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UMass is instantly a top 4-5 bball team - Rutgers isn't top 4-5 in anything in the Big Ten besides gabagool

appears so

It would be nice if the MAC could cut some of the dead weight. I honestly couldn't care less if the Zips never played one of the MAC directionals again. Replace them with some quality directionals like Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky.

All the excitement is for nothing. CBS Boston says UMASS joining the MAC. The Mid Atlantic Conference ”BOSTON -- UMass is heading back to the MAC. The Mid-Atlantic Conference board voted Monday to add the University of Massachusetts as a full member and the school is expected to accept, according to multiple reports.” Mass joins MAC

Our exit fee from the A10 to join the MAC is 4 Million with more than 1 years notice. Think we'll be here for a while. Hard to be certain with all the changes, but we value the fit of the MAC and choice you over CUSA. This was a vote on fit, geography and stability as we have been members of the A10 since founding 1976.

I just read that U of Mass is leaving the A 10 and moving all their sports program including basketball to the MAC beginning in the 2025-2026 season. I think this is great for MAC basketball as this year Mass has a win over West Virginia and is in the middle of the A 10. I think they will be a perennial favorite in basketball.

One curse was mean to be broken that World Series because both teams couldn't lose lol.

I did some digging - we were #24 in the Week 17 Coaches Poll in 2012-13. There are four things that haunt me as a long-time Akron basketball fan: 1) Doug Penno and the clock operator. That team deserved better. 2) Suspensions of Abreu/Diggs. People rightfully recall Abreu getting suspended right before the Kent game that year, but we also would've had Diggs too had he not f'd up. Marshall Treadwell Abreu Diggs Harney Walsh Gilliam Kretzer McAdams Ibitayo Betancourt Damn. 3) CJ McCollum wanted to play for Akron but we didn't have a scholarship open and KD didn't want to "push out" a player. Was the same class as Zeke...we would've had Zeke and CJ together for 4 years 4) The UCLA game. The phantom Freeman fouls. Would Wynn have hit an open 3 in the corner if Ali kicked it out? We were so damn close.

Akron is 30 minutes from Cleveland. We don't talk about the 2016 World Series without swearing Mother Nature. To add more details to @akzipper's post, the 2012-13 team was pretty special. That season included a Bracket Buster game vs NDSU that was a blast. The final week of the season was when Abreu was arrested (it might've been just before the last game against PCCC). We went into the tournament with a lot of uncertainty at PG, and ended up beating the absolute crap out of Ohio - by 19 - to win the MAC title. We went 3-0 against Ohio that season, which was led by Jim Christian (now babysitting Pinky on PCCC's bench), and featured the same exact personnel that Groce took to the Sweet Sixteen the year prior. We were a 12 seed and got a great draw in Detroit (our closest Tourney game in 3 appearances - typically they ship us out to Spokane or something like that) vs Shaka Smart's VCU Rams. Nearly our entire team had the flu for the game, and Shaka didn't care - beat us like a dead horse by 46 pts. It was truly embarrassing. 2012-13 and 2019-20 are the seasons of "what could've been."

If you don't think we are cursed I wish I could find the replay of Freeman fouling out on a fathom illegal screen call during the UCLA game. After that call UCLA went on a run. I am firmly convinced that call cost us our first tournament victory.

The list of MAC teams that have decent football AND basketball programs is pretty short. UMass is not ever going back to the Calipari/Camby days but they'll hold up their end of MAC basketball and compete on a higher level than the directionals that have essentially given up on basketball.

A dozen posts on this page alone mocking a move that is a big step in the right direction for the MAC. We all want what's best for our Zips and since we're stuck in the MAC forever, we might as well get excited to see the conference get better and expand. Some people just like to be miserable I guess.

Maximus Barboto is deservedly mentioned in this College Soccer News article https://collegesoccernews.com/mens-college-soccer-ten-transfers-with-the-potential-to-be-difference-makers-in-2024/

This is a step in the right direction. The MAC has a competitiveness problem. Half the MAC hasn't tried in basketball for almost 2 decades. Football has become stale. The Sun Belt has surpassed the MAC in football & basketball, and at this point in time will be the winner of the largest G5 media deal behind the AAC when the next round of media deals come around. The MAC nixed expansion last realignment period, which was a negative IMO. This is a step forward, in the right direction, and needs to be succeeded by another 1-3 adds to solidify the positive movement.

