While the move to the WAC by UMKC was clearly not well thought out going forward and looking at the trajectory of the conference it makes little sense to stay. The WAC is trying to build a Southern California conference core. They already have Bakersfield and have recruited Cal Baptist and are currently giving UCSD and Azusa Pacific their best sales pitches. The only other Midwestern school is going to get booted when its contract expired so it makes sense to return to a Midwestern league even if they don't like being domineered by the Dakota schools.

UMKC was trying to slide in the back door to the MVC when there was talks of a MVC/WAC merger.

(07-05-2017 07:37 PM)MplsBison Wrote:  That's not exactly correct, because it's a near 100% certainty that Chicago State's membership contract will not be renewed after the 2017-18 athletic year. But point well taken.

It's tough to predict what will happen with the Summit until we know if the Horizon or anyone else will take Fort Wayne. Some here think it is a foregone conclusion. Personally, I hope they do get into the Horizon ... for their sake. But I don't think it is foregone, by any means. So we will see ...

There is a lot of misinformation about the WAC and Chicago State on this board.

http://www.bakersfield.com/sports/wac-wi...4f678.html

As the Cal Bakersfield AD (Kenneth Siegfried) mentioned in the above article:

“Chicago State is in better shape than what has been put out there,” Siegfried said. “In recent meetings they’ve been clear on their commitment to remain in D-I and remain a strong member of the WAC.”

“Our conference right now is as strong as it’s been since we joined it,” Siegfried said. “Our membership as a whole feels very, very good about the conference right now. That’s been said over and over again the last several months.”

That was from January of this year. The membership has not changed since January even though there have been plenty of unsubstantiated rumors floating around about different WAC schools.

The State of Illinois is about to end their two year budget crisis tomorrow. If the House votes to override the Governor's veto, as the Senate did, the budget will pass and schools like Chicago State will get badly needed revenue. That would stop the bleeding and allow the New Board to move forward at Chicago State. It should eventually help improve enrollment at all Illinois schools.

I can't find any evidence that the WAC wants to kick Chicago State out and I can't find any evidence that Chicago State wants to leave the WAC. I think there is a 100% chance they will be in the WAC in 2018-2019.

(07-05-2017 11:59 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(07-05-2017 07:37 PM)MplsBison Wrote:  That's not exactly correct, because it's a near 100% certainty that Chicago State's membership contract will not be renewed after the 2017-18 athletic year. But point well taken.

It's tough to predict what will happen with the Summit until we know if the Horizon or anyone else will take Fort Wayne. Some here think it is a foregone conclusion. Personally, I hope they do get into the Horizon ... for their sake. But I don't think it is foregone, by any means. So we will see ...

There is a lot of misinformation about the WAC and Chicago State on this board.

http://www.bakersfield.com/sports/wac-wi...4f678.html

As the Cal Bakersfield AD (Kenneth Siegfried) mentioned in the above article:

“Chicago State is in better shape than what has been put out there,” Siegfried said. “In recent meetings they’ve been clear on their commitment to remain in D-I and remain a strong member of the WAC.”

“Our conference right now is as strong as it’s been since we joined it,” Siegfried said. “Our membership as a whole feels very, very good about the conference right now. That’s been said over and over again the last several months.”

That was from January of this year. The membership has not changed since January even though there have been plenty of unsubstantiated rumors floating around about different WAC schools.

The State of Illinois is about to end their two year budget crisis tomorrow. If the House votes to override the Governor's veto, as the Senate did, the budget will pass and schools like Chicago State will get badly needed revenue. That would stop the bleeding and allow the New Board to move forward at Chicago State. It should eventually help improve enrollment at all Illinois schools.

I can't find any evidence that the WAC wants to kick Chicago State out and I can't find any evidence that Chicago State wants to leave the WAC. I think there is a 100% chance they will be in the WAC in 2018-2019.

Siegfried is saying exactly what a smart AD in his position should be saying. I wouldn't interpret it to mean Chicago State has a solid future in the WAC. Even if the school is able to navigate its current financial crisis, in the long run the relationship isn't in Chicago State's or the WAC's interests.

I also think UMKC will eventually end up back in a more geographically fitting conference. The WAC needs to be what's its name says it is: a western athletic conference. IMHO it won't be completely stable until it has a core of eight members in the Pacific and Mountain time zones, and with the addition of Cal Baptist it will be 3/4 of the way there.

HM, nothing is forever, especially in college basketball. The MVC loses Wichita State and that effects the Horizon and ultimately the Summit. I could make the case that Denver belongs in the WAC and Sacramento State should move their Olympic sports to the WAC. The WAC headquarters are in Denver and Sac State has baseball in the WAC and men's soccer in the Big West. The Summit League headquarters are in the Chicago area. Chicago State looks like a better fit in the Summit. Maybe someday this will happen, but for the 2018-2019 season Chicago State is in the WAC.

