Wichita State Emerges As Potential Basketball Only Add To AAC (Officially Official)

[Drew]

Not if Greg Marshall leaves. Wichita State then becomes Tulsa overnight.

sure. but that isn't what's being talked about here. we're talking about Wichita State as is. Don't get why this is so hard to comprehend.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don't have any history or association to them in any way. I don't care about every school having a good little run. Opponents that we care about matter, it's why we are suffocating in this conference. Being in a conference of misfit toys isn't enough to get people to care.

If the idea is that we should sell out every game regardless of opponent because we are UConn fans first and foremost, I would simply say that's unrealistic and the data backs that up.

Over time, could you get people to eventually care? Maybe. Hasn't worked yet.

I care about playing rivals or quality teams. The biggest problem with the American is that none of them are rivals (Cinci perhaps) and only Cinci and SMU are quality teams. Memphis, Tempke or Houston could be, but SMU will also probably regress. If we had 6 top 40 programs, with 3 ranked, it would be tolerable even without rivals. We weren't going to have rivals in the Big 12 either.

 

[CTMike]

I care about playing rivals or quality teams. The biggest problem with the American is that none of them are rivals (Cinci perhaps) and only Cinci and SMU are quality teams. Memphis, Tempke or Houston could be, but SMU will also probably regress. If we had 6 top 40 programs, with 3 ranked, it would be tolerable even without rivals. We weren't going to have rivals in the Big 12 either.

Wichita State will also regress.

And in the Big 12, we wouldn't have rivals but we'd have money. It's better than no rivals and no money.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

My problem with this scenario - UConn moving all sports but Football to the BE is that it means the door is basically permanently shut on the B1G, ACC or any other P5 scenario. I don't see us moving to the BE in 2019 and then again to to a P5 for all sports in 2024. I suppose it could happen, but gee whiz that is a lot of movement.

Disagree that it shuts the door on P5 movement. I mean yeah, that'd be a bunch of moves in a few years but that's more or less the same timeline as Louisville going from CUSA to BE to ACC.

 

[BUConn10]

Disagree.

Agree with your disagree. Is it crazy or entitled to flat out say: "we deserve better. We've earned it?"

 

[djct1999]

sure. but that isn't what's being talked about here. we're talking about Wichita State as is. Don't get why this is so hard to comprehend.

It is not Wichita as is. Its what Wichita will be. Is that so hard to comprehend? If it was that easy, sure the Wichita of three years ago would be a fine addition. The Wichita three years from now is a horrible add. What don't you comprehend?

 

[mdkhusky]

as it stands with wichita having gregg marshall wichita would be a really good addition giving the league 4 legit brands and 4 tournament teams every year as long as we can hold up our end of the bargain. marshall has said one of the main things that would make him leave is that their conference gets them severely underseeded. the AAC gets underseeded as well but not nearly to the same extent and adding wichita would help that issue for the conference. also its become somewhat of a precedent at schools like vcu etc that they get good coaches because of their recent tradition i.e will wade and now the rice coach

 

[Drew]

It is not Wichita as is. Its what Wichita will be. Is that so hard to comprehend? If it was that easy, sure the Wichita of three years ago would be a fine addition. The Wichita three years from now is a horrible add. What don't you comprehend?

This is completely your opinion unless you have the ability to see into the future and know what Wichita State will look like 3 years from now. What I referenced in my original quote was simply if Wichita State played UConn in a basketball game as is and we drew 6k fans to the game we would have nobody to blame but ourselves. They would've been one of the best 3 teams in our conference this year.

As far as WSU as a program, I don't see how you can say undeniably that their future outlook is bleak. WSU has a 10k+ seat arena and conference history with Tulsa and Cincinnati. They pay their basketball coach over $3m per year in a much worse conference than UConn is currently in and have plans in place to upgrade their arena even further. They have booster support from the Koch brothers. Their fan support has been incredibly impressive and they've won games in the NCAA tournament.

You have no idea what Wichita State will be 3 years from now. But if the AD's and the Commissioner are dead set on improving basketball, I don't see how adding a program like Wichita State is a bad thing. We sit on this board constantly and gripe about teams like ECU and Tulane not making the financial commitment to big time basketball. Rumors come out about Wichita State and the AAC and here you are complaining that WSU might be bad in the future. Even if Marshall leaves its nice to know that there will be another program in this conference that will spend the type of money it takes on its program to remain relevant. In CBB (and college athletics in general), that's half the battle.

