Atlantic 10 Commissioner Comments on UMass MAC Move

The Mid-American Conference is set to formally announce the addition of the University of Massachusetts as a full member on Thursday. While the Minutemen football program has competed as an FBS Independent for the last decade, they'll be leaving the Atlantic 10 Conference in most sports. 

A-10 commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade released a statement earlier this week, following the report from The Athletic breaking the news of the move. Apparently, the move was not a surprise to Commissioner McGlade.

“Conference realignment has become a constant among Division I institutions,” McGlade said in the statement. “Massachusetts has been very transparent with the Atlantic 10 in its search for an FBS conference affiliation. In turn the A-10 has been very respectful of this need and the environment needed surrounding FBS football.”

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The Atlantic 10 does not sponsor football. Other A-10 members that have football programs compete in various FCS leagues.

“I respect the UMass administration, coaches, and student-athletes as they have been a valuable member of the A-10,” McGlade said. “The Atlantic 10 has provided UMass an environment to be successful for nearly 50 years in numerous sports including a Final Four run in men’s basketball. This news does not alter the mission of the A-10 as a nationally relevant successful basketball-centric conference with a robust Olympic sports platform also built for success.”

UMass and the MAC are reportedly looking to address the move in a press conference sometime next week.