I don't like wheat beer, never have but when you get to houstons new barn, we'll all I can say is, y'all will probably win...

Saying that the Shockers may not win the regular season league title outright due to playing in some unfamiliar arenas for the first time is a valid point. That said, on paper Wichita should be the best team in the league this year. My gut says that they finish 2nd or 3rd in regular conference play and then they win the AAC Tournament for bragging rights. That should then serve as a spring board for Wichita making a run to the Final Four.

The Shockers should be good this year and we should give them some respect if that is the case. That said, Shockers fans also need to acknowledge that this is a good league and they are going to have some years where they finish in the middle of the pack. Added competition is what will make this league fun. UConn and Memphis will soon get back in their groove, Cincinnati and SMU should continue to fare well, and UCF and Houston are on the rise. I can't forget about mentioning Temple either. There is some serious winning tradition there as well.

#2

This was a highly competitive league long before WSU ever showed up.

I won't be arrogant enough to predict WSU will win the conference this year, there are just too many good teams and like I always say, fans forget that the other team has a say in the outcome.

What I am confident in is that Gregg Marshall has coached by my count 351 games at WSU and I've either attended in person or watched live north of 340 of those games. I think I remember 3 that weren't a war. We will get after you.

I think a large portion of our fan base, I know myself, and I promise you our program is excited about competing against other programs with a similar attitude for a change.

I can't wait for this league to start.

(06-16-2017 11:16 AM)UConnHusky Wrote:  Saying that the Shockers may not win the regular season league title outright due to playing in some unfamiliar arenas for the first time is a valid point. That said, on paper Wichita should be the best team in the league this year. My gut says that they finish 2nd or 3rd in regular conference play and then they win the AAC Tournament for bragging rights. That should then serve as a spring board for Wichita making a run to the Final Four.

The Shockers should be good this year and we should give them some respect if that is the case. That said, Shockers fans also need to acknowledge that this is a good league and they are going to have some years where they finish in the middle of the pack. Added competition is what will make this league fun. UConn and Memphis will soon get back in their groove, Cincinnati and SMU should continue to fare well, and UCF and Houston are on the rise. I can't forget about mentioning Temple either. There is some serious winning tradition there as well.

That's fair.

Can't WSU fans think they'll win the league and still think it's good? I'm not sure what the disconnect is other than some fans/trolls getting butthurt by the fact that WSU could come in and win the league in its first year. It's not the thinking that the AAC isn't good with a lot better competition more than it is about WSU bringing everybody back from a pretty solid team that's had a pretty good track record with Marshall.

If you're one of the outliers that thinks WSU isn't a Top 5 or Top 10 team going into the year, then I can understand the bottom half finish predictions. But most people, including WSU fans surprisingly, think they're gonna be pretty good regardless what league they're gonna be in. Again, that's not a slight on the AAC or its programs as it is more of a general faith and belief in WSU.

And who the hell knows how the season will play out. There's about 3 or 4 teams that can legitimately win the league this year. But to get all anal about WSU fans thinking their team is the early favorite based on Top 10 expectations is just insecurity bleeding out.

(06-16-2017 08:28 AM)8BitPirate Wrote:  

(06-16-2017 12:34 AM)rtaylor Wrote:  

(06-15-2017 11:29 PM)shere khan Wrote:  

(06-15-2017 10:48 PM)BcatMatt13 Wrote:  Wichita State is in the AAC?

Have I been that drunk this summer?

Yeah. I think its community outreach...adopt a non football school from the hidden valley ranch conference.

Reminds me of ECU fans. " we will come in and rule this conference. We beat some big name teams a half century ago, bow before us". Yeah, that went really well.

Cincy fans still made they got left behind.

I guess that's all you got since every freaking team in your athletic department finishes pretty much in last place.

(06-16-2017 11:16 AM)UConnHusky Wrote:  Saying that the Shockers may not win the regular season league title outright due to playing in some unfamiliar arenas for the first time is a valid point. That said, on paper Wichita should be the best team in the league this year. My gut says that they finish 2nd or 3rd in regular conference play and then they win the AAC Tournament for bragging rights. That should then serve as a spring board for Wichita making a run to the Final Four.

The Shockers should be good this year and we should give them some respect if that is the case. That said, Shockers fans also need to acknowledge that this is a good league and they are going to have some years where they finish in the middle of the pack. Added competition is what will make this league fun. UConn and Memphis will soon get back in their groove, Cincinnati and SMU should continue to fare well, and UCF and Houston are on the rise. I can't forget about mentioning Temple either. There is some serious winning tradition there as well.

I don't think I've talked to a single Shocker fan that doesn't think this was a good move and is super excited about the increase in compeition. We all think the AAC is a good league.