 

[djct1999]

This is completely your opinion unless you have the ability to see into the future and know what Wichita State will look like 3 years from now. What I referenced in my original quote was simply if Wichita State played UConn in a basketball game as is and we drew 6k fans to the game we would have nobody to blame but ourselves. They would've been one of the best 3 teams in our conference this year.

As far as WSU as a program, I don't see how you can say undeniably that their future outlook is bleak. WSU has a 10k+ seat arena and conference history with Tulsa and Cincinnati. They pay their basketball coach over $3m per year in a much worse conference than UConn is currently in and have plans in place to upgrade their arena even further. They have booster support from the Koch brothers. Their fan support has been incredibly impressive and they've won games in the NCAA tournament.

You have no idea what Wichita State will be 3 years from now. But if the AD's and the Commissioner are dead set on improving basketball, I don't see how adding a program like Wichita State is a bad thing. We sit on this board constantly and gripe about teams like ECU and Tulane not making the financial commitment to big time basketball. Rumors come out about Wichita State and the AAC and here you are complaining that WSU might be bad in the future. Even if Marshall leaves its nice to know that there will be another program in this conference that will spend the type of money it takes on its program to remain relevant. In CBB (and college athletics in general), that's half the battle.

Dude, you have no clue about the business of realignment and college athletics. Wichita State does not help UConn in any way, both athletically or academically. I don't have to marvel about their past few years or speculate over their next few to know that.

 

[Drew]

Dude, you have no clue about the business of realignment and college athletics. Wichita State does not help UConn in any way, both athletically or academically. I don't have to marvel about their past few years or speculate over their next few to know that.

I've said absolutely nothing about them adding anything financially to the conference in any of my posts in this thread. I've spoken purely from a competition standpoint. I haven't even advocated for them as a member of the league. I also never said Wichita State helps UConn, even though theoretically it actually would help us to play Wichita State twice rather than Tulane USF or ECU twice.

Don't let your disdain for the AAC prevent you from engaging in factual, truthful conversation. Life's too short to come on the Boneyard and pout about the third best AD in Kansas.

 

[don356]

I've said absolutely nothing about them adding anything financially to the conference in any of my posts in this thread. I've spoken purely from a competition standpoint. I haven't even advocated for them as a member of the league. I also never said Wichita State helps UConn, even though theoretically it actually would help us to play Wichita State twice rather than Tulane USF or ECU twice.

Don't let your disdain for the AAC prevent you from engaging in factual, truthful conversation. Life's too short to come on the Boneyard and pout about the third best AD in Kansas.

+1

 

[BUConn10]

sure. but that isn't what's being talked about here. we're talking about Wichita State as is. Don't get why this is so hard to comprehend.

Because only considering WSU "as is" is incredibly foolish and short sighted, it's a big reason why we are in this mess. Adding schools with only temporary value based on a top 3 commodity coach staying at a community college is a bold proposition and frankly a poor investment with so much on the line financially. I don't want this already poor conference (both financially and perceptually) to have another useless mouth to feed 5-10 years down the line when (not if) Marshall leaves, leaving us with another Tulane/Tulsa/ECU game each season to have to dance around talking about with other sports fans to avoid obvious puzzled looks and endless explanations.

 

[Drew]

Because only considering WSU "as is" is incredibly foolish and short sighted, it's a big reason why we are in this mess. Adding schools with only temporary value based on a top 3 commodity coach staying at a community college is a bold proposition and frankly a poor investment with so much on the line financially. I don't want this already poor conference (both financially and perceptually) to have another useless mouth to feed 5-10 years down the line when (not if) Marshall leaves, leaving us with another Tulane/Tulsa/ECU game each season to have to dance around talking about with other sports fans to avoid obvious puzzled looks and endless explanations.

Again, my quote is being taken out of context. Someone made the comment that UConn wouldn't draw 6k fans to a game against Wichita State. I said if we couldn't draw 6k fans to a game against Wichita State as is, that it would reflect poorly on our fanbase. Nothing about what you quoted has anything to do with Wichita State's future membership in the AAC. It was a response to a comment about attendance at a theoretical UConn WSU basketball game.

 

[BUConn10]

Again, my quote is being taken out of context. Someone made the comment that UConn wouldn't draw 6k fans to a game against Wichita State. I said if we couldn't draw 6k fans to a game against Wichita State as is, that it would reflect poorly on our fanbase. Nothing about what you quoted has anything to do with Wichita State's future membership in the AAC. It was a response to a comment about attendance at a theoretical UConn WSU basketball game.

