American Athletic Conference Reportedly Will Vote on Adding Wichita State

The American Athletic Conference will hold a vote on Wichita State's potential admission to the conference in a board of directors' call later this week, according to Pete Thamel of SI.com.

If admitted, which is the "general expectation," the Shockers would begin AAC play immediately in the 2017-18 season.

"We feel like Wichita State's departure is imminent," a Missouri Valley Conference source told Thamel. "And we're ready to move on."

Wichita State has established itself as one of the top mid-major basketball programs in college basketball and has qualified for the NCAA tournament four straight times under head coach Gregg Marshall, reaching the Final Four in 2013. The Shockers reached the round of 32 this season as a No. 10 seed—a placement that many pundits thought was far too low for the talented Shockers—losing to No. 2 Kentucky.

Landing the Shockers would not only make the AAC a 12-member league, it would also give the conference another big-time program and more visibility. The AAC had just two schools, SMU and Cincinnati, in this year's NCAA tournament.

For more news, rumors and related stories about Wichita State and college basketball, check out the college basketball and Wichita State streams on Bleacher Report's app.