Louisville officially leaving the AAC after this season

[Steeleshocker]

The AAC won't be good enough in football to be considered a BCS conference by any stretch of the imagination. It would be more like being in the MWC or A10 than being in the B12, ACC, SEC, etc.

But it could end up being the premier non-bcs basketball conference.

...you know, kind of like the valley USED to be.

[RoyalShock]

I would LOVE to be in the AAC as it stands. My only concern is what would happen should UConn, Cinci and Memphis leave. I don't know if they have any realistic options other than Cinci and Memphis to the Big 12, if the Big 12 would have them. But they've certainly been trying to look for greener pastures.

[CBB_Fan]

IF the AAC is still a top notch conference in five or ten years I'd love to switch. I'd switch to the the MWC or Big East now if I had the option, but the AAC looks far less stable and should be treated more cautiously. If UConn, Cincinnati, and Memphis are all stranded in the conference long-term it becomes a very attractive place for us and probably better on the top than the Big East (though weaker on the bottom for about the same average RPI). If VCU and us both go and the others stay, it would be the best non-BCS conference for basketball (IMHO).

But the downside is that if we switch and the strength at the top leaves, we are left paying extra money to travel in a football conference that is overall weaker in basketball than even the MVC. That is a big risk, and not one I want to jump into if I don't have to. There's also the bigger possibility of a Big 12 break-up in the mid to long-term that could send outcast programs to the AAC and MWC, though that is a ways off due to the legal battles and contracts involved.

I do think that the instability in that conference may send Texas and Oklahoma to the Pac12 (with hanger-ons) and Kansas/Iowa State to the Big 10. That would send the rest off to be divided among the SEC, ACC, MWC, and AAC. Frankly, many of those programs aren't attractive enough to go from the Big 12 to one of the four surviving superconferences and will be picked up by the next two football conferences. Included in that group would be Baylor, TCU, Kansas State, and West Virginia. Oklahoma State and Iowa State wouldn't be safe from joining that group as well, though Iowa State is attractive for its AAU status and OSU is bound tightly to Oklahoma.

[Play Angry]

I am so glad for the timing of our Final Four run and the upcoming season. The number of chairs remaining in this session of realignment is quickly dwindling and the music is about to stop- at least we are making ourselves as attractive as possible with all this exposure.

[shox1989]

I would LOVE to be in the AAC as it stands. My only concern is what would happen should UConn, Cinci and Memphis leave. I don't know if they have any realistic options other than Cinci and Memphis to the Big 12, if the Big 12 would have them. But they've certainly been trying to look for greener pastures.

h

That is my main concern with going to this conference. It seems very unstable right now and the top powers in it seem to be looking for better pasture. My second concern is that football seems to be very important to this conference and I am not sure that would be a good fit for WSU unless the Shockers did add football. And as I stated earlier, football seems so important to the American, I really doubt if they would even realistically consider WSU unless the Shockers agreed to add football.

[Signman]

Here's an idea. How attractive would we be with a football team.

[CBB_Fan]

Here's an idea. How attractive would we be with a football team.

Less. What they want in football realignment:

1. Big metro areas (TV ratings)
2. Brand value ($$$)
3. New recruiting spots
4. Historical success
5. Recent success

We have nothing that would make us valuable to a football conference. In basketball though...

1. Local brand value: Very high (check the sellouts and attendance money)
2. National brand value: Growing
3. Recent Success: Check
4. Historical Success: Check
5. TV Markets: More teams in college basketball and no other teams in the city means Wichita is more valuable (less tapped out)
6. Recruiting: Kansas isn't great, but it does produce 4* and 5* players with some regularity (and Ron Baker!)
7. Basketball-only: Attractive to several conference (BE)

We have much better chances staying with a strong basketball team than adding a weak football team.

[Kung Wu]

Let's follow Louisville to the ACC. I know the geography is all wrong, but I wanna play Duke and NC.

[ABC]

Football is what is driving conference alignment. The new Big East broke off b/c of football. Creighton was the beneficiary, but that isn't likely to happen again. (though possible with VCU, WSU)

WSU is much more attractive with a football team. The question is if it is worth it. And there are no guarantees.

Would the MW guarantee WSU would be a member if we had football?

[SHOCKvalue]

Less. What they want in football realignment:

1. Big metro areas (TV ratings)
2. Brand value ($$$)
3. New recruiting spots
4. Historical success
5. Recent success

We have nothing that would make us valuable to a football conference.

Well... if your premise is true, then good luck to the AAC in finding a single school available, willing, and interested that meets those stipulations.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

What they want in football realignment:

1. Big metro areas (TV ratings)
2. Brand value ($$$)
3. New recruiting spots
4. Historical success
5. Recent success

I'll agree with that in general, but when specifically talking about the AAC (post Louisville), I think the only school in the entire conference that may meet all of that criteria is Cincy, and that's a stretch. To call the AAC a football centered conference is borderline silly--regardless of what its own aspirations are. Sooner or later conference leadership has got to realize that it is below the MWC in football respectability with little hope in improvement, and that it is actually much better in basketball and take that sport more seriously.

[EB 22]

I don't want to leave the Valley until we win in St. Louis. I told myself I won't stop going to St. Louis until the Shockers win there in March. I'm a man of my word, so if the Shockers leave the Valley I'm going to have to go to St. Louis forever.

[Play Angry]

I don't want to leave the Valley until we win in St. Louis. I told myself I won't stop going to St. Louis until the Shockers win there in March. I'm a man of my word, so if the Shockers leave the Valley I'm going to have to go to St. Louis forever.

No worries friend, the drought ends this March.

[WuShock16]

I will be giving the reverse psychology jinx this year. I have said the same thing about wanting to be there when we finally break the STL Curse. However, I have another commitment that weekend, so I won't go to STL this year for Arch Madness. Seeing as I have gone 8 times in the last decade, maybe by me not going, it will finally happen. That would be my luck.

[Ricardo del Rio]

Honestly, I want to just freaking pound the Valley for about 10 years to pay them back for all the **** we put up with in the 90s

I agree, but I am pretty sure that our coaches had something to do with it.