Delaware to leave CAA, what's next?

[RhowdyRam02]

Based on SmartyBarrett's post in the Bryant thread:



With Delaware leaving after next season, it might be time to split up the CAA. The two conference could look like this. First you'd have the CAA schools:

Campbell, Elon, Hampton, Monmouth, North Carolina A&T, Towson, Stony Brook, William & Mary

And here are the remaining schools with their main conference:

Albany (America East), Maine (America East), New Hampshire (America East), Rhode Island (A10), Richmond (A10), Villanova (Big East), Bryant (America East)

If you're schools that don't have all of your sports in the CAA, this change allows you to play under a difference conference banner, most likely America East, and no longer be beholden to automatically having new CAA additions added to your football conference. Because both conferences have at least 6 schools, both conferences would be eligible to an automatic bid. This change would allow both conferences to play a round robin format and reduce travel costs. And if there is a concern about strength of schedule and out of conference scheduling, the second to last week of the regular season you could do a conference challenge where first place in the new conference plays first place in the CAA, and so on down the standings. Not sure how that would would if there were a different amount of teams in each conference, but I'm sure something could be figured out

[RF1]

I would have no issue in a new version of the original Yankee Conference. URI has nothing in common with schools such as Campbell, NC A&T, Elon, Hampton.

[OBRAM]

This has been going on for 15 years, and Rhody has no plan to upgrade, just stay stagnant, which is to say falling behind.

[4Diffs]

This has been going on for 15 years, and Rhody has no plan to upgrade, just stay stagnant, which is to say falling behind.

And what would that be? The upgrade? Curious to hear what these upgrades would be. I assume you mean jumping up to FBS. Join Conference USA? Be like UMass with a rudderless football program. Even UConn is having issues finding a home for its football team. Alot easier to complain than come up with solutions. I for one am happy with where the football program is. I am under no illusions that RI can compete in FBS. Losing Delaware does what exactly? It is not like they were a draw in RI or anything. I get they were a good program but not sure this is the move that requires us looking at what to do with the entire football program.

A much bigger fear would be what happens if the A10 implodes. Cannot be a 15 team conference and be a one bid league. That is unsustainable.

At least RhodyRam02 explained what he wants to happen. Some of that makes sense, but in the back of my mind, I would not mind having the CAA be a fall back if the A10 falls apart. Worse conferences to be in. You have Northeastern in Boston which is much closer than UMass is. Hofstra in Long Island, Monmouth in NJ and Bryant now. Drexel in Philly and Stony Brook as well. Yes it is a step down but I would imagine anything would be. I am not advocating for this but not sure I would break away from CAA football to maybe close this possibility altogether.

[RhowdyRam02]

Where I disagree is I don't see the CAA denying URI sports because the football conference separated if we offered to join at a later date if the A10 implodes, and I think America East would be the most logical destination if the A10 implodes, not the CAA

[4Diffs]

Where I disagree is I don't see the CAA denying URI sports because the football conference separated if we offered to join at a later date if the A10 implodes, and I think America East would be the most logical destination if the A10 implodes, not the CAA

Well if I am the CAA and a school leaves the football side of the conference and then wants to come back as a full member not sure that I would be on board with that. I think it hurts the chances. Now the A10 to the America East is a drop too far for me. The CAA is a significantly better basketball conference than the America East. That would be a catastrophe in my opinion.

Interesting article about the UMass situation. https://dailycollegian.com/2023/11/wend ... ew-future/

[Rhody15]

Where I disagree is I don't see the CAA denying URI sports because the football conference separated if we offered to join at a later date if the A10 implodes, and I think America East would be the most logical destination if the A10 implodes, not the CAA

Well if I am the CAA and a school leaves the football side of the conference and then wants to come back as a full member not sure that I would be on board with that. I think it hurts the chances. Now the A10 to the America East is a drop too far for me. The CAA is a significantly better basketball conference than the America East. That would be a catastrophe in my opinion.

