The presidents of the AAC’s 12 member schools voted unanimously to admit the school in all sports but football. The school, which has been a member of the MVC since 1945, does not have a football program but it is a powerhouse in men’s basketball. Wichita State has been to six straight NCAA Tournaments and reached the Final Four in 2013.

It will officially join the AAC on July 1.

“Here we go!,” the school tweeted in announcing its decision

The AAC currently has 12 members for football: UCF, Cincinnati, UConn, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Navy, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane and Tulsa. Navy is a football-only school, so the Shockers would give the conference 12 members in both football and basketball.

”The addition of Wichita State in basketball and Olympic sports extends our conference’s national footprint, enhances our national profile and strengthens our position as a leader in intercollegiate athletics,” said Mike Aresco, the conference’s commissioner.

Aresco acknowledged that the addition will strengthen the conference’s upcoming negotiations for a new national TV deal. Its current contracts with ESPN run out after the 2019 football season and 2019-20 basketball campaigns.

The move could also help both the conference and the Shockers when it comes to seeding in basketball for the NCAA Tournament. Wichita State received just a 10 seed in this year’s tournament, despite a 30-4 record – the fourth time in five years the Shockers have had at least 30 wins. They ended up losing in the second round to Kentucky, 65-62, in one of the tournament’s best games.

The AAC, meanwhile, got just two bids into the tournament. Both conference champion SMU and Cincinnati were seeded sixth in their regionals. SMU lost in the first round. Cincinnati in the second.

Our players ”want to play the best,” Shockers basketball coach Gregg Marshall said. ”They want to compete against the best, because they ultimately want to be the best. So this will be a welcome change for us.”

Wichita State President John Bardo said joining the conference will not only improve the school’s athletic standing, it also will allow it to improve academics by making new connections with other top research universities.

”We are competing for championships and at the end of the day, we are a rising national university,” he said.

Bardo said the decision also puts any thoughts of the school returning to football, which it stopped playing in 1986, on a back burner.

”This is as big a deal as we could possibly have had, and now is the time to focus on it,” he said.

The Missouri Valley Conference said the departure represents another stage in the evolution of the league. Creighton left the league for the Big East in 2013.

”The Valley has always been resilient and progressive in the face of these changes, and we have never been defined by a single institution,” the league said in a statement. Because it did not give the required two-year notice for leaving the MVC, Wichita State will have to forfeit its share this year’s conference revenue distribution.

Aresco said having 12 members in all sports will make scheduling easier for the AAC, bit added there are no plans to divide the league into two basketball divisions.

He said a 12-team league also makes future expansion easier. But the league, he said, does not want to get into a situation where it has multiple schools that do not participate in one of its major sports, noting that was a reason for the troubles that broke up the old Big East.

He said the AAC is not currently in negotiations with any other school.

”We’re done for now,” he said.

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More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

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This story has been corrected to show Cincinnati lost in NCAA’s second round, not the first.

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“It’s crazy. I still can’t believe we’re here,” Early said. “You try to expect it, but you expect a lot of things that don’t happen. This really happened.”

Believe it. Wichita State is going to Atlanta, and these Shockers are no longer a surprise after the way the tenacious ninth seeds held off mighty Ohio State in the West Regional final.

Malcolm Armstead scored 14 points, Fred Van Vleet bounced in a big basket with 1 minute left, and Wichita State earned its first trip to the Final Four since 1965 with a 70-66 victory over the Buckeyes on Saturday.

Van Vleet scored 12 points as the Shockers (30-8) followed up last week’s win over top-ranked Gonzaga with a nail-biting victory over the second-seeded Buckeyes (29-8), whose 11-game winning streak ended one short of their second straight Final Four. Wichita State’s 20-point lead in the second half dwindled to three in the final minutes, but several Shockers stepped up with big plays to stop the surge, heeding coach Gregg Marshall’s halftime command to “play angry.”

All that anger turned into a joyous postgame party at midcourt, even though the Shockers realize they’ve got more work to do.

Wichita State is just the fifth team seeded ninth or higher to reach the Final Four since seeding began in 1979, but the second in three years following 11th-seeded VCU’s improbable run in 2011. The Shockers’ celebration was wild, if a bit disbelieving, in front of several thousand roaring fans.

“Last year we were watching all this on television,” said Early, who scored 12 points despite spraining his ankle in the second half. “Now I’m looking at a hat that says ‘Final Four Atlanta’ with my team on it. … It feels good, and it feels even better that I could experience it with these guys who had to struggle so hard to get here.”

Wichita State roared to a 20-point lead with 11 minutes to play after Ohio State played an awful first half, but LaQuinton Ross scored 15 of his 19 points after halftime, leading a ferocious rally that got the Buckeyes within three points in the final minutes.

