ISU's football scheduling has been just awful. What on God's green earth are we doing playing at Toledo or at Tulsa? Or playing NDSU? It's unforgivable.
POLL: Do you want to keep playing Iowa?
- Thread starter ChrisMWilliams
- Start date
I'll throw out my thinking for why I voted no.
1) Being out of state, I just don't care about UofI. This rivalry means nothing outside the state of Iowa. I lived in Iowa for over 25 years and I totally understand the rivalry. But really, I don't care at all now that I live in Texas.
2) In past years, we probably needed this game to get a better home attendance and pick up extra money. I think we could do just fine at home early in the year. Excitement is high for Cyclone football and we have had great early year attendance even despite being below average for so long. Bring in North Texas or some other lower tier team and I bet attendance would still be just fine.
3) Yes we have beatin Iowa plenty as of late, but I'm all about uping your win odds and picking a cupcake. Get the W and increase the chances for a bowl bid. The BigXII schedule is a gauntlet and we need every W we can get before we go into conference play. For those that use the argument that we have struggled even with UNI.... I get it.
So you would rather get curbstomped by Utah than play teams like that where we actually have a decent chance of winning? Makes sense, especially when we are underdogs in 8 out of our 9 conference games.
He was saying we should be playing the crappy versions of those teams. All of those teams are the best in their conference/division.
Also no return trips.
Wait, so he's saying we shouldn't be playing those teams because they were decent? Thats even worse if we are scared to schedule MAC and FCS teams now.
No. We shouldn't be scheduling home and home's with MAC or CUSA teams and we surely shouldn't be scheduling NDSU. Ever.
We need UTEP, Florida Atlantic, UMass, Texas State, Georgia State, South Alabama, and some pathetic FCS teams. Bottom feeders. Write the checks, get the wins.
What tough guys points are being made by playing at Toledo or at Tulsa (along with Iowa and UNI) and going 3-9? What exactly are we proving?
How did their schedule hurt them? I seriously have no idea. Two years ago, they had the worst schedule that could possibly be assembled. It was awful, both home and away. They had a perfect record and went to the B1G title game rated #4 in the country. Lost to Michigan State by half a yard.
Michigan State went to the playoff. Iowa didn't. Beat Sparty, and they would have been in the playoff.
More specifically, Iowa State "ruined" their season in 2002. Their only regular season loss. Had they held on to beat us, and the rest of the year finished how it did, Iowa would have played Miami in the NC instead of Ohio State, or at least that was possible.
Boo the **** hoo.
Bottom line. Iowa State doesn't hurt them one iota...win or lose. The question for them is, does it help them? Probably not, but somehow scheduling a top end P5 program and getting their asses handed to them doesn't help them either.
As someone else mentioned earlier...the game impacts us more negatively than their dumb asses anyway, since we are trying like hell in the meat grinder, round robin of the Big12 to get to 6 wins. Iowa gets conference slappies every year. We get Kansas.
Well that's the reality of where we are. Also they weren't just decent they were good.
- Toledo 2015 was 10-2
- Toledo 2014 was 9-4
- Tulsa 2012 was 11-3
- 2011 we played UCONN who wasn't good but was an AAC school
- 2010 we played 11-3 Northern Illinois and Top 10 Utah
We need to follow the Baylor and KState methods of playing crap teams until we are good.
I watch college football for entertainment -- for enjoyment. The Iowa-ISU matchup is one of the most fun and enjoyable games of the entire season. Wanting to get rid of this game just seems asinine to me.
Everyone is so concerned about the means to an end -- 6 wins, a bowl game (or in Iowa's case -- the college football playoff lol). But what happened to enjoying the ride? The Cyhawk game is a guaranteed day of fun every single year.
All this talk of "perception" and "brand" irritates me. I understand college football is big business now, but as a fan, I'm just interested in having fun and enjoying watching my team. Dropping Iowa for South Eastern Montana State? No thanks.
Everyone is so concerned about the means to an end -- 6 wins, a bowl game (or in Iowa's case -- the college football playoff lol). But what happened to enjoying the ride? The Cyhawk game is a guaranteed day of fun every single year.
All this talk of "perception" and "brand" irritates me. I understand college football is big business now, but as a fan, I'm just interested in having fun and enjoying watching my team. Dropping Iowa for South Eastern Montana State? No thanks.
Last edited:
To be fair, when we scheduled NDSU they weren't the team that they were when we played them. At the time, JP essentially thought it was a "buy" game. What I don't get is that we have the money to pay teams to come to Ames, there is absolutely no reason to schedule home and homes.
Both Iowa State and Iowa would sell out an early game against any opponent with a pulse. Iowa played home and away with P5 schools almost every year prior to getting saddled with 9 conference games. The exception was a couple years when Missouri cancelled their series late in the game. There was never a problem with attendance. You think we aren't selling out a September game against someone like Minnesota? Nebraska? Colorado? Bring in an ACC/PAC/SEC/B10 team? We would sell those out all day.
We would also then have the option of scheduling "wins" so that we would be in the best chance of going to bowl games. Bowl games give fans a great experience and earn the program respectability. Recruiting then becomes easier and the whole thing elevates.
I'm still of the feeling we should play Iowa twice (H/A) every four years.
This is hardly a magic formula to "to get good." Lots of teams schedule crap non-conf teams and stay crappy themselves once they play conference games.
K-State and Baylor had great coaches - that's how they got good.
Big 12 rules require that teams have a game scheduled with a Power 5 opponent every year. So you can't load up on only cupcake teams like KSU and Baylor did unless you can accurately predict which teams will be bottom dwellers in the P5 conferences years in advance and have them agree to a contract.
I feel that the schedule for Iowa State gets stagnant. That being said, I feel like Iowa isn't the problem. We should play them every year, and while almost everyone complains it's good for the state. I think that we should cut down on how much we play UNI. We should only play them every 3 to 4 years. This way we have 2 slots to fill for at least 2 -3 years and can buy out the return games to schools like Akron.
How many times in the last 25 years has a loss to Iowa been the difference between getting to a bowl game (or 6 wins) or not?
Once since 1992 in 2010. Of course if Iowa State would have shown up against Utah at home that loss wouldn't have mattered.
Is throwing tradition and a good instate rivalry out the window worth one crappy bowl appearance every quarter century? Not for me it isn't.
Once since 1992 in 2010. Of course if Iowa State would have shown up against Utah at home that loss wouldn't have mattered.
Is throwing tradition and a good instate rivalry out the window worth one crappy bowl appearance every quarter century? Not for me it isn't.
Considering they won the Iowa game in 2001, 2002, 2005, 2011 and 2012 to put them over the top for a bowl bid it looks like they have walked before.
The point is, if they aren't good enough to beat iowa, they are rarely good enough to get the bowl bid anyway.
