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When the Big East decided last fall to expand from eight to 10 teams in football, UMass officials,...
When the Big East decided last fall to expand from eight to 10 teams in football, UMass officials, using the Kraft family as contacts, lobbied hard for consideration.
But Big East officials were focusing on conference member Villanova and were reluctant to add two more schools after announcing that TCU would join as a ninth full-time member starting in the fall of 2012. So UMass officials resumed talks with the MAC.
— UMass will announce a move up to the FBS ranks today, joining the MAC for football only. Their decision is an interesting study in contrasts to Villanova, who seem to want everything given to them on a silver platter. If Nova really cared about football for any reason beyond preserving their privileged status in basketball, they would not have any qualms about moving up to FBS in order to prove their worth as a full Big East member.
UMass should be announcing future FBS games today, and immediately become a realistic scheduling option for Big East teams. At minimum UMass should be a boon to all future Pixies-related references.
