American Athletic Conference

[Rlh04d]

I see the logic, but I don't see the indications in the public domain in that is what they are looking to do. In other conference realignment talk they publically are open that they are going to try and add 1 member and have them on board by June 1.

Eh. In my experience, a lot of time when there is a lot of talk, the expansion doesn't happen. When there isn't, it does.

I can't describe the number of times I read that Florida State was a done deal to the Big 12 just a year ago. Now that seems laughable.

I've never seen any indication that any conference wants to have an odd number of teams. Even the ACC, with 15, clearly wants Notre Dame to be a full member, in which case they'd add UConn.

[Shock Top]

Here is the bottom-line:

Both the MWC and the AAC will have 12 football members w/ only 11 of them competing in all other sports.

Both are realistic options. (Although, fans of schools in those conferences will have you believe otherwise).

Big East is most likely out. Unless we become private again and change our name back to Fairmount College. (...now that you mention it....nah)

[ABC]

Who is th football only member of the MWC?

[wufan]

Who is th football only member of the MWC?

Hawaii

[Shocker-maniac]

I know my opinion on this will not be popular with many, but I'm going to say it anyway. First, let me say that I am not a proponent of staying in the MVC. Frankly, I think that WSU has outgrown the Valley and not only in Men's basketball, but most sports. Budget wise and performance wise the other Valley schools cannot match us. In the past the AAC appealed to me. The geographic proximity of the schools (Tulsa, SMU, Houston and Cincy) appeals to me very much, and I used to be very hopeful that we could move to that conference. However, as I have thought this through I think it could potentially be harmful to WSU to be the only non-football member of a football conference whether it's the AAC, MWC, or anyother conference. For most of these schools their football program is the highest priority, and they are going to vote for, and do things that put their football programs in the greatest position EVEN IF that means it is somewhat detrimental to their basketball programs. We don't have to look any further than what happened to the old Big East to know that is what takes place. The football schools voted in members with the better football programs even if it meant that their conference RPI took a hit in basketball. Football was (and is) first for these schools.

To me we need to be in a conference that has schools that are like minded with WSU meaning that we need to be affilliated with schools where basketball is KING. Unfortunately the new Big East only looks like they are going to allow private institutions as conference members. In my opinion the best option for us is the A10. The A10 is respected by the members of the East Coast and national media. It is a better conference for RPI, SOS and multiple bids to the tournament. Just like Creighton has the challenge of travel for its non-revenue sports, so we would have these challenges in the A10 (we would also have this challenge at least in the MWC).

OK, go ahead and hurl your bricks and stones at me. I know that I can take it.

[Shock Top]

How is the A10 in baseball and volleyball??

For that matter, how are these sports in the MWC and AAC as well?

These programs are very important to the athletic department as well as members of Shocker Nation. They should be taken into consideration for the overall success of WSU athletics.

[myopicraiderfan]

I know my opinion on this will not be popular with many, but I'm going to say it anyway. First, let me say that I am not a proponent of staying in the MVC. Frankly, I think that WSU has outgrown the Valley and not only in Men's basketball, but most sports. Budget wise and performance wise the other Valley schools cannot match us. In the past the AAC appealed to me. The geographic proximity of the schools (Tulsa, SMU, Houston and Cincy) appeals to me very much, and I used to be very hopeful that we could move to that conference. However, as I have thought this through I think it could potentially be harmful to WSU to be the only non-football member of a football conference whether it's the AAC, MWC, or anyother conference. For most of these schools their football program is the highest priority, and they are going to vote for, and do things that put their football programs in the greatest position EVEN IF that means it is somewhat detrimental to their basketball programs. We don't have to look any further than what happened to the old Big East to know that is what takes place. The football schools voted in members with the better football programs even if it meant that their conference RPI took a hit in basketball. Football was (and is) first for these schools.

To me we need to be in a conference that has schools that are like minded with WSU meaning that we need to be affilliated with schools where basketball is KING. Unfortunately the new Big East only looks like they are going to allow private institutions as conference members. In my opinion the best option for us is the A10. The A10 is respected by the members of the East Coast and national media. It is a better conference for RPI, SOS and multiple bids to the tournament. Just like Creighton has the challenge of travel for its non-revenue sports, so we would have these challenges in the A10 (we would also have this challenge at least in the MWC).

OK, go ahead and hurl your bricks and stones at me. I know that I can take it.

If the A10 knew that the Big East wasn't going to expand then we might be appealing, but there is risk to both WSU and the A10 for adding us. If they added us and STL plus another school (Dayton, Richmond,) left for the Big East then we would be large outliers which would greatly increase travel and time expenses for our teams. Also, the loss of two good A10 schools (which doesn't factor the possibility of UMASS eventually going AAC) would make it debatable whether the A10 is significantly better than the Valley. The A10 does of course have a better tv contract (5 Mil a year), but do we know if there is an automatic renegotiation with the loss of significant teams from the A10 and would the additional $350K-$400K a year in TV money cover the cost of sending teams to the other side of the country?

