UMAss coming back to the MAC

[UA1996MAENG]

19 hours ago, GP1 said:

Is this extra media coverage going to get us an extra $50,000 from ESPN?  Every school will probably blow that in the extra travel costs and then some. MAC leadership is the only leadership that leaves their organization in worse shape after every decision. I don't see UMass as their first successful move. 

 

We don't have a TV audience?  The MAC is the only thing on ESPN on Tuesday and Wednesday nights for a month. The people at Disney believe there is an audience.....until the P5 goes on their own and they fill Tues and Wed nights with match ups such as Syracuse vs Cal. 

So what helps the MAC?  Is it expansion a la Western Kentucky et al that many here support? A merger or association with Sun Belt or C-USA to expand the footprint to the point where a real boost in media revenue is a possibility? I worry about the MAC existentially because a few years from now the pay-day games with the Power conferences will become a rarity.  UA, for example, will not be able to fund football without this revenue and then what? We go back again to cancelling baseball and cross country programs? Your the MAC commisioner for the day - what's your first move?   

[GP1]

2 hours ago, akzipper said:

My completely unrealistic pipe dream would be to merge the MAC and SunBelt while cutting some dead weight to make a new conference with a north and south division.

You should dream bigger. My dream, and I predict it will come true in the next 10 years, is for G5 schools starting their own division/conference. Then a sane geographical alignment can take place. 

 

I'm just spit balling here. Why couldn't they carve out a nice eastern conference that could have the likes of UMass, Buffalo, Temple, UConn, Army, Navy in it for starters?  Maybe Marshall? Maybe Akron, Kent and YSU?  That could make a nice 10 team conference with one 05 game, one lower division game and one game against a team from another conference in our division. Round robin conference champion determines who makes the playoffs. Make every game count. 

[GP1]

5 minutes ago, UA1996MAENG said:

Your the MAC commisioner for the day - what's your first move?   

My first instinct would be to resign before I did something even more harmful than the current leadership, but I would want to at least try and be helpful.

 

My first move would be a plea for sanity. I would publicly state that the current landscape of college football is not healthy for the athletes students alumni fans and general communities around G5 schools, and request a meeting of G5 commissioners to discuss forming our own division that would extract ourselves from the current insanity. 

 

In order to reinforce what a big fat mess college football is, I would probably deliver this statement to the media in the nude while eating a Slymans corned beef sandwich. 

[UA1996MAENG]

16 minutes ago, GP1 said:

My first instinct would be to resign before I did something even more harmful than the current leadership, but I would want to at least try and be helpful.

 

My first move would be a plea for sanity. I would publicly state that the current landscape of college football is not healthy for the athletes students alumni fans and general communities around G5 schools, and request a meeting of G5 commissioners to discuss forming our own division that would extract ourselves from the current insanity. 

 

In order to reinforce what a big fat mess college football is, I would probably deliver this statement to the media in the nude while eating a Slymans corned beef sandwich. 

G5 separation is coming in some form. No need to get naked yet.  College football is a mess by virtue of the fact that it's not really college football anymore in the upper reaches of the Power conferences. What makes it so grotesque is that 100% professional teams (Ohio State, for example) will play essentially amateur and underfunded teams, including some members of its own conference.  Anyone who thinks this is good for college football is the same type of idiot who thinks bullfighting, shooting fish in a barrel, and the Harlem Globetrotters is sport.

[Let'sGoZips94]

6 minutes ago, GP1 said:

My first instinct would be to resign before I did something even more harmful than the current leadership, but I would want to at least try and be helpful.

 

My first move would be a plea for sanity. I would publicly state that the current landscape of college football is not healthy for the athletes students alumni fans and general communities around G5 schools, and request a meeting of G5 commissioners to discuss forming our own division that would extract ourselves from the current insanity. 

 

In order to reinforce what a big fat mess college football is, I would probably deliver this statement to the media in the nude while eating a Slymans corned beef sandwich. 

 

17 minutes ago, GP1 said:

You should dream bigger. My dream, and I predict it will come true in the next 10 years, is for G5 schools starting their own division/conference. Then a sane geographical alignment can take place. 

 

I'm just spit balling here. Why couldn't they carve out a nice eastern conference that could have the likes of UMass, Buffalo, Temple, UConn, Army, Navy in it for starters?  Maybe Marshall? Maybe Akron, Kent and YSU?  That could make a nice 10 team conference with one 05 game, one lower division game and one game against a team from another conference in our division. Round robin conference champion determines who makes the playoffs. Make every game count. 

 

I have normally been against a lot of your views on this stuff, but the recent ruling in favor of direct payment to players for just the P4 schools really pushed me to your side. 

 

 

If I were the commissioner of the MAC, I'd do what GP1 said and publicly call for a meeting with all G5 ADs but I'd go one step further. I'd invite any Power Conference institution that wants to get back to the more traditional roots of collegiate athletics to join. The sales pitch is a league where they'd be towards the top competitively and would be heroes saving traditional college athletics instead of the villains that power conferences have become. 

 

Once I have an agreement among AD's, take the idea to YouTube, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, etc. Go get exclusive streaming rights money. In the contract, include revenue sharing for the players that comes from the streaming company, not the schools. 

 

Have zero restrictions on NIL potential, but make NIL contractual to promote commitment to the school. 

