(02-06-2016 11:30 AM)Savacool Wrote:  Please no Wichita State to the AAC. Way beneath us!

Are you talking about football only? But not MBB or college baseball and other non FB sports. You're not referring to the 7 CWS baseball appearances, a national baseball championship and 2 Final Fours in mens basketball?

(02-06-2016 11:30 AM)Savacool Wrote:  Please no Wichita State to the AAC. Way beneath us!

us? Not Tulane....

As an Arkansas State fan I'd love to see them in the SBC...won't happen because our hoops suck so bad. Gotta say a couple of things here...if you guys took their olympic sports without taking football, the MVC won't let them play football in their conference...I think they'd have to be an indy. I think even though their football would be a start up (or restart up) I think you'd have to be crazy not to take them to get those olympic sports...no, it doesn't make your football better, maybe down the road, but consider this...it gives you another pretty good size TV market (largest city in Kansas). The AAC has lots of great TV markets as it is...but you can't have too much of a good thing when it comes to televisions. And becoming that much better in some key oly sports only solidifies your standing as a conference.

(02-06-2016 01:02 PM)kb325 Wrote:  As an Arkansas State fan I'd love to see them in the SBC...won't happen because our hoops suck so bad. Gotta say a couple of things here...if you guys took their olympic sports without taking football, the MVC won't let them play football in their conference...I think they'd have to be an indy. I think even though their football would be a start up (or restart up) I think you'd have to be crazy not to take them to get those olympic sports...no, it doesn't make your football better, maybe down the road, but consider this...it gives you another pretty good size TV market (largest city in Kansas). The AAC has lots of great TV markets as it is...but you can't have too much of a good thing when it comes to televisions. And becoming that much better in some key oly sports only solidifies your standing as a conference.

If Wichita was an Olympic sports member of the AAC and independent in football, I would have no problem with UCONN scheduling the Shockers as an OOC football game (in place of the typical FCS opponent).

(02-06-2016 01:08 PM)HuskyU Wrote:  

(02-06-2016 01:02 PM)kb325 Wrote:  As an Arkansas State fan I'd love to see them in the SBC...won't happen because our hoops suck so bad. Gotta say a couple of things here...if you guys took their olympic sports without taking football, the MVC won't let them play football in their conference...I think they'd have to be an indy. I think even though their football would be a start up (or restart up) I think you'd have to be crazy not to take them to get those olympic sports...no, it doesn't make your football better, maybe down the road, but consider this...it gives you another pretty good size TV market (largest city in Kansas). The AAC has lots of great TV markets as it is...but you can't have too much of a good thing when it comes to televisions. And becoming that much better in some key oly sports only solidifies your standing as a conference.

If Wichita was an Olympic sports member of the AAC and independent in football, I would have no problem with UCONN scheduling the Shockers as an OOC football game (in place of the typical FCS opponent).

HuskyU, thats a very good point if they went independent. I'm sure there are several DI schools that would jump at that - of course we would immediately. They could also play a few MVFB Conference schools they've played for years on the court as "new" FB non-conference rivals. So, what used to be good in MBB for them would probably transfer sucessfully to their startup FB program.

I'm pretty sure they'd have a couple of MWC schools to schedule as well. CUSA and the Sunbelt schools should follow. The schedule after a couple of years probably wouldn't be an obstacle.

(02-05-2016 01:23 PM)Chappy Wrote:  

(02-05-2016 08:58 AM)Hank Schrader Wrote:  I can't see how people can be up in arms about the idea of adding UMass, yet ok with Wichita St. Put this in the check back in 15-20 years column after there is an actual program to consider.

Wichita State
Avg BBall Attendance - 10,915
Coach Marshall Salary - $3.3 million

UMass
Avg BBall Attendance - 3,491
Coach Kellogg Salary - $995,000

I don't see how this addresses the fact that Wichita doesn't even have a football team. I'd probably come to the conclusion that Wichita olympics only would be a good add but this is about adding a school who is going to create a football program. If the aac is the best g5 conference you don't add startups. You add commodities if you add anything. Its a gigantic risk to take the third most popular team in a smaller population state and just assume they will build a successful program.

(02-06-2016 05:35 PM)Hank Schrader Wrote:  

(02-05-2016 01:23 PM)Chappy Wrote:  

(02-05-2016 08:58 AM)Hank Schrader Wrote:  I can't see how people can be up in arms about the idea of adding UMass, yet ok with Wichita St. Put this in the check back in 15-20 years column after there is an actual program to consider.

