We’re hitting that lovely part of the collegiate athletic calendar where fall and winter sports overlap, making things particularly busy at the University of Massachusetts over the next few weeks.

Here’s this week’s installment of Through The Maroon, our weekly column dedicated to all things UMass.

Garrett Cote

Fresh off a bye week, the UMass football team should be more than ready to go against Army this Saturday.

The Minutemen had plenty of time to not only prepare for the triple option, but to also get some of their banged up players healthy. While UMass was enjoying a break, the Golden Knights, by the way, were getting thumped by LSU. Army did its best 2023 UMass impression against a Power 5 opponent, losing 62-0 on the road.

If there was ever a time for UMass to win, it’s this weekend. Yes, obviously Merrimack is on the horizon, but I don’t think finishing this season with two wins – assuming they do beat Merrimack – really makes much of a difference compared to 2022.

A two-game win streak would be astronomical. The season felt like it could be completely thrown out the window even just four or five games into this seven-game skid, so to get the wheels going in the right direction is essential.

And UConn is certainly a gettable contest, too, but that’s looking too far ahead.

Army is beat up, it just got bullied by LSU. The Minutemen defense hasn’t looked even half as good as everyone thought, and it’s definitely not the typical Don Brown unit. Brown better put that terrific defensive mind of his to work to stymie the triple option.

I think there’s still hope for the team to turn this year into a positive one, but it starts this weekend. Or, you know, maybe UMass maximized its potential in the very first game against New Mexico State and it set unrealistic expectations for the fanbase. Maybe one or two wins was always the outcome, it just so happened that one win came early.

We’ll see what this team is truly made of, and see how much pride they have. Brown and the coaching staff can only do so much, and I don’t get the sense that they’re giving up. The players need to play with a chip on their shoulder and show that they deserve to compete at the FBS level.

Thomas Johnston

Hopefully the UMass men's basketball team had plenty of rosters printed out before Wednesday's exhibition against Western Connecticut State.

After all, the Minutemen have what looks like a near brand new roster, with just four players — Matt Cross, Rahsool Diggins, Keon Thompson and former walk-on Ryan Marcus — the lone returners. This is the third straight year of major roster turnover for UMass, as coach Frank Martin kept just five players from Matt McCall's 2021 roster when he took over last winter.

Welcome to the new age of college sports, where rosters can turn over faster than a runaway train.

With the new transfer portal, teams have the opportunity to flip their roster overnight. Look no further than Deion Sanders and Colorado, who have already surpassed their 2022 win total (though the Buffs have come back to earth in recent weeks).

In this new age, preseason predictions aren't quite what they used to be. The Atlantic 10 preseason poll has the Minutemen finishing 13th, and it's easy to see why — there just isn't much to go off of.

Matt Cross, selected to the Preseason All-Conference Third Team, will lead UMass once again this year. Outside of him, there's a lot of unknown. 

Unlike in football, where the Minutemen hit the portal hard, Martin opted to go the traditional route of bringing players in directly from high school. UMass has seven incoming freshmen to go along with two portal players, with Martin trusting that his recruiting will pay dividends. The class was ranked fourth in the A-10.

Nobody is expecting the Minutemen to compete for a national title this year. The best thing that can happen for the long term of the program is that some of these freshmen pan out — look out for point guard Jaylen Curry and wing Robert Davis, the highest ranked recruits in the class. The hope is that they’ll grow chemistry and give UMass something to build off of for years to come.

Jeff Lajoie

We’re in the home stretch for fall sports in Amherst, so let’s take a look at where some of the other sports at UMass stand with October coming to an end.

The UMass field hockey team is 11-6 entering Friday’s regular season finale against Lock Haven. The Minutewomen are ranked No. 20 in the NFHCA Coaches Poll, and sit in the No. 14 spot in the RPI.

The Atlantic-10 Conference tournament is next week in Richmond, Va., and UMass currently finds itself in a tie for third place with VCU at 4-2. St. Joseph’s is the league leader at 6-0, followed by second-place La Salle (5-1). The top four teams qualify for the postseason, set for Nov. 2-4.

The men’s soccer team is in solid positioning entering their regular season finale Saturday at Dayton. The Minutemen are 7-4-5 overall, and in solo fourth place in the A-10 (4-2-1). The top eight teams qualify for the postseason, and the top four host quarterfinal games. A win at eighth-place Dayton on Saturday would likely secure at least one home game for UMass.

The women’s soccer team will host an Atlantic 10 quarterfinal game on Friday at 2 p.m. at Rudd Field. The fourth-seeded Minutewomen welcome No. 5 Duquesne with a spot in next week’s semifinal round on the line.

UMass went 9-4-4 in its regular season, 6-2-2 in the A10. The semifinals will be Wednesday and the championship game is slated for Nov. 5.