Wichita state gaining steam

[Kemba'sYogurt]

Sorry if this should be on the conference alignment board, but it involved basketball so I figured why not


Wichita State getting 'serious evaluation' to join American Athletic Conference

VCU and Dayton were mentioned as well

 

[Hurleyman216]

Sorry if this should be on the conference alignment board, but it involved basketball so I figured why not


Wichita State getting 'serious evaluation' to join American Athletic Conference

VCU and Dayton were mentioned as well

I actually like this move. I know football drives the bus today, but 20 years from now that may not be the case.

 

[zls44]

I actually like this move. I know football drives the bus today, but 20 years from now that may not be the case.

20 years from now Wichita State might be Idaho State.

 

[tykurez]

Please get us out of this league, oh conference gods.

 

[UConnTrumbull]

I don't think this will happen. Why feed another mouth when you're barely making ends meet?

 

[Hurleyman216]

20 years from now Wichita State might be Idaho State.

How many people 20 years ago thought we would be playing against Tulsa, ECU and Tulane twice a year? In my opinion you try to make the league as strong as you can. Believe it or not, if the AAC added a few good bball programs, the league would actually have the chance to make more $$ with credits from the NCAA bball tournament than they do with their entire media deal. Right now, the entire AAC media contract is worth approximately $18M per year for the league ($1.5M/school). If we added 3 schools, the media dollars would drop to about $1.3M/school.

Here's where it gets interesting. Last year, one win from the NCAA men's tournament was worth $1.59M. If the 3 added teams can win (on average) one NCAA tournament game per year, the league actually takes in about $1.64M per school. You can argue that Witchita State, Dayton and VCU won't make the tournament every year nevermind winning a game, but realistically it's probably a wash at best. If you can improve the perception of the league in terms of quality of basketball, you also help increase your chances of putting more teams in the tournament, keeping current teams like UConn, Cincy and SMU relevant and improving recruiting.

 

[Towney007]

It's almost like the conference is thinking...

"Gee, if the basketball teams are better, then the basketball is better. If the basketball is better, then more people will watch. If more people watch, we might make more money."

Crazy. Unreal, but crazy if true.

 

[Towney007]

While I'm a LITTLE wary of adding Dayton and VCU - I think Wichita State is a slam-dunk no brainer. You'd have one football-only school. You'd have one hoops-only school. Both help immensely. To me there's just absolutely nothing to hate about Wichita in this league. While it might be a hit up front, it likely pays for itself eventually.

And to people cutting up the pie in here - if the plan is to leave anyway - who cares? Get the most you can in terms of maintaining the reputation of your program in this league and leave. At least the AAC's making an effort to try to make the conference better.

 

[AdamaNation]

Sorry if this should be on the conference alignment board, but it involved basketball so I figured why not


Wichita State getting 'serious evaluation' to join American Athletic Conference

VCU and Dayton were mentioned as well

I wish I could find my old post as I mentioned these teams along with northern Iowa and San Diego state

 

[Fishy]

I actually like this move. I know football drives the bus today, but 20 years from now that may not be the case.

If Gregg Marshall leaves, Wichita State becomes just another awful academic school in a small, distant state.

 

[Tenspro2002]

If Gregg Marshall leaves, Wichita State becomes just another awful academic school in a small, distant state.

To be fair, people said that about Butler and Brad Stevens, and they've posted better results than we have over the last 3 years.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Sorry if this should be on the conference alignment board, but it involved basketball so I figured why not


Wichita State getting 'serious evaluation' to join American Athletic Conference

VCU and Dayton were mentioned as well

Uggh! i dont care! Get us out of this conference!!!!

 

[upstater]

It's almost like the conference is thinking...

"Gee, if the basketball teams are better, then the basketball is better. If the basketball is better, then more people will watch. If more people watch, we might make more money."

Crazy. Unreal, but crazy if true.

But we're adding tiny markets and marginal schools. Even if the programs are good, the schools themselves and the markets suck. These schools will be feeding off of UConn. This is bad.

 

[Fishy]

Witchita made the NCAA tournament one time in the 20 years before Marshall got there. Even after he got there, it took him five or six years before he got them back.

Butler was good before Stevens got there - Thad Matta and Todd Lickliter were both successful, made the postseason yearly and both were hired to better gigs as a result.

Wichita is committed to their athletic program - no doubt. But they're not a slam dunk to keep winning should Marshall leave and their margin for error is no where near Butler's.

Plus, it really is a dreadful school in a podunk state that's 1,600 miles from Storrs.

 

[huskyniner]

So we leave a (better) basketball-only conference because "football drives the bus", and then begin adding basketball-only schools to our new conference?

 

[A10 fan]

The one thing adding Wichita would do, would be to allow the league to split into two divisions. This would allow for a 16 game schedule, leaving plenty of room for ooc games. It would suck that UConn's division would have ECU, and the Florida schools (although UCF looks like an up and comer), while games with Memphis, SMU, and Houston would be reduced to once a year, but the reduction in travel, and opportunity to play good teams ooc would be worth it.

 

[A10 fan]

So we leave a (better) basketball-only conference because "football drives the bus", and then begin adding basketball-only schools to our new conference?

UConn is only here to keep football alive in the hope that a P5 invite will come. Why not try to improve hoops in the meantime. Going to the BE means giving up football. That's fine, but if the P5 breaks away, a BE UConn is DEAD! That is what they fear, and is the reason why they are desperate for that P5 invite.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Just what the league needs, more travel, terrible academics and no sustained history of success!

Isn't the fact we already play in a league with Tulane and ECU enough punishment?

 

[Hurleyman216]

If Gregg Marshall leaves, Wichita State becomes just another awful academic school in a small, distant state.

I don't disagree with your point, but you could say this about at least 10 other programs in the country. What happens is Few leaves Gonzaga? What if Bennett leaves Virginia? Those programs would not be the same. We already have a league composed of awful academic schools in small distant states, so the downside is you add one more. As others have already stated, Uconn's plan is to get out of this league. Might as well try to make it respectable in the meantime. I know you guys are all in the football train, but the networks ain't backing up a truckload of $$ for the football product the AAC is putting on the field.

 

[SubbaBub]

Is Indiana State or University of San Francisco not available?

 

[Fishy]

I don't disagree with your point, but you could say this about at least 10 other programs in the country. What happens is Few leaves Gonzaga? What if Bennett leaves Virginia? Those programs would not be the same. We already have a league composed of awful academic schools in small distant states, so the downside is you add one more. As others have already stated, Uconn's plan is to get out of this league. Might as well try to make it respectable in the meantime. I know you guys are all in the football train, but the networks ain't backing up a truckload of $$ for the football product the AAC is putting on the field.

We're not talking about inviting ten other programs, we're talking about Wichita State. And their metrics are miserable every which way.

They're a bad school in a small market. At their best, they add zero to the conference bottom line - ESPN is not going to up the take because the conference has WSU.

If they're anything but their best, which is all but certain if Marshall leaves, they are a disaster.

 

[Ts5034]

If anything, at least it could add a team to this conference that can be a top 50-75 RPI team every year so they can help with that and SOS. Wichita St currently has an RPI of 40. I wouldnt hate this if it happened. Id rather play Wichita St than Tulane.

 

[Caronimo]

This conference will always be sh.it for bball as long as we have those bottom feeders in it. Sadly, we are one of those right now.

 

[SC Husky]

I would bite the bullet and add UMASS. I would rather play them than UCF, USF, ECU, Tulane, etc.

 

[BUConn10]

If you didn't think UConn was here to stay in the AAC long term before, I hope this news shows you that the cement is finally drying.