Insert joke here...No seriously. The University of Massachusetts and the Mid-American Conference will part ways in 2015. And aside from the requisite jokes being made due to the ineptitude of the Minutemen football program, there's actually a reason for this.
UMass was a football only member of the MAC, the basketball team plays in the Atlantic 10.
According to ESPN.com, UMass was asked to be a full-time member of the MAC, but decided to pass. The problem: The Atlantic 10 is a basketball only conference. And the MAC, well, they wanted all or nothing from the Minutemen.
Read more from ESPN.com RIGHT HERE
So...this has little to no impact on the MAC. They will become a 12-team conference. No big deal, even scheduling in 2016.
UMass has a bigger problem. Perennially one of the worst teams in the FBS (Division 1), they are a bad team now with no home. The school wants to stay where they are, the problem is, where do they go? Most of the smaller College Football programs in the Northeastern U.S are FCS (1-AA) teams. There are several that play in FBS, but they are all in power conferences. None of which would have any interest.
Not a huge story on the Sports landscape here, but an interesting one never the less and one that further enhances a question we often ask: What happens to the non-power schools in the FBS after the playoff and split happens?
And no, there's not a simple answer....
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