Interesting article about the UMass situation. https://dailycollegian.com/2023/11/wend ... ew-future/

If we end up in either of those conferences, you can kiss goodbye 4* high school recruits (not that we get many now), top level coaches like Danny and Archie and good OOC opponents.

Would be a disaster all around.

[4Diffs]

Where I disagree is I don't see the CAA denying URI sports because the football conference separated if we offered to join at a later date if the A10 implodes, and I think America East would be the most logical destination if the A10 implodes, not the CAA

Well if I am the CAA and a school leaves the football side of the conference and then wants to come back as a full member not sure that I would be on board with that. I think it hurts the chances. Now the A10 to the America East is a drop too far for me. The CAA is a significantly better basketball conference than the America East. That would be a catastrophe in my opinion.

Interesting article about the UMass situation. https://dailycollegian.com/2023/11/wend ... ew-future/

If we end up in either of those conferences, you can kiss goodbye 4* high school recruits (not that we get many now), top level coaches like Danny and Archie and good OOC opponents.

Would be a disaster all around.

I do not disagree with you but one is worse than the other. Either one is a big step down. More than likely the A10 will continue as a conference and that does sound better than either of these conferences. They may lose a few teams but the majority will still end up together. One benefit of being a 15 team league. But if it does blow up, I prefer the CAA to the America East. But now that I have looked a little closer at this I hope the A10 stays together. The CAA has fallen way off recently. In 2022 they were 14th in the NET and the America East was 26. That was even worse then the America East which was 25. OK I stand corrected, the CAA is not what I thought it was. Let's hope it does not come to this.

[Steve81]

This has been going on for 15 years, and Rhody has no plan to upgrade, just stay stagnant, which is to say falling behind.

And what would that be? The upgrade? Curious to hear what these upgrades would be. I assume you mean jumping up to FBS. Join Conference USA? Be like UMass with a rudderless football program. Even UConn is having issues finding a home for its football team. Alot easier to complain than come up with solutions. I for one am happy with where the football program is. I am under no illusions that RI can compete in FBS. Losing Delaware does what exactly? It is not like they were a draw in RI or anything. I get they were a good program but not sure this is the move that requires us looking at what to do with the entire football program.

A much bigger fear would be what happens if the A10 implodes. Cannot be a 15 team conference and be a one bid league. That is unsustainable.

At least RhodyRam02 explained what he wants to happen. Some of that makes sense, but in the back of my mind, I would not mind having the CAA be a fall back if the A10 falls apart. Worse conferences to be in. You have Northeastern in Boston which is much closer than UMass is. Hofstra in Long Island, Monmouth in NJ and Bryant now. Drexel in Philly and Stony Brook as well. Yes it is a step down but I would imagine anything would be. I am not advocating for this but not sure I would break away from CAA football to maybe close this possibility altogether.

We have a rudder, it was just stuck for 12 years. Imagine a Northern G5 conference. Now RF1 is going to love this one
The east has been split up and is a wet dream.

Now just like patent claims, others could have already had the idea. But taking what was said during the Miami game and looking at Delaware's net rating fired of an email to Jon Steinbrecher and the next day thought need to keep others in the loop.

This was my email the weekend of of Sept 9th. The idea is a mixture of want I've heard, the idea of pairing from the MTSU and WKU attempt that we have a tight pairing and be the G5 conference of the north. The south has 3 G5 conferences and the west has one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher,

Hope you are well and writing again as care deeply about the MAC and UMass, especially with Delaware looking more closely at going FBS. They are worthy, however know UMass cares deeply about the basketball program. Think the best way for UMass to move sooner than later would be discussing the possibility of pairing UMass all sports and UConn FB only with an exit fee suitable for finding a 14th member. Also, to communicate with AD Thor Bjorn of URI. While URI basketball facility is great the football is horrible. See with time if he can get approval to prepare URI for FBS. There are others as Delaware.

