There are plenty of college football teams that have not seen the current season pan out in the way they'd hoped, but they can at least take some solace in knowing they're not UMass. The Minutemen are firmly the worst team at the FBS level, and they were responsible for a hilarious clip after deciding to set off fireworks that put them on the board during a blowout at the hands of NIU.
It's been close to 15 years since UMass made the leap to the FBS level, and to borrow a phrase from Douglas Adams, that has widely been regarded as a bad move.
The Minutemen have not come close to posting a winning record since moving up in 2012. They headed into the current season with a 26-122 record over the past 13 years, have not beaten an FBS team since defeating Army in 2023, and headed into Wednesday night's showdown with NIU sitting at 0-9 while riding a 13-game losing streak.
The Huskies didn't have any trouble while cruising to a 45-3 win, and we were treated to a vintage MACtion Moment thanks to what unfolded after UMass got its only score of the game.
Every week, ESPN's Bill Connelly shares the SP+ rankings he uses to evaluate the talents of all 766 college football teams in the United States. UMass was sitting in the 233rd spot in the most recent installment, which put the Minutemen below multiple DII teams and five places below North Central, a DIII program in Illinois.
A 2-6 NIU squad was listed as an 8.5-point favorite to get the win when the Huskies headed to Amherst on Wednesday night, and they did not have any problem covering the spread in a contest where they pulled out to a 45-0 lead midway through the third quarter.
UMass was eventually able to get on the board with a 44-yard field goal that split the uprights with around six minutes left to go in the fourth quarter, and a fan captured an amazing video of fireworks being set off before panning to the scoreboard that displayed the 45-3 score as a horde of shirtless guys made Petey Pablo proud by spinning their shirts around like a helicopter.
The universe also proved it has a sense of humor, as the video exudes the same energy as the frequently memed clip of Chris Paul hitting a three-pointer that also reduced a massive lead to 42 points.
UMass will cap off its season with games against Ohio and Bowling Green, and it's very hard to imagine they'll end up with a tally in the win column before the year comes to a merciful end.