The chain reaction of college football is substantially more prevalent than meets the eye.

When the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas were reported to leave the Big-12 conference to join the SEC, independent schools such as the University of Massachusetts, Liberty, New Mexico State and the University of Connecticut were not even remotely considered to be affected by the move.

The American Athletic Conference then lost three of its most prominent members in Cincinnati, Houston and the University of Central Florida to the Big-12 in light of the latter losing two of its own most prominent members.

This forced the AAC to react, adding six of its own schools to the conference, all of which came from the Conference-USA. The C-USA also reportedly lost Southern Mississippi, Old Dominion and Marshall to the Sun Belt Conference..

Group of Five reporter Chris Vannini reported that independent schools New Mexico State, Liberty and UConn are in talks with the C-USA.

SOURCE: Conference USA is in negotiations with New Mexico State, Liberty and UConn (football only), @TheAthletic has learned. https://t.co/GIMg72PKKM

— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 29, 2021

A team absent from this report? UMass.

The two most important figures of the Minutemen’s football program, Athletic Director Ryan Bamford and head coach Walt Bell have not had much to say about the matter. When asked by media Tuesday, Bell made it a point to not speak his mind.

“I have very strong personal opinions on this subject, but I’m going to keep my mouth shut for once,” Bell said. “Here’s what I will say. The commissioner of the AAC made a very poignant statement about the nature of college football today.”

“The programs that invested in their infrastructure and invested their resources into their programs were the programs that were rewarded with admission into the AAC, it’s a very poignant statement.”

Bell later backtracked his statement on Twitter, saying that the athletic department has invested $65 million since 2014. He also credited Bamford for his hard work along with showing thanks to donors of UMass football.

This doesn’t capture my intended point very well. UMass has invested $65M in FB related facilities since 2014. They have also provided additional support in my three years here. Investment isn’t the only reason schools are asked to join a league.

— Walt Bell (@coachwaltbell) October 26, 2021

Bamford initially stated he would hold either a Facebook Live session or a Zoom call with season ticket holders to address the questions surrounding the University’s intentions of entering a conference such as the C-USA.

Bamford also backtracked, posting on Twitter that “There continues to be developments every day associated with FBS realignment so I’ll hold on a virtual meeting with our supporters until we have some idea of the landscape around us.”

Though he did not specifically address the matter, Bell mentioned the athletic department after saying he was going to keep his mouth shut. That alone signifies the deep-rooted frustration Bell holds about trying to build a successful football program without a conference.

Safety Tanner Davis also took to Twitter to address the matter. He replied to a tweet that referenced the Minutemen’s absence from the report of independent schools potentially joining the C-USA.

“More worried about the money than the student athletes having better opportunities to win.”

https://twitter.com/TanmanDavis/status/1453903117616046106

Bell and Davis have both expressed frustration within the same week, a rarity for a team that tends to omit any negativity directed towards the athletic department.

The importance of the ensuing weeks off the field for the program far outweigh anything that happens on the field. A depleted C-USA is desperate to expand off the five teams that remain after so much turnover.

This leaves the UMass — who has not played in a conference since 2015 — an opportunity that could not be seen for a long period of time if they are unable to enter the conference.

Joey Aliberti can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @JosephAliberti1.