So what did we gain from playing Utah?

[aeroclone]

Non-conference scheduling has been a constant topic on the boards for quite some time, and it seems that Fanatics break down into two camps: those that want to load up on the cupcakes KSU style, and those that want to play some teams with some bigger name recognition to add some excitement to the schedule. For those that want to see some bigger name opponents on the schedule, now that this game is in the books, just what did we get from it?

A Win: Well, obviously we didn't get a W here. I know excitement and momentum would be a lot bigger around here if we had just whacked Buffalo or something. A 4-2 ISU team with KU and CU on the schedule is going to be generating some bowl discussion, not so much now.

Exposure: Even though Utah was top 10, we didn't seem to get a whole lot of play on ESPN or any other national outlet. As for the game itself, we were on Fox College Sports, which is about as low as you can get. We have had all but one of our games this year on TV (ignoring Mediacom), so I think we could have found some airtime for a MAC team anyway. All I really noticed was that I got to see 68-27 tick across the bottom line several times an hour. I'm sure that is great at building our brand with blue chip recruits in Texas.

Payday: Fox College Sports is better than no TV, but I'm pretty sure it is our lowest dollar TV option as well. And as for butts in seats, we had 42K. I'm pretty sure 42K would have shown up for just about any game, so I don't think the excitement of a top 10 team pulled in a lot of additional ticket sales.

Increased strength of schedule: Okay, so it turned our top 20 schedule into a top 5 schedule. So what? What do we need SOS for at this point in our program? Other than an excuse for going 4-8.

I really can't think of a single positive that came out of playing this game, either on the field or off the field. So for all the anti-cupcake people on the boards, what on earth did we gain from playing this game? And why should we ever schedule a game like this again in place of some Sunbelt or MAC cream puff? And thank goodness we were able to drop the return trip off of the schedule.

 

[DollaDollaBill]

As has been mentioned in about 5 other threads by about 10 different people, the game was scheduled like 10 years ago so there was no way of knowing Utah would be a Top 10 team when they came to town. When it was scheduled, it was probably thought to be a fairly easy win.

 

[vmbplayer]

Non-conference scheduling has been a constant topic on the boards for quite some time, and it seems that Fanatics break down into two camps: those that want to load up on the cupcakes KSU style, and those that want to play some teams with some bigger name recognition to add some excitement to the schedule. For those that want to see some bigger name opponents on the schedule, now that this game is in the books, just what did we get from it?

A Win: Well, obviously we didn't get a W here. I know excitement and momentum would be a lot bigger around here if we had just whacked Buffalo or something. A 4-2 ISU team with KU and CU on the schedule is going to be generating some bowl discussion, not so much now.

Exposure: Even though Utah was top 10, we didn't seem to get a whole lot of play on ESPN or any other national outlet. As for the game itself, we were on Fox College Sports, which is about as low as you can get. We have had all but one of our games this year on TV (ignoring Mediacom), so I think we could have found some airtime for a MAC team anyway. All I really noticed was that I got to see 68-27 tick across the bottom line several times an hour. I'm sure that is great at building our brand with blue chip recruits in Texas.

Payday: Fox College Sports is better than no TV, but I'm pretty sure it is our lowest dollar TV option as well. And as for butts in seats, we had 42K. I'm pretty sure 42K would have shown up for just about any game, so I don't think the excitement of a top 10 team pulled in a lot of additional ticket sales.

Increased strength of schedule: Okay, so it turned our top 20 schedule into a top 5 schedule. So what? What do we need SOS for at this point in our program? Other than an excuse for going 4-8.

I really can't think of a single positive that came out of playing this game, either on the field or off the field. So for all the anti-cupcake people on the boards, what on earth did we gain from playing this game? And why should we ever schedule a game like this again in place of some Sunbelt or MAC cream puff? And thank goodness we were able to drop the return trip off of the schedule.

I assume you are making this argument in the hypothetical sense of who we should put on the schedule, and not why we scheduled Utah.

Utah was scheduled when they were still a run of the mill mid-major program.

 

[LivntheCyLife]

I do think ISU will be more prepared for OU and Texas, especially their speed. Not saying it will make a difference, but I do think an upset is slightly more likely because of the Utah game.

