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Report: Wichita State joining the American Athletic Conference

By Chris Stone

Mar 16, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Wichita State Shockers mascot performs during practice the day before the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 16, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Wichita State Shockers mascot performs during practice the day before the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Wichita State Shockers are headed to a new conference, the American Athletic Conference.

Wichita State will reportedly join the American Athletic Conference starting in the 2017-18 season. The move was approved unanimously by all 12 current member schools, including Central Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Navy, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane and Tulsa. An official announcement is expected at noon ET.

The Shockers will join the league for all of its sports, giving the AAC a 12th basketball school since Navy is a football-only member. Wichita State does not have a football program.

The change of scenery has obvious ramifications for the Shockers, but seems to have been precipitated by the benefits that it will have for the men’s basketball program in particular.

Wichita State’s position in the Missouri Valley Conference has made earning an appropriate seed in the NCAA Tournament nearly impossible. The MVC simply doesn’t have the level of competition necessary to bolster a team’s strength of schedule, a statistic that seemingly holds heavy weight with the tournament’s selection committee.

For example, this season, despite being ranked as one of the top 10 teams in the country by nearly every available advanced metric, the Shockers earned a No. 10 seed in the tournament. That put them in the difficult position of playing No. 2 Kentucky in the second round for a matchup that had the feel of a second weekend encounter. It also suggested that they may not have made the field had they not won their conference tournament, a staggering possibility given the strength of their team.

Wichita State will likely return every player from its 2016-17 roster, which will make it the probable preseason favorite in the AAC during its first season in the conference. Should the Shockers win the league, they would be in a much better position to earn a higher seed come next March.

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The move will also have significant ramifications for the MVC. Wichita State has been a member of the conference since 1945 and became its clear flagship program after Creighton left for the Big East in 2013. The league will reportedly meet to discuss potential new members this weekend.