UMass will reportedly join the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in all sports in 2025-26

UMass coach Don Brown talks to his team during a game at McGuirk Alumni Stadium in Amherst this past season. The Minutemen will reportedly be joining the Mid-American Conference (MAC) as part of an all-sports move beginning in 2025-26. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

Staff Reports

Published: 02-26-2024 3:30 PM

Modified: 02-26-2024 3:57 PM

According to multiple sources, the University of Massachusetts is set to join the Mid-American Conference (MAC) for an all-sports move beginning the 2025-26 academic year.

https://twitter.com/PeteThamel/status/1762198328673006013?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach and ESPN’s Pete Thamel were among those to break the news on Monday that the school would leave the Atlantic 10 Conference, where it has been a member since the league’s inception since 1976, following the 2024-25 season.

If this move seems familiar, it’s because UMass made joined the MAC in 2012 as a football-only institution, staying in the Atlantic-10 for all other sports. That move ultimately didn’t work, and the school left the conference in 2015 to become a football independent after refusing to join the MAC in all sports. The school has remained an independent since then, UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford has publicly commented that finding a conference for the program has been a priority.

Bamford said in December during an interview with the Daily Hampshire Gazette that “UMass is a proud member of the Atlantic 10 Conference in 19 of our 21 sports. It is very important to the health and ultimate success of our football program that we find a long-term conference home. We recognize that being one of three remaining Independent FBS programs is not sustainable. Accordingly, we are regularly evaluating conference opportunities that ensure both excellence for UMass athletics competitively and in the experience we provide to our student-athletes.”

UMass’ move to the MAC leaves Notre Dame and UConn as the lone football independents at the FBS level.

Joining the MAC in all sports means that the school will have to find affiliate memberships for sports that the conference does not sponsor, including men’s lacrosse and men’s ice hockey. The Minutemen should remain in Hockey East, but the lacrosse programs will likely need to find a new conference. The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a potential landing spot, as the programs previously competed there prior to the implementation of an Atlantic 10 lacrosse league.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.