Rivals columnists list their big 64...ISU not included!

[ljhlax]

Iowa State is a member of the elite AAU, enrolls 30,000 students, has excellent athletic facilities, and has one of the top rated overall athletic departments in the country. I would be absolutely shocked if they were somehow excluded from the 64.

...and I would be less shocked. Have you ever looked at the college football landscape. Just look at South Carolina, Ole Miss, Miss St.

Ole Miss - 15,800 students, only distinguished alumni are Faulkner, Grisham and a couple Mannings. The campus speed limit is 18 because its Archi Mannings number.

Miss. St - 19,644 students its the #1 ag school in the SEC and...well...that is about it. It didn't have an African American enroll in school there until 1965, but blemishes like that don't seem to matter in college football.

South Carolina - 29,597 students, and distinguished alumni like all 4 members of Hootie and the Blowfish, Leeza Gibbons from Entertainment Tonight and Senator Lindsey Graham. Did I mention they call their stadium the ****-Pit?

I don't think we are talking apples and oranges here. It would be nice if something other than football tradition determined who would make the top 64 cut, but I don't that is what the media, the conferences and the money that controls and makes money off of college football are going to be looking at.

[cytech]

I really don't think you will ever see 4 16 team super conferences. The fact that schools would be left out, and others not the ability to get in will draw attention from the tax exempt status crowd.

Someone in some state will come out and say fine you want 4 super conferences then those schools lose their tax exempt status. As soon as that is on the table that thought will be out the window. Losing Tax exempt status will cost the schools far more then they could gain from larger TV revenues.

[ljhlax]

I really don't think you will ever see 4 16 team super conferences. The fact that schools would be left out, and others not the ability to get in will draw attention from the tax exempt status crowd.

Someone in some state will come out and say fine you want 4 super conferences then those schools lose their tax exempt status. As soon as that is on the table that thought will be out the window. Losing Tax exempt status will cost the schools far more then they could gain from larger TV revenues.

Well, there is already talk about this. Some have wondered if the NCAA is even needed in College football. Should it be their governing body? Should the Football programs be separate entities at the schools and why should some of the programs that could easily sustain themselves without tax-exempt status continue to subsidize the rest of the university athletics.

[rebecacy]

I know the lists can be picked apart, but I think the consistency with sentiment from all of them is what has always gotten to me. It is pretty clear we carry a lot of respect from certain areas in this country. Our fan base is spectacular, but just as consistent is the media snub we always receive. I had about 10 people come up to me after church on Sunday night here in Michigan telling me they thought about me when they caught the end of the Iowa / Iowa State game which eventually led to a Michigan / Notre Dame discussion, but their wasn't even a small blurb in the paper. I've had dozens of serious conversations with ND, Mich, Mich. St. Wisconsin and Illinois fans about what happens when the Big 12 dissolves. All have said they'd love to see ISU added to the B1G. One even said, it would make up for the academic hit the B1G took when they added Nebraska. Unfortunately, ISU never is mentioned in B1G expansion articles, hypotheticals or media analysis. Notre Dame, Pitt, Cinci, and Mizzou are always subjects of expansion around here, and sometimes Rutgers.

I guess what I'm saying is when we take our ISU blinders off, some of us actually see a different view of the top 64 and as much as we want ISU to be included, for most regions out there we just don't cut it. The good news is, I don't think we are in as bad a shape as the University of Chicago when they were booted from the Big 10, but I think it is in the interest of all ISU fans to realize that 4 superconferences is a TERRIBLE idea. Sure superconferences may be manufactured by the media, but strange things are happening on the College Football landscape.

There will never be just 64 teams in the BCS -- there will never be less than we have now. There will likely be more. How can you not understand this 'chicken little'!!!!!!

[daphins]

Well, there is already talk about this. Some have wondered if the NCAA is even needed in College football. Should it be their governing body? Should the Football programs be separate entities at the schools and why should some of the programs that could easily sustain themselves without tax-exempt status continue to subsidize the rest of the university athletics.

Because these programs were started (primarily) on the tax payers dime, supported by the tax payers dime, got the benefits of tax exempt status on billions of dollars of revenue over the past century, play and practice in facilities, and take the brand (primarily) of Universities that are still owned, and funded by tax payers today.

I'd love to see the arrogant big names try to break off. They'd either be brought to their knees, or they'd be distanced so far from the colleges that they came from (name, where they play, etc.) that no one would watch it.

[cyman05]

Would someone enlighten me on the huge difference between us and Kansas State? Why are they involved in everyone's list (not just rivals) and we're not?

You could ask the same thing about Wash St, Vandy, Mississippi St, South Florida, etc.

I think the biggest difference is historical connections. That's why if KSU is ever split up from Kansas, they'll be in major trouble...Same with Washington State.

[Judoka]

You could ask the same thing about Wash St, Vandy, Mississippi St, South Florida, etc.

I think the biggest difference is historical connections. That's why if KSU is ever split up from Kansas, they'll be in major trouble...Same with Washington State.

Iowa leaving the Big 6 over 100 years ago was apparently part of an generations long con to get us sent to the MAC.

[CDN_Tailgater]

Washington State has no business being on that list ahead of ISU. Not all listed them, but that is a prime example of a school we should trump.