....and now, will UMass follow Idaho?

[kdinva]

http://footballscoop.com/news/and-now-umass-faculty-leaders-are-calling-for-the-school-to-drop-out-of-fbs/

[AmsterBison]

What other resolutions did the faculty senate approve though? That patchouli should be the official school scent?

[clenz]

NMSU will happen before UMASS, though UMASS (like Idaho) is a former FCS team and that may make it "Easier to swallow" than NMSU who has never been FCS

[Gangtackle11]

Had some great games with UMass over the years.

Love to have them back on schedule in some shape or form!

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Idaho had been toiling and discussing the issue for months and publicly debating their options. This move is simply opportunistic. This more resembles the EMU grousing that led nowhere.

[bluehenbillk]

Idaho had been toiling and discussing the issue for months and publicly debating their options. This move is simply opportunistic. This more resembles the EMU grousing that led nowhere.

100% agree - UMass faculty will make their announcement, which by the way they did already when UMass moved to FBS, and then the UMass President & BOT will back their current plan. The current plan by the way is to bide their time until they can get into the AAC.

[ccd494]

100% agree - UMass faculty will make their announcement, which by the way they did already when UMass moved to FBS, and then the UMass President & BOT will back their current plan. The current plan by the way is to bide their time until they can get into the AAC.

To be fair to the UMass faculty- they were right at the time. How long can UMass hold out hope for the AAC? Is that school willing to lose money to the point that it affects basketball? Hockey already found the toilet. Were I to lay odds on where UMass football will be in ten years:

Non-Football: 5-to-1
AAC: 10-to-1
D-I independent: 30-to-1
CAA: 30-to-1
D-I other conference: 30-to-1

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Ironic, isn't it, that UMass wanted to rush into FBS football so that they'd be in control of their own destiny athletically. But now, more than at any time in history, their destiny is controlled by UConn. Any invite to the AAC has no chance of happening until UConn leaves.

[ccd494]

Ironic, isn't it, that UMass wanted to rush into FBS football so that they'd be in control of their own destiny athletically. But now, more than at any time in history, their destiny is controlled by UConn. Any invite to the AAC has no chance of happening until UConn leaves.

And UConn isn't going anywhere. They are not sufficient for the Big 10's academic standards. BC will never let them join the ACC as long as BC is involved. They are way too far flung for the Big XII.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Think that UMass, UConn, BC, BU and Harvard need to get together and hash this all out.

http://www.moviequotesandmore.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/godfather-16.jpg

[ccd494]

Think that UMass, UConn, BC, BU and Harvard need to get together and hash this all out.

I don't know what UConn's issue with UMass is (other than geography), but after UConn sued BC when BC left for the ACC, that was it for BC ever helping UConn out in any way. BC already has Syracuse and Pitt in the ACC with them. They play Providence and the other New Big East schools willingly. UConn, though, is dead to them.

[Mattymc727]

Yes yes yes!!!

Why even consider dropping football? How much has the university invested in the program/new stadium? Might as well come back down to the CAA and make something out of it.

[Go Green]

Think that UMass, UConn, BC, BU and Harvard need to get together and hash this all out.



Harvard and UMass used to have a decent football rivalry in the 1970s and 1980s.

Today, Harvard wouldn't give two hoots about UMass. If Harvard wanted to challenge itself in football, they can easily give UNH a call.

[RootinFerDukes]

I for one would welcome umass back to the CAA since they were a former, meaningful member.
They're delusional to think they're getting into the AAC while an independent recently removed from Fcs.
Here's the thing. Let's say all of these schools drop down. Where will they go? I don't think Fcs conferences owe any of them favors.
These events are only validating our president's decision to do nothing in relation to fbs opportunities. Even odu is finding some funding problems and as the .500 seasons start stacking up, casual fans are ducking out.

[dgtw]

If Harvard wanted to challenge itself in football, they can easily give UNH a call.

Or accept a playoff bid.

[Go Green]

Or accept a playoff bid.

That, too. :)

[DFW HOYA]

BC already has Syracuse and Pitt in the ACC with them. They play Providence and the other New Big East schools willingly.