I'm sure in football discussion those schools are saying the same thing about Akron. Really the only programs that have done well at both football and basketball are Toledo and Ohio. Everyone else has been good at one or the other.

One of the biggest "What ifs" in Akron Zips history. Right up there with Tyreek Hill committing to play at UA and then Bowden, rightfully changing his mind and turning him away. Didn't Larry Nance Jr want to play for Akron too? Could we have had CJ, Nance and Zeke for a few years together? 😪

Shame on me, sorry, my bad. Okay, you're cursed. Not really.

Only at the expensive of Cleveland

I couldn't decide to say thank you or give you a sad face. If the Chicago Cubs can shake the curse of the billy goat and Bartman, there is hope for everyone.

I think they were in the 20s and then immediately lost the next game to Buffalo. 2012-2013 and 2019-2020 were the two teams I thought would legitimately have a shot at making a tourney run. Unfortunately Abreu got caught trying to accept a shipment of weed, the entire team got the flu and then in 2020 Covid happened. If anyone still doubts that NE Ohio sports are cursed, I don't know what to tell you...

I think it works the other way - increases blood flow to the face so he can get a brighter hue.

Umass is currently #90 in Kenpom, higher than everyone else in the MAC including us

Would Rhode Island be interested in moving up from FCS? Natural rival to UMass and a usually solid basketball program.

Sure, the Rutgers-Big Ten comparison is valid. Rutgers seemingly offered a vast new TV market for the Big Ten but, as it turns out, NYC still doesn't care about college football. UMASS might not move the ratings needle much either in the greater Boston area, but on paper it's not a bad addition. It's a chance.

Not going to be an easy one. Ohio has been playing well as of late. I don't care if it is ugly, just get a win.

UMass basketball is decent with a chance to elevate the conference imo UMass football is bad, but so are a lot of MAC teams. It's a fine move

The MAC is the lowest rated G5 conference athletically and financially. Adding a large, nationally respected academic institution in a major TV market is harldy a bad idea. I'm not sure there are many potential members that can bring those qualities to the MAC.

Delusions of grandeur. At times I see people post thinking Akron can join the AAC or a conference like that. As if they would want our perennial 0-4 win football program. In general, online forums don't have the most rational fans.

They will instantly compete with Akron and Toledo at the top of the MAC. Their win totals are going to improve when they replace games against Dayton and VCU with Northern Illinois and Western Michigan. Using this season as an example, they're ranked 5th in the A10, but they're still currently ranked ahead of the MAC top ranked team (Akron).

I'm sorry our schedule isn't littered with ACC schools for me to get excited about like Wake Forest. UMass moves the needle for me more than a directional Michigan, Ball State, Northern Illinois, etc., especially in basketball which is typically a 2x schedule appearance. It breathes some life into an otherwise dying and stale conference, especially because this means 3 other schools are being added, too.

How so?

The results at the MAC championships were abysmal for our once proud top 25 track and field program. I would do everything I could to lure Mitchell back, even if he is making more money at Illinois as their PV coach than he made as head coach at Akron. He knew how to recruit and develop talent. This staff is doing neither. The results speak for themselves. Spend some of the UK & OSU FB guarantee money to get a quality coach in an olympic sport.

Steve - I'm assuming you're a UMass fan. Welcome back to the MAC. Thank you for bringing your basketball program this time. UMass is a good fit for the MAC across the board. Whoa! I didn't think NDSU would be a possibility. That would open the door for SDSU eventually. Illinois State would be fantastic! Maybe Northern Iowa down the road, too? I love the idea of adding strong basketball programs with budding football programs. WKU is a must.

Reality it was a huge mistake to bring in a guy with no FBS experience without requiring him to have a Chuck Amato type of OC/DC. He was way in over his head. You see it all levels. Some people are fantastic OC/DC/ position coaches, but when promoted to a higher role fail miserably.

Mike Beaven getting assigned to the Zips has been a real blessing.

Podcast from WAKR: UofA's Esports program recently celebrated a career milestone

Saw an article that this is coming back this summer and every kid will get around $600 payment for using their name and likeness. Probably the only NIL money that Akron kids will get.