Tekele Cotton hit a clutch 3-pointer for Wichita State with 2:20 left and grabbed a key offensive rebound moments later, allowing Van Vleet to score on a shot that bounced all over the rim before dropping. Ron Baker and Cotton hit last-minute free throws to secure the second Final Four trip in Wichita State’s history and a school-record 30th win.

“We’re happy, but I’m still shocked,” said Carl Hall, the glasses-wearing big man who scored eight points and led the Shockers’ strong defensive effort. “We’ve got a team full of fighters. I brought them all together near the end and said, `No matter what happens, I love y’all.’ We had to fight so hard. We’ve got each other’s backs, and it’s hard to beat a team that’s got five guys who work together like us.”

Deshaun Thomas scored 21 points after missing nine of his first 12 shots for Ohio State, which made just 24 percent of its first-half shots. Aaron Craft scored nine points on 2-for-12 shooting against Armstead and a host of defenders for the Buckeyes, who dug a hole too deep to escape with their second-half rally.

“The way we shot coming into the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, everything was falling,” Thomas said. “Today, it just wasn’t our night. Nothing was falling. We had great looks, some of them, but they just weren’t falling.”

Yet after two weeks of upsets in the wild West bracket, underdog Wichita State seemed an appropriate pick to cut down Staples Center’s nets. The Shockers’ well-balanced roster managed built that enormous lead with the same consummate team play that they’ve shown throughout the tournament.

The Shockers are also the kings of Kansas, reaching the national semifinals after the powerful Jayhawks and Kansas State both went down.

Two sections packed with cheering Shockers fans provided all the encouragement necessary for a team that didn’t win the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and was thought to be a bubble team for an NCAA berth. Now, Wichita State is the MVC’s first Final Four team since Larry Bird led Indiana State to the title game in 1979.

Another giant awaits the Shockers in Atlanta next weekend: They’ll face the winner of Sunday’s Midwest Regional final between Duke and Louisville.

“We’re all new to this, but I think we’re ready for this,” Early said. “We’re going to prepare ourselves, and this game was pretty good preparation. We started at the bottom, and we’ve been working our way up.”

Seven seasons after underdog George Mason crashed the Final Four and underlined college basketball’s growing parity, the Shockers are the latest smallish school to get on a big roll in the tournament. Butler made the national championship game in 2010 and 2011, and the Bulldogs were joined by that VCU team in the Final Four two years ago.

This year’s tournament included stunning wins by Florida Gulf Coast, La Salle and Harvard, but nobody kept it going longer than Wichita State.

Although the Shockers have a beautiful home arena and robust support from fans and donors in Kansas’ largest city, Marshall acknowledged that Wichita State’s athletic budget is a fraction of what a BCS school can spend. He hasn’t let it slow the Shockers, who made the NCAA tournament last year only to lose to 12th-seeded VCU in the first round.

After the Shockers easily beat La Salle two days ago to reach their first regional final since 1981, Marshall’s pregame speech to the Shockers on Saturday finished with talk of cutting down the nets at Staples Center before getting on that plane back to Kansas, saying Wichita State didn’t have to play “a perfect game” to beat mighty Ohio State.

“The Mecca awaits in Atlanta,” he said.

Marshall was right, but he couldn’t have anticipated just how imperfect Ohio State would be.

The postseason-tested Buckeyes appeared calm and confident during warmups in front of their healthy fan contingent, yet they proceeded to play the first half just like NCAA newbies.

They missed their first seven shots after the opening tip in a string capped by an airballed 3-pointer from Thomas, who missed his first five overall. The junior star was labeled “a bad-shot taker and a bad-shot maker” by Marshall on Friday, but he only lived up to the first part of that billing while going 4 for 13 in the first half.

Early hit two 3-pointers in the opening minutes, and the Shockers stretched their lead to 13 points shortly before halftime.

“You’ve got to give them credit,” Craft said. “They really came out firing and we really didn’t regain our footing until it was too late.”

Hall went to the locker room after drawing a charge from Thomas early in the second half, holding the back of his head after Thomas’ elbow clipped him on the jaw. Hall found his glasses and got back in the game 66 seconds later.

Wichita State gradually stretched its lead early in the second half, with Early’s layup putting the Shockers up 53-33 with 12:09 to play.

Ross desperately tried to rally the Buckeyes, scoring eight consecutive points and leading a 23-6 run midway through the second half. Ohio State went into a full-court inbounds defense, and Shannon Scott’s free throws with 2:49 left cut the lead to 62-59 — but Ohio State couldn’t get any closer.

