American Athletic Conference

[Veritas]

Aren't we about to schedule Uconn and Cincy to a home/home? Of course we already have Tulsa.
Kind of interesting timing.

[wufan]

UConn, Cincy, Memphis, Temple, Tulsa, SMU, WSU, etc sure would be a lot of fun...and a VERY good conference

Kinda resembles the Valley of old with WSU, Cinct, Memphis State, and Tulsa. Wasn't SMU an MVC member briefly?

[CBB_Fan]

IMHO, we only have four realistic options right now. In terms of what would be best for us (not what is most likely):

#1: Move to Big East, play in newly created western division. Best combination of geography and focus, a bunch of somewhat Midwestern teams with a focus on basketball.
#2: Move to AAC as an offsetting member to Navy. Potentially better for recruiting (Texas), and has some good basketball schools. But there would be more stability problems and the focus would not be on basketball.
#3: Move to MWC as offsetting member to Hawaii. Worse geography, and focused more on football. But they had a fairly stable amount of success in basketball, despite continuously underachieving in the tournament.
#4: Stay the MVC.

The A10 is not a feasible option. At best it would be a lateral move. The conference may be a better basketball conference than the MVC, but that could only be temporary and doesn't translate to TV numbers (and thus $$$). The bad geography would be a constant.

[ripemupshocks]

Kinda resembles the Valley of old with WSU, Cinct, Memphis State, and Tulsa. Wasn't SMU an MVC member briefly?

No. But Houston was.

[WSUwatcher]

Also, I think the A-10 have made their bed, and they want to be on the east coast exclusively.

Maybe being in Hawaii skews your sense of geography, Rlh, but isn't St. Louis on the WEST coast (of the Mississippi River, that is)?

[Capitol Shock II]

There are no great options out there now. But we are relevant and will become more so as our ooc schedule improves. Our conference has only been reactive at this point when it should have been looking to improve its lot when Creighton and wsu were both ranked by going after Butler and Dayton.

Then drop Drake and Evansville and maybe you don't lose Creighton. .

I wish our conference would start being the hunter rather than the hunted.

[DPruett2333]

The longer we dominate the Valley, the higher the chance is of Gregg Marshall leaving Wichita State for more a more competitive league. Coaches like competition.

[wufan]

The longer we dominate the Valley, the higher the chance is of Gregg Marshall leaving Wichita State for more a more competitive league. Coaches like competition.

Maybe you are right, but what coaches really like is winning…and I don't just mean in the regular season. If being at WSU impedes Marshall's ability to win at the highest level, he will move on.

[Capitol Shock II]

Winning here doesn't seem to be a problem.

[ABC]

Maybe you are right, but what coaches really like is winning…and I don't just mean in the regular season. If being at WSU impedes Marshall's ability to win at the highest level, he will move on.

I know what you mean, but a Final Four, a top five ranking and a #1 or #2 seed in the tournament is about as good as it gets anywhere.

[Shocker1976]

The longer we dominate the Valley, the higher the chance is of Gregg Marshall leaving Wichita State for more a more competitive league. Coaches like competition.

You have got to be kidding, right?

Coaches like winning, a supportive fan base, and a quality of life with excellent compensation - all of which Marshall has in spades at WSU. Could he leave? Of course he could but is he likely to leave because he becomes tired of winning at WSU and wants a more competitive environment - I seriously doubt it. Why in the world do you think Syracuse has been able to keep Jim Boeheim? I have lived in both Syracuse and Wichita - believe me Wichita is a hell of a lot better place to live than Syracuse.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

The first time we miss the dance is when. I will worry.

Until then... Enjoy the ride.

[pogo]

We need to worry when WSU wins the league and still only gets a 10 seed or worse. If that happens then that means we are horrible in our ooc schedule. Also if the U backs off of its support of the program.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

All we need is a chip and a chair.

[wu_shizzle]

The longer we dominate the Valley, the higher the chance is of Gregg Marshall leaving Wichita State for more a more competitive league. Coaches like competition.

Butler disagrees with you.