Wichita State AD is ‘prepared and proactive’ as conference realignment heats up with AAC
The landscape of college sports again experienced a dramatic shift earlier this month and the American Athletic Conference could be affected.
Conference realignment is once again a hot topic after five more schools from the Pac-12 Conference announced their departures in early August. Arizona, Arizona State and Utah will join the Big 12, while Oregon and Washington are set to join the Big Ten in 2024.
That leaves the Pac-12 Conference with just four schools: California, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State.
The AAC is reportedly interested in providing a new home for a combination or all four of the remaining Pac-12 teams, but there remains a possibility that the Pac-12 teams try to poach a handful of the top AAC schools to reload.
What happens next could very well have an impact on the future of the American Athletic Conference ... and Wichita State athletics. It’s a situation WSU athletic director Kevin Saal said he is “constantly watching” and constantly keeping in contact with fellow AAC athletic directors and the conference office staff.
“Just to get a really good sense for where it’s headed so we can be prepared and proactive because nobody wants to be reactive in these situations,” Saal said on Tuesday. “We want to make sure our institution is positioned in the best possible spot.”
WSU was involved in its own chapter of conference realignment in 2017 when it left the Missouri Valley Conference to join the American Athletic Conference.
The AAC has experienced its own dramatic changes in the six years since WSU joined, as Connecticut departed for the Big East and Cincinnati, Houston and UCF just left for the Big 12 with the conference replenishing its ranks with Charlotte, Florida Athletic, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA from Conference USA.
Saal reiterated WSU’s support for the American on Tuesday.
“First and foremost, we’re in the right place,” Saal said. “We have a commissioner in commissioner (Mike) Aresco who is bold and aggressive and has proven that. He’s got great relationships with TV partners and he’s included all of the current AAC membership in all of those discussions and kept us updated and informed. The conference office staff has been first class and they’ve handled things really, really well.”
Football is almost always the driving force behind conference realignment, which could leave WSU, without a football program since 1986, in a somewhat awkward position. A portion of the fan base would like to see the Shockers pursue joining a basketball-centric conference like the Big East or Atlantic 10 if the AAC faces another upheaval.
But there’s a good chance the American is either unaffected or positively affected by the next dominoes to fall in the conference realignment game.
Regardless of the outcome, Saal plans to have Wichita State prepared for what’s next.
“It’s difficult to predict where it’s going to go,” Saal said. “I think if you were to ask the Pac-12 membership two weeks ago, they would have felt pretty solid with where they were. Things can change in a matter of 24 hours.”
This story was originally published August 16, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
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