With that said, I think WSU wins a very close battle for the regular season title (if you can even call it that with the unbalanced schedules now). Though in all reality, WSU could finish anywhere from First to fourth and STILL end up in a better position come Selection Sunday than if we stayed and went 17-1 with a MOV of >20 in the MVC.

(06-16-2017 12:46 PM)WSUbballer Wrote:  

(06-16-2017 11:16 AM)UConnHusky Wrote:  Saying that the Shockers may not win the regular season league title outright due to playing in some unfamiliar arenas for the first time is a valid point. That said, on paper Wichita should be the best team in the league this year. My gut says that they finish 2nd or 3rd in regular conference play and then they win the AAC Tournament for bragging rights. That should then serve as a spring board for Wichita making a run to the Final Four.

The Shockers should be good this year and we should give them some respect if that is the case. That said, Shockers fans also need to acknowledge that this is a good league and they are going to have some years where they finish in the middle of the pack. Added competition is what will make this league fun. UConn and Memphis will soon get back in their groove, Cincinnati and SMU should continue to fare well, and UCF and Houston are on the rise. I can't forget about mentioning Temple either. There is some serious winning tradition there as well.

That's fair.

Can't WSU fans think they'll win the league and still think it's good? I'm not sure what the disconnect is other than some fans/trolls getting butthurt by the fact that WSU could come in and win the league in its first year. It's not the thinking that the AAC isn't good with a lot better completion more than it is about WSU bringing everybody back from a pretty solid team that's had a pretty good track record with Marshall.

If you're one of the outliers that thinks WSU isn't a Top 5 or Top 10 team going into the year, then I can understand the bottom half finish predictions. But most people, including WSU fans surprisingly, think they're gonna be pretty good regardless what league they're gonna be in. Again, that's nota slight on the AAC or its programs as it is more of a general faith and belief in WSU.

And who the hell knows how the season will play out. There's about 3 or 4 teams that can legitimately win the league this year. But to get all anal about WSU fans thinking their team is the early favorite based on Top 10 expectations is just insecurity bleeding out.

Shockers should be great this year. I don't know that fans here are insecure and anal about WSU fans thinking their team is good so much as that fans here just don't like hearing WSU fans brag when they haven't even played a single conference game yet. You will find that the target on your backs is large this year not only because of the lofty preseason rankings, but because AAC teams don't want some noob waltzing into their arena and pasting a "L" on them. You will get the best effort from every school in this league this year.

Confidence is great. Overconfidence is toxic.

Overconfidence?

Ok, forget WSU's roster, coach, pedigree, preseason expectations set by unbiased parties.

I predict they're gonna finish 5th because this is the first year in this league.


As a side note, does anybody know what former Valley member Creighton did in their first year in an upgraded league?

1) Wichita State
2) UCF
3) Cincy
4) SMU
5) Temple
6) Uconn


13) Lebo

Wichita State fans predicting a conference championship has nothing to do with perceptions about the AAC, it has everything to do with how good our team will be next year. The majority of WSU fans would predict a conference championship if we were in the Big XII, ACC, or Big Ten next year.

If you have any self-awareness at all, you will quickly learn not to doubt Gregg Marshall. Our MVC brethren never seemed to learn that and looked like fools year after year for about 10 years straight.

(06-16-2017 01:23 PM)KNIGHTTIME Wrote:  1) Wichita State
2) UCF
3) Cincy
4) SMU
5) Temple
6) Uconn


13) Lebo

I mean the league is honestly going to be 8 deep with Houston and Tulsa also. I think this is likely the best year for the league hoops wise. Memphis is too unknown at the moment with all the turnover and there is some signs USF and Tulane are making progress. The lone dead weight is ECU. Their OOC is shameful.

(06-16-2017 01:28 PM)PT_american Wrote:  

(06-16-2017 01:23 PM)KNIGHTTIME Wrote:  1) Wichita State
2) UCF
3) Cincy
4) SMU
5) Temple
6) Uconn


13) Lebo

I mean the league is honestly going to be 8 deep with Houston and Tulsa also. I think this is likely the best year for the league hoops wise. Memphis is too unknown at the moment with all the turnover and there is some signs USF and Tulane are making progress. The lone dead weight is ECU. Their OOC is shameful.

I agree. This is setting up to be a huge year for AAC hoops. We are going to be super deep.

I haven't looked at any schedules but yeah I agree the road games against the top of the AAC will be tough for Wichita State to win. Doesn't mean they won't. They are preseason top 10 in every single poll. They return literally everyone from 31 win team that lost to Elite 8 Kentucky by 3.

It's not about what they did in the MVC. It's the fact they have been successful on the National Stage as well.

I don't see what the problem is. They will be the favorite to win the conference this season followed by Cincy, SMU and UCF. They are good. Barring injuries or some weird collapse they should be Sweet 16 or better.

