The UMass Minutemen
are the athletic teams that represent the University of Massachusetts Amherst in NCAA Division I sports competition. The nickname is also applied to club teams that do not participate within the NCAA structure. Strictly speaking, the Minutemen
nickname applies to men's teams and athletes only; women's teams and athletes are known as Minutewomen
. The Minutemen and Minutewomen primarily compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Minutemen ice hockey team competes in Hockey East, while the Minutemen football team has been a charter member of the Colonial Athletic Association football conference since 2007.
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UMASS MINUTEMEN TICKETS
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Basketball
UMass is a member of the
Atlantic 10 basketball conference, of which it was regular season co-Champion in 2007. This marked the first time it won or shared the league title since the last of its five consecutive Atlantic 10 championships in 1996. During the 1990s, the men's basketball team was known as one of the finest in the nation, holding the number one ranking in national polls for extended periods. Under the leadership of then-head coach
John Calipari and players such as 1996 National Player of the Year
Marcus Camby, Harper Williams and
Lou Roe, the Minutemen participated in the
NCAA Tournament each year between 1992 and 1998, and reached the
Final Four in 1996. However, a subsequent NCAA investigation found that Camby illegally accepted a total of $28,000 from sports agents that were attempting to lure him into the
NBA Draft after his Sophomore season, and the school was forced to vacate its Final Four appearance as well as return their 1996 NCAA Final Four trophy. Camby eventually repaid the school the $151,000 in lost Final Four revenue that came as a result of the NCAA's ruling. While a Final Four banner still hangs from the rafters of the Mullins Center in defiance of the NCAA's ruling, the appearance is marked with an asterisk in official record books, even though it was noted that there was absolutely no institutional wrongdoing.
First played in 1905 and held annually since 1995, UMass'
basketball rivalry with
Boston College is called the "
Commonwealth Classic."
Notable UMass basketball alumni include Camby,
Basketball Hall of Famer
Julius Erving,
Louisville head coach
Rick Pitino, and
Boston College head coach
Al Skinner. The current coach of the Minutemen is
Derek Kellogg. Camby, Roe, Williams,
Stephane Lasme and
Gary Forbes were each named Atlantic 10 player of the year.
Derek Kellogg was also a point guard for the Umass Minutemen from 1992 to 1995. He played under
John Calipari and was an assistant coach for the
Memphis Tigers before becoming a head coach at his alma mater.
Football
The UMass Football team competes at the
NCAA Division I FCS (formerly I-AA) level, having won one national title in that subdivision in 1998. The Minutemen were national finalists in 1978 and 2006. UMass has competed in three football conferences over its history, the
Yankee Conference, the
Atlantic 10, and the
Colonial Athletic Association (which are basically 3 incarnations of the same conference). UMass has captured a total of 22 conference championships, the most recent one being a share of the CAA title in 2007.
The 2006 season was the final season under which the football team competed in the Atlantic 10, as the A-10 Football Conference disbanded after the season with all current teams moving to the CAA. They defeated
Montana 19-17 to advance to the championship game (first since 1998). UMass fell to
Appalachian State in the national championship game by a score of 28-17 and finished the season with a record of 13-2.
Ice Hockey
UMass ice hockey has a long history dating back to 1908. The team competed in the
Eastern College Athletic Conference at the
Division II level through 1979, when the program was ceased due to the absence of an on-campus facility that could support ice hockey. Ice hockey returned in 1993 with the opening of the
Mullins Center, and the team began competition in 1994 at the
Division I level in the
Hockey East Conference. The year 1993 is considered the beginning of the "modern era" of UMass Hockey.
The program has shown steady improvement since it resumed competition, with breakthrough years occurring in 2003 and 2004, when the team reached the Hockey East Tournament semifinals and finals, respectively. The program is now nationally ranked on a regular basis. UMass Men's Ice Hockey appeared in their first NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament (16 Teams) in the 2006-07 season and won their first NCAA Tournament game against Clarkson (1-0 OT) before losing to Maine (3-1) in the Regional Final.
The UMass hockey team is nicknamed "The Mass Attack."
Lacrosse
The UMass men's
lacrosse reached the
NCAA Championship Game in 2006, where they lost to the #1 ranked and undefeated
Virginia Cavaliers. UMass, unseeded in the tournament, had to defeat three seeded teams (
Cornell,
Hofstra,
Maryland) to make it to the championship game in
Philadelphia. It was the first time any team had ever defeated the #4, #3, ad #2 seeded teams on its way to facing #1 Virginia in the championship. On February 13, 2008, members of the men's lacrosse team were involved in an off campus brawl which led to the suspension of eight players and the arrests of three. The players in question participated in the beating of three college-aged males with lacrosse sticks and bottles at a North Pleasant Street residence.
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Men's Soccer
UMass Men's soccer led by Captains Junior Goalkeeper Zach Simmions, Senior Defender Kenny Cook, and Junior Midfielder Mike Desantis reached NCAA Men's College Cup in 2007. They were defeated by the
Ohio State Buckeyes, 1-0. On their road to the Final Four, they first won the
Atlantic 10 Tournament in
Dayton, Ohio, and then went on to beat
Boston, #1 ranked
Boston College,
Central Connecticut State, and
Illinois at Chicago. They finished the season 17-8-1, setting program records for wins and furthest advancement into the NCAA Tournament.
Baseball
The Minutemen baseball team, since the abolition of many men's teams (including football and baseball) in 1996 at Boston University, has become the fourth team (in addition to the traditional Boston College, Harvard, and Northeastern) in the baseball version of the Beanpot tournament held at
Fenway Park.
National titles
UMass has won two NCAA championships. The Minutemen won the NCAA national title in Division I-AA (now FCS) football in 1998, and the Minutewomen won the national title in Division I women's lacrosse in 1982.
In 2008 Minutemen skiing took home the United States Collegiate Skiing and Snowboard Association National Championship (The first time in 23 years an Eastern Coast team has won).
NCAA Division I Teams - Men's
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Cross Country
- Football (Division I FCS)
- Ice Hockey
- Lacrosse
- Skiing
- Soccer
- Swimming & Diving
- Track & Field
NCAA Division I Teams - Women's
- Basketball
- Cross Country
- Field Hockey
- Lacrosse
- Rowing (Crew)
- Skiing
- Soccer
- Softball
- Swimming & Diving
- Tennis
- Track & Field
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References
- http://laxmagazine.cstv.com/sports/m-lacros/spec-rel/021308aaj.html