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Post by purplehaze on Feb 23, 2024 11:34:36 GMT -5
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Feb 23, 2024 16:43:24 GMT -5
Makes sense. CUSA a hodgepodge league but its all about doing what you can to stay relevant in the ongoing game of major college football musical chairs.
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Post by timholycross on Feb 23, 2024 17:15:19 GMT -5
Makes sense. CUSA a hodgepodge league but its all about doing what you can to stay relevant in the ongoing game of major college football musical chairs. Relevant to who? Delaware is about it in terms of schools that anyone in Massachusetts has any interest in seeing.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 23, 2024 19:24:48 GMT -5
Might be doable if UMass could join football only, but the state legislature is never going to subsidize the cost of an all-sports affiliation.
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Post by mm67 on Feb 23, 2024 21:01:04 GMT -5
Admittedly Massachusetts' high schools produce some high quality big time FBS players. However the state is not a hotbed for FBS football and I doubt it ever will be. In many ways From P-Town on the Cape to the small picturesque towns of central Mass to the Berkshires in the west, Mass is a wonderful place to live & work; a beautiful state, lovely homes, good schools and Boston. American history & tradition are alive in this beautiful place. It is expensive but you get what you pay for. For better or worse FBS & Mass are a mismatch. Nor is FBS a good match for the rest of New England and my beloved home, NY. Delaware may have a need for name recognition but Mass has no such need. We have a good thing. Relax and enjoy it.
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Post by DFW HOYA on Feb 23, 2024 21:16:06 GMT -5
Might be doable if UMass could join football only, but the state legislature is never going to subsidize the cost of an all-sports affiliation. Athletic departments are very good at working the numbers, such as.... 1. CUSA media rights are about $500K more than the A-10. That helps cover the cost of travel to scenic places like Las Cruces, Huntsville, and Murfreesboro. 2. Only 12 of UMass' 21 sports are sponsored by CUSA so they could federate the others closer to home. 3. UMass already travels a lot for football, the marginal gain in travel costs would be limited. None of these on its own makes the case, but legislators tend to gloss over the details anyway.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Feb 23, 2024 22:37:09 GMT -5
Might be doable if UMass could join football only, but the state legislature is never going to subsidize the cost of an all-sports affiliation. Athletic departments are very good at working the numbers, such as.... 1. CUSA media rights are about $500K more than the A-10. That helps cover the cost of travel to scenic places like Las Cruces, Huntsville, and Murfreesboro. 2. Only 12 of UMass' 21 sports are sponsored by CUSA so they could federate the others closer to home. 3. UMass already travels a lot for football, the marginal gain in travel costs would be limited. None of these on its own makes the case, but legislators tend to gloss over the details anyway. Once upon a time, I flew non-stop on B-727s into Huntsville. Some of these locations would require charter flights, and if one didn't go charter, I think, for example, to fly to Huntsville, you would need to change planes in Atlanta. Early practice for when you're headed to heaven or hell. Direct flights to Huntsville tend to be high-priced, because most travelers (not originating in Atlanta) are people working for Uncle Sam or defense/aerospace contractors. www.recorder.com/UMass-athletic-director-Ryan-Bamford-says-finding-a-conference-for-football-program-remains-a-priority-53283340^^^ It's all about football.