(06-16-2017 01:28 PM)PT_american Wrote:  

(06-16-2017 01:23 PM)KNIGHTTIME Wrote:  1) Wichita State
2) UCF
3) Cincy
4) SMU
5) Temple
6) Uconn


13) Lebo

I mean the league is honestly going to be 8 deep with Houston and Tulsa also. I think this is likely the best year for the league hoops wise. Memphis is too unknown at the moment with all the turnover and there is some signs USF and Tulane are making progress. The lone dead weight is ECU. Their OOC is shameful.

It's going to be tough to beat the first year of the AAC. We had four teams (Louisville, UConn, Memphis and Cincy) in the NCAA. Three of the four won their first round game, Louisville advanced​ to the sweet 16 and of course UConn won the national championship. SMU was snubbed but still made it to the NIT Final.

(06-16-2017 01:24 PM)AndShock Wrote:  Wichita State fans predicting a conference championship has nothing to do with perceptions about the AAC, it has everything to do with how good our team will be next year. The majority of WSU fans would predict a conference championship if we were in the Big XII, ACC, or Big Ten next year.

If you have any self-awareness at all, you will quickly learn not to doubt Gregg Marshall. Our MVC brethren never seemed to learn that and looked like fools year after year for about 10 years straight.

As a UConn fan, I have learned to never make predictions. We have been favored to win the national championship preseason and have crashed early. We had a season where we couldn't win the AAC regular season championship and then were a #7 seed in the NCAA Tourney (and ended up winning our 4th national title by toppling Kentucky). #ThankYouShabazz

It's fun to speculate in advance, but all that matters is where you are when your season ends.

(06-16-2017 02:32 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(06-16-2017 01:24 PM)AndShock Wrote:  Wichita State fans predicting a conference championship has nothing to do with perceptions about the AAC, it has everything to do with how good our team will be next year. The majority of WSU fans would predict a conference championship if we were in the Big XII, ACC, or Big Ten next year.

If you have any self-awareness at all, you will quickly learn not to doubt Gregg Marshall. Our MVC brethren never seemed to learn that and looked like fools year after year for about 10 years straight.

As a UConn fan, I have learned to never make predictions. We have been favored to win the national championship preseason and have crashed early. We had a season where we couldn't win the AAC regular season championship and then were a #7 seed in the NCAA Tourney (and ended up winning our 4th national title by toppling Kentucky). #ThankYouShabazz

It's fun to speculate in advance, but all that matters is where you are when your season ends.

Message boards may not be your thing then.

(06-16-2017 02:13 PM)Moody Magic Wrote:  

(06-16-2017 01:28 PM)PT_american Wrote:  

(06-16-2017 01:23 PM)KNIGHTTIME Wrote:  1) Wichita State
2) UCF
3) Cincy
4) SMU
5) Temple
6) Uconn


13) Lebo

I mean the league is honestly going to be 8 deep with Houston and Tulsa also. I think this is likely the best year for the league hoops wise. Memphis is too unknown at the moment with all the turnover and there is some signs USF and Tulane are making progress. The lone dead weight is ECU. Their OOC is shameful.

It's going to be tough to beat the first year of the AAC. We had four teams (Louisville, UConn, Memphis and Cincy) in the NCAA. Three of the four won their first round game, Louisville advanced​ to the sweet 16 and of course UConn won the national championship. SMU was snubbed but still made it to the NIT Final.

Oh that was a strong year but after those 5 the league wasn't very good and it included a departing member. I feel like there is a good chance 4 make it and maybe a 5th this season with a couple hitting the NIT. Now maybe not a national title but who knows. Didn't see UConn making that run either so anything can happen. Wichita on paper does look very good. Could easily be a final 4 team.

The good thing for Wichita is while the conference schedule is tougher and may give them a few more losses than the Valley, it will only get them more prepared for the NCAA's. Hopefully that means a deeper run than normal.

(06-16-2017 12:47 PM)rtaylor Wrote:  

(06-16-2017 08:28 AM)8BitPirate Wrote:  

(06-16-2017 12:34 AM)rtaylor Wrote:  

(06-15-2017 11:29 PM)shere khan Wrote:  

(06-15-2017 10:48 PM)BcatMatt13 Wrote:  Wichita State is in the AAC?

Have I been that drunk this summer?

Yeah. I think its community outreach...adopt a non football school from the hidden valley ranch conference.

Reminds me of ECU fans. " we will come in and rule this conference. We beat some big name teams a half century ago, bow before us". Yeah, that went really well.

Cincy fans still made they got left behind.

I guess that's all you got since every freaking team in your athletic department finishes pretty much in last place.

And here we are in the same conference getting the same paycheck