Y11 Notes: Will the MAC reach 14, 15, or even 16 teams?
Not quite yet, but UMass is coming to the MAC. Who's next?
Y11 Notes: Wednesday, February 28
ON UMASS
UMass football is unofficially but most definitely coming back to the MAC as a full-time member, starting with the 2025-26 school year.
The 2024 season will be the final run of the 12-team MACtion as we remember it.
After that, it’ll be 13 teams.
What about 14? Toledo Blade reporter Kyle Rowland reported that Western Kentucky still wants to come to the MAC, and things are mutual. At the rate things read to be moving, I’d expect some suits to go on record very soon to speak about how much better MACtion’s about to get.
How would the pods be affected?
I assume currently-drawn pods will keep their structure with the additions of UMass and, we can at least mentally draw-in, WKU. Still four pods, but now two of them will expand from three teams to four.
Akron, Buffalo, Kent State + UMass — Buffalo-UMass is a regional pair that’s been missed. An annual match between the two just makes sense.
Ball State, Miami, Ohio + WKU — Obviously keeping WKU regionally grouped.
What about 15? The MAC has moved at such a slow pace for expansion, but there’s no hurry-up offense you can really run as one of the worst FBS conferences in the game.
Immediately, I want Middle Tennessee State. A natural rival with WKU, and the 100 Miles of Hate would be a great addition for Weeknight MACtion. I’ve already outlined how I’d re-draw a couple of pods, but the MAC wouldn’t have any fewer rivalry games on-paper (yay, Bronze Stalk!). At some point, MTSU will have to come to their senses and join their frenemies to the MAC, right?
UConn is a fan favorite too. An FBS independent that would expand the Eastern-most point of the league’s map yet again. So far East that you have no choice but to put UConn in UMass and Buffalo’s pod, but what would you theoretically do with Akron-Kent State that doesn’t involve an FBS-to-FCS-level guillotine? To me, this looks like it’d end up being pretty self-sabotaging for a school that’d hate this reality even more than the UMass basketball fans today.
What about 16? The MAC, for the foreseeable future, will be a 14-team conference with some room to grow. I just don’t see a 16th happening any time soon.
I don’t think spending time talking about other schools outside of what’s been included in the conversation already is worth having right now. The MAC doesn’t make rushed decisions, and no unmentioned school has been silently pounding on the doors this whole time for the MAC to suddenly let them in.
Spot on. But the Bearcats would be a natural given that they were a member for a brief time during the MAC's formative years. But again, it's a pipedream.
The MAC really missed out by not procuring Middle Tennessee State and Western Kentucky. Adding UMass is a positive step. A dream add would be luring Cincinnati back into the conference... but again, that's a pipe dream. Or is it ??