Football:
The UMass Minutemen represents the college in the Mid-American Conference in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision. The college started playing inter-collegiate football in 1879 and used to participate in the FCS National Championship.
UMass has enjoyed a lot of success over the years in football at various levels. They were one of the founding members of the Yankee Conference and won seventeen Conference Championships while they were members. The team found even more success when they moved to the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1997. The team was able win the FCS National Championship in 1998 and would go on to win four more conference titles to add to their tally.
Overall the team has appeared in the FCS National Championship Game three times and won the national title in 1998. The team won its last Atlantic Conference Championship in 2007, before they decided to move to the NCAA Division I FBS. The team has captured twenty two conference titles during four conferences and has one national title to its name.
The transition to the bowl subdivision began in 2011 and they eventually made the change in 2013, when they moved to the Mid-American Conference. The team has now become bowl eligible and will be seen in bowl action from now on.
Basketball:
The school’s basketball program was introduced at the turn of the previous century, and they placed their first game in 1900. The team’s early years were marked by success on court, as Coach Harold M. Gore inspired them to an 85-53 record in eleven seasons. This record included a 12-2 season, in which the team went on a 12-0 run.
In 1948, the team joined the Yankee Conference, marking the first time the team participated in a conference competition. Amidst strong opposition from the seasoned conference teams, the school was able to hold its own and won the Yankee Conference ten times during their stint there.
The 1990’s were a golden period for the Minutemen. As the team joined the Atlantic Conference, Coach John Calipari, helped the team reach new heights. Ranked as one of the best collegiate teams in the country, from 1991 to 1996, the team became A-10 champions five consecutive times. The decade also saw them making seven NCAA Tournament appearances which included two Elite Eight appearances and one Final Four appearance.
Baseball:
The school’s baseball team is also a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference and plays in the NCAA Division I. The team plays its home games at the Earl Lorden Field in Amherst and is one of the oldest sports team in the university’s history.
Like other sports in the university’s program, the baseball team also joined the Yankee Conference in 1948. The Minutemen found success in the conference and went on to become conference champions ten times. Following the team’s move to the Atlantic 10 conference, they went on to win four more conference titles. The Minutemen’s baseball team has made it to the NCAA tournament eleven times in its history and has reached the College World Series twice, in 1954 and 1969.
Besides these three main sports the Minutemen participate in numerous other sports. You can catch all these sports teams live in action by buying UMass Minutemen tickets.