 

Do not allow any scheduling outside of the league. No "FCS" schools, no schools from the now-semi-pro league. Keep it all in house. Operate the schedule like the NFL with set rotations, no pay days, etc. Play all playoff games on campus with a neutral site championship. 

 

Do this for every sport. 

[GP1]

1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

 

I have normally been against a lot of your views on this stuff, but the recent ruling in favor of direct payment to players for just the P4 schools really pushed me to your side. 

 

 

If I were the commissioner of the MAC, I'd do what GP1 said and publicly call for a meeting with all G5 ADs but I'd go one step further. I'd invite any Power Conference institution that wants to get back to the more traditional roots of collegiate athletics to join. The sales pitch is a league where they'd be towards the top competitively and would be heroes saving traditional college athletics instead of the villains that power conferences have become. 

 

Once I have an agreement among AD's, take the idea to YouTube, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, etc. Go get exclusive streaming rights money. In the contract, include revenue sharing for the players that comes from the streaming company, not the schools. 

 

Have zero restrictions on NIL potential, but make NIL contractual to promote commitment to the school. 

 

Do not allow any scheduling outside of the league. No "FCS" schools, no schools from the now-semi-pro league. Keep it all in house. Operate the schedule like the NFL with set rotations, no pay days, etc. Play all playoff games on campus with a neutral site championship. 

 

Do this for every sport. 

The one step further should be calling for a committee of the G5's most successful alumni of any kind to participate in a committee that would chart a course forward for G5 schools athletic interests. This matter cannot be left open to only G5 athletic directors because, if we know anything, we know they rarely act in the interests of their employers. I'm not even sure they should participate at all. 

 

Everything else can wait until the findings of this committee are complete and made public. If that involves inviting P5 schools, then they can cross that bridge after the recommendations are published. There is no current roadmap for anything going on in college football, and that's why it is a mess. G5 schools need a thoughtful roadmap to put themselves on course. 

[Steve1981]

On 5/28/2024 at 8:39 AM, akzipper said:

 

We can't emphasize this enough. The schools you mentioned do nothing for the conference and fans don't care when they come to town.

 

My completely unrealistic pipe dream would be to merge the MAC and SunBelt while cutting some dead weight to make a new conference with a north and south division.

There is good and bad with everything. But we are coming and take basketball very seriously. If will be good for the conference. If you listen to this snippet, we are coming and will be competing against you, Kent State, Toledo, Ohio and others for the conference championship. This is good for MAC basketball.

This was said at the press conference.

 

This is the follow through.

Quote

UMass men’s basketball coach Frank Martin signed a two-year extension to keep him in Amherst through the 2028-29 season, UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford announced Thursday.

Martin led the Minutemen to a 15-16 mark in his first season in 2022-23 and a 20-11 mark in 2023-24, UMass’ most wins in a decade. UMass earned the No. 4 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament and lost in the quarterfinals.

Martin and his staff will both receive raises, per release. Martin’s initial contract signed with UMass in 2022 was for five years and $1 million per year, which made him the highest-paid public employee in Massachusetts. In addition to the base salary this year, Martin also earned a $525,000 bonus, a $12,500 bonus for a top-four A-10 finish and a $150,000 retention bonus on July 1.

Article on the extension through 2028-29 season.

https://www.gazettenet.com/Frank-Martin-signs-2-year-extension-after-first-UMass-20-win-season-in-a-decade-55687570

Edited June 22 by Steve1981

[GP1]

31 minutes ago, Steve1981 said:

There is good and bad with everything. But we are coming and take basketball very seriously. If will be good for the conference. If you listen to this snippet, we are coming and will be competing against you, Kent State, Toledo, Ohio and others for the conference championship. This is good for MAC basketball.

This was said at the press conference.

 

This is the follow through.

Article on the extension through 2028-29 season.

https://www.gazettenet.com/Frank-Martin-signs-2-year-extension-after-first-UMass-20-win-season-in-a-decade-55687570

I live in SC and I like Frank Martin. He's a different kind of guy, but not in a bad way. USC probably held on to him a little long but he did a good job. 

 

Martin wins at schools where it is difficult to win by getting marginal players and making something out of them. MAC schools had better be ready when UMass comes to town because they will be well prepared and play hard. 

[kreed5120]

On 6/22/2024 at 9:25 AM, GP1 said:

I live in SC and I like Frank Martin. He's a different kind of guy, but not in a bad way. USC probably held on to him a little long but he did a good job. 

 

Martin wins at schools where it is difficult to win by getting marginal players and making something out of them. MAC schools had better be ready when UMass comes to town because they will be well prepared and play hard. 

I feel many MAC schools have given up trying to compete in basketball. It will probably just be Akron, Kent, Toledo, and Ohio looking to contend. Everyone else seems to focus only on football.

[Steve1981]

On 6/25/2024 at 3:32 PM, kreed5120 said:

I feel many MAC schools have given up trying to compete in basketball. It will probably just be Akron, Kent, Toledo, and Ohio looking to contend. Everyone else seems to focus only on football.

Was hoping the Michigan Universities could step up and have potential. Do like one of our own is the HC at Central Mich.

[kreed5120]

5 hours ago, Steve1981 said:

Was hoping the Michigan Universities could step up and have potential. Do like one of our own is the HC at Central Mich.

It's probably more likely that a school like Buffalo will emerge as another contender. They've shown a willingness to spend in the past. They just had their program derailed by a bad coaching hire.