American Athletic Conference

[MoValley John]

An only slightly related anecdote: I was in Omaha this past weekend for a marching band competition. The only time I saw the word "Creighton" was on the side of one of their campus buildings as I drove by. No t-shirts. No hats. No auto adornments. No billboards. No memorabilia that I could see anywhere. I proudly wore my WSU hat and jacket everywhere we went. I don't even recall getting any weird looks. Do they bus in fans to fill their arena on game days? Does Omaha really care about their seemingly invisible Bluejays?

A. Where was the marching band competition held? That would impact Creighton visibility.

B. You could have PM'd me. I would have brought you Doritos, SlimJim's and beer.

C. There may be a few die hard Creighton fans that "hate" Wichita State, most have moved on. People up here seem to move on quickly. When Nebraska left the Big 12, nobody seemed to hate Colorado anymore. You can, for the most part, wear any gear up here, Hawkeye, Cyclone, Buffs, Sooners, Texas, Shockers, anything, and not get looks. I don't know why, but wearing gear, any gear, just doesn't elicit a response. I can't explain it.

D. I would have bought you a beer.

[MoValley John]

I would have bought you an ice cold soda, if you don't drink beer. Or a whiskey.

I feel shunned.

[Dave Stalwart]

But would you take him hunting? I hear the prairie dogs are plentiful up there

[MoValley John]

But would you take him hunting? I hear the prairie dogs are plentiful up there

I wouln't take WuDrWu prairie dog hunting. I would, however, take an airsoft gun to his marching band thing, and compete with him to see which one of us could hit the most fuzzy band hats.

[RoyalShock]

It was at Bellevue East high school. My older son went with me so we made it a father-sons weekend. Enjoyed eating at Upstream and Jazz for lunch and dinner on Saturday.

[MoValley John]

It was at Bellevue East high school. My older son went with me so we made it a father-sons weekend. Enjoyed eating at Upstream and Jazz for lunch and dinner on Saturday.

Awesome. I take it that you ate downtown and not out west.

[pogo]

One of the best steak places I have eaten at was Drovers.

[RoyalShock]

Awesome. I take it that you ate downtown and not out west.

Correct. The only disappointment was that the band was packing up at Jazz just as we arrived, almost an hour before they were supposed to. But there were only a few people eating at the time, too.

[DwShock]

An only slightly related anecdote: I was in Omaha this past weekend for a marching band competition. The only time I saw the word "Creighton" was on the side of one of their campus buildings as I drove by. No t-shirts. No hats. No auto adornments. No billboards. No memorabilia that I could see anywhere. I proudly wore my WSU hat and jacket everywhere we went. I don't even recall getting any weird looks. Do they bus in fans to fill their arena on game days? Does Omaha really care about their seemingly invisible Bluejays?

You were in Nebraska in October. The Crieghton hoops fans are Husker football diehards right now.

[ArtVandalay]

There's news reports that big 12 could announce expansion today. Red dirt sports on twitter just posted press conference back drop banner with big 12 and Cincinnati Bearcats logo.

[AndShock]

The presser is being broadcasted on byuTV. Maybe that means something.

[jdshock]

The presser is being broadcasted on byuTV. Maybe that means something.

Sad cougars??

Wait...

[Dave Stalwart]

It's going to be so fun when we get an invite to the WCC to replace BYU

[Cdizzle]

I would prefer the WCC to the MWC.

[Kel Varnsen]

My prediction for the next 5-10 years after hearing that the Big 12 will not expand:

The Big 12 is in trouble. While it does cover a good segment of the US geographically speaking, it is losing ground in the state of Texas and the SEC is moving in on the huge recruiting base there. Eventually, it will get raided...OU and Texas to the SEC (maybe Baylor or TCU as well), KU to the Big Ten, WVU to the ACC, and after that...well, it gets dicey. Iowa State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State (and possibly Baylor/TCU) will all find themselves in precarious positions. The draw of large television markets and a well-established alumni base outside of their general area just doesn't exist at those schools.

What does this mean for Wichita State? Opportunity. Those schools will have nowhere to go and will find themselves in a similar boat we find ourselves in now (sans football). We might have the opportunity to join up with those schools and form a new conference. Will it be on par with the "Power conferences"? Probably not. But it would be a step up from our current situation. And it would be the only circumstance where I could see us bringing football back.