Football at Wichita State

[Wildcat Armageddon]

I come in peace...
I am a K-Stater, but also a lifelong Wichitan. I have fond (albeit cold) memories of going to Wichita State football games, especially watching Prince McJunkins. Given the developments over the past two weeks regarding conference realignment, I think it's clear that it's all about Football. Basketball-centric schools seem to be pawns in their diabolical game of BCS chess. Even a program with KU's basketball pedigree seemed to be an afterthought during the realignment firefight.

That being said, what would you, the Shocker nation, say are the primary obstacles to football being restarted at Wichita State? I know that it's an expensive proposition, so let's leave that as a stated obstacle. Is it simply a financial issue, or are there political elements to it as well? You'd have to think that Wichita State is in a unique position as you've already got a 30,000 seat stadium with room to expand, an airport with service to multiple locations. Is part of it Wichita politics as far as deep-pocket donors who don't want to wade through being D-II for any amount of time, politics at the BOR level who don't want to see KU or K-State's supposed turf tread upon...just looking for an explanation why football works in the Gateway for some Valley members, but not others.

[BenWSU]

Money for a football team - Money for new women's sports - Money to renovate Cessna stadium locker rooms & the stadium might not be ADA compliant.

[vbird53]

Money for a football team - Money for new women's sports - Money to renovate Cessna stadium locker rooms & the stadium might not be ADA compliant.

All other Valley members that operate a football program have athletic budgets at or below Wichita State's level.

(I know that's not saying much, considering there are many high schools and community colleges that can match some Valley budgets).

[Veritas]

1. Leadership
2. Vision
3. Determination

I believe the money is there if we had an AD, President, and BoR that have the 3 aforementioned attributes.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

I can almost confirm the money could be raised if the Administration were to decide to allow it.

I was talking to a friend that is much more involved and he said that the offer of funds to do a feasibility study have been promised. That if the support were there (including, most importantly, deposits on season tickets) the money from generous local supporters would be there.

[SubGod22]

1. Leadership
2. Vision
3. Determination

I believe the money is there if we had an AD, President, and BoR that have the 3 aforementioned attributes.

:yes:

[ISASO]

It will take someone who is not afraid to fail, someone to 'go for broke', someone to gather the flock in one common voice and begin beating the hell out of the BOR to allow it. Someone who can override KU's veto once those beatings have begun with Shock and Awe ferocity.

[The Mad Hatter]

Money for a football team - Money for new women's sports - Money to renovate Cessna stadium locker rooms & the stadium might not be ADA compliant.

All other Valley members that operate a football program have athletic budgets at or below Wichita State's level.

(I know that's not saying much, considering there are many high schools and community colleges that can match some Valley budgets).

Remember that:

A. There is a big difference between the finances to run an existing football program and to start up a program.

and

B. That is the cost of running a FCS football program. The question is whether there is any value in having FCS football. As far as I can tell, it is only valuable as a stepping stone to FBS football, but FBS football comes at a much higher price tag, so comparisons to other Valley schools become moot.

[WstateU]

It will take someone who is not afraid to fail, someone to 'go for broke', someone to gather the flock in one common voice and begin beating the hell out of the BOR to allow it. Someone who can override KU's veto once those beatings have begun with Shock and Awe ferocity.

:good: :good:

Yes, and it should have been 'run up the flag pole' when a WSU grad was serving as state governor.

[1972Shocker]

An interesting timeline - 90 years of Shocker Football

http://webs.wichita.edu/dt/shockermag/show/features.asp?_s=502

[tw805]

It will take someone who is not afraid to fail, someone to 'go for broke', someone to gather the flock in one common voice and begin beating the hell out of the BOR to allow it. Someone who can override KU's veto once those beatings have begun with Shock and Awe ferocity.

:good: :good:

Yes, and it should have been 'run up the flag pole' when a WSU grad was serving as state governor.

Dammit if this isn't the truest thing ever said. Where is that quote about the KU-KSU game again? Someone asked him who he was rooting for in that game, and his response was that he didn't care who won, he just wanted them to schedule WSU. We're not going to get a governor more friendly to the cause than that.

[SpanglerFan316]

It will take someone who is not afraid to fail, someone to 'go for broke', someone to gather the flock in one common voice and begin beating the hell out of the BOR to allow it. Someone who can override KU's veto once those beatings have begun with Shock and Awe ferocity.

I was not aware that the KBOR played any role in a football decision. Please explain.

[Aargh]

The schools in the Valley that have football seem to be really struggling financially.

Having 30K seats is OK for starters. Putting 30K butts in those seats is an obstacle. With no established tradition and not much of a following outside of Wichita, 20K butts in seats could be tough.

With no recruiting base and sitting in the middle of Big 8 or 12 or 10 or whatever country, WSU would be pretty certain to end up with players who may have played D2 or NAIA if they didn't go to WSU. That was a big part of WSU's previous on-field problems.

It could be an "all in" wager. If anybody tried to bring football back and it failed for whatever reason (fan apathy, uninteresting games and teams) the downside is possibly taking the entire athletic department with it and no one wants to place that bet.

[tw805]

The schools in the Valley that have football seem to be really struggling financially.

Having 30K seats is OK for starters. Putting 30K butts in those seats is an obstacle. With no established tradition and not much of a following outside of Wichita, 20K butts in seats could be tough.

With no recruiting base and sitting in the middle of Big 8 or 12 or 10 or whatever country, WSU would be pretty certain to end up with players who may have played D2 or NAIA if they didn't go to WSU. That was a big part of WSU's previous on-field problems.
It could be an "all in" wager. If anybody tried to bring football back and it failed for whatever reason (fan apathy, uninteresting games and teams) the downside is possibly taking the entire athletic department with it and no one wants to place that bet.

You could have said the same thing to Texas Christian, or to Southern Methodist (pre-penalty). Tulsa faces the same problems, as does Memphis. Houston put together a pretty good year last year, and there are even teams like Georgia Tech that manage to pull it off in the middle of SEC country.

Football had significant problems before, but I don't think that anyone can debate how dramatically the sports landscape has changed. Football is now king in this country, and there isn't a close second. While I doubt the football would be great for a long, long while (if ever), even bad football changes the campus feel. Would you tell Tulsa to scrap its program?

The school can either decide that it is satisfied in a mediocre conference with mediocre programs, or they can use this large conference upheaval to re-evaluate the position of football in the college sports landscape. There is no chance we're going to be anything other than a Valley mid-major without it.

[griswald13]

Wichita State would rather spend $30 million to renovate their student union than bring football back.