The Mid-American Conference (MAC) just got more competitive for UB.
UMass Amherst has been invited to return to the conference across all sports in the 2025-26 academic year, leaving UB’s competitive future with the conference in doubt. The move is not yet official, but UMass is expected to accept the invitation.
After accumulating a 8-40 record in football over four seasons, UMass left the MAC in 2015. It has since competed as an independent and then as a member of the Atlantic-10 Conference.
The last time the MAC saw a membership change was in 1997, when Marshall joined before leaving in 2005. The addition of UMass pushes the number of schools in the conference to 13.
The move comes as the MAC retires its current postseason format, removing some of the potential issues with the amount of schools in each division being imbalanced. The odd number of schools still leaves the possibility that another school may be added in the future, or a school may leave to make up the difference.
Regardless of other potential changes, UMass Amherst’s return will mean one more conference opponent standing between the Bulls and the postseason.
Henry Daley is an assistant sports editor and can be reached at henry.daley@ubspectrum.com
Henry Daley is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. His work has featured on other platforms such as Medium and Last Word on Sports. Outside of the newspaper, he enjoys running and watching sports (when he’s not writing about them).
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