

CUSA vs UMass vs Mizzou St vs Tarleton

(11-28-2023 12:19 PM)whupemall Wrote:  AllforOne said that the NEXT team (#12) will NOT be UMass, but will be from the West. However, CUSA ultimately intends to expand to 14, and UMass is still being considered for that expansion.

Is this legit? Heaven only knows.

I mean, that person certainly has CUSA thoughts (all of which happen to be positive) and expansion thoughts (all of which seem terrible which probably makes it the most likely path for CUSA).



But adding a western team as No. 12 just mucks up the works when it comes to divisions or pods,

It's just incredibly messy.

Far be it from me to justify CUSA expansion, but the good news here is that you don't need divisions or pods. It might have been a smart thing to pursue if all other things were equal but you really didn't have great options to add to this 9/10 for divisions at any point. So why bother? Just protect what you need to and don't bother.

Things certainly aren't perfect if the 12th team is eastern, but it's a whole lot nicer to look at on a map.

Maybe. But "nicer" in this context wasn't ever going to be very nice no matter what.

(11-28-2023 11:45 AM)EatEmUp11 Wrote:  They don’t have a NCAA tournament win since 1996. Only appearance since the turn of the century was in 2014.

22-90 in football over the past ten seasons. Atrocious attendance for a state flagship with over a decade of FBS football under their belt. They’re the third, at best, CFB team in pro-sports crazed Massachusetts market. And not a great looking facility (just viewing photos on their website) for a school with a $40M athletic budget.

An extra five hours north of Delaware, not even remotely close to within the footprint. Why add the extra travel for mediocre AT BEST programs?

Academics and money? I get the allure. Hope we don’t offer.

The 22-90 in football shows they just don't prioritize it. Which is a scary thing to me.

I'm only on board with UMass if they show they are willing to invest in their football program

What if the plan all along was to announce UD the week of the CUSA Championship and UMass the week following the CUSA championship, giving each their moment in the spotlight. Seems very plausible.

(11-29-2023 03:43 PM)techdawg88 Wrote:  I'm only on board with UMass if they show they are willing to invest in their football program

You may have hit the nail on the head!

I had not considered that point strongly enough in previous UMASS research.

See next post.

https://www.gazettenet.com/With-Delaware...n-53171554

This article mentions CUSA as a viable possibility. But...

After reading this and doing some other studying I was reminded of comments by some that UMASS moved up to FBS "on the cheap". They have done a few improvements--but still lag behind in several areas. IMO there is a LOT of truth to this assertion.

Near the end of the story in the link above the author (even tho pro-UMASS) says--

"But is UMASS a desirable addition to a conference?"

So... Maybe the perceived delay on joining a league is getting a conference to "WANT" UMASS FB in their current condition?

It could be they are being asked or TOLD to show more investment into the football program (with guarantees) before CUSA (or MAC) will even make an invite??

Membership decisions are FOOTBALL DRIVEN (not BB or anything else).

Does UMASS have the resources AND willingness to compete in FBS FB?

A DIRECT reference to this idea(requirement) DID come up today in the Delaware news conference. UD has or soon will invest over 140 million just in facilities--and has the resources and "will" to do even more to compete at a high level in FBS. It was mentioned more than once that UD was READY.

I'm convinced CUSA will not invite UMASS without some assurances written into the contract.

Otherwise we go to Missouri St., EKU, SFA, etc..--OR stay at eleven for a good while.

CUSA is not in a situation where we "must" add another member.

I don’t want to invite someone on a promise to upgrade the facilities. Do it and then give us a call.

If you ask many (I hesitate to say "most") UMass fans, they'll tell you football is an afterthought there because they view themselves as a basketball school.

My concern there is that they don't have much to show in basketball over the past 20+ years. Since 2001, they have exactly one NCAA tourney appearance (eliminated in the 1st round in 2014) and four NIT appearances (none since 2013). Their record since that 2014 NCAA appearance, excluding this season, is 142-149 (.488).

Gonzaga is a basketball school. UMass is just a school whose fans enjoy watching basketball.

The Minutemen are pretty darn good at ice hockey, though. If only that was a sport sponsored by CUSA...

DELAWARE has more NCAA basketball appearances (2) than UMASS(1) since 2000.

Neither won any games.

During the Delaware news conference, Judy seemed to regret being quoted saying we want to get to 12 teams. It makes me think she's open to 14, which would be a path for UMass and Missouri State. It may not happen this window, but I could see them being added in time for the next TV deal negotiations.

(11-30-2023 12:07 PM)smith79jordan Wrote:  During the Delaware news conference, Judy seemed to regret being quoted saying we want to get to 12 teams. It makes me think she's open to 14, which would be a path for UMass and Missouri State. It may not happen this window, but I could see them being added in time for the next TV deal negotiations.

You may be right. I think TV is the ultimate driver for adding UMass. If the network(s) want them, they'll be at least No. 13, if not No. 12.

If we add them next, I think we stay at 12 for awhile. Possibly for good.

If Tarleton (or anyone else in the west) is added next instead, all bets are off until the next TV contract is signed, sealed, and delivered. It all boils down to whether or not the networks want a northeastern team. But if we go to 13, you know 14 won't be far behind.

LOTS of reasons to not go above 12 as a G5. Start with CUSA14 and their problems in recent history; unable to agree, more room for "bottom feeders", less revenue, and MORE. Just ask some of the "legacy five". Fourteen did not work well for us.