Not everyone. Despite being the two most prominent Jesuit universities, Georgetown cut all ties with Boston College after BC collected their 30 pieces of silver to join the Greensboro Gang.

Outside of a 2007 NCAA men's basketball game won by GU en route to the Final Four, not a single meeting between the two schools in the major sports. (Granted, they haven't played football since Georgetown dropped out of the major college ranks in 1951, and BC dropped lacrosse a while back, but the precedent has been set.)

[Go Green]

Not everyone. Despite being the two most prominent Jesuit universities, Georgetown cut all ties with Boston College after BC collected their 30 pieces of silver to join the Greensboro Gang.

Outside of a 2007 NCAA men's basketball game won by GU en route to the Final Four, not a single meeting between the two schools in the major sports. (Granted, they haven't played football since Georgetown dropped out of the major college ranks in 1951, and BC dropped lacrosse a while back, but the precedent has been set.)

Besides BC and Maryland, is there anyone else on Georgetown's **** list?

[superman7515]

Besides BC and Maryland, is there anyone else on Georgetown's **** list?

Hoya paranoia. Everyone is on Georgetown's crap list because everyone has wronged them in some, possibly imperceivable, way.

[bluehenbillk]

I for one would welcome umass back to the CAA since they were a former, meaningful member.
They're delusional to think they're getting into the AAC while an independent recently removed from Fcs.
Here's the thing. Let's say all of these schools drop down. Where will they go? I don't think Fcs conferences owe any of them favors.
These events are only validating our president's decision to do nothing in relation to fbs opportunities. Even odu is finding some funding problems and as the .500 seasons start stacking up, casual fans are ducking out.

Don't worry about it, there will be no exodus from FBS football coming anytime soon.

Do you think staying in FCS would've given UMass a better chance or any chance of going to the AAC. I'd love for Delaware to be in that league but they wouldn't even consider a team moving from FCS. AppState & GSU saw that, so did Marshall & WKU.

[Catsfan90]

NMSU will happen before UMASS, though UMASS (like Idaho) is a former FCS team and that may make it "Easier to swallow" than NMSU who has never been FCS
The biggest thing that will hinder Umass is politics. They only just left a few years ago, and sunk so much money into doing it.

[RootinFerDukes]

Don't worry about it, there will be no exodus from FBS football coming anytime soon.

Do you think staying in FCS would've given UMass a better chance or any chance of going to the AAC. I'd love for Delaware to be in that league but they wouldn't even consider a team moving from FCS. AppState & GSU saw that, so did Marshall & WKU.

But what happens when they're still not at the final conference destination and stuck in fbs irrelevancy with a much bigger price tag and non-rival directional schools located half the country away that their fans still don't care about?
They think they're a lot further away from Fcs than they really are.

[bluehenbillk]

http://footballscoop.com/news/umass-chancellor-swats-attempt-to-drop-or-reduce-football-out-to-half-court/

End of debate at UMass it seems, at least for some time.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Describing the movement as “a non-issue that is being made into an issue by a small group of faculty senators,” Subbaswamy was especially ticked at an implication by professor Frank Hungus that there exists a connection between major football programs and a rise in violent sex crimes.

“This guilt by association is something I deeply resent,” Subbaswamy said. “Our student-athletes do not deserve it. Out athletic department does not deserve it.”

xpopcornx

[Mattymc727]

I like his firm stance, especially against annoying faculty that see football as a danger...

However, how can he sit there and say he likes the direction they are headed in? Barf...

[Catsfan90]

xpopcornx
Oh god... Another Anyother example of these PC psychos. How do they even make this connection?

[Go Green]

However, how can he sit there and say he likes the direction they are headed in? Barf...

Yep. Reminds me of Kevin Bacon at the end of "Animal House."

:)

[Libertine]

Oh god... Another Anyother example of these PC psychos. How do they even make this connection?

