The Mid-American Conference has invited the University of Massachusetts to become a full member starting in 2025, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Monday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the school nor MAC had confirmed the move. The presidents of each MAC college voted to approve the invitation on Monday, and the school is expected to accept after weeks of negotiations between the parties, the people said.
The Minutemen are currently independent in soccer and compete in the Atlantic 10 in most other sports except men's hockey, which is part of Hockey East.
A reporter for The Athletic first reported that the MAC was inviting UMass.
UMass is the only A-10 school to play football in the highest division of Division I, known as the Bowl Subdivision.
The Minutemen had football-only membership in the MAC when the school first promoted to the FBS from the Championship Subdivision from 2012-2015. During that time, they won only eight games and were effectively kicked out of the conference.
Since then, they have operated as an independent soccer team, but have yet to win more than four games in a season. With the addition of UMass, he now has 13 official members in the MAC, most of whom are based in Ohio and Michigan.
Army is scheduled to join the American Athletic Conference in 2024, and the University of Massachusetts' move will reduce the number of FBS independents to two: Notre Dame and UW.
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AP College Football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
