UMass is at a crossroads. They haven't been dominant in basketball since the 90's and only one (?) NCAA appearance since then? It doesn't seem they've been benefiting from the multiple NCAA invites in the A-10 so if their hope is to improve football so their "whole package" is appealing to the AAC they're going to have to build up football in a lesser G-5 conference. C-USA is probably a better fit than MAC not only regionally (Marshall, ODU, and Charlotte would be better rivals) but I think C-USA has better basketball and more likely to get at-large bids.

Just like UCONN basketball alone is a tough sell to get UCONN into the P5 without football stepping up, I don't think UMass basketball is enough to get it into AAC without football stepping up. Pay your dues UMass, and you'll be better positioned for it. Something JMU's admin desperately needs to learn as well.