Ball State head coach Mike Neu speaks pregame before playing against Kentucky State on Sept. 2, 2023 in Lexington, Kentucky.
AP file
AMHERST – Massachusetts may join the MAC in all sports in 2025-2026, but the football program is no stranger to the conference either. From 2012 to 2015, the Minutemen competed in the MAC as a football-only squad and went 8-40.
In the eight years since then, the University of Massachusetts has played a total of 11 games against six of the 12 MAC schools and won just once, a 2019 victory over Akron. The Minutemen have played multiple MAC schools in each of the past three seasons and have five games scheduled against MAC schools in next year's final season as an FBS independent.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette spoke with Ball State head coach Mike Neu and 2023 MAC champion head coach Chuck Martin to learn more about the affinity that UMass and the MAC already share. I heard.
“I saw the crossover tape as we were getting ready for a MAC opponent,” Neu said. “I feel like I watched so much tape of UMass that I feel like they were in our conference because they play quite a few MAC schools.”
Massachusetts athletics director Ryan Bamford said scheduling is one of the biggest obstacles to Massachusetts State's success as an FBS program. UMass won 22 conference championships between the Yankee Conference, Atlantic 10, and Colonial Athletic Association during its operation as an FCS program. However, since ascending to the FBS ranks in 2012, the Minutemen have a combined record of 24-112, including 16-72 as an independent team.
“I can tell you it was tough (playing as an independent). Very difficult,” Bamford said at Thursday's press conference announcing his move to the conference. “The stability of this conference cannot be overstated because every year, (head football coach Don Brown) has to prepare for 12 new and different opponents. And two of them… The three of them are Power Five opponents. That's tough. That's a challenge. Building a program in a little over 10 years as an independent FBS program is an added layer to the dynamic and a structural addition. is difficult to overcome.”
Without conferences, the University of Massachusetts often regularly faces teams it hasn't seen in years, or perhaps ever. The University of Massachusetts played all three teams for the first time last year and will face Cotton Bowl champion Missouri State for the first time in 2024.
“It's great to have continuity,” Brown said. “You're essentially playing eight or nine opponents a year every year. That way your preparation is ingrained and you're not starting from scratch.”
UMass played 12 games last year. The only opponent they ever played more than five times was UConn.
There are 12 teams in the conference and fewer than 12 conference games, so UMass doesn't play the exact same teams every year. However, they can be expected to spend most of their schedule playing against the same roster of 12 MAC schools.
“Not only are there the physical challenges that those (SEC) teams present, but there's also the challenge of their concepts and schemes and getting players lined up and ready and competing at a high level,” Brown said. Ta. “It’s really nice to have eight opponents[on the schedule regularly]now, and we know the MAC well. We've played three or four (MAC) teams and next year we'll play five MAC teams. So obviously we're kind of having a transition year.”
Martin agreed.
Miami's coach joked, “Maybe we should throw them in next year.”
Martin's Redhawks faced UMass last year and will play again this year as part of their non-conference schedule. He was surprised by the move, but said it makes sense, although the MAC hasn't added a school for football since the University of Massachusetts left in 2015.
“From our school’s standpoint, we know we’ve always liked UMass because it’s a similar institution with very high academic standards,” Martin said. “That's why people at our school and upstairs always think, 'OK, UW-Massachusetts and UW-Miami, we have similar ideals about how this school should operate.' From our perspective, you always like to play like a like-minded group. We always liked having them in (when they were at MAC from 2012 to 2015). ”
Now, no matter how the Minutemen perform in their five games against MAC opponents next year, they will enter the conference with the best losing record ever against MAC opponents.
Mr Bamford hopes increased investment will solve the problem. During Thursday's press conference, he noted that Massachusetts State and schools in the MAC have similar resources and recruit many of the same players. He said the University of Massachusetts would currently rank first or second in the MAC (behind Toledo) in terms of football expenses and coaching salaries. But he promised to be at the top of both categories once he joins the conference in 2025-26.
Neu believes they are a good fit.
“From a skillset standpoint, the group of players that we're getting at our current institutions and what UMass is getting there recruiting wise (is) similar,” Neu said. “So I think it will be a smooth familiarity and transition for them.”
