American Athletic Conference

[Veritas]

My question would be how many years have to pass, how much bigger of a population of wichita, and how much bigger does the student body have to be before people will stop acting like the landscape is the same as it was in the late 80s for WSU?

People keep saying its a bad idea because 30 years ago, there was poor support. That's valid, but at what point do we say things are different now?

For example, in 1980, the city was 280K and now it's 380K. The metro area is 650K. There could be as many as 100-200K more people in his area than there were in the 80s.

All good points
As bad as the football team was back then, the stadium certainly didn't help. Built in '69 or '70, it was a very large "high school stadium design" with bleachers (except for a small section on the west side) that held 30,000. It was a terrible design with steep sides, no bowl, no amenities, and no home field advantage. Terrible design!

[RoyalShock]

My question would be how many years have to pass, how much bigger of a population of wichita, and how much bigger does the student body have to be before people will stop acting like the landscape is the same as it was in the late 80s for WSU?

People keep saying its a bad idea because 30 years ago, there was poor support. That's valid, but at what point do we say things are different now?

For example, in 1980, the city was 280K and now it's 380K. The metro area is 650K. There could be as many as 100-200K more people in his area than there were in the 80s.

Which projects, with all else being equal, to roughly an additional 5k fans (guessing on the amount of increase in the metro area), based on an average attendance of 10k. That really doesn't get you to a number to achieve sustainable success. That would have to come from other factors, such as the sport and university being more popular. So many factors to consider.

[SHOCKvalue]

My question would be how many years have to pass, how much bigger of a population of wichita, and how much bigger does the student body have to be before people will stop acting like the landscape is the same as it was in the late 80s for WSU?

People keep saying its a bad idea because 30 years ago, there was poor support. That's valid, but at what point do we say things are different now?

For example, in 1980, the city was 280K and now it's 380K. The metro area is 650K. There could be as many as 100-200K more people in his area than there were in the 80s.

Well to be fair, college football has a drastically larger footprint in American life today than it did 30 years ago. This is not necessarily to convey that WSU football would enjoy the same success, but one can certainly look at AAC football this season as sort of a best case scenario.

EDIT: I totally read your post from the wrong angle. Sorry.

[Dave Stalwart]

I just look at what WSU is becoming and it's really hard for me to believe that we wouldn't be able to make it work. The city could be twice the size it was in the 70s and 80s. The campus is projecting to have a fairly substantial increase in students. Football is a really popular sport. I'm sure it was back then, too. I mean, I don't have a leg to stand on research-wise, but it just seems to stand to reason in my mind that things are not at all like they were when things were shut down. I think Bardo is probably thinking the same thing.

Football is one HUGE thing that, if successful, can change everything. If it's a viable thing, I hope we do it. Obviously, I don't want to tank the University somehow by making a dumb choice of that magnitude. But what if it works out and it's everything we would have hoped?

[1972Shocker]

Speaking of demographics only 8% of the Wichita State student body currently lives on campus. Dr. Bardo has expressed a desire to grow that to 20% - 25% eventually. That will require infrastructure improvements that will be every bit as costly, if not significantly more than bringing back football. Of course, the funding sources are different.

Earlier this year Dr. Bardo put the construction of a second residence hall on hold due to cost concerns.

“He (Bardo) said we had decided not to do it, that the numbers were not there, and didn’t justify building the new residence hall,”

University spokesman Lou Heldman said that there’s still a chance the residence hall could be built, but that “we’ll decide later whether to move ahead — or that it is not a good idea to move ahead.”

http://ksnt.com/2015/06/17/wichita-state-puts-plans-for-second-dorm-on-hold/

Seems like Bardo may be facing a chicken vs the egg dillemma. He wants to improve campus life in order to attract more traditional, on-campus students but he may have to grow the traditional student base first in order to justify doing some of those things. I think it is pretty obvious that the decision to investigate the role of and shape of athletics at WSU is a very key element in molding his vision of what he thinks WSU can and should be. Impossible to say what the outcome of this review and analysis will be but it will certainly be interesting to say the least.

[WUpigsooie]

OK I;m just going to say it. Football would be a disaster at WSU. This region barely has enough football talent to support one decent FBS program in Kansas and thats only when Bill Snyder is pulling what ever wizardry he possesses at K-State.
The Reality of the Situation is that the state of Kansas doesn't have the population to support 2 let alone 3 FBS programs and there is nowhere to poach from. Oklahoma produces plenty of talent but you'd recruit against OU, OSU, and Tulsa, plus every Texas school, and Arkansas. Obviously attempting to recruit in Nebraska would be a non-starter, and it would be tough to sell a startup program to anyone in Missouri.

