Impact of Wichita's Final Four Run

[musiccitybulldog]

The Shockers are gaining fans all over the country. Good for them. Yesterday alone I heard from some Duke, Carolina, Kentucky and Iowa fans that are interested and pulling for the Shockers. A lot of respect on their tenacity from those that enjoy basketball.

I would think in the state of Kansas the Shockers secret is out...as if it hasn't been for several years.

[valleychamp]

I'm sorry valleychamp but outside this year, if a valley team lost twice to Evansville in the year they probably wouldn't be an at large contender.

It's the truth, luckily Eville has been getting better and this year they couldn't Eville anybody thanks to a solid enough RPI but in the past they have.

Now I'm not complaining cause thats the at larges team fault but I'm saying that usually losing twice to Evansville in the last 5 years or so before this year would have resulted in two very bad losses that hurt come at large time.

This year it was SIU doing the E-villing.

So again before I have to read thru hurt feelings, before this year it was true more years than not in recent history.

I know, I agree with you. That was my point as well.

[indymoon]

You're point - that 2 losses to the Aces would not look good on the resume of a prospective at-large NCAA team - if you look back a few years.

Evansville finished:
2013 4th
2012 T3rd
2011 6th
2010 10th
2009 T5th
2008 10th

But the past 3 years Marty's teams have really improved and they have always competed.

People need to remember that Evansville has some D1 history and success, albeit somewhat limited given today's standards set by Butler, GMU, Gonzaga and now WSU. It's intersting to note the reversal of fortune between Evansville and Butler over the past 20 years. in the early 1990s a Sat afternoon game at Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indy would draw more UE fans than Butler fans. Also, UE played IU at the Dome in Indy in 94-95 and 96-97 seasons. Those kind of match-ups were coveted by in-state, mid-majors against the larger state schools. The transformation of Butler has been remarkable while Evansville has struggled.

[Veritas]

The Shockers are gaining fans all over the country. Good for them. Yesterday alone I heard from some Duke, Carolina, Kentucky and Iowa fans that are interested and pulling for the Shockers. A lot of respect on their tenacity from those that enjoy basketball.

I would think in the state of Kansas the Shockers secret is out...as if it hasn't been for several years.

A lot of support throughout the US and world...
clicking on the state highlights that state's support.

http://espn.go.com/espn/fp/flashPollRes ... Id=3612989

[Wufan]

The Shockers are gaining fans all over the country. Good for them. Yesterday alone I heard from some Duke, Carolina, Kentucky and Iowa fans that are interested and pulling for the Shockers. A lot of respect on their tenacity from those that enjoy basketball.

I would think in the state of Kansas the Shockers secret is out...as if it hasn't been for several years.

The bandwagon overfloweth in Kansas! I'm an hour north of Wichita and the KU / K-State rivalry is HUGE here. In fact, in December, the two vps at my facility (1500 employees) had a competition for toy donation. One was a KU grad and the other a K-State grad. The winner was the veep / school that got the most toys donated… you basically voted for your school by placing a toy on the KU / K-State table. After a couple of us Wichita fans asked about the exclusion of the third D-I U in the State, the vps "kindly" put up a third table for "other universities."

After K-State lost in the opening round, one of the veeps laughed and said, "even WSU won their opener." Friday she was sporting her brand new Shocker gear and talking up Ron Baker in the hall way.

[MVCfans]

The biggest impact should be on WSU's ability to schedule non-conference games. Suellentrop mentioned the possibility of a game in Brooklyn next year.

[iSASO]

Shox on the front page of the USA Today I picked up in Chicago Saturday morning.

[shocker3]

Well Minnesota is gone and both LA schools have been taken...The problem is most of our schools are in small markets and
we just lost our biggest market Omaha. I can only hope that the fact WSU has made the Final Four will
assure some programs that you can still climb the mountain from a Valley!

Good luck WSU.....I was a Sophomore at Drake the last time a Valley team made it this far and that was Larry the Birdman and his Indiana State team. Yeah they were pretty good as I recall. Most people believe the
1979 Final was the snowball that really brought the NCAA tournament into the mainstream and everyones living room.

Actually Wichita is the biggest TV market in the Valley at #69, Des Moines is second at #71, Springfield is third at #74 and Omaha was fourth at #76.

http://www.stationindex.com/tv/tv-markets

Losing Creighton is tough on the Valley for many reasons but they were only our 4th biggest TV market not the largest.

[Ali]

Shox need to immediately turn their run into a couple of elite non-conference games. Inability to do so this year would suck because it's unlikely to happen again. Strike while the iron is hot.

[shocktheheart]

Shox need to immediately turn their run into a couple of elite non-conference games. Inability to do so this year would suck because it's unlikely to happen again. Strike while the iron is hot.

There are rumors that WSU is trying to land some big neutral games with one of them being at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn