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  • American Athletic Conference

    First, I'd like to say why I am making a new thread about this instead of posting in another realignment thread. I feel that the other thread should be used to discuss conference realignment news, not every crackpot theory I could throw at it. This sort of thing would needlessly clutter it.

    Anyway, with the news that the Catholic schools in the Big East are looking to split, news doors have opened up for Wichita State. Most speculation has been of an all Catholic, all private conference. However, it is possible the main motivator in this case will not be religion or the type of school, but basketball and stability.

    This talk started after the Big East added Tulane, which the basketball schools fear would destroy their RPI (along with possibility of East Carolina eventually). The Catholic schools fear that the conference is going to destroy its basketball legitimacy in order to save its football schools, and they are worried about being stuck in a subpar basketball conference AND crappy football conference once the good football schools leave.

    The main question is: Can the Catholic schools disband the Big East?

    They have seven votes, and need a 3/4 majority vote to disband the conference (which would retain the assets of the conference and the brand name). Depending on the opposition, that may be enough. If they do so, they would not have to pay fees for leaving the conference, and would have the conferences assets in order to rebuild.

    The first target will be the A10, starting with recent additions Butler and VCU. Butler has proximity to some Big East schools, like Marquette and DePaul, and brings recent success with a decent media market (Indianapolis). VCU has the same type of success, but gives less in the media market department. After raiding those schools, they will pick from the rest of the A10, probably picking Dayton, Xavier, Saint Louis, Richmond and Duquense.

    This would give them a 14 team league. But the most logical addition is yet to be added. Creighton will bring you to 15, and will be a member of the Catholic majority rule in the conference, further enforcing stability. However, Creighton makes the conference uneven, and they need a partner.

    This is where Wichita State could make out like kings.
    If the new Big East adds the previous A10 schools and Creighton, the logical choice will be to add Wichita State. That would give you a conference with Western and Eastern Divisions that play out as such:

    WEST:
    Butler
    Dayton
    Xavier
    DePaul
    Marquette
    Creighton
    Wichita State
    Saint Louis

    EAST:
    St. John's
    Georgetown
    Providence
    Villanova
    Seton Hall
    Richmond
    Duquesne
    VCU

    In my honest opinion, this is the best case for us. We gain entry into an upper-caste league, and the western division won't cover too much more ground (geographically speaking) than the Missouri Valley did. This lets us retain our rivalry with Creighton as well, along with our budding rivalry with VCU. This league would likely double our total revenue and give us ample grounds to recruit as well.

    Why could this happen?

    1. We, along with Creighton, VCU, and Butler, are all looking to continue to improve our national presence. Any of those teams would immediately accept an offer if the Catholic schools gave it out.

    2. The other A10 teams would most likely be bottom-dwellers, like DePaul in the Big East today, but would still be accepted because of the additional media markets (and of course, would also love to join). However, these schools still have basketball tradition, and teams like Xavier are no-brainers for this conference. Besides, every conference needs bottom-dwellers.

    3. This group would make an incredibly stable conference, which is something the Catholic schools would want. None of the these schools play FBS football, and few play football at all, which means the the league's members would not be likely targets for realignment. This conference also allows the traditional power teams of the Big East to combine with current up-and-coming teams to make a very strong basketball conference, arguably a top 3 or top 4 conference at a minimum. Also, the conference would have a common background; of those schools, only Butler, Wichita State, VCU, and Richmond are non-Jesuit colleges and only Wichita State and VCU are public. Uniformity breeds stability.

    4. Money. If this conference is successful, it will be far more profitable than a depleted Big East conference would. Also, as this relies on the Catholic schools ability to disband the league, they would not have to worry about paying exit fees. Long-term, this conference could get its own TV channel and serve as the functional basketball-only league the Big East half-heartedly tried to be.

    5. Conference strength. As mentioned before, this would be a dangerous league. I have trouble looking at those names and not expected 6-8 bids every year, with potentially 9 or 10 in a good year. The Big East schools don't have to worry about the Tulanes and East Carolinas of the world, and the rest of the teams will receive a massive RPI boost from joining the conference.


    Basically, this is the path I'd like our athletic department to actively pursue. The main problems that would stop it are:

    1. The Catholic side of the Big East may not be able to successfully disband the conference, rendering this idea mute.
    2. The conference may stop before 16 teams, and Wichita State is not super high priority (probably equal with VCU, for the same general reasons)
    3. Catholicism over basketball: the league may decide to stay with only private Jesuit colleges

    What do you think? Should we try to make this happen before it gets taken out of our hands?

  • #2
    Would this be for all sports or just M-BB?

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    • #3
      Gee, I don't know whether you consider your realignment a crackpot theory or mine on the other thread since I was the only one to make a realignment model on it, or both.

      Nevertheless, I know I didn't spend near as much time coming up with it and I was only 2 teams off from yours. But then again, there was a very limited number of probable variables. I had Bradley and George Mason, you had Richmond (who I almost went with) and Duquesne (who I didn't give a thought to). I still think I like mine.

      Comment


      • #4
        Well, that would be ideal for the Shockers, but I think WSU gets left out because we are public, a geographical outlier, and are not necessary to make it work.
        Livin the dream

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        • #5
          I'm sure the East Coast teams can't wait to add a trip to Wichita to their schedule to capture the all important media market here. The stability of the Valley looks pretty good from my vantage point.
          Wichita State, home of the All-Americans.

