U Mass to Upgrade Football - what about soccer?

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Where does this misguided stereotype that all kids want to attend college close to home come from? I know several kids that want to go somewhere else simply because they have been here all their lives. They want to experience something different.

Maybe all this "close to home" BS is driven by parents who can't seem to let go, and don't want their kids to go far away.

Most kids do go to school within 3 hours of their home. It is closer in the Northeast where we tend to be more parochial and the population density tends to make us less willing to travel for anything. That doesn't mean that there aren't lots of kids that want to go outside of their comfort zone. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But the reality is that for most the best decision is to follow the norm and stay within their own geographic home base. And there is nothing wrong with that either.

Although geographical cultural differences have lessened in our country in the post WWII era, and that homoginization has probably accelerated in the last decade, there are still significant issues that a New Englander can face if they travel to school outside of the NE, especially in the south and mid-west. Visiting a big southern land grant university on a beautiful fall weekend when the football team is home can be an inspiring experience. these schools are big, beautiful and on the surface very inviting. But being one of few yankees at ole' Miss or UGA can have its draw-backs. Especially for girls when the sororiety rush season starts.

The point? You really cannot get a true feel for a school in a weekend. That is why I laugh when I read the common quote " Betsy just fell in love with XYZ University as soon as she came on campus, she just knew right away it was the right place for her." Frankly, many students take a full semester or year matriculating before they really know what they think of a school. The idea that you can figure that out in a weekend visit is pure ridiculousness. Maybe the first instinct proves correct, but for otherwise intellegent people to place great importance upon it... is crazy.

So staying local is typically the safer bet. Maybe the potential ultimate rewards are limited but so are the risks - and that is what is going on with the college selection process . An analysis of risks and rewards.

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Cut.

Paste.

No point.

Analysis

2010 UMASS Record against teams that have

3x the scholarships of UMass = 1-2-3 or .333
2x the scholarships of UMass = 1-2-3 or .333
equal or unknown = 2-1-2 or .533

They are punching above theri weight class

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UMass finally beats UConn

UMass now can boast that their student body travels the greatest distance for a home game. This record was previously held by UConn.

What a bummer for the kids.

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UMass now can boast that their student body travels the greatest distance for a home game. This record was previously held by UConn.

What a bummer for the kids.

Yes, it is unfortunate. College athletics and specifically sports such as football and basketball...it has and will always be all about the money.

The thought that this money will somehow trickle down and find its way into UMass Men's soccer is laughable.

It's interesting looking at the statistics regarding the number of scholarships for Men's and Women's soccer. Can the lack of scholarships in Men's soccer be completely explained by title IX. It's amazing that you find, at the same college, very few or zero athletic scholarships for Men's soccer and the Women's soccer program is fully funded.

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Most kids do go to school within 3 hours of their home. It is closer in the Northeast where we tend to be more parochial and the population density tends to make us less willing to travel for anything. That doesn't mean that there aren't lots of kids that want to go outside of their comfort zone. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But the reality is that for most the best decision is to follow the norm and stay within their own geographic home base. And there is nothing wrong with that either.

Although geographical cultural differences have lessened in our country in the post WWII era, and that homoginization has probably accelerated in the last decade, there are still significant issues that a New Englander can face if they travel to school outside of the NE, especially in the south and mid-west. Visiting a big southern land grant university on a beautiful fall weekend when the football team is home can be an inspiring experience. these schools are big, beautiful and on the surface very inviting. But being one of few yankees at ole' Miss or UGA can have its draw-backs. Especially for girls when the sororiety rush season starts.

The point? You really cannot get a true feel for a school in a weekend. That is why I laugh when I read the common quote " Betsy just fell in love with XYZ University as soon as she came on campus, she just knew right away it was the right place for her." Frankly, many students take a full semester or year matriculating before they really know what they think of a school. The idea that you can figure that out in a weekend visit is pure ridiculousness. Maybe the first instinct proves correct, but for otherwise intellegent people to place great importance upon it... is crazy.

So staying local is typically the safer bet. Maybe the potential ultimate rewards are limited but so are the risks - and that is what is going on with the college selection process . An analysis of risks and rewards.