The turn around is going to be extremely slow. We are talking 5 or 6 years to get to 4,000 enrollment, and 10-12 years to get to the 8,000 they had when they joined the WAC. You can't flip a switch and jump enrollment from 3,000 to 6,000 they need to meet the budget for D-I athletics. The money for athletics is taken almost 100% from tuition, which means it is directly tied to enrollment. That is how the budget dropped from $6M to $3M in the first place. As document elsewhere CSU athletics had $0 in donations and barely any gate (costs as much to take tickets as. Here are the numbers from USA Today

2016:
Tickets: $2,865
Contributions: $0
2015:
Tickets: $15,434
Contributions: $0
2014:
// no report filed
2013:
Tickets: $9,060
Contributions: $0
2012:
Tickets: $5,958
Contributions: $675
2011:
Tickets: $10,037
Contributions: $9,422
2010:
Tickets: $56
Contributions: $18

The above has nothing to do with enrollment. There is just no support. And this is Illinois not Texas, so there is not going to be a surge in tax payer money for athletics. It'll take at least a decade to build enrollment -- if all goes right and they don't have any hiccups -- to even begin to have a budget large enough to sustain. But those donation doughnuts do not give anyone confidence they will have the budget to meet D-I facility, safety and staffing minimums.

Hurd has been repeatedly asked to clarify Chicago State's status after 2017-18, and he has declined.

The WAC is going to shift to California and away from the Central time zone (Call Baptist and almost certainly a few years after another California school will join). The HQ is in Denver, but you have to think when Hurd's term is up (he'll be 67 in two years, retirement age) that a move to a more central location for the conference, such as Las Vegas, Salt Lake City or Phoenix might make sense.

This is a NAIA level program and belongs in the

(07-05-2017 10:32 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote:  UMKC was trying to slide in the back door to the MVC when there was talks of a MVC/WAC merger.

That's another interesting viewpoint, that I either forgot or just never knew. I would like to read about old MVC/WAC merger rumors, if you have any links to them. Not sure what would've been in it for the MVC ...

(07-05-2017 11:59 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  I can't find any evidence that the WAC wants to kick Chicago State out and I can't find any evidence that Chicago State wants to leave the WAC. I think there is a 100% chance they will be in the WAC in 2018-2019.

Well, I guess I can applaud you for being Chicago State's lone defender on this message board, but you should expect to remain quite lonely in that position. The evidence has been presented in many threads, that Chicago St hasn't even come close to meeting the commitments it made when it joined the WAC.

It won't come close to meeting those commitments, and the athletic dept is in shambles financially.

You can believe whatever you want, but it is a near 100% certainty that the WAC will not renew Chicago St's membership contract. By the way, it should tell you something that a supposed "member" of a full-sports conference is only a contractual member!

(07-06-2017 01:54 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  Siegfried is saying exactly what a smart AD in his position should be saying. I wouldn't interpret it to mean Chicago State has a solid future in the WAC. Even if the school is able to navigate its current financial crisis, in the long run the relationship isn't in Chicago State's or the WAC's interests.

I also think UMKC will eventually end up back in a more geographically fitting conference. The WAC needs to be what's its name says it is: a western athletic conference. IMHO it won't be completely stable until it has a core of eight members in the Pacific and Mountain time zones, and with the addition of Cal Baptist it will be 3/4 of the way there.

Agree with this

(07-06-2017 09:48 AM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  The Summit League headquarters are in the Chicago area. Chicago State looks like a better fit in the Summit.

They were in the Summit. The Summit kicked them out. The WAC will do the same.

(07-06-2017 10:44 AM)Stugray2 Wrote:  The turn around is going to be extremely slow. We are talking 5 or 6 years to get to 4,000 enrollment, and 10-12 years to get to the 8,000 they had when they joined the WAC. You can't flip a switch and jump enrollment from 3,000 to 6,000 they need to meet the budget for D-I athletics. The money for athletics is taken almost 100% from tuition, which means it is directly tied to enrollment. That is how the budget dropped from $6M to $3M in the first place. As document elsewhere CSU athletics had $0 in donations and barely any gate (costs as much to take tickets as. Here are the numbers from USA Today

2015:
Tickets: $15,434
Contributions: $0
2014:
// no report filed
2013:
Tickets: $9,060
Contributions: $0
2012:
Tickets: $5,958
Contributions: $675
2011:
Tickets: $10,037
Contributions: $9,422
2010:
Tickets: $56
Contributions: $18

The above has nothing to do with enrollment. There is just no support. And this is Illinois not Texas, so there is not going to be a surge in tax payer money for athletics. It'll take at least a decade to build enrollment -- if all goes right and they don't have any hiccups -- to even begin to have a budget large enough to sustain. But those donation doughnuts do not give anyone confidence they will have the budget to meet D-I facility, safety and staffing minimums.

