'Nova, Temple may impact UMass football

AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) - A spring in their step. The UMass football team begins spring practice on Thursday.

The Minutemen will begin a month of workouts, leading up to their spring game on Saturday April 30th. UMass head coach Kevin Morris understands the importance of this next month.

"We really emphasize the execution and getting things right on the football field, it's really the first time we can do that so these 15 practices are critical", says Morris.

The offseason has been filled with rumors about the UMass football program moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision or Division I-A. That decision will likely be determined by what Temple and Villanova do.

Villanova is expected to announce on April 12th if it is joining the Big East in football. If it does, then Temple likely stays in the MAC and UMass could go with it, if officially invited.

If Villanova does not move up, the Big East may invite another team, possibly from Conference USA to join.  If that happens, it would open up a spot for Temple and possibly UMass in Conference USA, since TCU is already leaving the conference to join the Big East. 

We should know more in about two weeks when the dominos begin to fall.