Encouraging news from Orangebloods

[gocubs2118]

This is the one thing I like best about this whole scenario (btw, before Penn St. the Big 10 still played 8 conference games). I want to have 9 conference games if we do this.

I believe we would have 9, everyone would play each other once.

[novaclone]

Not to mention the BE conference is dominated by the East Coast media markets...even Chicago is treated like a second-class citizen in that league (although DePaul has not done anything to help themselves)! How would Ames be treated?

[LindenCy]

I don't understand why some people would be against this. So what if we have to play UT and OU every year, I'd much rather do that than play UTEP and Tulsa. Plus if we can bring in anything close to 17 mil, this is an absolute best case scenerio for ISU.

I agree. You don't walk away from $17 million. The geography and travel expenses are ideal in the current set up. This is a no-brainer. The Big East is fragile at best. The MWC is not a big-time conference. Keep the Big 12 intact (Big 10 now). Maybe add two teams later, but at the very least, agree with $17 million w/ 10 teams.

I've been very pro Big East, but if we can stick with 10 teams, I like this a lot more. It also forces a unified conference versus the North/South divide which was really working like 2 separate conferences.

[novaclone]

$17 million would allow ISU to bring back baseball. To be a big-time program, you need baseball.

[ChrisMWilliams]

TAMU's decision could be just as important as Texas's decision here... it sounds like theres so much momentum for TAMU to finally get to the SEC (which it has always wanted since the SWAC days), and they'll likely make as much, if not more in the SEC than they would in the big 12. If TAMU goes, i'm guessing the wheels fall off of this proposal.

I agree but A&M's regents have also been hell bent on keeping the Aggies and Texas together, if they don't have to fly through multiple time zones.

This is an option then.

That's why I think this might work. Everybody gets what they want.

[StLouisClone]

Honestly, I would refuse this deal and just get away from Texas if I was making this decision (thank God I'm not). I don't care if we lose $3-5 million dollars in a TV deal by not taking this, as long as my conscience doesn't feel bothered like it does when thinking about staying in a league with Texas.

ISU risks losing a heck of a lot more than $3-5 million by not taking this deal.

As a member of a BCS conference, ISU generates more revenue than ALL other non-BCS conference teams except Notre Dame and one other (I think it was Utah). If you take away our BCS affiliation, ISU could potentially fall behind by the magnitude of $10-15 million/year. That means we would never ever expand the seating capacity at Jack Trice.

[LindenCy]

I believe we would have 9, everyone would play each other once.

I would love that. I just don't want them to wimp out and avoid one team a year.

[IcSyU]

Change fantic's, change. The system we have now sucks. We do what UT or OK or NE wants when they want and they take what they want. This is a system is monarchy or stupidity either way you look at it. Look, Im not a Jamie P fan but this is what he was hired for and what he excels at. Hes been keeping fairly quite so I think he has something in the works. So lets hope for change and our situation will improve Im confident. (not saying im not anxious to find out though) But lets change so we can start over show, get out of the UT shadow, and show how powerful a midwest CYCLONE really is!

Without Texas, we are nothing. We pay the bills with the money Texas earned playing on national TV while we didn't even have our game televised.

Did anyone else read bad news into the Orangeblood article regarding the numbers?

Assume all B12 teams bring equal $ to the conference (yeah, I know bad assumption)
2/12=16.66%
1/12=8.33%

Beebe figures that losing both NU and CU reduces $ by 8.6% by which you can conclude NU was worth 1/12 the leagues revenues and CU's was essentially nothing. If CU brings nothing to the table you could expect ISU's to be about the same. Shows you about how much respect we are getting at Beebe's table. No wonder he had problems running the conference - we are 1/12 the conference, get 1/12 the vote, and are assumed by Beebe and UT to be worth nothing. My vote -> lets walk and live someone where we are respected and desired. Screw Beebe and UT.

Compared to UT, OU, A&M, etc. We are worth nothing. We need them a LOT more than they need us.

At the same time, playing those 2 every year would probably help being able to recruit in those states.

People seem to forget we spend a loooooooot of time recruiting Texas.

Just so everyone can compare this

The BIG TEN TELEVISION PAYOUT was $14.9 MILLION

The new BIG 12 deal would be $17 MILLION.

Even if Iowa State didn't receive quite that much based on Big 12 distribution rules we would still be better off financially than we would by joining the Big 10.

This would be great for us, and would serve NE and CU right for bolting for what will turn out to be a smaller revenue stream, and greater travel expense.

Don't use numbers to make sense.

[Die4Cy]

It seems as if the conference commissioner only has the interests of TX and OU in mind. While addressing their concerns is an important part of keeping the conference together, an undue focus on them would continue to add to the resentment that has teams looking elsewhere. Beebe just doesn't seem to get that.

I mean for gosh's sakes, Beebe practically parrots UT's every view on conference re-alignment. It's almost as if no one else has his ear at all.

What would Texas dream scenario be? Them in a BCS conference without a championship game, providing them an easier path to an NC, that divides the revenues among fewer teams and also allows them their own TV channel and its resulting revenues to them exclusively.

Want to bet that's pretty much what any resurrected Big 12 looks like? And how would you feel about being in a conference so top heavy with influence to one team?

[MookInLincoln]

Really? Would we just do the Texas games at their place? Texas would have so much power under this situation.

you sound like a cry baby husker fan, except they had money and options ... we have neither

[DSM4Cy]

How will your conscience feel if the loss of that $3-$5 million means no more wrestling program at ISU?

All of these scenarios are bad for us. So, we're faced with a choice of either taking more money, but having NO influence in any decisions made in our league, or having a little less money, maybe $3-5 million, and becoming more influential in our league and probably winning more. I don't think that our wrestling program would die if we went to the Big East or MWC; hey, now that Nebraska is gone, there really isn't a Big XII wrestling conference either. 4 teams does not a conference make.

[Cyforce]

$17 million from a new TV deal would mend a lot of fences.
Do you really believe Texas will settle for an even split?

[alarson]

Also for everyone crying about having to play UT and OU every year....we'd also get to play Baylor every year.

the biggest loss is probably the loss of a winnable noncon game if we go to a 9 game conference schedule. with iowa there, at least half the time (by recent history) we're probably coming into the conference with 2 wins, instead of 3, and have to win 4 conference games, instead of 3 to become bowl eligible. On top of that, we no longer have Colorado around to give us an easier foe in the north meaning one more of those wins has to come against someone more difficult.

If you think its hard to make bowls now, just wait.

It might still be our best option, but man, it could be rough...

[rbrook]

While ISU may not be able to afford its own TV network, it could start (and already has) look at creating its own internet broadcasts and getting revenue with that. Or maybe ISU combines with all of the other B12 teams except TU and create a B12 lite TV network. If TU wants their own, great. There is not anything stopping the rest of the B12 schools combining to create a competing network.

[IcSyU]

$17 million would allow ISU to bring back baseball. To be a big-time program, you need baseball.

Slim to no chance baseball is brought back. That money goes into paying your coaching staffs competitively so you can keep your good coaches around, and giving your programs the tools to succeed. People forget how much Iowa State is behind when it comes to that kind of stuff. We'll never compete consistently until we find a way to keep the coaches we want and have the facilities to compete.