There was more college football realignment MACtion on Monday.
With the dissolution of the Pac-12 and the expansion of the Big Ten, the Mid-American Conference will reportedly add the University of Massachusetts Amherst as its 13th member.
Posted by Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic on X, previously reported on Twitter that the MAC Board of Directors had resolved to welcome the Minutemen to the conference as “full members” beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. The Minutemen will play all sports in which the conference has a league, including soccer, which was previously independent for the University of Massachusetts.
ESPN's Pete Thamel It also shared news of the reorganization on social media. The school was also reportedly in talks with Conference USA, but the MAC had an advantage geographically.
Other University of Massachusetts sports, including baseball, basketball, track and field and women's field hockey, will leave the Atlantic 10 Conference to join the MAC. The Minutemen's men's basketball team has competed in the same conference since 1976, and their 4th place in the 1996 Finals is the only time in conference history.
Men's lacrosse, soccer, and women's rowing are not offered in the MAC. The Minutemen hockey team, which won the NCAA national championship in 2021, will reportedly remain in the Hockey East, a hockey-only conference for Division I college programs in New England.
The Minutemen football team returns to the MAC after nine years as an independent. The program competed in the conference for four seasons from 2012-2015. Football was the only sport the school participated in in the conference.
UMass will join other MAC schools: Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois, Ohio, Toledo and Western Michigan.
