The Sunset: Sun Belt Suspends Talks With UMass

It was previously reported that the Massachusetts Minutemen were in talks with the Sun Belt in order to join their conference in the near future, it seems that those talks have since been cut off.

"While we may explore adding a 12th all-sports member join the Sun Belt Conference, at this time we are moving the conference forward with our membership as is," said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson in a release Wednesday afternoon. "Come July 1 the membership will be stable for the first time in over two years with no incoming or departing members."

Whether it was concerns about distance, quality of play, or the likelihood that UMass would not enter as an all sports member entirely is unknown. Something to take away from the above quote is that Benson did leave the door open for future talks.

The Sun Belt still might end up as the Minutemen's next stop. With two years left on their MAC deal, they would not have been eligible to join the Sun Belt until after the 2015 season (2016 football year). A year from now we may look back at this article and laugh as UMass signs a deal with the Sun Belt. Yet, if the Sun Belt, or any other conference, is insistent on UMass joining as an all sports member, that may leave UMass without a dance partner (it is, after all, why they are leaving the MAC). For the Minutemen faithful, though, the uncertainty of their future once again will loom over another season.