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Post by longsuffering on Feb 24, 2024 1:42:17 GMT -5
UMass spins a twelve game non-league schedule out of whole cloth every season. And it's not bad with Auburn, Penn State and Merrimack last year. That's an accomplishment but their mission to be an FBS school, if it ever was convincingly articulated, is not as compelling as the original Minute men fighting for independence. Bamford has written off returning to FCS but it's the logical path forward to me.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Feb 24, 2024 5:22:15 GMT -5
UMass spins a twelve game non-league schedule out of whole cloth every season. And it's not bad with Auburn, Penn State and Merrimack last year. That's an accomplishment but their mission to be an FBS school, if it ever was convincingly articulated, is not as compelling as the original Minute men fighting for independence. Bamford has written off returning to FCS but it's the logical path forward to me. If returning to FCS isn't an option, then CUSA in all sports is really the only option.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Feb 24, 2024 5:26:24 GMT -5
Makes sense. CUSA a hodgepodge league but its all about doing what you can to stay relevant in the ongoing game of major college football musical chairs. Relevant to who?  Delaware is about it in terms of schools that anyone in Massachusetts has any interest in seeing.  CUSA is an FBS incubator conference. A temporary home for programs looking to move up the latter to better leagues and/or buy time until next major round of major college football restructuring occurs. While we scoff at UCONN and UMASS football right now, its possible dominoes could fall in a way where both end up in a league that makes a lot more sense for them in a few years.
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Post by mm67 on Feb 24, 2024 8:51:18 GMT -5
IMHO. CAA in the FCS makes most sense for these schools. A late HC classmate resident of Connecticut was furious about UConn FBS football. UConn athletics consistently ran a deficit. His taxes went to make up the shortfall. He used to complain vociferously nobody gives a damn about UConn football. Why do we have to foot the bill for what in effect is a vanity project or worse. New England is not a fertile ground for FBS. Go to states like Florida, Michigan or Ohio there is an entirely different vibe. People closely identify with their state university football teams. For some strange reason they take familial pride in a school they never attended with out-of-state players they never met, all to the monetary advantage of interlopers. Haven't heard many folks call themselves a Huskie or Minuteman. Many in the more sophisticated Northeast have other interests more important to their lives. Follow the money. I have my suspicions about the whole FBS enterprise in Mass, & Conn. Deficit spending may be going to a favored few, Peace.
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Post by timholycross on Feb 24, 2024 9:21:40 GMT -5
Relevant to who? Delaware is about it in terms of schools that anyone in Massachusetts has any interest in seeing. CUSA is an FBS incubator conference. A temporary home for programs looking to move up the latter to better leagues and/or buy time until next major round of major college football restructuring occurs. While we scoff at UCONN and UMASS football right now, its possible dominoes could fall in a way where both end up in a league that makes a lot more sense for them in a few years. As far as being attractive to some other conference, at some point the millions and millions of dollars they would need to upgrade McGuirk to roughly the size of BCs Alumni is going to bite them in the butt. UConn has a huge advantage in that regard. Playing in Foxboro was attempted and failed badly. Probably would have worked if it were Umass Boston or Umass Dartmouth that was experimenting with that. Not a place nearly 2 hours away.
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Post by longsuffering on Feb 24, 2024 9:44:19 GMT -5
What has UMass got to show for it's move to FBS? It brought running water to McGuirk and increased capacity to 17,000. Other than that it's been embarrassment after embarrassment for a proud program that won a national championship in FCS, a loss of traditional rivals except UConn and maybe BC, a painful move to Gillette Stadium that the giant UMass Diaspora in Eastern Mass did not support.
I think the best turnout at Gillette was against traditional regional rival UNH. If they didn't take the opportunity to play URI at Gillette they should have as Foxborough is near the State line.
And what is the grand goal of the move up at this point? Becoming eligible for a minor bowl few watch. Maybe NIL will save the day.
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Post by rf1 on Feb 24, 2024 9:56:11 GMT -5
Full membership in CUSA would be a deathknell for many of its sports. Such a move would make the school even more irrelevant in Massachusetts as few residents would be excited by this far flung lineup of teams:
Delaware Florida International Univ Jacksonville State Univ (AL) Liberty University (VA) Louisiana Tech Univ Middle Tenn State Univ New Mexico St Univ Sam Houston St Univ (TX) UTEP (TX) Western Kentucky Kennesaw St (GA)
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Feb 24, 2024 13:18:57 GMT -5
How many times has UMass played any of those schools in any sport…..
