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I have become privvy to some information in the past 24 hours, of which I cannot help but share for the good of the cause.
Published reports in the next couple of days will present the following quandry to Shocker fans, surrounding of all things, football.
The Valley recently completed its annual media days, highlighted by some words from Football Commish/Asst Commish Overall Patty Viverito.
In short, the Valley is now a nine-team 1AA/FCS football conference (Ill State, Ind State, Missou State, N. Iowa, N.Dak. State, S.Dak. State, Southern Illinois, Western Illinois & Youngstown State).
Many of us remember the Michigan/App. State game from a few years ago -- App State is a member of the CAA, which recently moved to a 12-team football league. Since moving to a 12-team league, the conference's prestige has increased significantly, cited by increased playoff berths in FCS football play.
Valley Commish Viverito remarked (in simplified words here) that she would like to see the Valley move to a similar format to keep pace - specifically in football - during the recent media days. The Valley is conducting campus visits at Univ. of N. Dakota and Univ. of S. Dakota later this year, and unless something out of the ordinary comes up, those two institutions will become members of the league in football.
Where we come in:
To make the numbers work, as per Commish Viverito's wishes, and give the Valley a 12th team, there are few options on the table.
Published reports will begin to speculate that Wichita State may be this 12th team. Other possibilities include Nebraska-Omaha (still competing at Division-II), other Valley non-football institutions (Drake, Bradley, etc.) or a darkhorse (dependent on what schools in the Big Sky choose to do, pending Montana's latest look at moving to I-A/FBS).
I will post links to such reports/speculation as they come available, some of which I expect to see in the next 24-48 hours.
Questions to Shocker Fans:
This obviously opens a whole can of worms. Would Wichita support I-AA football? Is the University even going to seriously pursue this? Has anyone heard similar rumblings on this idea/proposal?
And, in the conspiracy theorist in me, is this something that has been discussed at the "top" and has perhaps led to the recent turnover in our athletic department -- people leaving b/c they don't want to go down this road or compete with a new top-tier, costly program at the school?
I will hang up and listen to your answer(s) off the air....
Published reports in the next couple of days will present the following quandry to Shocker fans, surrounding of all things, football.
The Valley recently completed its annual media days, highlighted by some words from Football Commish/Asst Commish Overall Patty Viverito.
In short, the Valley is now a nine-team 1AA/FCS football conference (Ill State, Ind State, Missou State, N. Iowa, N.Dak. State, S.Dak. State, Southern Illinois, Western Illinois & Youngstown State).
Many of us remember the Michigan/App. State game from a few years ago -- App State is a member of the CAA, which recently moved to a 12-team football league. Since moving to a 12-team league, the conference's prestige has increased significantly, cited by increased playoff berths in FCS football play.
Valley Commish Viverito remarked (in simplified words here) that she would like to see the Valley move to a similar format to keep pace - specifically in football - during the recent media days. The Valley is conducting campus visits at Univ. of N. Dakota and Univ. of S. Dakota later this year, and unless something out of the ordinary comes up, those two institutions will become members of the league in football.
Where we come in:
To make the numbers work, as per Commish Viverito's wishes, and give the Valley a 12th team, there are few options on the table.
Published reports will begin to speculate that Wichita State may be this 12th team. Other possibilities include Nebraska-Omaha (still competing at Division-II), other Valley non-football institutions (Drake, Bradley, etc.) or a darkhorse (dependent on what schools in the Big Sky choose to do, pending Montana's latest look at moving to I-A/FBS).
I will post links to such reports/speculation as they come available, some of which I expect to see in the next 24-48 hours.
Questions to Shocker Fans:
This obviously opens a whole can of worms. Would Wichita support I-AA football? Is the University even going to seriously pursue this? Has anyone heard similar rumblings on this idea/proposal?
And, in the conspiracy theorist in me, is this something that has been discussed at the "top" and has perhaps led to the recent turnover in our athletic department -- people leaving b/c they don't want to go down this road or compete with a new top-tier, costly program at the school?
I will hang up and listen to your answer(s) off the air....
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