Also, for future scheduling, I do think it's a mistake to have your first road game of the season be within the conference.

Other then that, I think with the 9 conference game schedule and if Iowa stays, those other two games need to be scheduled to be wins 95% of the time. But if Iowa is at home, I do think one should be on the road.

 

[Tornado man]

Payday: Fox College Sports is better than no TV, but I'm pretty sure it is our lowest dollar TV option as well. And as for butts in seats, we had 42K. I'm pretty sure 42K would have shown up for just about any game, so I don't think the excitement of a top 10 team pulled in a lot of additional ticket sales.

Add in the fact that ISU paid Utah $250,000 for this game, due to no return trip to Salt Lake City next year.

http://billingsgazette.com/sports/c...cle_cf285380-d36b-11df-bf58-001cc4c002e0.html

 

[alarson]

I assume you are making this argument in the hypothetical sense of who we should put on the schedule, and not why we scheduled Utah.

Utah was scheduled when they were still a run of the mill mid-major program.

We also could have bought out of this game when we knew they were going to be a *****.

If paydays are going up to bring in the mid-major teams, maybe we need to write it into the contracts that if that team reaches top 25, either we dont pay them nearly as much, or we have a vastly reduced amount to buy out the contract.

 

[WhoISthis]

Nothing.
ISU gave up a chance to have 4 wins right now. Thanks a lot BVD.

 

[alarson]

Nothing.
ISU gave up a chance to have 4 wins right now. Thanks a lot BVD.

I cant blame BVD, he had no way of knowing theyd be like this. I blame not taking action when we knew they were going to be a top caliber team. You dont keep your schedule like that when you're going to have iowa, oklahoma, and texas away already. Whatever the buyout was, would be paid back by the additional win we couldve scheduled, putting us at 4 wins, only needing to pick up a KU win and one win between CU and MU. Making a bowl would pay back for that buyout. Im not one to go after JP, for the most part he's done a great job, but this was a failure in scheduling on his part.

 

[shagcarpetjesus]

As others have already pointed out, nobody knew that Utah was going to turn into one of the better programs in the country when this game was scheduled. That being said, I'm still glad that ISU got an opportunity to test itself against a quality opponent. Even given the beat down we took, you are pretty short sighted if you think nothing good can come from the game. These are the moments where a team is clay in a good coach's hand, and I think we have a pretty good one. I will be shocked if our guys aren't motivated to get better after Saturday.

Im not saying we need to stack our non-con games every year (especially if we are playing iowa every year). But I don't want to see us become a team that has to play 3 FCS/directional schools every year to make it to some crappy bowl. I can go play pick up hoops with a bunch of middle schoolers and dominate, it isn't a whole lot of fun though.

 

[CyBobby]

ISU gained nothing from playing Utah and neither did the great Cyclone Fanbase!!


Bring on the CupCakes and at least we would be in a bowl conversation right now.


This FanBase DESERVES BETTER SCHEDULING THAN THIS!!!!


Do YOU hear that Bruce VanDevelde??????..........Thanx for Nuthing Buddy!!!!!!:sad:

 

[alarson]

But I don't want to see us become a team that has to play 3 FCS/directional schools every year to make it to some crappy bowl.

EVERYONE does this. Look at the big 12 nonconference. Everyone with the exception of Oklahoma has 1 BCS level nonconference opponent, and 3 lower level teams. Most have one fcs team and one truly bad team that has spent time on the espn 'bottom 10' ranking this year. Meanwhile we had our 1 BCS team (iowa) that was top level, a fcs team that is typically top of its class, an NIU team that made a bowl game, and a Utah team that we could see a couple years ago was too good to have in the mix of our schedule. Hell, leave iowa, remove utah, and add someone from the MAC and you're still probably in the upper half of the conference's nonconference schedules.

 

[CycloneYoda]

Somebody said they gave away free corndogs in the 4th.

 

[Lloyd88]

Being in the Big12 we know we'll be playing at least 2-4 teams that are in the top 25. not to mention playing Iowa every year. This is reality, I wouldn't spend any time on trying to get an easier schedule. All our effort should be focused on picking up faster players and solid linemen so we can compete. If Utah can do it, and Boise St can do it and TCU can do it......We should be able to.