Fun fact: according to UMass-Amherst's 2015 Campus Crime Statistics report, there were 45 on-campus rapes there between 2012-2014. That seems like a lot. By comparison, Baylor -- pretty much the poster child school for sex assault by football player at the moment -- reported 8 in that same timespan.
https://www.umass.edu/umpd/sites/default/files/ASR-14.pdf
http://www.baylor.edu/dps/doc.php/252701.pdf


Fun fact, pt. deux: Frank Hugus, the professor who made the supremely logical leap of characterizing slightly more athletic football players as sex-crazed sociopaths, is a professor of German and Scandinavian Studies who, in his spare time, translates pre-WW2 Danish novels into English. He began teaching at UMass in 1972 so I think it's safe to say that dude lives in a bit of a bubble.
https://www.umass.edu/german/people/profiles/FrankHugus.html

[POD Knows]

Oh god... Another Anyother example of these PC psychos. How do they even make this connection?

Yea, it seems like a bit of a stretch but I am sure he reams of factual data to back up his assertions.

[Sader87]

Fun fact: according to UMass-Amherst's 2015 Campus Crime Statistics report, there were 45 on-campus rapes there between 2012-2014. That seems like a lot. By comparison, Baylor -- pretty much the poster child school for sex assault by football player at the moment -- reported 8 in that same timespan.
https://www.umass.edu/umpd/sites/default/files/ASR-14.pdf
http://www.baylor.edu/dps/doc.php/252701.pdf


Fun fact, pt. deux: Frank Hugus, the professor who made the supremely logical leap of characterizing slightly more athletic football players as sex-crazed sociopaths, is a professor of German and Scandinavian Studies who, in his spare time, translates pre-WW2 Danish novels into English. He began teaching at UMass in 1972 so I think it's safe to say that dude lives in a bit of a bubble.
https://www.umass.edu/german/people/profiles/FrankHugus.html

Fun Fact: Liberty University is a diploma mill with a wacko agenda.....

[TheRevSFA]

Fun Fact: Liberty University is a diploma mill with a wacko agenda.....

Ha

[DFW HOYA]

Fun Fact: Liberty University is a diploma mill with a wacko agenda.....

That's a huge overreach. Below is the Liberty University mission statement.

"Through its residential and online programs, services, facilities, and collaborations, the University educates men and women who will make important contributions to their workplaces and communities, follow their chosen vocations as callings to glorify God, and fulfill the Great Commission."

[van]

That's a huge overreach. Below is the Liberty University mission statement.

"Through its residential and online programs, services, facilities, and collaborations, the University educates men and women who will make important contributions to their workplaces and communities, follow their chosen vocations as callings to glorify God, and fulfill the Great Commission."

Nothing wrong with that agenda.*-

[Twentysix]

I also do not look favorably upon Liberty's academics. But, lets be real, they aren't University of Phoenix even if they have 100,000+ students online.

[RootinFerDukes]

I also do not look favorably upon Liberty's academics. But, lets be real, they aren't University of Phoenix even if they have 100,000+ students online.
They're just the university of phoenix with a physical campus and a football team.

[clenz]

I also do not look favorably upon Liberty's academics. But, lets be real, they aren't University of Phoenix even if they have 100,000+ students online.

Outside the physical campus what's the difference?

[UAalum72]

It used to be much more prominent (on their home page) but Liberty is still teaching this course:

CRST 290
HISTORY OF LIFE
COURSE DESCRIPTION
An interdisciplinary study of the origin and history of life in the universe. Faculty will draw from science, religion, history, and philosophy in presenting the evidence and arguments for creation and against evolution. The online course is 3 semester hours credit.
RATIONALE
This course is designed to instill in the student a clear understanding of the relationship between science and Scripture as it pertains to the study of origins. The course will help the student develop a more consistent biblical/Christian worldview and equip him or her to defend it.

I don't think any place with a course like this should be an accredited academic institution, and I also object to their co-opting a "Christian" worldview to mean you have to be an anti-science biblical literalist.

