Last but certainly not least: the school is in St. Check out how many times it’s switched conferences. Rare is the school that opts to downgrade in conference. Its chances at getting into the NCAAs over the next decade would undeniably go up if it made the daring move. Why leave a multi-bid league to go to a two-bid-at-best conference? But SLU is a former Valley member and would immediately become top dog in the conference if it made the switch. On the surface, SLU would obviously lean toward staying in the A-10. It has great potential, but it’s had great potential forever, yet has only gone to nine NCAA Tournaments. Many in college basketball see SLU as a top-four Atlantic 10 job because of the facilities, resources and location. And the powers-that-be at Saint Louis should strongly consider a relocation. Saint LouisĬonference history: Atlantic 10, Conference USA, Great Midwest, Midwestern Collegiate, Midwestern City, Metro, Missouri Valley These are the four, and these are in order. To me, there are only four schools that should be on the table. Who should the Valley go and get? There are some options out there, none of which can fully fill in the void left by Wichita State, but the candidates that Missouri Valley commissioner Doug Elgin, and his associates, should consider are very good. Now it appears to be cemented as a one-bid outfit. The Valley sent three teams to the NCAAs in 2005, four in 2006, and two in 2007, 2012, 2013, 20. So now the Missouri Valley, a conference that, with Wichita State, floated in the odd space between one- and two-bid status it’s the only league in college basketball wherein this is/was true. Come July 1, Wichita State will be a member in the American across all sports. After residing in the Valley since 1945, the team will be done with the MVC on June 30. But keep this mind: From a basketball perspective, Wichita State now goes from being the by-far best program in a one/two-bid conference to - big picture - being a top-five program in a fledgling league that’s still trying to establish its identity.Īnd there will be no awkwardness. The school is (probably?) making the right move. Though the move is done with all sports in mind, basketball for Wichita State is acting like football does for most other schools that switch league allegiances. The American is a solid league, but it’s basically the opposite of the Valley: every single game requires a plane trip, the intra-league scheduling is not friendly, and the AAC is the last automatic bid decided (whereas the MVC is one of the first, and has a round-robin schedule). The institution’s decision is obviously rooted with basketball in mind, because it’s the only real reason to trek away from a proud and unique conference. I don’t blame the committee (no one is forcing Wichita State to do this), though it’s obvious that the committee is partly at fault. And I can’t help but wonder if the NCAA Tournament section committee had given Wichita State a 6 seed instead of an 11 last year, a 5 seed instead of a 10 this year, perhaps it never gets to this point. It does make me ache a bit for the Valley, though. I cannot and do not fault Wichita State for doing this. The American, in that same time span, had an average league ranking of 7.5. The Shockers are jettisoning out of a union that averaged an 11th-overall conference ranking at over the past four years.
Wichita State is following Creighton’s path and hoping to have more respect, nationally, by upgrading its league.
Creighton’s 2013 exodus to the Big East didn’t make geographical sense, but in consideration of every other basketball factor, it’s been the right move. With Wichita State’s unanimous invitation from the American Athletic Conference, the MVC has now lost its two most prominent, successful members in the past four years. It’s a bad day for the Missouri Valley Conference.
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