The University of Massachusetts, amid a pretty miserable budget situation, has recently allotted $182 million towards a so called Commonwealth College student complex, which is expected to attract out-of-state, top-tier students to UMass.

However, I would trade it for a new football stadium in an instant, and so should you.

Reports that the Massachusetts football team is in talks with the Mid-American Conference emerged early last week with what seemed like a cool thing for the University, but may likely remain the pipe dream it’s been in years past. It would likely involve either a new or renovated football stadium. However, the potential move for UMass to move from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) isn’t just a change of a label. It’s a big deal for the school.

The Minutemen are currently an FCS (formerly Division I-AA) team, which is the second tier of division one. The jump in discussion would involve UMass playing on a schedule of mostly FBS schools (as opposed to one in recent years) for a few years before the supposed move in 2013. It would also involve either a reconstruction or renovation of the football stadium. Now, McGuirk Alumni Stadium, with all the charm that I’ve loved since seeing my first game in seventh grade, only hosts 17,000 people. FBS schools need to average at least 15,000 attendees per game.

What the FCS label currently means for the program and school is that in the highly successful market of college football, UMass has a negligible national presence. For one, the Minutemen are rarely on television outside of CBS 3 Springfield. Meanwhile, the football team’s only presence on the national sports circuit in the last few years was as “that team that played Michigan well.” Finally, UMass isn’t even in the college football video game NCAA ‘11.

Image-wise, the University is seriously hurting in the biggest markets, especially since the basketball team has fallen off in recent years. In the New England area, one can find Boston College and University of Connecticut merchandise at most outlets. On the other hand, UMass gear is a rare find. Combined with an anticipated re-emergence of the basketball program with this season’s early success, moving the football program to the national stage could be the opportunity UMass has been looking for to jettison itself to the top tier of public universities in the nation in terms of image and visibility.

A promotion of the football program to FBS is something that the University can hang its hat on. The UMass administration can talk until its blue in the face about how it’s improving the school and giving it a greater presence on the national stage, but it still lacks a tangible, significant change. There needs to be something that can represent the progress that UMass is making in its quest to go toe-to-toe with UConn and not always be the underdog.

Nothing would have more fanfare or make a national statement that “UMass is ready for the big time” like elevating the football program to the FBS level.

A ComCol facility means nothing when UMass cannot even compete on certain levels in an area that means a whole lot to a large group of people, particularly image-conscious high school seniors and their parents who may happen to like football.

UMass is one of, if not, the most prominent state university without a football program at the FCS level. It’s an area that many people may scoff at. But if UMass wants to be a complete, top-tier University on the national stage, it needs an athletic program that’s on the same level.

Many people complain that UMass lacks the athletic support of a Michigan or even a BC, with many tailgaters on Saturday mornings never actually entering the game. This may have to do with no one caring about the team. But it could also do with the fact that the game was against, let’s say Towson or Stony Brook, for which 90 percent of the student population doesn’t even know the team nickname or home state.

To save readers a Google check, the Tigers are from Maryland, while the Seawolves are from New York.

As of now, UMass doesn’t have the widespread support or attendance numbers to be an FBS team. However, the addition of teams like BC and others that travel well and actually bring more than 50 spectators to a game, along with the likely addition of more games at Gillette Stadium to the schedule, would sufficiently drive up the attendance numbers.

I’m sorry McGuirk, but it would also help if the seating wasn’t entirely cold bleachers, there was a permanent concession stand, the locker rooms weren’t across the parking lot, the bathrooms were the same quality as the Mullins Center and if the original outer ticket gates weren’t abandoned.

The common complaint is that Massachusetts residents don’t want to pay for a new stadium. That would be a reasonable gripe if it weren’t for the fact that they’re paying for a $182 million ComCol building or a $50 million Recreation Center everyone that but undergraduates have to pay out-of-pocket to use.

Also, the ComCol building, which was announced to fanfare similar to the announcement of an 8 a.m. statistics exam, isn’t going to help bail UMass out of the financial hole. Football, meanwhile, is one of the most profitable enterprises in college athletics when it is successful. If the football team does make the jump and take a piece of the New England College football market share from UConn and BC, they might be able to sell some merchandise outside of the University Store and get people to go to the games because it’s the best college football product available.

A new stadium, although not cheap, will take the football program to the next level. The school has shelled out money for lesser, rotary-shaped things. At least I can actually go to a new football stadium once I graduate.

Nick O’Malley is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].