[OBRAM]

URI never built on the successes of the football program in 1984-1985. It was of course a time that State support for URI went into a nose dive. However, when the East Stands were built around 1978, they were already near the bottom of stadium facilities. Only now, almost 45 years later are there plans to replace. In the meantime, the West Stands, Press boss, and field house were removed, and Football teams were showering in trailers until the Ryan Center was built, and then it took a long time to get the West Stands rebuilt.

[RF1]

URI never built on the successes of the football program in 1984-1985. It was of course a time that State support for URI went into a nose dive. However, when the East Stands were built around 1978, they were already near the bottom of stadium facilities. Only now, almost 45 years later are there plans to replace. In the meantime, the West Stands, Press boss, and field house were removed, and Football teams were showering in trailers until the Ryan Center was built, and then it took a long time to get the West Stands rebuilt.

That has sadly also mostly been the mantra of URI toward men's basketball for many decades. Nothing was done to build upon the success in 1978 or of the 1988 NCAA Sweet-16. The school seemed content to keep things as they were and made no significant upgrades to the program. Just a few years later had Head Coach Al Skinner working from an office in a trailer. Same thing happened again when Dan Hurley led the team to the A-10 title and second round of the NCAA in 2017. The school sat back with nothing new to reward the program and ensure more continued success. Hurley saw this and started to look elsewhere. Once his departure to UConn seemed imminent a year later, they made a last ditch offer that was too little too late. In that offer, they committed to building a new practice facility. It then took some five years to get that done. Only once in my 45 years of following URI hoops has the school actually built upon its success - the 1998 Elite-8 was the impetus that finally got a new modern on campus arena built. That was however very much helped out by the fact that two of the most important men in RI at that time were URI alums and hoops supporters - Governor Lincoln Almond and CVS Ceo Tom Ryan. URI sadly rarely ever has such a favorable scenario with supporters in key positions in RI to help it out.

[RhowdyRam02]

From the last tweet, the Richmond AD: "Anytime you lose members of the stature of, cornerstone members such as JMU and Delaware, you have to sit up and take notice. The CAA is strong. It’s a nationally respected league in football and it will continue to be strong. But not only are those cornerstone programs gone, but those were regional rivals for us and I know our fans and our athletes looked forward to those games each and every year. How that’s going to impact us moving forward? Well, those are gaps now that we’re going to have to fill and we’re going to work with CAA’s leadership in filling those gaps appropriately. To say that it’s business as usual would not be an accurate statement right now. We’re really trying to get our arms around these changes, and we will. We’re really kind of in the reactive mode right now rather than the proactive mode."

[Steve81]

After watching the UMass Sports Insider Special edition, believe we will be gone for the 2025-26 season. Which you guys luck, but words talking about a department move and we are an outlier in the A10 with Hockey and FBS. Which you guys the best with Meade and in general and here is the 30 minute video.

[NYGFan_Section208]

After watching the UMass Sports Insider Special edition, believe we will be gone for the 2025-26 season. Which you guys luck, but words talking about a department move and we are an outlier in the A10 with Hockey and FBS. Which you guys the best with Meade and in general and here is the 30 minute video.

Yawn.

[PresWR]

The way Delaware got beat down in the playoffs, they should stay right where they are. They are not JMU!

[OBRAM]

Unless you are in Big12, SEC, Big10, or ACC you are not going to make big money (ND not counting) nor will you get the recruits. You will be traveling for all other sports maybe down to the Southeast. Most schools even in the Big 4 conferences don't have a shot. Unfortunately, the Northeast Schools never could get their football conference act together at the 1A FBS level.

[Steve81]

Wish you guys were #14, but it's a big hill to climb.
FYI: Today 11 am

https://twitter.com/UMassAthletics/status/1764807984377405462


UMass Athletics : https://t.co/82BUS9Rkly
ESPN+ : https://t.co/92KKNJd78B
YouTube : https://t.co/j0hpXctkqe

Very excited to join MACtion, the conference of rivals. We'll have Buffalo

Massachusetts Athletics Joins the MAC
How to Watch the Introductory Press Conference

The University of Massachusetts will host an introductory press conference at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 7 at the Martin Jacobson Football Performance Center.

