It doesn’t happen terribly often, but throughout college football history, there have been moments where a struggling program hits its boiling point, reads the writing on the wall, and makes the humbling decision to drop down a level.
There’s also, however, been those where everyone knows a program should do that, yet it annoyingly refuses to. Today, we’ll be looking at the top example of the latter: UMass.
The UMass Minutemen football team has been playing at the FBS level since 2012, and in the span of time between then and now, its ceiling has been 4-8. You read that right; 4-8 is the best that the modern Minutemen have ever achieved.
The troublesome stretch of time has seen them try out a couple of different sceneries as well, having started in the MAC, before deciding to suck as an Independent, before then returning to the MAC last year. And how did they do in that grand return? They went 0-12, with losses to Bryant and perennial stinkers Kent State and Akron (not to mention that those last two won by blowout margins).
In other words, even with UMass making shifts to get as comfortable in the FBS as possible, we’re still left wondering—after all these years—if the Minutemen can get at least one win next season. It’s pathetic, so much so that I’m astonished they haven’t tapped out yet. But, 2026 may be the year that changes that.
This fall, UMass will embark on a journey with as many overtones of “go easy on me” as an FBS schedule could ever provide. I’m talking seven opponents coming off of losing seasons, along with the five who aren’t including guys like Sacred Heart, the previously FCS Sacramento State, and 7-7 Miami (OH).
If the Minutemen crawl out of that bounce house of a schedule with zero signs of improvement and still haven't gotten the idea that they don’t belong anywhere near the FBS, I’d suggest their deflated fans come to terms with the fact that they never will.