Shocker Women to AAC

[shockmonster]

With all the talk and possibility of changing conferences to the AAC, it is interested to discuss what that would do to our women's programs. I know that playing UCONN in basketball would be a step up.

[shoxlax]

We would definitely have one sellout every year

[1972Shocker]

We would definitely have one sellout every year

Maybe, although we may well only see UConn in Wichita every other year. The sellouts or near sellouts we have had were in the Jackie Stiles days when Missouri State would bring about 2,000 fans to Wichita and the entire town of Claflin would also be at the game. Not only that the Shocks were actually competitive in those games beating Jackie 3 out her 4 visits to the Roundhouse in what were very entertaining games.

This years Shocker team probably loses by at least 40 and perhaps as much as 60 if they had played UConn.

[flyingMoose]

In volleyball, the conference RPI for the AAC is sixth while that of the Valley is thirteenth. This is from RealTimeRPI. The AAC qualified SMU and Cincinnati into the NCAA Tournament last year with SMU winning in the first round. The Valley qualified the Shockers, Missouri State and Northern Iowa, all falling in the first round.

In softball, there are currently five teams (of seven that play softball) with an RPI less than 100: Tulsa-36, UCF-50, USF-61, Memphis-66 and East Carolina-99. Houston and UConn are the other two teams. The Valley also has five teams meeting that standard: Illinois State-62, Evansville-73, Shockers-74, Drake-81 and Northern Iowa-90. Last year, Tulsa was in the Norman Regional with the Shockers, UCF was in the Gainesville Regional and USF was in the Tallahassee Regional, none of them advancing to a Super Regional.

In basketball, the current conference RPIs are fifth and seventeenth. For the AAC, there are three teams in the Top 50 and three others in the Top 100. For the Valley, those numbers are one and one.

So my guesstimate would be that volleyball and softball are a manageable step up - we could compete. Basketball is a whole other matter, though.

Tennis, golf, track and field - someone else will have to talk about those.


Maybe someone else has seen this discussion, but I haven't. Point me in the right direction if you have seen something. When Creighton left for the Big East, I assume the television contract was big enough to cover the additional travel and recruiting expenses for minor sports such as we have mentioned here.

I know all the discussion is about MBB, but can the AAC command a contract big enough to cover the minor sports? Bob Lutz never seems to address that question. And, of course, only a very few on this board really care.

[1972Shocker]

With all the talk and possibility of changing conferences to the AAC, it is interested to discuss what that would do to our women's programs. I know that playing UCONN in basketball would be a step up.

I don't know a whole lot about women's sports in the AAC.

I think Volleyball will be pretty comparable to the Valley at least the top half of the league. The bottom half of the Vallley might be a bit weaker than the bottom half of the AAC. The top of the Valley (WSU, MSU UNI, ILS and SIU) is actually pretty solid in Volleyball. As long as Lambo is around Shocks should be competitive.

Women's basketball would definitely be a step up from the Valley. UNI and Drake were decent teams this year that both got pummeled in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament as 10 seeds which were actually much better seeding than the Shocks received during the years Alex Harden lead them into 3 NCAA Tournaments. Quite frankly the rest of the Valley wasn't very good at all. This past year the AAC was 6th in RPI and 5th in the Nolan Power Index (NPI). The Valley was 17th in RPI and 18th in NPI. Big difference. The one thing that might help the Shocks a little bit, depending on how the AAC will schedule as a 12-team league, is that right now the better teams seam to reside in the Eastern half and the weaker teams in the Western half of the league. Makes the upcoming hiring of a new coach somewhat more critical than it may otherwise have been.

I have no idea about XC and Track and Field. The Valley has some decent XC teams and some good inidvidual athletes in Track and Field. Basically XC and Track and Field as far as conference competition goes comes down to 3 championship meets each year. I think the Shocks can hold their own in these sports but we will see. One area the Shocks excel in is multi-event athletes.

The Shocker women have been absolutely dominating the Valley in Tennis. I don't see that happening in the AAC. I think the Lady Shocks can and will be competitive but they won't win 80 consecutive conference matches like they have in the Valley. This I think will actually be a positive for the Women's tennis program.

With all the warm weather schools in the AAC I would expect the Lady Shocks will find the going a bit tougher in golf as well.

Only 7 AAC schools play softball so adding the Shockers will be a nice addition for that sport. Tulsa is the best right now in the AAC. Not sure this is really a step up for the Lady Shocks. Perhaps more of a sideways move. They should be able to compete in the AAC in softball if they can recruit enough pitching.