[PAllen]

It used to be much more prominent (on their home page) but Liberty is still teaching this course:

CRST 290
HISTORY OF LIFE
COURSE DESCRIPTION
An interdisciplinary study of the origin and history of life in the universe. Faculty will draw from science, religion, history, and philosophy in presenting the evidence and arguments for creation and against evolution. The online course is 3 semester hours credit.
RATIONALE
This course is designed to instill in the student a clear understanding of the relationship between science and Scripture as it pertains to the study of origins. The course will help the student develop a more consistent biblical/Christian worldview and equip him or her to defend it.

I don't think any place with a course like this should be an accredited academic institution, and I also object to their co-opting a "Christian" worldview to mean you have to be an anti-science biblical literalist.

And you could point to much more crackpot courses at just about every university represented on here.

[Laker]

And you could point to much more crackpot courses at just about every university represented on here.

I would agree. If reading this list doesn't bother you, then you must have taken one of these courses.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/08/21/the-daily-caller-proudly-presents-the-dumbest-college-courses-for-2015/

[Twentysix]

I would agree. If reading this list doesn't bother you, then you must have taken one of these courses.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/08/21/the-daily-caller-proudly-presents-the-dumbest-college-courses-for-2015/

Most of those are obviously theory courses. The others are necessary skill courses.

Tree climbing is pretty essential if you are some type of zoologist that involves arboreal species or even birds, or even a botanist etc etc. When you are doing field research in the Amazon and you need to climb a 70 foot tree, that class might be pretty essential. About as essential as a SCUBA course for someone who is a marine biologist.

It seems like an idiot put this list together with basically no conception about how courses work imo.


NDSU offers both SCUBA and the physics of superheroes. It's too bad they didn't make the list.

[Twentysix]

Outside the physical campus what's the difference?

The difference is that someone is employable with a degree from LU and they are not from UP.

LU is also non-profit.

[dgtw]

I would agree. If reading this list doesn't bother you, then you must have taken one of these courses.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/08/21/the-daily-caller-proudly-presents-the-dumbest-college-courses-for-2015/

I bet everyone on here could make an A in the Wasting Time on the Internet class.

[POD Knows]

And you could point to much more crackpot courses at just about every university represented on here.

****ing aye, you want to get in a posting contest about dumbass classes at most of the liberal arts colleges across the US. There is a ton of wacko bull**** out there, you guys are just showing your anti Christian bias. I hate to break the news to you but most Christian schools believe in creationism so according to some of the posters here, all degrees received from colleges that at religious based should have the degrees nulled.

[Twentysix]

****ing aye, you want to get in a posting contest about dumbass classes at most of the liberal arts colleges across the US. There is a ton of wacko bull**** out there, you guys are just showing your anti Christian bias. I hate to break the news to you but most Christian schools believe in creationism so according to some of the posters here, all degrees received from colleges that at religious based should have the degrees nulled.

Quality Christian schools somehow manage to teach science without young earth nonsense.

[The Eagle's Cliff]

Conference affiliation in FBS is important in terms of revenue sharing in the CFP money pool and Bowl Tie-ins. I know at GS, we were independent when we started football and only joined the SoCon for the benefit of consistent scheduling. The "opportunity" available to all G5's is the New Years Day Bowl that automatically invites the highest ranked G5. When Boise St. was making a name for themselves, their conference was just as pitiful top to bottom as the Sun Belt, CUSA, and MAC. Owning a G5 conference AND going at least 3-1 OOC is the formula.

UMass realy screwed up with the Gillette Stadium stuff. Small schools need to cultivate a "special" home field advantage. As good as NDSU has been, playing in the Fargo Airplane Hanger has been a huge advantage for their run. It took us 16 years to lose a playoff game at home.

[DFW HOYA]

UMass realy screwed up with the Gillette Stadium stuff. Small schools need to cultivate a "special" home field advantage.

UMass is not "small". With an enrollment of 29,269, it is larger than Nebraska, Oregon, Louisville, and about 50 other I-A schools. If UMass were in the ACC, it would be the sixth largest school.

[POD Knows]

Quality Christian schools somehow manage to teach science without young earth nonsense.