Hear from Chancellor Javier Reyes, Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford, MAC Commissioner John Steinbrecher, Head Football Coach Don Brown and Head Men's Basketball Coach Frank Martin on our move to the Mid-American Conference.

The press conference is open to media and invited guests only. It will be live streamed for the public on YouTube, UMassAthletics.com and ESPN+. To tune in, click the buttons Above in this post.

[RF1]

URI thanks UMass for the approximate $280K contribution ($4M exit fee divided by remaining a-10 members) to Rhody athletics.

[SGreenwell]

Wish you guys were #14, but it's a big hill to climb.
FYI: Today 11 am

https://twitter.com/UMassAthletics/status/1764807984377405462


UMass Athletics : https://t.co/82BUS9Rkly
ESPN+ : https://t.co/92KKNJd78B
YouTube : https://t.co/j0hpXctkqe

Very excited to join MACtion, the conference of rivals. We'll have Buffalo

Massachusetts Athletics Joins the MAC
How to Watch the Introductory Press Conference

The University of Massachusetts will host an introductory press conference at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 7 at the Martin Jacobson Football Performance Center.

Hear from Chancellor Javier Reyes, Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford, MAC Commissioner John Steinbrecher, Head Football Coach Don Brown and Head Men's Basketball Coach Frank Martin on our move to the Mid-American Conference.

The press conference is open to media and invited guests only. It will be live streamed for the public on YouTube, UMassAthletics.com and ESPN+. To tune in, click the buttons Above in this post.

Best of luck in breaking .500 in year 13 of your modern FBS play. UMass continuing to double and triple down on football continues to seem like sheer lunacy to me, but y'all seem pretty intent to keep trying.

[Steve81]

No problem, we are currently in 5th places with the hope of 4th and hear next year. Will you guys still be in the bottom 1/3 of the A10.

[RAMFAN]

After watching the UMass Sports Insider Special edition, believe we will be gone for the 2025-26 season. Which you guys luck, but words talking about a department move and we are an outlier in the A10 with Hockey and FBS. Which you guys the best with Meade and in general and here is the 30 minute video.

I which you could spell.

[Rhody15]

No problem, we are currently in 5th places with the hope of 4th and hear next year. Will you guys still be in the bottom 1/3 of the A10.

What.

[Steve81]

Ok, Here Here!
4th place and double A10T bye. Perhaps in the next year plus we can leave you some NCAAT cash as well.

[RF1]

Steve:

Could you offer some insight to why UMass fans no longer come out to basketball games and how you think the lower level MAC will impact attendance. Are UMass hoops fans anxiously awaiting games with the directional Michigans?

Even with 20 wins this season (present record of 20-10), the UMass average attendance could not even get near 4k as it was only 3,477 in a venue that seats 9,493. This was actually less than the prior year when the team's record was 15-16. This runs counter to what Frank Martin said at the MAC presser.


UMASS HOME ATTENDANCE AVERAGE
SEASON | GAMES | TOTAL | AVERAGE
2009-10 | 14 | 55,823 | 3,987
2010-11 | 17 | 56,096 | 3,300
2011-12 | 16 | 68,471 | 4,279
2012-13 | 14 | 73,564 | 5,255
2013-14 | 13 | 85,069 | 6,544
2014-15 | 15 | 68,291 | 4,553
2015-16 | 16 | 53,841 | 3,365
2016-17 | 18 | 59,338 | 3,297
2017-18 | 17 | 50,901 | 2,994
2018-19 | 17 | 47,468 | 2,792
2019-20 | 16 | 43,477 | 2,717
2020-21 | n/a | n/a | n/a
2021-22 | 15 | 33,291 | 2,219
2022-23 | 14 | 50,124 | 3,580
2023-24 | 16 | 55,633 | 3,477
TOTAL | 218 | 801,387 | 3,676

UMass has filled just 39% of the capacity of the Mullins Center for men's basketbll games over the last 15 seasons.


