Making the tournament and advancing regularly in it is definitely the ultimate way to gain national traction, but that kind of success doesn't just happen. It's a long road requiring consistent university commitment.
Wichita State had a little bit of basketball history but had hit a huge dry spell for a decade prior to beginning their climb in the early 2000s. From the 89-90 season through the 99-00 season they averaged just 11.5 wins per year and were playing in a quickly aging facility.
The school made a good hire in Mark Turgeon and it took him an additional 3 seasons to record a winning season. During that same time, the school began a major campaign to renovate the arena and improve facilities for the program. Prior to the 02-03 season (before the program had turned the corner) they did a $25 million overhaul of their facilities.
Turgeon proceeded to have more success over the next couple of years before leaving for Texas A&M. The school then lured Gregg Marshall and has continued to make financial commitments to the program and to him personally to keep him for almost 10 years now. However, even in Marshall's first 2 years the program struggled. They went 11-17 and 17-17 in his first two years but stayed the course.
It's easy to see where Wichita State is now, but it has to be appreciated what they did as a university to achieve it. They made basketball THE priority of the athletic department in a conference that has basketball as THE priority.
At the end of the 90s, they were not anywhere near a quality program. Huge financial backing helped them make quality coaching hires, build program infrastructure, and the rest is history.
I would never suggest we drop football (Wichita State did drop football in the 80s), but I do sometimes fear that conferences like C-USA are doomed to consistent mediocrity in football and basketball.
