Wichita State Emerges As Potential Basketball Only Add To AAC (Officially Official) | Page 4 | The Boneyard

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

Drew said:
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.
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:oops:
 
BUConn10 said:
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.
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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.
 
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.
 
WingU-Conn said:
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.
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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.
 
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 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.
 
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The Funster said:
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.
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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.
 
Air Force for FB would be great, but unfortunately the Commissioner is happy with 12 teams at the moment.
 
ZachCT12 said:
Air Force for FB would be great, but unfortunately the Commissioner is happy with 12 teams at the moment.
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You don't understand the commissioner's job. And Air Force isn't interested.
 
I know its not apples to apples, but the addition of Navy as a football-only member was huge for the conference in terms of gaining relevance/prestige. Compared to AAC basketball, AAC football is much closer to being "P5" and I think the Navy addition had a lot to do with that.

WSU obviously is not Navy football but they would instantly move AAC basketball closer to "P5" than we currently are which is in our best interest. Given their financial commitment to bball and history of success they instantly become the 2nd/3rd most relevant/prestigious basketball program in our conference.

I hate the UConn being in the AAC as much as anyone but saying "screw Wichita, I'm good with ECU and Tulane" is just ignorant.
 
If UConn was planning on staying in the AAC, I'd assume they'd clamor for closer additions.
 
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Fishy said:
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.
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If no one wants to come for all sports then I don't want them. The AAC is already a haphazard conglomerate of pieces that don't fit. To add some one to temporarily raise our BB profile (and there is no guarantee they'll stay relevant if Marshall leaves) makes the conference a more haphazardy conglomerate. We shouldn't fret over the AAC's basketball problem. We should fret over our own program. If we win, we'll dance.

The service academy comment about FB. At least Armey has some cache
 
Yeah: the AAC can be a credible conference. It can be roughly as good as mid-1990s to mid-2000s CUSA, which had #1 seeds and Final Four participants.

It will never be as good as the old Big East, but that conference keep schools like Cincy, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis and DePaul afloat. Our football needs to get better, but the conference's has actually been pretty good. About as good as the post-Miami Big East.

Basketball needs something--ANYTHING. I don't love Wichita State or VCU--or even Dayton--as adds. But WSU seems like it'll be able to stick around and compete better than Tulane and ECU, and that's good enough for me. They were a top 20 team this year, and if you had them in the league this year, and SMU/Cincy played them each twice (and split) rather than a second game with Tulane, each of those teams probably jumps up a seed line, and WSU probably 4 or 5 themselves. Also, they might have dragged Houston or UCF in as well.
 
Fishy said:
If you are fretting over our program and you're not fretting about the AAC's problems, you're not very good at fretting.
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admittedly, I've never been an accomplished fretter.
 
tzznandrew said:
Yeah: the AAC can be a credible conference. It can be roughly as good as mid-1990s to mid-2000s CUSA, which had #1 seeds and Final Four participants.

It will never be as good as the old Big East, but that conference keep schools like Cincy, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis and DePaul afloat. Our football needs to get better, but the conference's has actually been pretty good. About as good as the post-Miami Big East.

Basketball needs something--ANYTHING. I don't love Wichita State or VCU--or even Dayton--as adds. But WSU seems like it'll be able to stick around and compete better than Tulane and ECU, and that's good enough for me. They were a top 20 team this year, and if you had them in the league this year, and SMU/Cincy played them each twice (and split) rather than a second game with Tulane, each of those teams probably jumps up a seed line, and WSU probably 4 or 5 themselves. Also, they might have dragged Houston or UCF in as well.
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1. The AAC is weak so you'd better dominate

2. You have to schedule stronger OOC. Some of the cupcakes come in Jan and Feb so schedule a tougher Nov/Dev. Its not ideal, you have to hit the ground running
 
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IMO what UConn needs most is a geographic rival in the AAC to stir emotions.

I have always believed that if the AAC expands then UConn should use its influence to have UMass admitted.

Yeah, I know that UMass has been irrelevant for years in basketball, but entry into the AAC may cause it to improve and create a heated rivalry.
 
