Worst football program?

[dirtyninety]

Iowa State = Vanderbilt = Washington State = Wake Forest = Indiana. I can accept this reality....just waiting for our miracle season. Got to beat Tulsa though if you are going to work toward that miracle season.

[jaretac]

Didn't realize Iowa State is on the same level as Eastern Michigan, Akron, New Mexico State, and Idaho.

Achievement wise we may be one of the most lacking in the country with only two shared conference titles and 12 bowl games and getting into 4 of those bowls with a even regular season record.

Still we are one of few teams that have been in a consistently tough conference for almost it's whole existence. Of the original MVIAA (which became the Big 6), us and Kansas are the only teams still together in the Big 12. The MVIAA actually denied membership to OU at first because of poor athletics.

[jaretac]

Iowa State = Vanderbilt = Washington State = Wake Forest = Indiana. I can accept this reality....just waiting for our miracle season. Got to beat Tulsa though if you are going to work toward that miracle season.

History wise

Indiana<Wake Forest<ISU<Vanderbilt<WSU

Potential wise

Wake Forest<WSU<Indaina<ISU<Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt gets the edge over ISU for potential because of location in the south. Private school with little support traditionally and lesser facilities make it more of a wash over all.

The other 3 are screwed, I don't see them making much of a comeback anytime soon.

Also, over the past 15 years of the Big 12, who has been worse: ISU, Baylor or Kansas? Why throw ISU as the bottom dweller in the Big 12?

[cmjh10]

Eastern Michigan is also like 15 mins away from Ann Arbor. You think Iowa apparel is bad at on campus here, can you imagine all the Michigan stuff on their campus?

Yeah, but they arent heated rivals like Iowa and ISU. I would assume most dont care. But you know what they say about assuming...

[Tank]

History wise

Indiana<Wake Forest<ISU<Vanderbilt<WSU

Potential wise

Wake Forest<WSU<Indaina<ISU<Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt gets the edge over ISU for potential because of location in the south. Private school with little support traditionally and lesser facilities make it more of a wash over all.

The other 3 are screwed, I don't see them making much of a comeback anytime soon.

Also, over the past 15 years of the Big 12, who has been worse: ISU, Baylor or Kansas? Why throw ISU as the bottom dweller in the Big 12?

I can see Wake Forest making a comeback. They are in a great location and have a lot of potential when it comes to recruiting. If North Carolina, North Carolina State and Duke can all have good teams, then Wake can also.

[JP4CY]

I can see Wake Forest making a comeback. They are in a great location and have a lot of potential when it comes to recruiting. If North Carolina, North Carolina State and Duke can all have good teams, then Wake can also.

They do have potential but they are a small school, about the same size as Creighton. If Butch Davis didn't cheat everywhere he coached, North Carolina could have consistently been in the ACC top 3 with FSU and VT.

[klamath632]

You can't honestly think that ISU is the absolute worst football program in Division 1 FBS of all time, do you?

No, I don't, but I do know that we have one of the worst histories of any football program in Division 1 FBS of all time, and I find this thread to be extremely hypocritical. It's like the skunk laughing at the platypus because it's ugly.

Edit: Keep in mind I was a walkon for Coach Jim Walden, so I am very proud to be a Cyclone and always will.

[stateofmind]

Yeah, but they arent heated rivals like Iowa and ISU. I would assume most dont care. But you know what they say about assuming...

Yeah, it makes an *** out of you and ming. Not sure who ming is, but it's what THEY say.

[cmjh10]

Yeah, it makes an *** out of you and ming. Not sure who ming is, but it's what THEY say.

Yao Ming?

[HFCS]

Currently it has to be Idaho. Their on field performance is as bad as any FBS team and they're the only FBS team in legitimate danger of moving down to FCS because they have no home. They won't survive as and FBS independent which is where they are currently. In all the realignment they're the most 'true' victim, but people don't seem to care because they haven't been competitive in the former WAC.

