UMass' transition to the FBS level hasn't been easy. Some vocal faculty members have been against the move, wins haven't come easily, and the team has been technically homeless.
For two years now the Minutemen have played their home games 93 miles away in Foxboro, Massachusetts, where fans have been hard to come by. Well, soon the traveling won't be an issue.
UMass has been undergoing some heavy renovations to its football facilities since moving up to the FBS level two years ago. McGuirk Stadium didn't quite live up to the standards of Division I's highest level of football.
Part of the renovations at McGurik (which are quickly nearing completion and should see the team fully transitioning to its home stadium by 2015) has been an updated press box and performance center (one big building) that will allow the football stadium to serve as a football complex, complete with a state of the art locker room, football offices and a weight room all attached to the stadium.
Speaking of lockers ... UMass decided to strap a GoPro cam on sophomore linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox as the team took a tour through the still unfinished facility.
"We got a real locker now!" he shouts at one point during the video when walking into the dusty, plastic wrapped construction zone of a locker room.
UMass does have real lockers now, and soon will have a state-of-theart FBS facility. It should help, because the team needs to find a new home for life after 2015.