Then who the hell cares? This is a thread about WSU's potential membership in the AAC. No one cares about your hypotheticals of putting the UConn fan base's loyalty to the test against crap schools no one knew existed before 2010.

 

[Drew]

Then who the hell cares? This is a thread about WSU's potential membership in the AAC. No one cares about your hypotheticals of putting the UConn fan base's loyalty to the test against crap schools no one knew existed before 2010.

I know what the thread is about, I started it. I simply responded to someone else's comment and you took it out of context. Upon pointing that out, you got upset. Don't get mad at me because you didn't read the thread for context around what you were quoting.

But I agree, it is a pointless argument. Back to talking about how we don't need another conference mate in "Oklahoma".

 

[UConnSportsGuy]

Wichita State joining the American has no bearing on how many conference opponents we have in the state of Oklahoma because Wichita is in Kansas.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Because only considering WSU "as is" is incredibly foolish and short sighted, it's a big reason why we are in this mess. Adding schools with only temporary value based on a top 3 commodity coach staying at a community college is a bold proposition and frankly a poor investment with so much on the line financially. I don't want this already poor conference (both financially and perceptually) to have another useless mouth to feed 5-10 years down the line when (not if) Marshall leaves, leaving us with another Tulane/Tulsa/ECU game each season to have to dance around talking about with other sports fans to avoid obvious puzzled looks and endless explanations.

What you guys know about Wichita State wouldn't overflow a thimble. It's hardly a community college and has played D1 football in the past and won the college World Series. It's more like Memphis (formerly Memphis State) probably. They have better support than many schools in the conference, and that goes back way before Marshall arrived.

I don't know if it's the right move for the conference or not, but it certainly would upgrade the AAC as a basketball conference. We can't remain a 2 bid league.

 

[BlueMAB]

Whichita St joining is a lot like UConn moving our home football game with BC to Fenway.

It sucks, but it makes sense.

No shots at Wichita State, they're a very solid mid-major. A quality program that would likely have blown us out this year. But they are still a mid-major.

It would upgrade the basketball, and i'd expect them to be one of the top 3-4 programs in the conference. But fahk it sucks.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Whichita St joining is a lot like UConn moving our home football game with BC to Fenway.

It sucks, but it makes sense.

No shots at Wichita State, they're a very solid mid-major. A quality program that would likely have blown us out this year. But they are still a mid-major.

It would upgrade the basketball, and i'd expect them to be one of the top 3-4 programs in the conference. But fahk it sucks.

Yes, they are a mid major. Like every other program in the American unfortunately. They would also help baseball.

I'm torn apart between (a) my utter disdain for the fact that UConn is now a "mid major" and my need to resist that with every fiber of my being and (b) the reality that as long as we are in this damned conference, we need to do something to give AAC basketball a higher profile. If Temple and Memphis (and yes UConn) would revert to prior form, we'd be fine as a 4-5 big league most years.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I don't hate the Wichita addition as much as others do, but the main concern has to be what happens if/when Marshall leaves. Prior to his arriving, outside of their Sweet 16 run in 2006, they were nothing. Is the infrastructure there to continue to be successful without him? Is there someone in line to take his spot?

 

[The Funster]

The only institutions the AAC should ever consider as partial members is the service academies and that is as FB members only. You either bring the whole array of sports or you don't become a member. Period. Full Stop.

 

[Fishy]

The only institutions the AAC should ever consider as partial members is the service academies and that is as FB members only. You either bring the whole array of sports or you don't become a member. Period. Full Stop.

First, that's dumb.

You want Army?

Second, there's no one out there who is a) a worthy addition in all sports, and b) willing to come. No one. Everyone you'd want has been asked and has given an unequivocal no.

Third, we have 11 all sports members and a horrific basketball problem. We had two programs in the RPI top 50 - those matchups are a metric for the selection committee. We only had three programs in the top 100 and we had three over 200. That's a disaster - in hoops, they talk about a Power Six and we're not included.

So you gotta make a change. You have VCU, Dayton or Wichita. Given those three, you have one real choice and that's Wichita. That is the only school that you're dead certain will invest major conference money into their basketball program.

Plus, they're willing to cheat a little which makes them more appealing in this day and age.

 

[ZachCT12]

Air Force for FB would be great, but unfortunately the Commissioner is happy with 12 teams at the moment.

 

[Fishy]

Air Force for FB would be great, but unfortunately the Commissioner is happy with 12 teams at the moment.

You don't understand the commissioner's job. And Air Force isn't interested.

 

[Waquoit]

MTXE, baby!