Wichita State
Avg BBall Attendance - 10,915
Coach Marshall Salary - $3.3 million

UMass
Avg BBall Attendance - 3,491
Coach Kellogg Salary - $995,000

I don't see how this addresses the fact that Wichita doesn't even have a football team. I'd probably come to the conclusion that Wichita olympics only would be a good add but this is about adding a school who is going to create a football program. If the aac is the best g5 conference you don't add startups. You add commodities if you add anything. Its a gigantic risk to take the third most popular team in a smaller population state and just assume they will build a successful program.

That's exactly why a non-football Wichita add (with an *) makes the most sense. If they can bring Wichita football up to AAC standards, then they are added....if not, we still benefit from a very solid Olympic sports athletic program.

Hank Shrader,

I assume we would never just add a FB team to the AAC like WSU out of thin air immediately.

There seems to be a lot of non-sensical conjecture about WSU even attempting to start FB, which may not even be their plan at all. The WSU president stated he wanted that, but noone has confirmed any attempt to do it at the present time. So most of us are just dreaming about something that isn't even in the cards and may never be.

IMO they (WSU) badly want into the AAC and would start a FB program from scratch if thats what it took. There is so much confusion with all this conference realignment garbage that a lot of us just assume things are in the cards that probably aren't. Statements get made and assumptions get "assumed", but to the best of my knowledge, nothing has been put forth other than statements and presumptions. The only thing I know is that WSU wants to leave the MVC because the MVC needs them a bunch more then they need it. If there was ever a program that fit this league geographically, athletically on a need basis its WSU. Right now the AAC needs them and they need us. IMO

(02-05-2016 06:24 AM)TopCoog2016 Wrote:  Wichita State president says they would add football at the FBS level and would skip FCS.

This isn't possible. Charlotte moved to 1A as fast as you're allowed to. You can't "skip" FCS if you're starting from scratch. They can skip FCS conference membership as an FCS Independent, but will still have to endure at least two FCS seasons.

(02-06-2016 05:35 PM)Hank Schrader Wrote:  

(02-05-2016 01:23 PM)Chappy Wrote:  

(02-05-2016 08:58 AM)Hank Schrader Wrote:  I can't see how people can be up in arms about the idea of adding UMass, yet ok with Wichita St. Put this in the check back in 15-20 years column after there is an actual program to consider.

Wichita State
Avg BBall Attendance - 10,915
Coach Marshall Salary - $3.3 million

UMass
Avg BBall Attendance - 3,491
Coach Kellogg Salary - $995,000

I don't see how this addresses the fact that Wichita doesn't even have a football team. I'd probably come to the conclusion that Wichita olympics only would be a good add but this is about adding a school who is going to create a football program. If the aac is the best g5 conference you don't add startups. You add commodities if you add anything. Its a gigantic risk to take the third most popular team in a smaller population state and just assume they will build a successful program.

If you read my other posts you'll see my stance is "yes" to WSU olympic sports but "no" to WSU football (or any upstart for that matter). I was just trying to answer your question by showing how far ahead of UMass the Shockers are in basketball, which is also UMass's strong suit.

That said, I pretty much agree with everything you just posted.

I'd like WSU.

They're not perfect, but...

1. They'd add to the top half of the basketball lineup.
2. The city is behind WSU.
3. They'd really value being in the AAC. You'd never hear complaints or dissent from them.
4. They fit the metropolitan profile of this conference.
5. They are a natural opponent for Tulsa. We could start a good rivalry game.
6. They are good insulation in the event that the AAC loses programs.

(02-04-2016 04:48 PM)Chappy Wrote:  I would love to have Wichita State as a 12th non-football member, but we don't need a startup football program.

I agree...but...give them 4 years to build their program as an independent and then give them full membership. They should be able to be competitive at that point. They should have no problem scheduling as an independent and could play some AAC teams immediately and begin to build some rivalries. I would expect that most of the AAC teams could schedule them at home to fill needs.

WS brings a great BB and Baseball to the league. If the AAC is going to grow and add quality teams that have "staying power"?...WS is a good choice IMO.

Great point about baseball. Home of Joe Carter and Darren Dreifort among others!