If the Shocks do join the AAC I would like to see them add both men's and women's soccer. Right now 11 AAC schools field women's soccer and 8 have men's soccer. However, I am sure budget considerations will dictate those decisions.

Note: On the men's side the AAC fields 9 tennis teams. Men's Tennis is close to disappearing in the Valley. In fact, the Valley no longer has enough teams on its own to get an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament.

[flyingMoose]

Only 7 AAC schools play softball so adding the Shockers will be a nice addition for that sport. Tulsa is the best right now in the AAC. Not sure this is really a step up for the Lady Shocks. Perhaps more of a sideways move. They should be able to compete in the AAC in softball if they can recruit enough pitching.

2016 End-of-Season RPI. USF-22, UCF-26, Tulsa-41, Shockers-43, nobody else close. I think this is a step up. Yes, we beat Tulsa three times last year with one of our best teams ever, but we will have to permanently step it up to be in the top three most years in that (Shockers added) conference. And yes, pitching is key.

[1972Shocker]

It looks to me to be overall a definite step up in competition. I don't really see any sport that is a step down. Even in sports where the top of the leagues may be comparable the AAC seems to be stronger in the bottom half. As best we can tell all of the AAC institutions are trying. That in and of itself is a step up from the Valley.

[WheatShock]

If the Shocks do join the AAC I would like to see them add both men's and women's soccer. Right now 11 AAC schools field women's soccer and 8 have men's soccer. However, I am sure budget considerations will dictate those decisions.

I would also like to see this.

Correct me if i'm wrong but I assume the teams would play at Stryker until an on campus facility could be built as Cessna stadium isn't big enough to fit a regulation pitch without removing the track.

[goshox74]

In women's track, WSU currently has a historically great team and they would be very competitive in the AAC this year. They graduate a bunch of seniors and will be rebuilding in the next couple of years but I imagine Coach Rainbolt will get the team ready. UCF, Cincinnati, UConn and Houston are the top women's teams. The addition of WSU would make the T&F conference very strong.

[flyingMoose]

Sully's Sunday article about the Shockers and the AAC. There a few comments about the likely competitiveness of women's teams.

I had several takeaways from the article. 1) As has been long understood, Bardo will consider it a failure if he does not get Wichita State into a conference whose schools fit the profile that he sees WSU having/aspiring to. 2) WSU would be moving from a conference where one school wants to be elsewhere to a conference where a number of schools would like to be elsewhere, questioning the stability of the AAC. 3) There is not enough television money in the AAC to make much difference in the budget of an athletic department.

[molly jabali]

With all the talk and possibility of changing conferences to the AAC, it is interested to discuss what that would do to our women's programs. I know that playing UCONN in basketball would be a step up.

THIS might be the single greatest understatement in history.

[1972Shocker]

I would really like to hear what Lambo thinks about the move to the AAC. I think at the top the AAC is comparable to the top of the Valley. The AAC had an average RPI of 108 this past season and the Valley had and average RPI of 120. So pretty comparable.

I wonder if he thinks it will provide any benefits in recruiting.

Volleyball will be one sport that will probably have much higher travel costs. I think they travel mostly by bus now. It's possible Lambo may have to leave part of his roster at home on the longer trips that require flying assuming he continues to have rosters with 25 players on it.

Could be a topic of some interest at the 2017 Volleyball 101 Dinner.

[Shock Top]

Hopefully it helps in recruiting at the very least. Being able to draw recruits from those areas also has to be a big plus.

Also, having schools in larger metro areas would make it easier for family/friends to see them play when they are closer to home; from all over the nation.

Lost of volleyball players in TX and FL I'm sure :)

[1972Shocker]

To follow up on the soccer discussion from the Conference Realignment Thread on the Men's Basketball forum I did find the 2016 attendance statistics for the AAC in women's soccer.

The average home attendance for the league (10 teams) was 543 per match with an average of 9.3 home games per team. This ranges from a low of 214/match for Houston to a high of 1,090/match for Cincy.

One thing that might favor Wichita State is that soccrer is played in the fall and Wichita State does not field a football team. Creighton's women's program drew an average of 640 per match over 10 home matches.

[Shock Top]

AAC sports not played by WSU:

- Soccer
- Rowing
- Swimming/Diving

Rowing seems like an easy add (considering strong club rowing already), but I would like to see all sports played in our new conference.