 

[CyDude16]

Dont make soaking jokes to Ute fans.

 

[Lloyd88]

Somebody said they gave away free corndogs in the 4th.

They also suspended the "no alcohol in the stadium" in the 4th. Most of the fans missed out. The beer was flowing like wine!



Lloyd: What the hell are we doing here, Harry? We gotta get out of this town!
Harry: Oh yeah, and go where? Where are we gonna go?
Lloyd: I'll tell you where. Someplace warm. A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talking about a little place called Aspen.
Harry: Oh, I don't know, Lloyd. The French are a******s

 

[aeroclone]

I assume you are making this argument in the hypothetical sense of who we should put on the schedule, and not why we scheduled Utah.

Utah was scheduled when they were still a run of the mill mid-major program.

Sure, they were a middle of the road mid-major 10 years ago. But still, there are safe mid-major schedules and there are iffy mid-major schedules. The Mountain West has been the strongest mid-major conference for quite a while. And Utah has been one of the stronger, bigger budget mid-major schools for a long time.

Just look at the teams in the MAC of the Sun Belt. There have maybe been a couple teams out of those conferences to crack the top 25 in the last decade, but none that are a BCS Bowl contender. I think it is a pretty safe bet that none of them will change that in the next 10.

BYU doesn't look the greatest right now, but if I have a schedule slot open for 2018, who should I grab, BYU or a team like Western Kentucky or Buffalo? I think I can say for sure who is going to be the tougher W. If you want to know who will be playing for the BCS title game in 2020, I can probably provide you a list of 10 teams and be right most of the time. Teams rise and fall all the time in college football, but there is a pretty consistent list of haves and have-nots. God knows ISU fans should have learned this.

And if nothing else, and something happens like Utah hires Urban Meyer and gets awesome, you buy out. Sure, we pay have to pay a couple hundred K, but how much is a Bowl game worth as far as payout, an extra month of practice, and several more weeks of our name being on ESPN? How much is it worth in added excitement for ticket sales next year? How much is it worth as something the staff can pitch to recruits? Sometimes you just have to eat a short term cost for long term gain. I think this was a perfect example of one of those times.

 

[cstrunk]

Not a damn thing this year.

 

[edr247]

With regard to the media thing, A 5-1 ISU team that had perhaps given a top-10 Iowa team (based on rankings at the time) a fight would probably have attracted more attention from national media heading into the Utah game. However, ISU was just 4-2, and had been clobbered by the previous highly ranked team they had faced. On top of that, Utah was certainly not the media darling when compared to the other top non-AQ schools of Boise and TCU.

 

[aeroclone]

As others have already pointed out, nobody knew that Utah was going to turn into one of the better programs in the country when this game was scheduled. That being said, I'm still glad that ISU got an opportunity to test itself against a quality opponent. Even given the beat down we took, you are pretty short sighted if you think nothing good can come from the game. These are the moments where a team is clay in a good coach's hand, and I think we have a pretty good one. I will be shocked if our guys aren't motivated to get better after Saturday.

Im not saying we need to stack our non-con games every year (especially if we are playing iowa every year). But I don't want to see us become a team that has to play 3 FCS/directional schools every year to make it to some crappy bowl. I can go play pick up hoops with a bunch of middle schoolers and dominate, it isn't a whole lot of fun though.

Yeah, a loss could be a great teachable moment. But a loss as humiliating as the one on Saturday can really be crushing to a young team without a lot of experience with success. Remember the last time we were coming off of a win at home to Texas Tech back in 2002? We were ranked in the top 10, 5-1 with a Heisman contender at QB. We got smoked like 49-3 by OU and finished 1-5 down the stretch with a loss to UConn at home who had just moved up to 1-A. That loss crushed our team and we never recovered. It didn't just kill our momentum for that season, but I think it really set the entire program back for years to come.

Now I know you can't dodge a conference foe like OU, but we totally could have dodged Utah. With the @OU and @UT games following up on this one, it seems far more likely that this could set the team in motion to quit on the season rather than rallying and bouncing back.

 

[dualthreat]

i find it quite hilarious that we paid Utah $250,000 to come whoop the **** out of us

:biglaugh: :biglaugh:

lol