[shox1989]

If the A10 knew that the Big East wasn't going to expand then we might be appealing, but there is risk to both WSU and the A10 for adding us. If they added us and STL plus another school (Dayton, Richmond,) left for the Big East then we would be large outliers which would greatly increase travel and time expenses for our teams. Also, the loss of two good A10 schools (which doesn't factor the possibility of UMASS eventually going AAC) would make it debatable whether the A10 is significantly better than the Valley. The A10 does of course have a better tv contract (5 Mil a year), but do we know if there is an automatic renegotiation with the loss of significant teams from the A10 and would the additional $350K-$400K a year in TV money cover the cost of sending teams to the other side of the country?

The A-10 does definitely have a better TV contract from a financial point of view (which is important) but most of their games are on the NBC Sports network and the CBS Sports network. Nobody watches those channels. CBS Sports Network's ratings are so bad they don't even record ratings for that network any more (it's not worth measuring 0). The A-10 games on the NBC Sports Net usually draw around 50,000 viewers (about the same as the new Big East games on FS1).

By comparison, the WSU games on espn2 usually draw over 500,000 and even the WSU game on espnU drew 157,000 viewers. I haven't seen any numbers for the WSU games on the MVC Network (FSN-KC, FSN-MW, Chicago Comcast, Fox College Sports and espn3), or COX 22, but they can't be much worse than the games on NBC Sports Net and may be better than the games on CBS Sports Net.

[ICTShockerFan]

Does anyone else see the MVC looking into moving the tourney to KC as a desperate attempt to keep WSU happy?

The last thing we need is a bunch of douchebags in Jayhawk gear at the MVC tourney letting us know how superior they are.

[Shocker-maniac]

If the A10 knew that the Big East wasn't going to expand then we might be appealing, but there is risk to both WSU and the A10 for adding us. If they added us and STL plus another school (Dayton, Richmond,) left for the Big East then we would be large outliers which would greatly increase travel and time expenses for our teams. Also, the loss of two good A10 schools (which doesn't factor the possibility of UMASS eventually going AAC) would make it debatable whether the A10 is significantly better than the Valley. The A10 does of course have a better tv contract (5 Mil a year), but do we know if there is an automatic renegotiation with the loss of significant teams from the A10 and would the additional $350K-$400K a year in TV money cover the cost of sending teams to the other side of the country?

These are valid points in my estimation. Conference reaffiliation has many variables and potential pitfalls. There are pros and cons to each scenario. I am uneasy about being aligned in a football conference.

[pinstripers]

Does anyone else see the MVC looking into moving the tourney to KC as a desperate attempt to keep WSU happy?

The last thing we need is a bunch of douchebags in Jayhawk gear at the MVC tourney letting us know how superior they are.

I doubt it

[SB Shock]

Eh. In my experience, a lot of time when there is a lot of talk, the expansion doesn't happen. When there isn't, it does.

I can't describe the number of times I read that Florida State was a done deal to the Big 12 just a year ago. Now that seems laughable.

I've never seen any indication that any conference wants to have an odd number of teams. Even the ACC, with 15, clearly wants Notre Dame to be a full member, in which case they'd add UConn.

my only data point really is CU and the timing of rumors they were going to go be leaving. Admittably that was a different animal. But I would think there will be some rumbles by march-april if there was going to be a move because it seems like June 1 is the date a conference wants a team in place for next year.

[Play Angry]

Does anyone else see the MVC looking into moving the tourney to KC as a desperate attempt to keep WSU happy?

The last thing we need is a bunch of douchebags in Jayhawk gear at the MVC tourney letting us know how superior they are.

They will move it, just not to KC.

It will probably move back to campus sites or a "neutral" location that is convenient for the Illinois contingent, i.e. renting out some small, non-Loyola school's crummy gym in Chicago.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

The A-10 does definitely have a better TV contract from a financial point of view (which is important) but most of their games are on the NBC Sports network and the CBS Sports network. Nobody watches those channels. CBS Sports Network's ratings are so bad they don't even get reported. The A-10 games on the NBC Sports Net usually draw around 50,000 viewers (about the same as the new Big East games on FS1).

By comparison, the WSU games on espn2 usually draw over 500,000 and even the WSU game on espnU drew 157,000 viewers. I haven't seen any numbers for the WSU games on the MVC Network (FSN-KC, FSN-MW, Chicago Comcast, Fox College Sports and espn3), or COX 22, but they can't be much worse than the games on NBC Sports Net and may be better than the games on CBS Sports Net.

How do our ESPN2 viewership compare to the A-10 viewership? If we don't know, VCU v. LaSalle is on this week. We can compare apples to apples.

Also, I wonder what the viewership is for our Cox 22 games? Think it is more than 50,000?

We shouldn't throw stones at teams getting paid twice as much as we are for games on channels that EVERYONE across the COULD watch, and as we continue to build our brand, the viewers will come... if they can see us.

[SB Shock]

Does anyone else see the MVC looking into moving the tourney to KC as a desperate attempt to keep WSU happy?

the only schools the MVC tries to keep happy are the Illinois school. IMO, that is why WSU has not hosted the MVC tournament in baseball for how many year? And the Illinois school complain about having to come to Wichita.

The truth be told, it probably wouldn't break anybody heart in the MVC or conference if WSU left the MVC. Elgin even said on the radio it is not good for the league for WSU to be this good for the league.