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Creighton at Southern Illinois
When: 8:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 27, 2013
Where: SIU Arena, Carbondale, Illinois
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPNU
Prediction: Creighton 78, Southern Illinois 52

Oddsmakers currently have the Bluejays listed as 11-point favorites versus the Salukis, while the game’s total is sitting at 138.

Nearly lost in the disappointment of the most recent loss was the play of senior guard Grant Gibbs, who scored a season-high 18 points to go with eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. Gibbs has surpassed his season scoring average (7.9) in each of the last three games. Southern Illinois might have trouble matching up with 6-9 senior center Gregory Echinique. He has tailed off this month, averaging 5.6 points in the last five games after averaging 13 in the previous eight, but the Salukis lack the height to get in his way.

Creighton lost its last outing, a 74-69 result against Drake on January 23. They failed to cover in that game as a 9.5-point favorite.

Team record: 17-3 SU, 12-6 ATS
Current streak: lost 2 straight games.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of last 7 games when playing on the road against Southern Illinois
is 5-0-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Southern Illinois
is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Southern Illinois
is 16-6 SU in its last 22 games on the road
When playing on Sunday are 8-2
Before playing Missouri State are 9-1
After playing Drake are 8-2
After a loss are 6-4

Desmar Jackson is averaging a team-high 16.3 points. The 6-5 senior guard had one of his best games in an 82-76 loss to Wichita State on Jan. 9, scoring 28 points on 10-for-19 shooting. Southern Illinois has dropped eight consecutive games against Top 25 opponents overall, losing by an average of 15.2 points. Who steps up to guard McDermott should also be interesting. The Salukis have just one player taller than 6-6, and 6-9 junior forward Davante Drinkard averages 11.6 minutes.

Southern Illinois lost its last outing, a 58-45 result against Northern Iowa on January 23. They failed to cover in that game as a 11-point underdog.

Team record: 8-11 SU, 8-8 ATS
Current streak: lost 3 straight games.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of last 7 games when playing at home against Creighton
The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games when playing Creighton
is 3-6 ATS in its last 9 games
is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Creighton
When playing on Sunday are 6-4
Before playing Drake are 2-8
After playing Northern Iowa are 5-5
After a loss are 4-6

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The Aces closed the game out by making seven free throws over the final 1:25 on Sunday in their 71-67 victory.

“We were sloppy with the ball”, Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall said, referring to his team’s season-high turnover total. “Twenty-two turnovers is the story for us. We had to do a better job against a good defensive team like Evansville.”

Colt Ryan had 24 points and eight assists for the Aces (11-6, 4-1), who won their fourth straight conference game.

“Colt Ryan is a very good player. We worked hard to defend him, but he’s a dynamic scorer”, Marshall said of Evansville’s third all-time leading scorer.

There were 16 lead changes and 13 ties in the game. The Shockers’ biggest lead was five points, while the Aces’ was six points. Evansville had a 27-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

Malcolm Armstead had a career-high 21 points for Wichita State (15-2, 4-1).

The Aces had a big advantage at the free throw line.

“We need to get to the line more. 31 free throws to 13 is hard to overcome. Neither half did we get to the bonus,” Marshall said on the difference in free throw attempts. “We shot 54 percent from the field and 59 percent from 3 but we just had too many turnovers. Maybe it was fatigue. Our guys had to play a lot of minutes. But we just can’t throw the ball to the other guys.”

Troy Taylor had 12 points for Evansville and Ned Cox added 10.

“We competed for 40 minutes today,” Evansville head coach Marty Simmons said. “Our guys were very active on defense. I respect Wichita State and the way they do things. They are a real good team and are well coached. They had three starters out with injuries. To compete with them in the manner that we did we are fortunate.”

In the first half there were nine ties and 10 lead changes. The Aces took advantage of 11 turnovers to outscore the visitors 15-0 in points off turnovers in taking a 32-31 halftime lead on a basket by Egidijus Mockevicius with 10 seconds left. Mockevicius finished with nine points.

Armstead, who scored 15 points in the first half including three 3-pointers, was the difference for Wichita State in the first half.

Ryan had 13 points in the first half that saw neither team lead by more than four points.

The Shockers led 50-45 with 10:54 remaining on a 3-pointer Cleanthony Early, who finished 16 points, just over his 15.4 average that leads Wichita State.

The Aces went on a 13-6 run over the next 6:06 to take the lead. Two free throws by Ryan with 4:48 left gave Evansville the lead for good at 58-56.

A layup by Jake White with 26.4 seconds remaining cut the Aces’ lead to 69-67. However, his 3-point attempt with 5 seconds left to tie missed.

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