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.