AAC football: 5 programs that should replace UConn as newest member

5. UMass Minutemen

UMass has to be desperate to join a conference. The Minutemen, while currently competing as an FBS Independent, have experienced little success since moving from FCS to the FBS level in 2012. They’ve never enjoyed a winning season since rejoining the FBS, and their win-loss record in the last seven seasons is 18-66.

To briefly argue for the Minutemen’s inclusion: they are regaining their footing after moving out of the MAC (four seasons between 2012 and 2015), and their previous two seasons, two consecutive 4-8 campaigns, are the best two seasons for the program since it moved back up to the FBS level.

Geographically, UMass replaces the team that the AAC lost on the Eastern seaboard. Though located in Amherst, UMass football in a higher-tier conference could pull in a bit from the Boston media market. The Boston metro area is roughly five million people, which is the tenth-largest in the country.

It’s easier to argue against the potential UMass invitation: it’s not located in a college football hotbed, it’s a tad of a geographic outlier for the conference, and the quality of football is, well, underwhelming at best. Men’s basketball, as another revenue sport, has struggled mightily in recent years, and hasn’t seen any consistent NCAA Tournament since John Calipari coached there in the 90s.

There are some interesting benefits to adding the Minutemen, but the AAC does not stand to gain enough from this move.