UMassHoops.com

EBox · Senior Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 869 Location: New Jersey

http://brett-mcmurphy.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/29532522/34946571

Could really hurt the A-10 in basketball....

uz2b-len · Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:28 pm Post subject:

All the conferences are changing and reformulating. The a10 will be no exception. UMass just needs to stay ahead of the curve and find themselves the best situation, which is, of course, why we've moved ahead in football. Worst case scenario: we end up MAC in all sports.
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DoctorJ · Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:47 pm Post subject:

I wouldn't be happy with hoop in the MAC, although it would probably be easier to win the conference more often.
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Winslow05 · Senior Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 865

I don't think the MAC is quite as strong as the current A10, but who is to say the A10 as we know it is going to stay the same.

I don't think the the MAC is a bad league, plus if we become a full time member of the MAC we gain back 4 OOC games we can try to schedule up. We could also use those games to try and schedule some of our current rivals in the A10.

If we went full time MAC I could see us become like Memphis under Cal and dominate the league and have a great OOC schedule.

Does the MAC tournament champion get an automatic bid to NCAA tourney?

OutlawPete · Senior Joined: 01 Oct 2009 Posts: 1436 Location: UMass

Yes, the MAC gets an auto-bid. FWIW I'm hearing this isn't done yet (and from somewhere else besides the news report that just came out). Doesn't mean it won't happen though.
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uz2b-len · Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:22 pm Post subject:

for hoops, yes
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Winslow05 · Senior Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 865

I think if Temple goes our athletic department has to do two things immediately (if they havent already done so recently)

1) Explore what it would take for the Big East to take us as a full-time member.

2) If the Big East has no interest in us, express an interest joining the MAC as a full-time member. This will show the MAC we are committed to them and they will in turn not kick us out.

While it may look like a step down going to the MAC for all sports, I really think DK has us in a position that if we joined that league we could quickly become a perrenial NCAA team and we could have a great OCC schedule.

I really think Molnar is going to have our football team competitive very quickly and this will enhance our brand and we will be the big fish in a small pond for hoops and football.

Tman1319 · Sophomore Joined: 18 Jan 2012 Posts: 208

Would have loved for the Big East to take us in, but I don't think it is going to happen. Robert Kraft went in front of the Big East before we joined the MAC to try and convince them to add us and they said they weren't interested.

DoctorJ · Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:22 am Post subject:

This is a very interesting topic. So cool that we beat Xavier one day and the next day we get the whole conference scramble to think about.

I'll put in a few comments. I do like the Temple games and having them in our conference. However, the "rivalry" has been so tepid for the last decade that it really doesn't mean much to many people as far as I can tell.

The A10 will be fine without Temple. I don't want to see them go but I am happy for them. I don't think they will dominate the Big East in hoops or FB.

I think that, kind of like Rutgers, you have to wonder if they would be better off at the top of a weaker division than at the bottom of the BE.

As far as the MAC, the east division is pretty good but the west is kind of yucky. Most of those schools don't have much appeal to me. So I am glad that we are in the east division for FB. I would be bummed if we joined in basketball but I would expect we would win the division and go to the dance more often.

As far as joining the Big East, IDK. Sometimes I think Memphis was better off in the CUSA than they will be in the BE.

So does the A10 try to add teams or stay put???
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Blutrane93 · Senior Joined: 14 Apr 2010 Posts: 1258

I think you'd have to see basketball only schools like Xavier, St. Louis, St. Joe's, Duquesne, LaSalle, etc. leave the A-10 for a brand new basketball only conference before UMass would go anywhere. That would mean that there would be a new alignment in the NCAA in general and if that was the case, the possible destinations for UMass would probably look a lot different than today. In other words, losing Temple would be bad for the A-10, but they will look to replace them with a lesser program, and it will take a lot more than Temple leaving before UMass basketball considers, in baseball parlance, a move from Triple AAA to Single A like moving from the A-10 to the MAC would be.

uz2b-len · Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 1:36 am Post subject:

Agreed, I was only suggesting that could happen if the a10 fell completely apart.
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Blutrane93 · Senior Joined: 14 Apr 2010 Posts: 1258

http://gazettenet.com/blog/umass-sports/who-do-you-want-to-replace-temple-in-the-atlantic-10

From Matty V. Vote on who you would want to see replace Temple in the A-10. Pretty nice list of schools here.

uz2b-len · Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:04 am Post subject:

The fans are voting for Butler, based no doubt on their recent spectacular success. They do have a great coach, but without him, what do they offer?
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Jackman · Senior Joined: 02 Jun 2006 Posts: 1973

Any mid-major is only one bad coaching hire away from cratering the program and having to start over. We know that all too well. I'd prefer to look at expansion candidates who have had reasonable success under multiple head coaches and athletic directors, which would suggest that they have the foundation in place to continue to attract good personnel for their program. I respect what Butler has done, but I don't trust it to last.

shovelhd · Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:12 am Post subject:

Who's to say that Temple would be replaced at all? Another team could leave and the conference could drop to 12.