          Comment


          • #6
            Whos going to beat SMS like a rented mule if CU and WSU leave the valley? Did anyone even think to consider that?
            "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade." Better have some sugar and water too, or else your lemonade will suck!

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by ShockerPrez View Post
              Whos going to beat SMS like a rented mule if CU and WSU leave the valley? Did anyone even think to consider that?
              If this year is any indication, apparently everybody!
              The fact that man is master of his actions is due to his being able to deliberate about them.-- Thomas Aquinas

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Veritas View Post
                Would this be for all sports or just M-BB?
                Probably all sports, because the Catholic schools would be kicking the other members of the Big East out and would need a place for their non-revenue sports. Basketball-only essentially just means non-football.

                Originally posted by ShockTalk View Post
                Gee, I don't know whether you consider your realignment a crackpot theory or mine on the other thread since I was the only one to make a realignment model on it, or both.

                Nevertheless, I know I didn't spend near as much time coming up with it and I was only 2 teams off from yours. But then again, there was a very limited number of probable variables. I had Bradley and George Mason, you had Richmond (who I almost went with) and Duquesne (who I didn't give a thought to). I still think I like mine.
                Wasn't trying to say that people posting about this on the other thread were crackpots (haven't read it in awhile actually). Instead, I felt that such a long post would likely just be clutter in a combined thread. So I guess I am the crackpot.

                Originally posted by BOBB View Post
                I'm sure the East Coast teams can't wait to add a trip to Wichita to their schedule to capture the all important media market here. The stability of the Valley looks pretty good from my vantage point.
                The media market is not why Wichita State would get an invite. The main reasons we would be a candidate would be:

                1. Affiliation with Creighton (probably the best Jesuit college on the market)
                2. Well-funded program (we are better off than the A-10 schools that would try and join)
                3. Increased basketball stability.

                Essentially, we are in the same boat as VCU and Butler. We aren't a perfect fit, but we bring a very good up-and-coming basketball program to the league that would help it maintain the power conference status quo of the Big East. No offense to Dayton and Duquesne, but we would help the conference more in regards to RPI and league reputation. A basketball conference of just those Catholic schools would be significantly weaker (and less likely to get a lucrative media deal) than a conference with the best current midmajors.

                Also, consider the shape of the Valley without Creighton. Best case scenario is that we dominate the conference every year and become the Midwest Gonzaga, but that isn't incredibly likely to happen. Instead, the conference is likely to be a 1-bid league that is decently competitive (maybe something like the Southern conference). We would have very little chance of ever sniffing an at-large bid in such a conference, and would lose out in terms of money and the balance of power (the poor teams would dominate the conference even more than they do now).

                Comment


                • #9
                  I know ADES publicly cannot endorse this, however privately he needs to be pushing this plan with the Big East. The time for sitting by and hoping for the best has come and gone at this point.
                  Shocker Football...Alive in '95 errr 2005 errr 2025!!

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                  • #10
                    I really hate being a thread Nazi, but...

                    You didn't want to "clutter" a megathread which is filled with literally dozens of hypos just like yours, so instead you cluttered the board with an entirely separate thread. If the dozen of us who post in the megathread felt like doing that every time we felt like barfing out a dream scenario, these things would be everywhere. Chaos would reign. Worlds would end.

                    Seriously though. It has like 30 posts in the last day, this should probably go there.

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                    • #11
                      WSU has been mentioned as a possibility on Tweeter by Blue Demon Nation. In his conversation, there's belief the Catholic schools might not stick together. He proposed a league of Creighton, WSU, DePaul, Dayton, Xavier, SLU and Marquette in one division. The other division being GT, Nova, Seton Hall, St. John's, Detroit and VCU with URI,UMASS, George Washington and St. Joe being secondary possibilities.

                      At least another fan base has thought of us.
                      In the fast lane

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by GoShockers89 View Post
                        I really hate being a thread Nazi, but...

                        You didn't want to "clutter" a megathread which is filled with literally dozens of hypos just like yours, so instead you cluttered the board with an entirely separate thread. If the dozen of us who post in the megathread felt like doing that every time we felt like barfing out a dream scenario, these things would be everywhere. Chaos would reign. Worlds would end.

                        Seriously though. It has like 30 posts in the last day, this should probably go there.
                        My thought process was:

                        1. I am not popular on the internet
                        2. The circumstances behind realignment change quickly and suddenly
                        3. Generally, threads without replies quickly go to the 2nd page (or as you may know it, the end of the internet)

                        Basically, I thought that this thread would get 1-2 replies and then die quickly, seen only a couple of times, instead of continuously existing on the front page inside a mega thread.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by tropicalshox View Post
                          WSU has been mentioned as a possibility on Tweeter by Blue Demon Nation. In his conversation, there's belief the Catholic schools might not stick together. He proposed a league of Creighton, WSU, DePaul, Dayton, Xavier, SLU and Marquette in one division. The other division being GT, Nova, Seton Hall, St. John's, Detroit and VCU with URI,UMASS, George Washington and St. Joe being secondary possibilities.

                          At least another fan base has thought of us.
                          Can't image Butler not being a part of this kind of set up. Doesn't UMass have bigger football aspirations?

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                          • #14
                            I like it alot and wish we would do it. I would much rather see WSU play any / all of the teams in the proposed conference rather than the likes of Drake, SIU, Indiana State, etc.

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                            • #15
                              Maybe we will get lucky and form a super conference of swomo, Indiana state, drake, Evansville, and all those football mvc teams

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