There is some great news coming out of Amherst for Massachusetts football fans. Your Minutemen will no longer be in football limbo as they have found a new home.
But it might not be the home that you were expecting.
After the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Sun Belt and Mountain West were found to be “not the right match” for UMass, it is taking its talents north … of the border to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport football conference.
“We are very excited about the move up north so we can give our alumni in Canada a chance to see the team more often,” UMass Athletic Director John McCutcheon said.
Another positive about the move for the Minutemen is that in Canada, the field goal posts are on the goal line, meaning that there are 10 less yards to worry about in the kicking game.
“We feel like this will allow us to attract more American born kickers to the program,” McCutcheon said. “It’s not like any coach would ever say that their kicker ‘should’ve made it the second time like he made it the first time’ if the coach were to call a timeout and ice his own kicker, but there would be no excuse with 10 less yards if that did happen.”
And while the Minutemen see this move as a good thing, it begs the question why didn’t the AAC want UMass?
Well that question was answered by an anonymous source via direct message on Twitter.
“In the end, the AAC only wanted one New England team in its conference and it already felt like it had the premier team in New England in The University of Connecticut,” the source said. “UMass was never seen as an option since UConn is the most elite New England program available to the conference.”
The AAC has said that the Minutemen are welcome to schedule UConn in football whenever they like, though.
But the snub from the AAC didn’t bother McCutcheon or coach Mark Whipple. Instead, Whipple appeared ecstatic and said in a loud voice, “Fire the muskets!”
It appears that UMass is now all in up north.
Charles Molinari VI can be reached via snail mail at The University of Connecticut.
