Sounds like Wichita St to the AAC... Who gets an Invite?

[RoyalShock]

Will WSU schedule a home and home series with current MVC schools?

Hard to say. I would put the odds somewhere around what they were when Creighton left. Have they scheduled any of their former conference mates?

I honestly think after a few years go by, there would be a willingness to schedule an MVC school that's projected to be a top 2 or 3 league finisher.

[uniftw]

The reality of football is that something like 70 of the 125 FBS programs lose money. Only about 30 truly make any "real" money.

Yes, costs go up moving FBS from FCS. 22 extra scholarships (which isn't entirely true as you only have to give 78 of 85) plus extra Title IX scholarships. However, FBS conferences (even the MAC and Sun Belt) get millions of dollars every year from ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC Sports, the Football Playoffs, etc.. that get distributed.

There are about 5-10 FCS programs that actually do/could generate revenue - North Dakota State South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Montana, Montana State, James Madison, Delaware, Jacksonville State, Sam Houston State, maybe McNeese State, maybe a just a very small few others - and Missouri State if they'd ever get their s*** straight.

The reality is the % of money lost at the FBS level compared to the % of money lost vs spent at the FCS level is the same. What's that mean? Let's say, and I'll use these two as an example as I remember having a discussion over something like this a few years back. Boise State lose something like $4m in a year. McNeese State (I think that's who it was....hell insert 90% of the FCS here as the numbers are all within statistical error of each other) lost something like $1.5m. Boise State's athletic budget is something like $40 million dollars. McNeese State's budget is like $12 million. Essentially Boise State "lost" 10% of their budget and McNeese was like 11 or 12% of the budget. If McNeese exrapolated their loses out to Boise's budget they'd have lost over 5m. Who gets the better ROI?

Sure, you could (and this other guy did) argue that "losing" 1.5m is better than "losing" 4m. However, that's ignoring so many basic economic principals. It doesn't account for publicity Boise State gets vs McNeese State - be honest, how many of you know where McNeese State is...or that they even existed?. That free marketing allows for more applicants, meaning better applicants can be accepted.

The reality, for a school like UNI, ISUr or MSU is that getting into the FBS makes sense - as long as our basketball programs are protected to be at the very least the level they are now. Jumping to CUSA makes no sense. However, when WSU leaves the MVC will drop even further down. The MAC with UNI and or ISUr is better than the MVC at that point.

College athletic budgets are mostly just a big game of accounting tricks. It only becomes an issue when you aren't good enough at the tricks anymore.

[Cdizzle]

Will WSU schedule a home and home series with current MVC schools?

No idea. But if the primary driver for leaving is so men's basketball can quit playing home and home series with so many RPI 100+ teams every year, I'm not sure there would be a long list of potential series.

[squirrel]

Someone brought up Gonzaga and the WCC...here is where Doug Elgin really dropped the ball in recent years: Cable TV.

The WCC benefited immensely when the Pac-12 signed a long-term exclusivity deal with regional Fox networks in the late 1990's-one happy byproduct of that was the WCC owning the late night Big Monday spot on ESPN that happened to coincide with Gonzaga's rise.

Elgin is a paradox in a lot of ways...his vision to emphasize basketball paid tremendous dividends for most of the last 30 years. He also gets credit for getting the Valley Championship game on CBS. And I think getting the semis on CBS Sports is great too. But ESPN 3 is NOT TV. You're only reaching homes that have an interest in the Valley, more often than not. Sure, it's great for us fans, but from a recognition, exposure and outreach standpoint, with NBC, Fox, and CBS all forming their own national networks over the past decade, the Valley still finds itself largely on regional TV, with only a handful of games on national broadcast and cable networks.

That was a huge miscue.

[BCPanther]

Someone brought up Gonzaga and the WCC...here is where Doug Elgin really dropped the ball in recent years: Cable TV.

The WCC benefited immensely when the Pac-12 signed a long-term exclusivity deal with regional Fox networks in the late 1990's-one happy byproduct of that was the WCC owning the late night Big Monday spot on ESPN that happened to coincide with Gonzaga's rise.

Elgin is a paradox in a lot of ways...his vision to emphasize basketball paid tremendous dividends for most of the last 30 years. He also gets credit for getting the Valley Championship game on CBS. And I think getting the semis on CBS Sports is great too. But ESPN 3 is NOT TV. You're only reaching homes that have an interest in the Valley, more often than not. Sure, it's great for us fans, but from a recognition, exposure and outreach standpoint, with NBC, Fox, and CBS all forming their own national networks over the past decade, the Valley still finds itself largely on regional TV, with only a handful of games on national broadcast and cable networks.

That was a huge miscue.

Excellent Post. Outstanding.

Doug was WAY ahead of his time when he decided to produce games in house and farm them out to FSN Midwest and FSN Chicago at the time. Brought in more money than any other comparable league and gave a true regional footprint.

The problem is that he stopped there and the world passed him. He believed in regional and having set game schedules rather than bending to TV. It ultimately is/will be his demise.

[Red]

I'm surprised we haven't heard anything official on this. What's taking so long?

[LJSites]

Back when the MVC went through this with Creighton, someone on here posted a link to a breakdown of athletic spending and revenue based on D1 affiliation by school.

Does anyone have that link, or more importantly, a link to updated numbers (they lag a year or two behind, so current would be 2015 numbers I assume)?

[tribecalledquest]

I'm surprised we haven't heard anything official on this. What's taking so long?

I don't think its a slam dunk that Wichita gets approved by the AAC members. I think it will happen, but its not a sure thing.

[SubGod22]

I'm surprised we haven't heard anything official on this. What's taking so long?

I don't think its a slam dunk that Wichita gets approved by the AAC members. I think it will happen, but its not a sure thing.

Nothing is ever a sure thing until it actually happens. I remain cautiously optimistic about it and feel someone within the AAC has "leaked" this info to the press for a reason. I would think that things have been discussed and while there hasn't been a formal vote, it's believed or even known that the votes are there to make it happen.

If they do it by conference call it could happen within the next few weeks as one report indicated. If they wait for the spring meetings then it won't happen until I believe the end of May or beginning of June.

[DoubleJayAlum]

Hello guys - long time, no see!

I came back to read up on WSU's potential move and to see if Drake was going to hire our assistant as their new HC.

I have a question on the whole WSU to the AAC --- MONEY!!!

Anyone have any idea how much of the TV money WSU would receive if they made the move? The AAc's TV contract is for football and basketball. We all know that football is more valuable to TV networks than hoops (which sucks!). I suspect that the AAC contract doesn't divide out the monies to say x% is for football and y% is for basketball, so it probably isn't as simple as saying that WSU gets one full share of the basketball money.

As a result, 1) what percentage of a full share do we think WSU would be likely to get and 2) what is fair for them to ask for? Also, does WSU get a full share of the NCAA tourney credits earned and banked to date or only an equal share for all units earned AFTER they join. If there is a hold up in taking WSU, I suspect these are the issues that would cause the holdup. Thoughts?