Shockers on move
Wichita State University president John Bardo (above) announced Friday the school will join the American Athletic Confernece in July, ending a 72-year relationship with the Missouri Valley Conference.
Wichita State accepted an invitation Friday to join the American Athletic Conference, ending a relationship with the Missouri Valley Conference that dated back 72 years.
The presidents of the AAC’s 12 member schools voted unanimously to admit the school in all sports but football.
The school, which has been a member of the MVC since 1945, does not have a football program but it is a powerhouse in men’s basketball. Wichita State has been to six consecutive NCAA tournaments and reached the Final Four in 2013.
It will officially join the AAC on July 1.
“Here we go!” the school tweeted in announcing its decision.
The AAC currently has 12 members for football: UCF, Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Navy, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane and Tulsa. Navy is a football-only school, so Wichita State would give the conference 12 members in both football and basketball.
“The addition of Wichita State in basketball and Olympic sports extends our conference’s national footprint, enhances our national profile and strengthens our position as a leader in intercollegiate athletics,” said Mike Aresco, the conference’s commissioner.
Aresco acknowledged that the addition will strengthen the conference’s upcoming negotiations for a new national TV deal.
Its current contracts with ESPN run out after the 2019 football season and 2019-20 basketball campaigns.
The move could also help both the conference and the Shockers when it comes to seeding in basketball for the NCAA Tournament. Wichita State received just a 10 seed in this year’s tournament, despite a 30-4 record — the fourth time in five years the Shockers have had at least 30 victories.
They ended up losing in the second round to Kentucky, 6562, in one of the tournament’s best games.