Hurd has been repeatedly asked to clarify Chicago State's status after 2017-18, and he has declined.

The WAC is going to shift to California and away from the Central time zone (Call Baptist and almost certainly a few years after another California school will join). The HQ is in Denver, but you have to think when Hurd's term is up (he'll be 67 in two years, retirement age) that a move to a more central location for the conference, such as Las Vegas, Salt Lake City or Phoenix might make sense.

This is a NAIA level program and belongs in the

Correct ... I think your post was supposed to say the Chicagoland Conference, a NAIA conference. That would be perfect for Chicago St, and could possibly try to form a rivalry with Governors State. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicagolan...Conference

(07-06-2017 01:54 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  

(07-05-2017 11:59 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(07-05-2017 07:37 PM)MplsBison Wrote:  That's not exactly correct, because it's a near 100% certainty that Chicago State's membership contract will not be renewed after the 2017-18 athletic year. But point well taken.

It's tough to predict what will happen with the Summit until we know if the Horizon or anyone else will take Fort Wayne. Some here think it is a foregone conclusion. Personally, I hope they do get into the Horizon ... for their sake. But I don't think it is foregone, by any means. So we will see ...

There is a lot of misinformation about the WAC and Chicago State on this board.

http://www.bakersfield.com/sports/wac-wi...4f678.html

As the Cal Bakersfield AD (Kenneth Siegfried) mentioned in the above article:

“Chicago State is in better shape than what has been put out there,” Siegfried said. “In recent meetings they’ve been clear on their commitment to remain in D-I and remain a strong member of the WAC.”

“Our conference right now is as strong as it’s been since we joined it,” Siegfried said. “Our membership as a whole feels very, very good about the conference right now. That’s been said over and over again the last several months.”

That was from January of this year. The membership has not changed since January even though there have been plenty of unsubstantiated rumors floating around about different WAC schools.

The State of Illinois is about to end their two year budget crisis tomorrow. If the House votes to override the Governor's veto, as the Senate did, the budget will pass and schools like Chicago State will get badly needed revenue. That would stop the bleeding and allow the New Board to move forward at Chicago State. It should eventually help improve enrollment at all Illinois schools.

I can't find any evidence that the WAC wants to kick Chicago State out and I can't find any evidence that Chicago State wants to leave the WAC. I think there is a 100% chance they will be in the WAC in 2018-2019.

Siegfried is saying exactly what a smart AD in his position should be saying. I wouldn't interpret it to mean Chicago State has a solid future in the WAC. Even if the school is able to navigate its current financial crisis, in the long run the relationship isn't in Chicago State's or the WAC's interests.

I also think UMKC will eventually end up back in a more geographically fitting conference. The WAC needs to be what's its name says it is: a western athletic conference. IMHO it won't be completely stable until it has a core of eight members in the Pacific and Mountain time zones, and with the addition of Cal Baptist it will be 3/4 of the way there.

Well Kansas City is west of the Mississippi and therefore considered Western US.

But still Central timezone. Don't think most would consider that western.

(07-05-2017 11:59 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(07-05-2017 07:37 PM)MplsBison Wrote:  That's not exactly correct, because it's a near 100% certainty that Chicago State's membership contract will not be renewed after the 2017-18 athletic year. But point well taken.

It's tough to predict what will happen with the Summit until we know if the Horizon or anyone else will take Fort Wayne. Some here think it is a foregone conclusion. Personally, I hope they do get into the Horizon ... for their sake. But I don't think it is foregone, by any means. So we will see ...

There is a lot of misinformation about the WAC and Chicago State on this board.

http://www.bakersfield.com/sports/wac-wi...4f678.html

As the Cal Bakersfield AD (Kenneth Siegfried) mentioned in the above article:

“Chicago State is in better shape than what has been put out there,” Siegfried said. “In recent meetings they’ve been clear on their commitment to remain in D-I and remain a strong member of the WAC.”

“Our conference right now is as strong as it’s been since we joined it,” Siegfried said. “Our membership as a whole feels very, very good about the conference right now. That’s been said over and over again the last several months.”

That was from January of this year. The membership has not changed since January even though there have been plenty of unsubstantiated rumors floating around about different WAC schools.

The State of Illinois is about to end their two year budget crisis tomorrow. If the House votes to override the Governor's veto, as the Senate did, the budget will pass and schools like Chicago State will get badly needed revenue. That would stop the bleeding and allow the New Board to move forward at Chicago State. It should eventually help improve enrollment at all Illinois schools.

I can't find any evidence that the WAC wants to kick Chicago State out and I can't find any evidence that Chicago State wants to leave the WAC. I think there is a 100% chance they will be in the WAC in 2018-2019.

You think there's a 100% chance Chicago St will be in the WAC? I think there's a 1% chance that they are in the WAC after next season.