Could you please provide some credible sources for your data? I don't believe it is correct. Look at the hometowns of sports rosters for new England schools, and schools outside New England. Kids are coming from anywhere and everywhere. Hell, look at the ESPN RISE college committment list: Schools are attracting kids from out of state and out of the country in all three divisions.

While I agree that it's hard to really fall in love with a college over a weekend, it is not hard (nor inaccurate) to fall out of love with a place, and any initial negative impression can't really be overcome.

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Analysis

2010 UMASS Record against teams that have

3x the scholarships of UMass = 1-2-3 or .333
2x the scholarships of UMass = 1-2-3 or .333
equal or unknown = 2-1-2 or .533

They are punching above theri weight class

More likely that the schools UMASS is playing is using second tier players, or letting up knowing they are playing a mediocre program.

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More likely that the schools UMASS is playing is using second tier players, or letting up knowing they are playing a mediocre program.

Don't let facts get in the way of your opinion

Example #1

#24 Indiana game - Will Bruin scored for Indiana against UMass and had a great game for the Houston Dynamo vs the Rev's last Sunday in Texas

Indiana 2 -UMass 1

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports...091910aaa.html

Example #2

#18 Charlotte - The 49ers needed to win this game as the Minutmen were only 1 point behind them in the standings when this game was played.

Charlotte 2 - Umass 0

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports...110510aab.html

Example # 3

#10 Harvard - Used their "real " roster to defeat UMass

Harvard 3 -Umass 2

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports...090610aaa.html

You can look through the other examples at the UMASS web site

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports...cer-sched.html

[Unregistered]

Don't let facts get in the way of your opinion

Example #1

#24 Indiana game - Will Bruin scored for Indiana against UMass and had a great game for the Houston Dynamo vs the Rev's last Sunday in Texas

Indiana 2 -UMass 1

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports...091910aaa.html

Example #2

#18 Charlotte - The 49ers needed to win this game as the Minutmen were only 1 point behind them in the standings when this game was played.

Charlotte 2 - Umass 0

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports...110510aab.html

Example # 3

#10 Harvard - Used their "real " roster to defeat UMass

Harvard 3 -Umass 2

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports...090610aaa.html

You can look through the other examples at the UMASS web site

http://www.umassathletics.com/sports...cer-sched.html

OK, we get it. You're a UMASS student or alum whose boxers get in a bunch every time someone tries to criticize your prized educational institution.

But the fact remains it's a comfortable, unambitious program, striving to be "just good enough" without any real committment to anything else. And the fact also remains that the educational quality today is nowhere near what it once was due to continually being ignored by the state of MA.

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But the fact remains it's a comfortable, unambitious program, striving to be "just good enough" without any real committment to anything else.

UMass does a good job with limited resources. Over the last six years, starting with 2010 and going backwards, their RPIs were 118, 119, 27, 16, 141 and 133, out of roughly 200 D-1 schools. I'm pretty sure that they rank somewhat lower with respect to resources dedicated to the program, which makes one wonder how they would do if they could recruit a little more strongly. 2007-08 might be less of an outlier.

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More likely that the schools UMASS is playing is using second tier players, or letting up knowing they are playing a mediocre program.

This is a ridiculous comment. Do you really think the coaches of the other teams they play are really stupid enough to give them enough wins every year to finish with a .500 record?

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Most kids do go to school within 3 hours of their home. It is closer in the Northeast where we tend to be more parochial and the population density tends to make us less willing to travel for anything. That doesn't mean that there aren't lots of kids that want to go outside of their comfort zone. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But the reality is that for most the best decision is to follow the norm and stay within their own geographic home base. And there is nothing wrong with that either.

Although geographical cultural differences have lessened in our country in the post WWII era, and that homoginization has probably accelerated in the last decade, there are still significant issues that a New Englander can face if they travel to school outside of the NE, especially in the south and mid-west. Visiting a big southern land grant university on a beautiful fall weekend when the football team is home can be an inspiring experience. these schools are big, beautiful and on the surface very inviting. But being one of few yankees at ole' Miss or UGA can have its draw-backs. Especially for girls when the sororiety rush season starts.

The point? You really cannot get a true feel for a school in a weekend. That is why I laugh when I read the common quote " Betsy just fell in love with XYZ University as soon as she came on campus, she just knew right away it was the right place for her." Frankly, many students take a full semester or year matriculating before they really know what they think of a school. The idea that you can figure that out in a weekend visit is pure ridiculousness. Maybe the first instinct proves correct, but for otherwise intellegent people to place great importance upon it... is crazy.

