Scheduling agreement with Northern Iowa

**MartyFine** · 09-18-2012, 10:20 AM

Have not read the entire thread, but I imagine that UNI comes cheaper than some of the other I-AA schools do and they obviously do not demand a return game like some of the Non-BCS D1 schools do from ISU (or a lot of money if they don't get that).

Also, I saw someone early in thread state that if UNI is a tough game then that is an ISU problem. Could not agree more. We have no chance against today's Big 12 if we cannot handle UNI.

**ribsnwhiskey** · 09-18-2012, 10:24 AM

All the ******** is pretty pointless. We're locked in with UNI for 7 games. You all should email Pollard with your dissatisfaction. The only way this game goes away is when the NCAA decides games against FCS teams no longer count toward bowl eligibility, which would actually improve the state of the game IMO.

**alarson** · 09-18-2012, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by cycarob

Honestly, I'd rather not play a FCS team. Why not play a team from the WAC for our 12th game (assuming it's not collapsing, which it probably is)? Wouldn't that be cheaper? Probably an easy win as well.

Nope. A really low level FBS opponent costs more, because not only are they a buy-a-win program, if you buy them you can also still buy another FCS team and have 2 guaranteed wins towards bowl eligibility.

**F5cy** · 09-18-2012, 10:28 AM

By the time some of these games will be played, UNI will be D-1 anyway.

**alarson** · 09-18-2012, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by CyFan61

On a somewhat related note, I would just like to see 7 home games every year. We shouldn't be playing 6 home/6 away anymore, like we will be doing next year.

We have 5 home/5 away locked in with the Big 12 schedule plus Iowa, every season. An FCS game is an automatic home game. We should be paying a mid-major to come to JTS every season for the 7th home game... not scheduling home-and-homes.

Agreed. Was good when we got out of the Utah return, and getting out of the Tulsa return wouldnt be a bad thing either.

**Me State** · 09-18-2012, 10:29 AM

The game won't be on tv so it will cause UNI fans to get one month subscriptions to Cyclones.tv every year they play. Every year most will forget to cancel their subscription after the game so ISU will get 2 months of payments at least. ISU will make back some of the money they are paying to UNI.

**Omaha Cy** · 09-18-2012, 10:34 AM

uni is typically good competition. i like the game. i would like to see it get scheduled in week 6 or whatever some year though just to shake things up a little.

**Tailg8er** · 09-18-2012, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by ribsnwhiskey

All the ******** is pretty pointless. We're locked in with UNI for 7 games. You all should email Pollard with your dissatisfaction. The only way this game goes away is when the NCAA decides games against FCS teams no longer count toward bowl eligibility, which would actually improve the state of the game IMO.

Yeah, but then UNI would probably just find a way to bump up to FBS. They don't wanna lose their super bowl from the schedule, ya know!

As for to play UNI or not, I'm in the "play them" crowd. While I enjoy watching the Clones play whoever, & it's great getting a chance to see the younger guys, the atmosphere in JTS Saturday was just blah.

**MNCyGuy** · 09-18-2012, 10:37 AM

I get the argument against scheduling UNI, I really do. However I LOVE this for two reasons:

1) I still feel like it adds more entertainment value to my tickets than any other FCS game (exempting maybe rubbing a win over NDSU in the faces of the smug Bison alumni I went to HS with).

2) I assume JP consulted some with Rhoads before scheduling this game. We know Rhoads hasn't been shy about his preference to schedule more winnable non-conference games. The length of this agreement shows me that unlike our fans, Rhoads has NO fear of this game going forward. Let's just stomp Farley for the next decade and end the whole delusion that they are at our level.

**CycloneVet** · 09-18-2012, 10:38 AM

I have said this before, for those of you worried about Mark Farley shooting his mouth off, that ball is in ISU's court. Beat them 52-0 I bet his mouth stays shut. I remember 2004 where they were talking about if Brett Meyer started at qb as a freshman that they would beat us, well under 100 yards of offense later and a 23-0 shutout they kept their mouth shut for a while. I remember sitting behind the UNI bench yelling "Talk is Cheap" as well. Talk was also cheap this last week in Kinnick too, all I heard all week was that UNI was gonna beat them, guess not.

**vmbplayer** · 09-18-2012, 10:40 AM

My thoughts on this:

1) based on Pollard's Quote

"We are excited to extend our contract with UNI because our games have been some of the best attended contests in Jack Trice Stadium history,"

We are planning on bowling in the stadium soon because what is the point of being excited about record attendance for UNI vs record attendance for WIU. You only need a boost to attendance numbers if you have an even larger stadium. 2 Tier south End zone is on Pollard's radar screen.

2) If UNI were to become an FBS team (as hoped by Farley in his presser last week) that would be great for ISU. Why? We'd get credit for playing and FBS quality opponent (UNI is better than most low tier FBS schools). We can then Schedule UNI and Western Illinois/NDSU types the same season and count both as bowl eligible wins. That makes our SOS easier for once because you replace the Tulsas with UNI and UNI with Western Illinois. If you're a ISU fan you really are pulling for UNI to move to the FBS as Farley would like to do. Locking in a contract now that is half an FBS payout for games 11 and 9 years from now could prove to be an excellent ROI.

3) If people are worried about losing to UNI hurting us so badly maybe we should work on getting good enough to flat out beat them no contest every time we play them and it won't matter. The days of losing to the Panthers are behind us folks. If you're still concerned about this I would suggest you haven't been paying attention to where the programs in this state are headed. If we get back to the point we're worried about losing to UNI again we will have seen a significant fall off from where we currently are and our biggest concern shouldn't be why we scheduled ourselves to play UNI.

4) The only downside here is opponent variety, but that doesn't matter to me at all. Why? Because if I scheduled someone outside UNI I'd pick a no name directional school for a free W instead of a team I'd enjoy seeing us play from a BCS league every day of the week because we can't add more burden to our schedule.

**Cydkar** · 09-18-2012, 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by Me State

The game won't be on tv so it will cause UNI fans to get one month subscriptions to Cyclones.tv every year they play. Every year most will forget to cancel their subscription after the game so ISU will get 2 months of payments at least. ISU will make back some of the money they are paying to UNI.

Jamie, is that you? It seems there are people that still don't trust your judgement. Baffling, I know. Thanks, and take care.

Cydkar

**isu5000** · 09-18-2012, 10:43 AM

Can we replace Iowa with UNI for a new version of the Cy-Hawk game each year? Cy-Panther game? Just kidding. On serious note, why is the game never held at the UNI dome whenver ISU or Iowa play against UNI. I know it is a smaller venue by far, but you think the Panthers should get to have a home game against ISU or Iowa every once in the while.

**CyArob** · 09-18-2012, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by alarson

Nope. A really low level FBS opponent costs more, because not only are they a buy-a-win program, if you buy them you can also still buy another FCS team and have 2 guaranteed wins towards bowl eligibility.

Gotcha. Thanks.

**ISUAgronomist** · 09-18-2012, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by isu5000

Can we replace Iowa with UNI for a new version of the Cy-Hawk game each year? Cy-Panther game? Just kidding. On serious note, why is the game never held at the UNI dome whenver ISU or Iowa play against UNI. I know it is a smaller venue by far, but you think the Panthers should get to have a home game against ISU or Iowa every once in the while. Just kidding some more.

FIFY