After every loss in either FB or BB, there are those who are critical of either coaches or players, particularly coaches, and those who are quick to defend said coaches with 'what did you expect, ISU is not Duke (BB) or USC (FB)'.
So with that in mind, I thought I would lay out what my baseline expectations would be for both ISU FB and men's BB based on 25 years of being an ISU fan.
For FB, I envision a program that will never have the financial werewithal to be a USC or OSU or... My expectations for the program would be that it should:
1. Reach a bowl game at least every other season (32 bowl games and only a 6-6 record make this very feasible in my mind).
2. Once every 5 - 7 years it should reach 8-9 wins
3. Once every 7-10 years compete for a conference title and go to a really special bowl game. (Holiday or above).
I think the baseline minimum number of wins for the program should be 5 in a down year (3 nonconference, 2 conference). Creative scheduling ie. soft opponents should help. BTW - as I have previously posted, the biggest hitch to ISU's success over the years has been losing not to NU or OU, but to teams that it should beat (UNI, Toledo).
For basketball, my expectations are a little higher:
1. Postseason play (NCAA or NIT) 2 out of every 3 seasons.
2. Once every five years, finish in the top 3 of the Big 12 and advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
3. Once every 7 - 10 years, win the Big 12 Conference and advance deep into the NCAA Tournament.
The minimum number of wins I would expect in BB each season would be 17 - 19 depending on the strength of the nonconference schedule. To use this year as an example, ISU should be at least 16-4 right now. Again, as in FB, ISU's problem is not in losing to UT or KU, it is losing to the likes of Hawaii, SDSU, Drake, and CU.
As for the off the field/court items, I expect the program to be relatively clean: no athletes with 0.0 GPAs, no criminals. I don't expect that the players would be perfect students or athletes just want to avoid egregious breeches of standards.
FB obviously is the engine. As JP has said, if ISU were to win in FB, the place would explode. I firmly believe that as well. Sorry for the length of the post, interested to read what others expectations are.
So with that in mind, I thought I would lay out what my baseline expectations would be for both ISU FB and men's BB based on 25 years of being an ISU fan.
For FB, I envision a program that will never have the financial werewithal to be a USC or OSU or... My expectations for the program would be that it should:
1. Reach a bowl game at least every other season (32 bowl games and only a 6-6 record make this very feasible in my mind).
2. Once every 5 - 7 years it should reach 8-9 wins
3. Once every 7-10 years compete for a conference title and go to a really special bowl game. (Holiday or above).
I think the baseline minimum number of wins for the program should be 5 in a down year (3 nonconference, 2 conference). Creative scheduling ie. soft opponents should help. BTW - as I have previously posted, the biggest hitch to ISU's success over the years has been losing not to NU or OU, but to teams that it should beat (UNI, Toledo).
For basketball, my expectations are a little higher:
1. Postseason play (NCAA or NIT) 2 out of every 3 seasons.
2. Once every five years, finish in the top 3 of the Big 12 and advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
3. Once every 7 - 10 years, win the Big 12 Conference and advance deep into the NCAA Tournament.
The minimum number of wins I would expect in BB each season would be 17 - 19 depending on the strength of the nonconference schedule. To use this year as an example, ISU should be at least 16-4 right now. Again, as in FB, ISU's problem is not in losing to UT or KU, it is losing to the likes of Hawaii, SDSU, Drake, and CU.
As for the off the field/court items, I expect the program to be relatively clean: no athletes with 0.0 GPAs, no criminals. I don't expect that the players would be perfect students or athletes just want to avoid egregious breeches of standards.
FB obviously is the engine. As JP has said, if ISU were to win in FB, the place would explode. I firmly believe that as well. Sorry for the length of the post, interested to read what others expectations are.