Iowa States best case scenario?

[dauber24]

With everything happening around conference realignment and how much we all hate it, i thought it would be a fair question to see what cyclone nation would prefer.
Do we want a basketball conference like the big east where our new recruits that fred and staff r going after in new york like the big east or do we want a big 10 conference or whatever we can get into to accomodate as much of both major sports we can?
I know football is big and we r currently spending a bunch of money on improvements for football but with the excitment in basketball, current and possible future players, is basketball going to be able to make an impact on this situation and where we would look to join?

[Judoka]

Best case: Big Ten.

Realistic best case: Big East or MWC as a group with Mizzou/KU/K-State.

[Tre4ISU]

1. Big Ten
2. Big 12 sticking around
3. Big East
4. MWC
5. It really doesn't matter at this point.

[timappelgate]

Is there new talk about the Big 10 that I'm missing?

[digZ]

Is there new talk about the Big 10 that I'm missing?

No just the wet dream of Cyclone fans everywhere...

[SNEDDS3]

Our best bet.......KU, KSU, MU add us too their short list of bball schools they want to keep playing....otherwise.......[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9KHo9z86rA]Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole - YouTube[/ame]

[Rogue52]

Jamie Pollard decided in Fall 2006 that ISU needed to be a strong football school to be viable in the Big XII and as we've found out the last year, major Division I sports.

Our attendance numbers for football suggest we have the fan support to do it. So, whatever makes football the most healthy is the best answer for Iowa State.

[mikem]

Honestly, the best case scenario is hoping that UT doesn't join the PAC whatever, and forms a conference with ND, and BYU. They raid the football schools from the Big East, and we are invited along.

Realistically, the Big East gets the non-fb schools to form their own conference, and we get the invite as a full sports member.


If that doesn't pan out, then hope against hope that the landing is softer than I think it will be. Hopefully, it should be at least at MWC level.

[edr247]

Best case scenarios?
1a) SEC. Think of all that speed you'd gain!
1b) Pac-12. Speed AND access to the beaches. Beaches without hurricanes. Also, all your friends are likely to be moving there, if they're lucky (Texas and the Gang).

3) Big East. You could probably win several conference titles and go to a few BCS games easily with a decent ISU team, IMHO. Also, basketball.

4) ACC. It's like the Big East, except with more talent.

5) Stay in the Big 12 or work to save the Big 12. Not a lot of benefits to keeping a Big 12 alive without Texas, TT, OU or OSU. Unless you land multiple 'small-but-powerful' schools like Boise or something.

Worst case? B1G. Landing in the conference you all hate so much?! With two of the teams you seem to hate the most?! That would be terrible! Also, you'd have to be seen with Iowa and that would just be confusing to everybody else in the B1G. Not knowing if they are playing Iowa or Iowa State that particular weekend...teams showing up to the wrong stadiums...just a mess.

Bonus ranking:
7) non-AQ conference. This would just flat-out suck for your athletic programs. You may as well just disband your athletic department for all the good moving to a non-AQ school will do for your revenue sports.




But seriously: Broadly speaking, the best case scenario for ISU would be the B1G, as much as I hate to admit it as a Hawk fan (). B1G has money, a large footprint for recruiting, a large TV network, and isn't likely to disband anytime soon (but who knows?) While the Big East certainly wouldn't be a bad fit for ISU, it's own future isn't guaranteed, IMHO. Depending on how these super-conference things end up, you could see the SEC perhaps taking the more successful ACC schools (maybe), thus pushing the ACC to take more successful Big East schools...OR the ACC would try to take Big East programs to stave off the SEC. I can also see the B1G continuing to expand East, and at the same time trying to force ND to join.

However, if the Big East stays viable, then it isn't a bad conference to be in for ISU. Sure, you don't associate the Big East with football powerhouses, but I'm looking specifically at recruiting... it could open up a large section of the country to ISU, no? Does ISU recruit from the East Coast much? Also, while the football isn't always fantastic, the basketball out East is. /shrugs