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Post by timholycross on Feb 24, 2024 15:53:07 GMT -5
3 pods in some sports might make it digestible; as long as you don't try and have a 18 or 20 game basketball schedule, like some leagues are doing/going to do.
Football you'd have 3 or 4 significant trips annually.
Umass, Delaware, Liberty, Kennesaw (or FIU) WKY, MTSU, FIU/Kennesaw,Jax State LaTech,UTEP,SHSU,NM State
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Feb 24, 2024 21:33:39 GMT -5
3 pods in some sports might make it digestible; as long as you don't try and have a 18 or 20 game basketball schedule, like some leagues are doing/going to do. Football you'd have 3 or 4 significant trips annually. Umass, Delaware, Liberty, Kennesaw (or FIU) WKY, MTSU, FIU/Kennesaw,Jax State LaTech,UTEP,SHSU,NM State Football schedule would be a hodgepodge as it is if they stay indy. Basketball and other A10 sports -- the Atlantic 10 isnt exactly a geographically compact league. As mentioned above, CUSA also doesnt sponsor a lot of what UMASS offers, meaning they'll have to scramble for affiliate relationships. But likely these sports would wind up in regional conferences. Remember this is all about staying relevant in football until the next round of dominoes fall.
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Post by longsuffering on Feb 24, 2024 22:24:03 GMT -5
The only sport the PL could offer a welcome mat to UMass is Field Hockey. The PL has seven teams, so eight would make it more symmetrical. Other sports the PL offers that CUSA doesn't all have ten PL teams, so eleven makes no sense. Maybe the A-10 would let them continue in sports CUSA doesn't offer.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Feb 25, 2024 8:34:03 GMT -5
The only sport the PL could offer a welcome mat to UMass is Field Hockey. The PL has seven teams, so eight would make it more symmetrical. Other sports the PL offers that CUSA doesn't all have ten PL teams, so eleven makes no sense. Maybe the A-10 would let them continue in sports CUSA doesn't offer. My guess is they land in the America East or CAA for most sports of these sports. They were a CAA member in lax before the A-10 kick started their league within the last couple years.
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Post by longsuffering on Feb 25, 2024 9:33:00 GMT -5
I was just looking at the Atlantic Ten MBB standings. Although likely not the major cause but DP left Fordham and their turn-around appears to have turned back around. 25-8 last season, 11-16 this year.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Feb 26, 2024 9:32:54 GMT -5
I was just looking at the Atlantic Ten MBB standings. Although likely not the major cause but DP left Fordham and their turn-around appears to have turned back around. 25-8 last season, 11-16 this year. Definitely a bit of a regression this season. They haven't been able to replace everything that departed grad students Dan Quisenberry and Khalid Moore brought to the floor. Those two were the glue of last year's team. Urgo needs to bring in a strong transfer or too or I unfortunately see continued regression next year.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Feb 26, 2024 10:15:58 GMT -5
Darius Quisenberry--Dan was the great KC Royals relief pitcher
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Post by bigfan on Feb 26, 2024 13:04:20 GMT -5
If Umass leaves A-10 maybe we could take the opening for our basketball program, it would improve our schedule and attendance would increase with the teams that would play at the Hart Center every year.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Feb 26, 2024 13:44:20 GMT -5
If Umass leaves A-10 maybe we could take the opening for our basketball program, it would improve our schedule and attendance would increase with the teams that would play at the Hart Center every year. If indeed UMass leaves AND the A-10 decides to back-fill them, it would indeed be a great opportunity for Holy Cross. If not for the last 15 years of desolate results on the basketball court, I am sure we would be in consideration. When you really think about it though, there aren't a whole lot of obvious candidates left. If you believe message board speculation, College of Charleston is the most rumored to be the "next" A-10 school. Others potential schools? You're looking at the likes of Drake, Belmont, UNC Wilmington, William & Mary, Hofstra, Siena, Fairfield and Holy Cross.
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Post by DFW HOYA on Feb 26, 2024 14:42:11 GMT -5
CUSA? UMass with a swerve:
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