In summary, to join the P5 you need to add market share and increase revenue. To join the AAC you need to have a fairly decent 5 year run as a mid major. Wichita State, may compete for a few years on the court, but will be another leech financially. This move doesn't make the AAC better, it pushes it further down the path of irrelevancy and insolvency.
 
djct1999 said:
In summary, to join the P5 you need to add market share and increase revenue. To join the AAC you need to have a fairly decent 5 year run as a mid major. Wichita State, may compete for a few years on the court, but will be another leech financially. This move doesn't make the AAC better, it pushes it further down the path of irrelevancy and insolvency.
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Yeah just like Xavier, Creighton, and Butler did nothing but push the C7 closer to irrelevancy. :confused:

The AAC desperately needs to enhance its basketball profile for recruiting and NCAA tournament purposes. Adding Wichita St is a layup, amazing that so many people don't get it.

and they won't make our slice of the pie smaller if they make the entire pie bigger.
 
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The AAC is UConn's home for a while, so UConn should look at additions more strategically. Wichita State is good now, but they have a great coach and things could change when he leaves. Wichita State is in a small city in west Kansas that has no market and no recruiting region to bring. It is a nothing burger of a city and Wichita State is just a nice mid-major that is 1,500 miles away. Doesn't help UConn at all.
 
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nelsonmuntz said:
\Wichita State is good now, but they have a great coach and things could change when he leaves. \
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Based on this brilliant theory maybe UCONN is done as a basketball power because we lost our hall of fame coach.

You want to keep trying or give up? Anyone who wants to keep trying should favor adding a solid basketball brand to the conference.
 
metsfan2323 said:
Based on this brilliant theory maybe UCONN is done as a basketball power because we lost our hall of fame coach.

You want to keep trying or give up? Anyone who wants to keep trying should favor adding a solid basketball brand to the conference.
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Look at the problems UConn is having. Imagine how tough it will be for a satellite school in western Kansas. Adding a school because of how good they are at this moment is a mistake. If the AAC is going to add a school, it should be someone closer, like UMass, that can be a rival for UConn.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
Look at the problems UConn is having. Imagine how tough it will be for a satellite school in western Kansas. Adding a school because of how good they are at this moment is a mistake. If the AAC is going to add a school, it should be someone closer, like UMass, that can be a rival for UConn.
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I actually think Wichita State (and WSU only) is a good add. Dayton and VCU both have proven that they aren't good enough for their coach to stay. Marshall has stayed at WSU in lieu of receiving P5 offers. The Koch brothers have money to spend on him. Marshall's problem is NCAA seeding, which is something that would improve in the AAC as opposed to the MVC. This would be a case of a high tide lifting all boats. Wichita State comes in and is another program (like us) that does something in March, which brings more exposure to us. We would likely play the ECU, USF, and Tulane's of the world a little less. 12 is also a better number for scheduling purposes as nobody has to take a matchday off.
 
Those that believe that Wichita State will sustain it's winning ways after Greg Marshall departs should be required to answer why, if Wichita State is such a basketball hotspot, that it had a mediocre winning record of 223 wins and 222 losses during the 15 seasons immediately before Coach Marshall arrived at the school.
 
Bobol said:
Those that believe that Wichita State will sustain it's winning ways after Greg Marshall departs should be required to answer why, if Wichita State is such a basketball hotspot, that it had a mediocre winning record of 223 wins and 222 losses during the 15 seasons immediately before Coach Marshall arrived at the school.
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You do realize that Greg Marshall more than likely just turned down the Indiana Job. Doubtful that they hire Miller without first kicking Marshall's tires. Obviously he likes it there, he is making a huge amount of money in a low cost of living area with low taxes. The have a passionate fan base that loves him. He can retire there.

Where the heck is Greg Marshall going?

UMASS is a double edged sword for UCONN and right now they offer the AAC's basketball profile zilch, so it is doubtful the rest of the conference would vote for them and UCONN probably isn't voting for them either.
 
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metsfan2323 said:
You do realize that Greg Marshall more than likely just turned down the Indiana Job. Doubtful that they hire Miller without first kicking Marshall's tires. Obviously he likes it there, he is making a huge amount of money in a low cost of living area with low taxes. The have a passionate fan base that loves him. He can retire there.

Where the heck is Greg Marshall going?

UMASS is a double edged sword for UCONN and right now they offer the AAC's basketball profile zilch, so it is doubtful the rest of the conference would vote for them and UCONN probably isn't voting for them either.
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UMass is a lot like Rutgers, promising better results if they just get invited to a better conference.
 
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