Farewell Flourish: Wichita State Won MVC Tournament in Last Year as Member
Wichita State, headed for the AAC as a new member next season, bowed out of the Missouri Valley Conference in style by capturing the league tournament championship. Amid all of the conference musical chairs, this feat has been achieved 14 times thus far in the 21st Century, including five years ago in the MVC by Creighton.
Four teams slammed the door shut on their way out of conferences in 2005 with success in this category. La Salle (1983 and 1992 and Louisville (2005 and 2014) did it twice in a 10-year span. Louisville's title in 2014 occurred in the Cardinals' lone campaign as an AAC member.
Following is a chronological look at league tournament champions in their final season as a member of a non-disbanding alliance before bidding adieu and promptly joining another league:
NOTE: South Carolina, coached by Frank McGuire, captured the 1971 ACC Tournament and Southwestern Louisiana, coached by Bobby Paschal, won the 1982 Southland Tournament before they left their leagues to become independents.