Belmont to the Valley

[BCPanther]

LOL. My first thought at the AAC news was how completely screwed Wichita is. I’m not sure where Memphis can go, as their options are almost zero, but that’s a much worse league than the one the Shockers left. Serves them right.

Memphis goes to the Mountain West and continues to wait for that Big 12 invite.

[Newsbreaker]

Memphis goes to the Mountain West and continues to wait for that Big 12 invite.

Short-term, that would be a much better league for them.

The problem with the AAC is that it was top-heavy. Then someone cut the top off.

[sevelev711]

I Lol. I Lmao. I Lol again.




Shoutout to a fellow panther fan on reddit for putting this together https://old.reddit.com/r/CollegeBask...s_for_top_mid/

[orangetennis]

I Lol. I Lmao. I Lol again.




Shoutout to a fellow panther fan on reddit for putting this together https://old.reddit.com/r/CollegeBask...s_for_top_mid/

This table includes Belmont and Murray in the Valley?
Has the Murray addition been announced yet? Is that official?

[sevelev711]

This table includes Belmont and Murray in the Valley?
Has the Murray addition been announced yet? Is that official?

It includes all realignments and highly expected since 2010 (so it does include Murray State, which hasn't been confirmed yet, buuuuuut...)

[CincyPanther88]

Wichita State keeps stepping in it. And all for the love of a good steak.

[BCPanther]

Imagine if/when the AAC loses Memphis...

[CyCarp]

Let's just bring in Wichita and Memphis and call it a day.

[clenz]

Let's just bring in Wichita and Memphis and call it a day.

Doesn't solve the steak issue. Still can't get a good steak in Iowa or Illinois apparently.

Also, the AAC is so tied to large markets they are killing themself as a conference.

FAU - Boca Raton - 6 million
Charlotte - Charlotte 3.1 million
UTSA - San Antonio 2.5 million
Rice - Houston - 7.1 million
UNT - Denton/Dallas-Fort Worth - Denton is only 140K but you are right on the side of Dallas/FW
UAB - Birmingham -1.1 million

Now, does anyone in those markets give a flying **** about those schools? Nope. Not at all. But the conference, and school presidents, wanted to be a large metro conference.

Wichita is about to find out of it is better to send your teams to Boca Raton, Charlotte, San Antonio, Houson, etc. to play teams that are bottom half of the Valley level teams or if it's better to send your teams to Iowa and Illinois to play higher rated teams.


Reading shockernet has been a fun psychology case study on the stages of grief. It's fun seeing people that for years went "It's better for us to fly to the east coast to play large metro teams compared to Des Moines or Cedar Falls" now going "Why the **** are we playing games all over the eastern half of the country? That's dumb!

[SteinPizza]

Reading shockernet has been a fun psychology case study on the stages of grief. It's fun seeing people that for years went "It's better for us to fly to the east coast to play large metro teams compared to Des Moines or Cedar Falls" now going "Why the **** are we playing games all over the eastern half of the country? That's dumb!

I haven’t read Shockernet, but where do Wichita people get off on saying they “belong” in a large metro area conference, but going to Des Moines is somehow beneath them? For starters the Des Moines and Wichita metro areas are roughly the same size. Wichita is a shade bigger, but not enough to matter. Wichita has an enviable base of aerospace companies, but you could say the same about Des Moines in insurance/finance. Wichita is also far dirtier and grungier by comparison. I think I’ll move to a large metro area and choose between New York, Chicago, and Wichita…said no one ever.

[CincyPanther88]

I haven’t read Shockernet, but where do Wichita people get off on saying they “belong” in a large metro area conference, but going to Des Moines is somehow beneath them? For starters the Des Moines and Wichita metro areas are roughly the same size. Wichita is a shade bigger, but not enough to matter. Wichita has an enviable base of aerospace companies, but you could say the same about Des Moines in insurance/finance. Wichita is also far dirtier and grungier by comparison. I think I’ll move to a large metro area and choose between New York, Chicago, and Wichita…said no one ever.

I lived in Wellington, KS which is about 20 miles south of Wichita for about a year in 90-91. From there I moved to Des Moines and stayed there for about 8 years. The two cities are very similar in size. I went to Wichita quite a bit since there wasn't much to do in Wellington. But Wichita is hardly a cultural Mecca. Des Moines isn't either but it certainly doesn't suffer in comparison to Wichita.

You certainly can't fault a school for wanting to better its situation athletically but WSU had been in the MVC for a long time. Maybe since the beginning. But if they had stayed, they and the MVC would be in high cotton now. But they got too big their britches and now they are in a dying conference. They are probably going to be begging to get back to the MVC. I'm sure their fans will rationalize that if it happens.

[MNpanthers]

I haven’t read Shockernet, but where do Wichita people get off on saying they “belong” in a large metro area conference, but going to Des Moines is somehow beneath them? For starters the Des Moines and Wichita metro areas are roughly the same size. Wichita is a shade bigger, but not enough to matter. Wichita has an enviable base of aerospace companies, but you could say the same about Des Moines in insurance/finance. Wichita is also far dirtier and grungier by comparison. I think I’ll move to a large metro area and choose between New York, Chicago, and Wichita…said no one ever.

The city of Wichita has taken them as far as they can go. That plus riding the coattails of their final 4 team fooled them into making a conference shift that they should have been much more cautious about in hindsight. It was a pretty steep price to live out their fantasy for only a few years. And yea, anyone convincing themselves Wichita is an enviable market is fooling themselves.

93rd largest metro that most people couldn't point to on a map in a flyover state. It means practically nothing in the 21st century. Des Moines is a much nicer city, but I'd say the same about it too.

[SteinPizza]

93rd largest metro that most people couldn't point to on a map in a flyover state. It means practically nothing in the 21st century. Des Moines is a much nicer city, but I'd say the same about it too.

Generally, I’d agree. The powers that be in the Des Moines area have done a really nice job in the last 20ish years of re-inventing the area to spur growth and keep white collar, single, college degreed professionals from moving away and/or making Des Moines a professional destination. As a result, the metro area is close to double the size from when I moved away in ‘96. Arts, entertainment, restaurants, sports, nightlife, all far better too. I’ve done business in Wichita. It’s been 10 years but I doubt they’ve had a similar renaissance.

One thing is certain. Metro areas in this size range aren’t New York or Los Angeles attractive to sports broadcasters as far as demographics, but they beat the **** out of smaller areas that are home to many colleges. With conference realignment in play, you could do far worse. It’s not the only thing that matters, but it’s important.

[CincyPanther88]

A couple of realignment tidbits. Conference USA is likely to add Liberty, Sam Houston State, New Mexico State and Jacksonville State in all sports.

https://tinyurl.com/bds6f8cm

Also, the CAA is not going to let James Madison compete for any of their championships if they announce they are leaving for the Sun Belt.

https://richmond.com/sports/college/caa-to-ban-jmu-from-league-championship-play-if-dukes-announce-sun-belt-move/article_e7d020ea-7b9f-53d3-8490-b545fb46ac6e.html

[BCPanther]

That's an absolute bull**** move by the CAA. The league office is supposed be the adult in the room.

Just petty horse****.