[CyJack13]

I don't think any program from a BCS conference belongs in the discussion. I would say Tulane would have to be right up there, they have had discussions on dropping down a division or dropping football altogether multiple times in the last decade. Although, they did just get a new stadium approved so their facilities will be improving.

[klamath632]

I don't think any program from a BCS conference belongs in the discussion. I would say Tulane would have to be right up there, they have had discussions on dropping down a division or dropping football altogether multiple times in the last decade. Although, they did just get a new stadium approved so their facilities will be improving.

Tulane has more conference titles (9) and more Consensus All-Americans (5) than ISU does (2 and 3 respectively).

[Goothrey]

History wise

Indiana<Wake Forest<ISU<Vanderbilt<WSU

Potential wise

Wake Forest<WSU<Indaina<ISU<Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt gets the edge over ISU for potential because of location in the south. Private school with little support traditionally and lesser facilities make it more of a wash over all.

The other 3 are screwed, I don't see them making much of a comeback anytime soon.

Also, over the past 15 years of the Big 12, who has been worse: ISU, Baylor or Kansas? Why throw ISU as the bottom dweller in the Big 12?

Well, what has Iowa State done? Baylor has had a 10 win season. Kansas has a BCS bowl win.

Our lows are on the same level, but their highs greatly exceed ours.

[jaretac]

Well, what has Iowa State done? Baylor has had a 10 win season. Kansas has a BCS bowl win.

Our lows are on the same level, but their highs greatly exceed ours.

	ISU	Baylor	Kansas
1998	3-8	2-9	4-7
1999	4-7	1-11	5-7
2000	9-3 Insight Bowl Win	2-9	4-7
2001	7-5 Independence Bowl Loss	3-8	3-8
2002	7-7 Humanitarian Bowl Loss	3-9	2-10
2003	2-10	3-9	6-7 Tangerine Bowl Loss
2004	7-5 Independence Bowl Win	4-7	3-8
2005	7-5 Houston Bowl Loss	5-6	7-5 Fort Worth Bowl Win
2006	4-8	4-8	6-6
2007	3-9	3-9	12-1 Orange Bowl Win
2008	2-10	4-8	8-5 Insight Bowl Win
2009	7-6 Insight Bowl Win	4-8	5-7
2010	5-7	7-6 Texas Bowl Loss	3-9
2011	6-7 Pinstripe Bowl Loss	10-3 Alamo Bowl Win	2-10
2012	6-7 Liberety Bowl Loss	8-5 Holiday Bowl Win	1-11
Last 15	86-104	63-115	71-108
	3-5 in Bowls	2-1 in Bowls	3-1 in Bowls

If our fan base lived in the middle ages you would see them joining monasteries and flogging their backs because they are unworthy. If you look at fan bases for historically successful teams they tend to be cocky. Our fan base is the complete opposite.

Kansas had one great season that I would love to see. But I'm not sure if trading the last 10-15 years with them would be worth that one season.

Baylor has not been to a BCS game. They have one season when they have won 9 games or more and that was last year when they hit 10 thanks to a bowl win. That is only one win more than ISU had back in 2000 and Baylor had an extra game to do it with. Would you really want to trade with Baylor?

People tend to get caught up with those one and done seasons and recent success and fail to acknowledge consistency. Our 6 and 7 win seasons might seem to take their toll, but could you imagine taking away four bowl games over the past 10-15 years?

We have just as many bowls as Baylor over the past 5 years. We have more bowls than Baylor or Kansas over the past 10 years and we have double the bowls of either team over the past 15. Yeah I want Baylor's success for sure.

[jaretac]

One last note of interest for those who think Baylor and Kansas have had it so good. For Baylor to match the number of bowl games ISU has had over the past twelve years, they will have to go back to 1985. For Kansas, back to 1975.

It has taken 37 years for Kansas to get to 8 bowl games and ISU has had that many in the past 12 years.