Wichita State Mid-Major?

[Wufan]

That was never the question put forth...that a team from a power conference would be considered a mid-major. I agree that all P5 schools are considered major by association.

I think you get all caught up in the exact wording and are not seeing the bigger picture.

Think about it a moment. As you said, "all P5 schools are considered major by association." Since that essentially means that by merely being in a P5 conference a school is major forever (or at least as long at the school stays in a P5 conference which is probably forever), the quality of the program on the basketball court is irrelevant!

Now, since all of that is true, consider the result. If one is really excited about arguing that WSU has shed the mid major tag, all it really means, since success is not part of the formula, is that they are on the same level as schools such as Northwestern, Penn State and Oregon State. Congratulations? I would argue that WSu has already surpassed those other programs despite being in a mid major league.

Major and mid major do NOT denote quality of a program, NCAA tourney success (Northwestern has never even made the dance and Nebraska has never won a game) or even attendance (there are tons of Majors with horrible attendance). That's why I think that some WSU backers who think it is really important that they not be called mid major, like the poster that started this thread (and the corresponding dumb poll with no "yes" option), really don't understand what they are even asking for.

And I would say you are caught up in trying to prove that WSU is not a major.

Besides that, there is some disagreement on what conferences/schools outside the P5 are considered major. The A-10, Big East, MWC, and AAC all bounce in and out, though most have them as in currently. Additionally, the realignment has required additional consideration on what conferences consist of major programs. The current definition that I see most often for schools outside the P5 is sustained success with resources to perpetuate the success for the foreseeable future. This a where I would put WSU, Gonzaga, and VCU.

[Championz]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2014/10/26/college-basketball-countdown-no-11-wichita-state/17908307/

Granted, Wichita State has shed the mid-major label in many ways in the same way that Gonzaga did in the last decade.

It's just a USA Today article so it might not be credible enough, but when I read it, I thought about this thread. Not that it'll matter much.

[stl scooter]

It's just a USA Today article so it might not be credible enough, but when I read it, I thought about this thread. Not that it'll matter much.

Under no circumstances, should this thread be thought of again.

[ShoxNAwe]

I wonder if Marshall will be conducting seminars at the MVC Coaches Meetings in St. Louis:

“You always want to take a good hard look at what the leader in the conference is doing and replicate it as much as possible,” Moccia said. “We can’t necessarily buy the amount of games that Wichita can, but … maybe we could buy another one. People would be foolish if they weren’t kind of looking under Wichita’s hood and seeing how the engine works and trying to take the best parts of that.”

WSU’s recruiting reach is growing, as commitments from two athletes ranked in the top 100 for the class of 2015 by national recruiting services show. Three Shockers — Gal Mekel, Toure Murry, Cleanthony Early — are on NBA rosters. No other MVC school can claim one.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wi ... rylink=cpy

[Wufan]

Some good MVC history at the beginning and end of the article.

[PantherSigEp]

Who is Gal Mekel? I'm unfamiliar with that name

[Wufan]

He's an Israeli PG that was brought in under Turgeon's last year. Played for Marshall one year and then went home to play professionally. He was rookie of the year and two time MVP. Played for the Mavs last year, sparingly; his first in the NBA.

His stats at WSU were modest. Would not of thought he would be in the league.

[rlh04d]

Who is Gal Mekel? I'm unfamiliar with that name

He was easy to miss considering the poor team performance in Turgeon's last year and what Marshall had to start with in that first year.

I remember him fondly, as I was able to go to a lot of the home games in Turgeon's last year. Mekel's probably more memorable for the Israeli flag in the student section than for his actual play, though. He had flashes of brilliance, and flashes of awfulness.

[AndShock]

When he was brought in, WSU fans were touting him as a "future NBA player" on ValleyTalk. He did not play like an NBA player at WSU and Valley fans (I actually think it was mostly Creighton fans) used the Mekel hype as a way to show that WSU fans over exaggerate their recruit's abilities and anything that comes out of Wichita State fans's mouths is not to be trusted.

[Bluejay09Bear06]

Yes, Wichita State is a mid-major, and will be until they change conferences. That's not a dig on Wichita, it's just the reality. The answer is the same for other highly successful mid-majors, and it's no different for schools like VCU and Gonzaga. They are mid-majors while Washington State and Virginia Tech, while remarkably less successful at hoops, are major programs. The end.