I-A football reviewed again

UMass will review for what seems to be the nth time a move to I-A football. The Springfield Republican has a short article here.

The UMass football blog cautions all UMass football fans not to get too caught up in this. The topic usually generates a tremendous amount of gassing on the various message boards. The less the posters know about football, the stronger the opinions.

Some thoughts about the move:

• It will not cost ninety-seven bazillion dollars for a new stadium. The NCAA removed that requirement years ago. Florida International went I-A with a 18,000 seat stadium
• UMass would have to fund 22 additional scholarships. I-A is not doable with reduced scholarships.
• UMass fans would have to hang in there for a couple of years. Whipple said "We'd take our lumps for a couple of years while we got up to speed"
• The Big Issue in the UMass Football Blog's mind is conference availability. We would need to join a conference.
• Current attendance is not an issue. Build it and they will come.

Can it be done? Sure, but it would need the support of the state legislature . Massachusetts has one of the most ineffective state governments in the nation. In the Byzantine world of agendas within agendas in the state legislature, UMass football is not on the list...