AAC approves Wichita State to join its ranks

[Rogers101]

Congrats Wichita St! It was fun to watch the Bears and Shockers battle it out while I was in college (09-12). I got to see the best college game of my life when we beat Wichita in Springfield in 2011 to win the conference. I think if any other team was in your shoes we'd take it and run. With the makeup of this conference hopefully it is sustainable. I know most of the league wants in the Big 12, but I'd guess everyone is looking at pie in the sky. I'll keep and eye on Wichita State in the coming years and I hope at minimum we can continue to play them in baseball moving forward.

Best of luck and who knows maybe we will get a Shockers/Valley matchup in the big dance next year.

[purple&orange]

Congrats and best of luck to the outgoing Shockers. The last 10 years or so have been a decade of program building and an opportunity came your way and you are moving on. I don't like it because of where it leaves the MVC, but I completely understand and any other school in the league with that chance would have also jumped at it.

I hope to see Wichita State move on and continue to be successful and don't change who you are. Part of your success is that mentality of being disrespected, not supposed to be here. Just because the conference logo on your homecourt changes doesn't change your outlook. Go win the AAC next season, go pack the conference tournament wherever it may be and speak kindly when you speak of us.

Maybe it's my outright disgust of Coach Cal and Kentucky (and their well behaved fan base..........) that made your tournament exit tough to swallow as an outsider. When you see them again some year in March, please embarrass them for the frauds they really are.

There are pissing matches on this board from all angles and every fanbase the last three years I chatted with in STL was a lot of fun. Will miss that.

Now here's the part that will rub some the wrong way but here goes......in some ways, not the national success in the NCAA Tournament part, but Wichita reminds me of what Evansville was in the late 80s-early 90s. A loud sold out house, a team that was a threat to win the league year in and year out. Being 6 years old in 1989 when UE won an NCAA game I can barely remember guys from that team and then growing up with the feeling every year should end with an NCAA or NIT birth. To get that back again........

Best of luck Wichita State, I hate you have to go, but I understand.

[Red]

Do any WSU fans know what share of the TV rights money you'll get from the AAC? My recall is that the AAC doesn't get all that much from ESPN to start and I assume most of that money is football based. Has it been reported what 1/12 of the basketball contract is worth? I realize it's more than what the Valley is getting which is essentially nothing, but is it safe to say that moving to the AAC will not be a financial advantage once the increased travel and expenses are concerned?

[Play Angry]

Details have not been disclosed, but most seem to believe WSU's non-football share of the contract will mirror Navy's football only share (meaning Navy would receive a ~70% share and WSU would receive a 30% share) of its pro rata proceeds from the TV contract.

The long-term value of the conference's television rights are up in the air as the current 7 year, $126 million contract expires at the end of 2020, and the league is in the process of either negotiating a new deal with ESPN or collecting bids from competitors.

Basically, we'll see.

[Stickboy46]

Do any WSU fans know what share of the TV rights money you'll get from the AAC? My recall is that the AAC doesn't get all that much from ESPN to start and I assume most of that money is football based. Has it been reported what 1/12 of the basketball contract is worth? I realize it's more than what the Valley is getting which is essentially nothing, but is it safe to say that moving to the AAC will not be a financial advantage once the increased travel and expenses are concerned?

WSU also had to pay an entry fee to get into the AAC which will be paid by withholding future revenue from the TV contract i believe. WSU offered to pay the schools for their increase in travel costs for the first year due to WSU being added after budgets were set.

As stated before, the TV contract is up for renewal, which could be interesting. The American has grown in importance in football (and now basketball) but ESPN is cutting back. So it will be interesting to see if the increase in contract revenue will be as big as some hope.

As far as the financial advantage, there is a lot of what ifs there. If the TV contract increases, or enrollment increases, or NCAA shares increase etc etc, that could very easily offset the additional travel.

[Play Angry]

Adios MVC - best of luck to you guys in the future.

[VUGrad1314]

Adios MVC - best of luck to you guys in the future.

Good luck in the AAC.