I like the idea of looking into more options in the athletic department, but adding football would just result in a second rate KU type program, and that would just be embarrassing.

[Eric]

OK I;m just going to say it. Football would be a disaster at WSU. This region barely has enough football talent to support one decent FBS program in Kansas and thats only when Bill Snyder is pulling what ever wizardry he possesses at K-State.
The Reality of the Situation is that the state of Kansas doesn't have the population to support 2 let alone 3 FBS programs and there is nowhere to poach from. Oklahoma produces plenty of talent but you'd recruit against OU, OSU, and Tulsa, plus every Texas school, and Arkansas. Obviously attempting to recruit in Nebraska would be a non-starter, and it would be tough to sell a startup program to anyone in Missouri.

I like the idea of looking into more options in the athletic department, but adding football would just result in a second rate KU type program, and that would just be embarrassing.

as much as I'd like to see football, trying to field a competitive squad would be like jerking off with boxing gloves.

[Heinro]

Trust me, I want a new conference, but I don't want football. I think there is a direct correlation with the caliber of the football team and basketball. Memphis and UMass being a few examples.

[wusphlash]

A large in state population to recruit from is not there, true enough. On the other hand, we would have one of the best junior college conferences in the nation to draw from.

[wusphlash]

One fear I have, and the Administration has to at least consider this, is that the FBS conferences will ultimately separate themselves in all sports. Should that happen it won't matter how much money we direct at basketball, we'll be competing for a FCS equivalent championship.

[im4wsu]

A large in state population to recruit from is not there, true enough. On the other hand, we would have one of the best junior college conferences in the nation to draw from.

The new core subject requirements will make juco recruiting a lot toughrr

[MadDog]

One thing I don't see in the football discussion is half the reason people go to college football games these days, and that is tailgating. Back in the day when we had a football team, you went to the game shortly before it started, then left right when it was over. I'm not sure tailgating existed in the 70's. If it did, it certainly wasn't practiced at WSU!

After WSU dropped football, my immediate family, and my siblings and their families, started attending K-State football games. We had season tickets for many years. We were totally into the tailgating way of life, as are >50% of those that go to those games, and soon the tailgate/family time was the main reason for going. At halftime of any game, half the stadium empties out and goes out for more tailgating. Some will return half way through the 3rd quarter, others will just stay out at their cars. And one important side benefit of this for KSU is that all of my kids and my nieces and nephews went to KSU because that is how they got to know the university. When the kids were in college, it was the main chance my generation had to see our kids during the 9 month school year.

That being said, and where we would have a great advantage over a place like KSU, is that football is now becoming pretty "fan unfriendly" in Manhattan. All the night games, avoidance of any non-con Power5 teams, and Thursday night football really suck for the fans. Not much worse than making those 11:00pm to 1:30am drives after a day of tailgating. Most WSU tailgaters wouldn't have that problem.

My other comment is on the stadium. Cessna stadium has to go. There is no where to park!!! You can't tailgate if you can't park somewhere reasonably close to the stadium, and there is no where to park around Cessna stadium. Build a new stadium at the corner of 21st and Oliver and put lots of parking (and port-a-potties) around it.

I'm in for four tickets!

[DJShocker10]

as much as I'd like to see football, trying to field a competitive squad would be like jerking off with boxing gloves.

Don't knock it till you've tried it..... I mean... Yeah I agree 100% with this statement.

[pogo]

You want to destroy our track facility and then build a stadium with no track? Why would Cessna need to be razed? Supposedly there is room on the east side of campus for a stadium.

Take down the steel structure and leave the old Veterans field seats. Keep the track and the field will be the new home to the championship soccer team at Kung Wu field. Annex Fairmount park and raze some of the less desirable homes surrounding the park and build the new Innovative Stadium.

[pogo]

As my younger son (a soph in HS) and I were walking to the arena for the UNLV game, I was explaining the newly announced athletics evaluation news. The potential for a marching band was one of the first things he brought up. Of course, marching band is a big deal in Buhler and he would love to have a chance to do that at WSU.

How about a world class marching band with a drum line that would make the half time entertainment worth the price of admission.