http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wi ... 64335.html

Openly discussing conference affiliation.

A lot of oddball quotes from their president, such as: "I’m not in a position of saying we’re leaving the Missouri Valley. That’s not true. We may well say, ‘Hey, the Missouri Valley is our home and we’re going to really try to be part of moving it up in quality.’ On the other hand, who knows?"

Them going into a conference with schools like Tulsa, Cincinnati, and Memphis does make some sense if they add football.

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This seems like it could be an issue in the immediate future...but Im not too concerned honestly. The issue would be if it led to an exodus of the closer geographical rivals in the conference.

I find it interesting that they're talking about Division I FBS football-- not the FCS football played at the likes of Northern Iowa, Youngstown State, Illinois State, etc. That's a huge commitment, and they'd have to add women's soccer and another one or two women's sports most probably to counteract the scholarship imbalance (most big time football schools give out 85 scholarships). They might have to cut some men's sports, and I know that baseball is huge there, so that will be off the table. If that's how eager they are to get out of the MVC, it's pretty serious.

It's also interesting that they're talking about their academics (specifically being a research university) as a reason to switch conferences. Hmmmm. Yet they're kind of light in terms of enrollment at 14,495. That would be third from the bottom of the Mountain West (only Air Force and Wyoming have fewer students), and less than half the enrollment of New Mexico, San Diego State, San Jose State, and Colorado State. Pretty much the same in the American, with only Tulsa and SMU having fewer students and SIX schools having double, triple or quadruple as many students.

Budget-wise, this is undoable unless the Koch brothers (or others) make an enormous commitment. WSU's total current athletic budget is $21.8 million a year, and that's with the basketball team having a pretty big budget with coaches salaries. The LOWEST athletic budget in the American is Temple at $38.6 million, and the average budget in that conference is around $50 million (SMU is 4th in the league at $49 million). The lowest in the Mountain West is Utah State at $25 million, but their average is around $32.5 million.

John ets it right as usual--
--Bottom line--Too costly to move-- BUT an opposite view
--Bottom line--WSU is on the far edge of the MVC with Bears being closest--ALL the rest are due east by a lot.

I've done studies on this myself. Did a paper for one of my classes and it's not as difficult as some believe.

Enrollment: WSU is aggressively trying to increase enrollment. With plans for yet another on campus dorm or two and the Innovation Campus under construction, as well as other academic advancements going on, they believe we can get between 20k and 25k.

Student Fees would only have to be raised a small amount and that would give the university an extra 2M to 5M depending on enrollment. Also, with the right game plan, corporate sponsors can be had. Football is a big draw and good for exposure and advertising. Startup costs would be around 8M which is very doable. One would also think that donations would go up as well helping pay for a number of things. Early on, we'd be in FCS which would help us build up funds for moving and keep costs a little lower. But IF we do this, it will be to get to FBS as soon as possible. I'd assume that The Bardo and interim AD Boatright will be having conversations with both the MWC and the AAC to gauge their interest in a football playing Wichita State. If we get a commitment of some kind from one of them, I have no doubts that this will happen. We've long wanted to reconnect with former Valley foes in Tulsa, Cincinnati and Memphis.

There is also more money to be had from conference TV contracts if we are in one of those conferences which would also help pay for things. This is not a given, but I'm glad we finally have an AD and President who will take an honest look at it to see if we can bring football back. There has also been talk amongst fans in the past, and the former Mayor, of adding a very small increase in city tax that would be allocated to WSU to use to help fund something like this. That's a debate that may or may not take place, but I could see it potentially happening. Even a quarter cent would raise millions every year. Perhaps it could be sold as the community giving back to the school that gives so much to the community. I doubt it happens, but it's been floated.

We're a long way from knowing one way or the other. As far as it influencing others in the conference, UNI and Illinois State and MSU have all taken looks. I'd have to think if anyone else were to make a move, I'd look towards UNI.

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Not sure why geography would have any impact on anything.

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Well Sub--Different strokes for different folks ! One--I say One of the reasons LUC moved to Valley rather than say Atl 7 was mileage. Valley was a natural up move for us and still close by campuses. OR as my Mom used to say--" It depends upon whose baby is sick"

Being located in Wichita, geography has never been an issue. There aren't a lot of nearby schools anyway. It's all about being at the highest possible level we can be. If that's the MVC, I'm okay with that. As long as the MVC commits to improving and doesn't fall back into lala land like it did previously after some success. But if we have a chance to increase our exposure and pay outs and recruiting students and student athletes then I'm all for that too. If that's the AAC or MWC or whatever.

A couple years ago there were some talks about WSU and the A10. Geography was an issue with them, not us. We're not going to let geography dictate where we can or should be. Playing the best possible competition is more important to us than being able to easily bus somewhere.

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