Good point, I thought the original comment on this was a general poke at Christian Colleges that may discuss creationism. Don't know much or care much about Liberty.

[The Eagle's Cliff]

UMass is "small" when measuring their market impact for football. Same for all of the northeastern schools outside the P5 or AAC.

The cultural differences between North and South account for predominance of FCS classification at northeastern schools with plenty of enrollment and money to support FBS classification. The competing interests of Hockey and Basketball figure in to the cultural differences.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

UMass is not "small". With an enrollment of 29,269, it is larger than Nebraska, Oregon, Louisville, and about 50 other I-A schools. If UMass were in the ACC, it would be the sixth largest school.

To put this in perspective their enrollment is well over 3x Notre Dame's enrollment.

[Pinnum]

UMass is not "small". With an enrollment of 29,269, it is larger than Nebraska, Oregon, Louisville, and about 50 other I-A schools. If UMass were in the ACC, it would be the sixth largest school.

Which is why the move to Foxboro is so baffling. They have the student body to have big time crowds. They are a suburb of Springfield which is the size of Syracuse. They are the state's flagship and one of the premier public schools on New England which should draw alumni from a two hour radius (which would includes Boston, Albany, Hartford, and Providence).

Sure, one game in Foxboro each season or two if it is needed to secure a home/home agreement with the likes of Mississippi State, Colorado, BYU or even BC would be fine, but moving all the games to Foxboro where there is little culture for the program while at the same time putting money into the on-campus stadium just seems like it is a political favor for someone.

I actually think UMass would be in a much better position if they wouldn't have tried the Foxboro experiment and just went all in with a more traditional model of cultivating their campus environment for game day.

[Pinnum]

The difference is that someone is employable with a degree from LU and they are not from UP.

LU is also non-profit.

My wife is a corporate litigator that represents the board of directors for some of the largest companies in the world. She has three degrees (BA, MA, JD) from the top schools in the country. About two weeks ago we were out on a run and ran by a University of Phoenix location and started talking about it. She said made a statement about how highly respected degrees from the school have become.

Having worked in policy and spent a lot of time studying higher ed I mentioned that one of the chief criticisms of the school is the low graduation rates but that is actually a testament of the rigor of the programs and how they don't push people through to ensure they keep getting funding. They give people the opportunity but they must make the most of it and if they do not perform, they are not just issued a degree.

[dgtw]

If UMass is playing on campus, they will draw students to games just got something to do. But how many are going to want to drive that far to watch them, especially if they suck?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pinnum]

If UMass is playing on campus, they will draw students to games just got something to do. But how many are going to want to drive that far to watch them, especially if they suck?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


We may have an answer to that...



Opp
Location
Attendance


Temple
Foxboro
10,141


Florida International
Campus
13,525


Kent State
Campus
15,217


Toledo
Foxboro
12,793


Akron
Foxboro
6,228


Miami (OH)
Campus
8,839








Campus Average
12,527



Foxboro Average
9,721



These are the six games they played this year (where they split between the venues. I would venture to guess the student section is probably around 3k people which would be about the difference in the two venues.

I don't know about others but part of what makes college football so great is the atmosphere and the students are a factor in that. I don't know how programs get by playing games so far from campus. I mean, Foxboro isn't even in Boston but rather an hour from the city where the land was cheap. It is closer to Providence. Those games are not local for anyone.

[Terry2889]

I bet everyone on here could make an A in the Wasting Time on the Internet class.

On the other hand, we should seriously consider offering Cornell's "How to climb a tree" class at colleges across the nation in an effort to fight obesity and cardiovascular disease xthumbsupx

[aceinthehole]

UMass may be losing money, and a Bowl game is near impossible without conference affiliation, but they aren't having the same problems as Idaho or NMSU would have scheduling as an Independent in football.

Look at the UMass future home schedules:

2016 - Boston College, FIU, Miss State, Tulane, LA Tech
2017 - ODU, Ohio, Hawaii, Georgia Southern, App State
2018 - Charlotte, USF, Coastal, Troy, BYU
2019 - UConn, BYU
2020 - Army