Someone should explain to Frank Martin that 3,477 is less than 3,580.

[Steve81]

RF1, winning matters and is generally a trailing indicator. We have not been very good till this year. We have a terrible habit of losing when we start building momentum, for example 7,016 for the Bonnies game and we lose. There are other factors as hockey being a student favorite and sometimes playing the night before. Some of the Camby era folks are aging and got fed up with the previous seasons. Don't expect things to change a lot. The MAC generally has 4 good teams, we'll see how many of those are home games. Attendance did trend upward after Christmas. But still need to acknowledge, people no longer care a lot of A10 mostly private teams. Noting the A10 season opener had 2,227 fans for one of the other original A10 members. Don't know if the turf war between football fans and basketball fans had an impact.

Wish you guys better times and this is something we needed to do.

[RF1]

I will give you that UMass has found a home in a very stable conference. The MAC is unlike most other leagues in this chaotic conference realignment era as it sees few teams come or go. Your football team will finally have a long term home which will make scheduling far easier. I however do not think joining the MAC will really meaningfully elevate ANY program in Amherst and will in fact hurt more. Football may do better record wise but I don't think it will matter much given the conference level. Other sports such as men's basketball will really take a hit. You point out that the A-10 was mostly private and the MAC is public. The league may therefore be a better institutional fit. Most people in the New England region are however far more familiar with the east coast and its schools, be it they public or private. New Englanders have far less knowledge with midwest schools (outside the Big Ten). While the MAC members may be public, the people of New England know little about them and few (or have family) from here go to these schools. I think that UMass will forever struggle to get people in the state interested enough in most of its athletic programs to entice them to games given the opponents and conference level. The only sport that local fans will follow is UMass hockey. They play games in a top level league in the sport against New England schools that people here are familiar with. God help hockey however if the MAC were to ever start up a hockey league.

[Steve81]

Best wishes RF1 and do think we will try to schedule OOC games within 4-6 hour radius, as stated in the press conference. Hope Rhody is one of those teams. Best wishes until we meet.

[Bartoburger]

Frank Martin has UMass on the up and up. If they can sustain winning, and beat some top 25 teams, the fans will return. The MAC is stable but the rust belt area has some better teams than the A10. Now Martin needs to get the AD on the phone and schedule a long term series with UConn again. Just win baby!

[RF1]

Frank Martin has UMass on the up and up. If they can sustain winning, and beat some top 25 teams, the fans will return. The MAC is stable but the rust belt area has some better teams than the A10. Now Martin needs to get the AD on the phone and schedule a long term series with UConn again. Just win baby!

There is even less likely a chance that UConn will schedule UMass now that it is in the MAC.

UMass is going to have an even tougher time crafting an OOC schedule. Fans from schools such as UVM are already opining that since they are are going to a lower ranked conference than America East, UMass should be open to an equal home and home series with the Catamounts.

[Steve81]

Frank Martin has UMass on the up and up. If they can sustain winning, and beat some top 25 teams, the fans will return. The MAC is stable but the rust belt area has some better teams than the A10. Now Martin needs to get the AD on the phone and schedule a long term series with UConn again. Just win baby!

There is even less likely a chance that UConn will schedule UMass now that it is in the MAC.

UMass is going to have an even tougher time crafting an OOC schedule. Fans from schools such as UVM are already opining that since they are are going to a lower ranked conference than America East, UMass should be open to an equal home and home series with the Catamounts.

What, you must be talking just basketball as we play them in other sports, including in Hockey East and UConn being Indy, they need us on the football schedule. Once you beat a program like UConn, they will never schedule you again, period. The Steve Lappas win over UConn was a looong time ago. UConn does what is in UConn best interest.