So staying local is typically the safer bet. Maybe the potential ultimate rewards are limited but so are the risks - and that is what is going on with the college selection process . An analysis of risks and rewards.

There are lots of reasons kids choose schools just as there are lots of reasons kids choose to stay local or go away to school. Your last comment is commical though. Visiting a school several times is the reality of a college commit these days, not just once, so a kid does get a real feel of the school and the social life and personality of the school and students. And there is no likihood that a kid is going to visit a "local" school any more than that to get a feel for it. Just because BC, UCONN or Northeastern is a short drive doesn't mean the kid is going to go and visit it more than a couple of times.

In my opinion, many kids stay close to Boston simply because there are good choices for them within New England and because for many 17 year olds the attraction of being in Boston or one of the many New England choices is like going far away. In other words, for adults going to BU or Northeastern is something we do regularly (going downtown) but for a kid who has only gone to downtown Boston a few times in their life from NH, or central MA or RI, going to school in downtown Boston is huge and different and exciting.

[Unregistered]

There are lots of reasons kids choose schools just as there are lots of reasons kids choose to stay local or go away to school. Your last comment is commical though. Visiting a school several times is the reality of a college commit these days, not just once, so a kid does get a real feel of the school and the social life and personality of the school and students. And there is no likihood that a kid is going to visit a "local" school any more than that to get a feel for it. Just because BC, UCONN or Northeastern is a short drive doesn't mean the kid is going to go and visit it more than a couple of times.

In my opinion, many kids stay close to Boston simply because there are good choices for them within New England and because for many 17 year olds the attraction of being in Boston or one of the many New England choices is like going far away. In other words, for adults going to BU or Northeastern is something we do regularly (going downtown) but for a kid who has only gone to downtown Boston a few times in their life from NH, or central MA or RI, going to school in downtown Boston is huge and different and exciting.

The most comprehensive study done regarding attendance patterns appears in the Spring 2009 Journal of College Admissions and it reciewed varying elements of admissions for over 1 million students. It showed that the median distance travelled was about 75 miles and that over 70 % of students attend college in their home state and that about 90% of students journey no further than to a bordering state.

There are corresponding statistics that show that the better the SAT scores and higher family income/ parental education - the better chance that a student will travel outside of the typical "comfort zone". It also shows that New England students are actually more likely to travel outside of the region, although 75% still stay inside New England. So the beliefs about New England parochialism or the attractiveness of New England schools keeping top end local students closer to home simply isn't born out by this study. Generally, kids do stay close home for college - but that isn't quite as common in New England, especially from more affluent districts.

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It appears that U Mass will leave the football championship division (old 1AA) and move into the Mid-American Conference and become bowl eligible in 2013. The reports are that U Mass will remain in the A-10 for all other sports (there is no A-10 Football League) and they will get a similar deal to Temple, which joined the MAC for football only two years ago. The mens basketball team is also required to play four non-league games with MAC opponents (while staying in the A-10) although there are no such requirements for other sports - including mens or womens soccer. There has been a lot of upheval in the Northeast (New England and NY) when it comes to football. Two traditional 1AA programs (Northeastern and Hofstra) recently disbanded football and URI has decided to down-grade the program to D2. U Mass's decision to upgrade leaves the remaining New England D1AA programs (UNH and U Maine) in a very precarious position and most see them being forced out of football all together, or downgrading like URI. There are likely soccer advantages for U Mass. In the short term it will bring positive attention to the U Mass athletic program which will make recruiting easier. If succesful, it will bring an infusion of cash into the athletic department, which will indirectly help other programs - especially on the women's side. And in the more distant future (5 to 10 years) it will position U Mass for entry into a BCS (Big 6) conference. If anything, it is a sign that U Mass understands that for better or worse, a school's reputation and academic success is tied to its athletic stature. BC is a great eaxample as most accept that it is "The school that Flutie built!"

Are you assuming that the football program will provide a net positive cash flow to the university? I read somewhere that only a tiny minority of college football programs run in the black.

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Umass

The only thing going on at umass is racist social justice programs