MVC MIA in MAUI

[iSASO]

Is it really true that WSU is the first and only MVC team to play in the Maui Tournament's 27-year history?
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WSU's reputation and fan support puts it in a select group outside the high-profile Bowl Championship Series conferences. The Shockers are on the list for the best of the holiday tournaments.

"They earned that right," said Maui Invitational tournament chairman Dave Odom. "We're getting, in Wichita State, a university that is committed to their basketball program."

Playing in prestigious Multiple Team Events (MTEs) is an important part of WSU's scheduling strategy and athletic director Eric Sexton has no doubt it will continue. Not all Missouri Valley Conference teams are so fortunate or willing to play top competition. Some don't possess the budget or reputation to get invited. Others can't guarantee they can compete and schedule down.

For every WSU or Creighton that takes on all comers, there is an Illinois State or Evansville with a less-ambitious plan. WSU's appearance in the Maui Invitational is the first by a Valley member in the event's 27 seasons. (Evansville played in 1989 before it joined the MVC.)

WSU is a proven commodity with three influential groups — ESPN, the Gazelle Group and Basketball Travelers. ESPN owns six holiday tournaments, including the Old Spice Classic in Florida. The Gazelle Group runs the CBE Classic and the 2K Sports Classic that wraps up in Madison Square Garden. It also operates the College Basketball Invitational that WSU played in after the 2009 season.

Basketball Travelers operates a number of MTEs, including the Paradise Jam.

For each of those groups, WSU showed it can sell tickets and compete. Those groups are likely to make the Shockers repeat customers.

"They're a quality program," Overby said. "They're a good name."

Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/11/21/159796 ... z162Pz5bm2

[Aces1982]

UE played in it in 89-90. We were not in the MVC then.

[iSASO]

I guess if you would have actually read the excerpt I posted you would have seen this statement:

WSU's appearance in the Maui Invitational is the first by a Valley member in the event's 27 seasons. (Evansville played in 1989 before it joined the MVC.)