UMass Football

UMass will rejoin the Mid-American Conference in all sports in 2025, per Action Network's Brett McMurphy.

UMass' football program is currently independent while its primary conference is the Atlantic 10. Its football team was in the MAC from 2012 to 2015 but became independent beginning in the 2016 season.

With UMass joining a conference in 2025, Notre Dame and UConn will be the last remaining independent football teams, though one or both could be inclined to join a conference in the future as the college football landscape continues to change.

UMass parted ways from the MAC after the 2015 season because the school declined to bring all of its sports to the conference. Per The Athletic's Nicole Auerbach and Chris Vannini, UMass was hesitant to leave the Atlantic 10, where it was a founding member.

According to Auerbach and Vannini, Conference USA contacted UMass about joining the conference. C-USA is still looking to add a 12th member after adding Deleware in all sports last fall.

During its first tenure in the MAC, UMass football didn't find much success, failing to produce a winning season in four years and going 7-25 in the league. The Minutemen's basketball program produced their best season this century in 2014 while playing in the MAC, going 24-9 to reach the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Tennessee in the first round.

Last year, UMass' football team went 3-11, marking a slight improvement from the 1-11 2022 season. UMass is currently 17-10 in men's basketball and 3-26 in women's basketball.

Walt Bell, head football coach at the University of Massachusetts, isn't handling the school's decision to cancel the 2020 season very well. 

While speaking with reporters Tuesday night, Bell compared the cancellation to the death of his parents, per The Athletic's Steve Buckley.

"I'll tell you guys the same way I told my players," he said. "You know, my dad passed away in 2008, my biological mom OD'd in 2012. And to be honest with you, this is probably a tougher day than both of those days."

Massachusetts athletic director Ryan Bamford announced Tuesday that the school "made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 UMass football season" after consulting with university, state and local health officials. 

Bell said it was a "devastating deal" having to look a group of "18-to-21-year-old kids in the face and tell them that their dreams aren't gonna come true."

The UMass football program operates as an independent, which made it increasingly difficult to schedule opponents as most conferences adjusted their schedules to include conference-only games. 

A number of conferences, including the Big Ten and Pac-12, have announced this week they have either postponed or canceled fall sports due to health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Bell was entering his second season as the Minutemen head coach. He went 1-11 in his first year with the program in 2019. 

UMass football head coach Mark Whipple used an insensitive expression after his team's 58-42 loss to Ohio Saturday, and it will result in a one-game suspension.

According to Matt Vautour of MassLive, the coach said the Ohio defense "raped us" while complaining about the officials. The school responded by suspending him for one week without pay while also ordering he take part in sensitivity training.

Whipple and athletic director Ryan Bamford provided a statement on the incident:

Defensive coordinator Ed Pinkham will serve as the team's acting head coach for next Saturday's game against USF.

Massachusetts was called for eight penalties Saturday for 77 yards, although the team also allowed 664 total yards in the loss.

The Minutemen fell to 2-4 on the season with the loss, including four losses in the past five games.

Whipple is in his fifth year in his second stint with UMass, although his latest run isn't quite as successful as his first time around from 1998 to 2003. He was 49-26 in that stretch before moving on to the NFL as a positional coach at several organizations.

He returned to the school in 2014 but is currently just 14-40 in this stretch while failing to win more than four games in a single season.

CATCH. OF. THE. DAY? 

https://t.co/mJhRGcTC4T

— Spark Sports (@Spark_Sports_) September 24, 2016

Jalen Williams may not be a household name, but his touchdown grab Saturday in Foxborough, Massachusetts, against the Mississippi State Bulldogs could be making headlines over the next day or two.

With the Minutemen trailing 20-14 with about seven minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Massachusetts receiver stretched into the end zone for the one-handed catch to help give his team a 21-20 lead.

Williams' incredible grab could be a contender for play of the weekend, and it's in good company. Gillette Stadium has seen plenty of great catches over the years.      

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