(02-06-2016 09:26 PM)Chappy Wrote:  Great point about baseball. Home of Joe Carter and Darren Dreifort among others!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wichita_Sta...s_baseball

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eck_Stadium
*at the bottom of the page you can click and get a lot of general info on college babseball stadiums (venues) if you like.
*there are also some very nice club suites in Eck stadium as well as an indoor baseball practice facility adjacent to the baseball park.

NCAA Baseball Attendance Rankings 2015 (average)

#30 - ECU (2,243)
#34 - Tulane (2,048)
#39 - Houston (1,686)
#50 - UCF (1,337)

Wichita St - #19 (3,086)

http://goshockers.com/sports/2015/5/26/E...aspx?id=13

I bn saying all along wsu for all sports but football till 2019.

No to adding anyone at this time.

(02-06-2016 10:59 PM)Stookey57 Wrote:  I bn saying all along wsu for all sports but football till 2019.

Add them as soon as possible in hoops which probably they need a 2 year notice. Let their football team get 2-3 years in fcs. They move up as a d-1 indy in football and we could help them with scheduling agreements. If we ever lose a member they could slide in.

I would enjoy having a team called the Shockers in the conference...

A couple of things. Bardo has said if we do this, the goal is FBS as soon as possible. I believe fans will support growing pains if we know bigger and better things are coming. Someone posted that our enrollment was 11k. It's actually 15k and we are actively and aggressively trying to grow that. Cessna Stadium could work in the short term. It does hold around 30k. But we also recently closed the golf course on the east side of campus as we're building a new Innovation Campus that is currently building some Engineering buildings and dual space areas with businesses like AirBus and NetApp as well as others. A new business school is also coming as well as more dorms. A new football stadium could easily be built on the old course as well.

Bardo did tweet out a helmet and marching band uniforms the other day. He and the AD also met with a firm that is beginning a 4 month study into football and other sports being added at Wichita. I'd be surprised if there hasn't at least been some dialogue between Wichita and the AAC/MWC to gauge potential interest. Fan interest around here seems pretty big right now but who knows what that will mean if it happens. We do have some deep pocket donors beyond just Charles Koch. This won't happen without financial support from some of them. If we bring football back, we're going to do it right and invest in it. I believe the initial plan would be to budget at least 15M towards it. That's obviously something that can and will be adjusted as needed.

WSU does dominate the Wichita market, for whatever that's worth, and does get some play in KC. If we do things right, I could eventually see us having the best football in KS. KU is horrible and doesn't really care about football and KSU has never been of relevance outside of Snyder who won't be around long. There's no guarantee we'd capitalize on that, but there is some pretty solid talent in the Wichita metro area as well as one of the top JUCO football conferences in the state. Time will tell if any of this actually happens, but I do believe that it can work if we do it.

(02-08-2016 05:40 PM)SubGod22 Wrote:  A couple of things. Bardo has said if we do this, the goal is FBS as soon as possible. I believe fans will support growing pains if we know bigger and better things are coming. Someone posted that our enrollment was 11k. It's actually 15k and we are actively and aggressively trying to grow that. Cessna Stadium could work in the short term. It does hold around 30k. But we also recently closed the golf course on the east side of campus as we're building a new Innovation Campus that is currently building some Engineering buildings and dual space areas with businesses like AirBus and NetApp as well as others. A new business school is also coming as well as more dorms. A new football stadium could easily be built on the old course as well.

Bardo did tweet out a helmet and marching band uniforms the other day. He and the AD also met with a firm that is beginning a 4 month study into football and other sports being added at Wichita. I'd be surprised if there hasn't at least been some dialogue between Wichita and the AAC/MWC to gauge potential interest. Fan interest around here seems pretty big right now but who knows what that will mean if it happens. We do have some deep pocket donors beyond just Charles Koch. This won't happen without financial support from some of them. If we bring football back, we're going to do it right and invest in it. I believe the initial plan would be to budget at least 15M towards it. That's obviously something that can and will be adjusted as needed.

WSU does dominate the Wichita market, for whatever that's worth, and does get some play in KC. If we do things right, I could eventually see us having the best football in KS. KU is horrible and doesn't really care about football and KSU has never been of relevance outside of Snyder who won't be around long. There's no guarantee we'd capitalize on that, but there is some pretty solid talent in the Wichita metro area as well as one of the top JUCO football conferences in the state. Time will tell if any of this actually happens, but I do believe that it can work if we do it.

Question: Would the President of WSU go after an AAC membership and leave the MVC if the AAC conference made it clear we didn't need a FB team in the foreseeable future, but would love to have them in the other sports?