Where Will ISU End Up if the Big 12 Implodes?

Where Will ISU End Up If the Big 12 Implodes?


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Darius Bieber

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We are in a bad position. If the Big-12 crumbles (likelihood now of over 95%), we are heading for a G5 conference, lose all our recruits and head coaching staff.

Big 10 won’t take us, they have no need to. PAC-12 is taking Texas schools to start a recruiting foothold in Texas. This is very bad for ISU.
 

CyclonesForever

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If the SEC goes to 16 teams, I think it's only a matter of time until the rest of the power conferences do too, or at least attempt to.

The Pac-12 has made it clear they will not add religious institutions. In other words, good bye BYU, TCU and Baylor. Idk if Texas Tech's academics are too bad for the Pac-12 and the likes of Stanford and Cal-Berkeley, but if the Pac-12 wants to get to 16 teams without adding the likes of Boise State and BYU, the only way I see that happening is if they extend an offer to Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Iowa State. I'm not sure who else they could honestly grab unless they wanna promote someone from the Mountain West. I think their options would be to either try to snag those 4 Big 12 teams or stay at 12.

The Big Ten would need 2 more teams to reach 16 teams. Now, the Big Ten has already shown they're willing to be odd man out and sit at a weird number for decades when they added Penn State in 1990 and then stayed at 11 teams until they added Nebraska as their 12th school in 2011. It doesn't look like the Big Ten is willing to accept institutions that aren't AAU members. If you look at the list of schools currently in a P5 conference that are also AAU members (I'm excluding any SEC members and Texas), the list includes:

Washington, Oregon, Cal, Stanford, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa State, Pitt, Virginia, Duke, North Carolina, Georgia Tech.

So you have a bunch of Pac-12 schools that are super separated geographically, two Big 12 schools and then several ACC schools. The ACC institutions signed away their Grant of Rights through the 2035-36 academic year and additionally would have to pay a $50 million exit fee if they chose to leave the ACC before then. Additionally, Notre Dame is contractually obligated to join the ACC if they join a conference before then as well. The way I see it, the Big Ten could decide to either stay at 14 teams until 2 teams free up from the ACC they'd want and then pick them off. They could add one Big 12 team (would probably be Kansas) and then sit at 15 teams for the next 15 years before picking off an ACC team for their 16 member, or they could add both Kansas and Iowa State.

The only way I see the ACC getting to 16 teams is if they finally were able to force Notre Dame's hand and then add one more team, whether from the American or left over Big 12. Or they could just go ahead and add 2 teams that are in the American or left over Big 12 right away.
 

BryceC

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There is no way any of the teams are going to sit in limbo that long. It would crater recruiting and be a disaster for all those schools. All OU and Texas have to do is announce they won't renew after the contract is up and the conference will move on within a year. No one will have any interest living in the unknown. They need stability. The schools will either reconstruct the conference as best they can or scramble to join other conferences.

If the alternative is joining the AAC they absolutely will. These schools have bills to pay.
 

Statefan10

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We just don't bring enough to the table to justify being added to another P5 conference. This will be the season to do anything. At least we have that.
That’s just such a garbage take lol. We have the 3rd largest stadium in our conference, a head football coach that’s now a national brand essentially. We’re the largest state school in our state. We have a tremendous wrestling program, a top 10 basketball arena and facilities that are better than a lot of universities not including SEC schools.
 

Nor'MidWester

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That’s just such a garbage take lol. We have the 3rd largest stadium in our conference, a head football coach that’s now a national brand essentially. We’re the largest state school in our state. We have a tremendous wrestling program, a top 10 basketball arena and facilities that are better than a lot of universities not including SEC schools.
Hope so!
 

IcSyU

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That’s just such a garbage take lol. We have the 3rd largest stadium in our conference, a head football coach that’s now a national brand essentially. We’re the largest state school in our state. We have a tremendous wrestling program, a top 10 basketball arena and facilities that are better than a lot of universities not including SEC schools.
You call someone out for a garbage take and then say Hilton is a top 10 arena? In the conference yes. Nationally? Not a ******* chance.

Now how does the ISU budget look compared to our peers? Football is the driver. ISU historically has one of the worst CFB programs....ever. Texas and Oklahoma control Iowa State's destiny. Loyal fan base means nothing when that fan base is small and cheap.
 

Statefan10

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You call someone out for a garbage take and then say Hilton is a top 10 arena? In the conference yes. Nationally? Not a ******* chance.

Now how does the ISU budget look compared to our peers? Football is the driver. ISU historically has one of the worst CFB programs....ever. Texas and Oklahoma control Iowa State's destiny. Loyal fan base means nothing when that fan base is small and cheap.
Its literally been listed as one of the toughest places to play in CBB for a while now. (Obviously not the past two years)
 

Statefan10

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I just don't think any of that matters anymore, at least not when we aren't a large media market that will bring in the dollars, see Rutgers.
Iowa state having Hilton isn’t obviously going to push them over the edge. It’s just one of many selling points. We aren’t in as bad of a position as everyone thinks and I also think we’re obviously not in a good position at all.

I believe Jamie has/will figure out a plan.
 
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Bestaluckcy

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My fantasy is Bowlsby gets off his ass and convinces Apple to take over our media rites, which then keeps Texas and OU in house. Then AM and MU know a good deal when they see it. So the SEC and Big 12 both end up with 12 teams after AM and MU rejoin our league. If nothing else may make a good movie.
 
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Cloneon

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Oct 29, 2015
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Streaming is king, not some nominal "media market"
Completely agree, but I'd also add 'marketing'. I see the paradigm where fans from Oregon jump on the 'Cyclone bandwagon' because of clever marketing. A simple analogy are bowl games. I rooted for all B12 schools last year, yet none were in my geographical market. Of course because we are in the B12. But, therein, lies the marketing aspect. Bring another area to 'relate' to Ames and so forth.
 

JM4CY

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Even knowing this could be a thing is terrifying but Depending on where we end up, we absolutely will need to dump the ToE game and schedule one if not two of the biggest big boys we can to get on our schedule as home and homes.
 

HoopsTournament

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Who will blink and to where? Again I think KU is the only plus program left in the conference at that point and they are a zero appeal add when it comes to football which is what this is all about. I think the Big 10 would add them but where is everybody else going?

The rest of the Big 12 are small zero market teams. TT is in Texas but it’s as far from Lubbock to Austin as it is to drive from Ames to Chicago.
TV markets don’t matter in this round of realignment. Stop parroting that belief.
 

Thomasrickj

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Feb 26, 2012
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We are in a bad position. If the Big-12 crumbles (likelihood now of over 95%), we are heading for a G5 conference, lose all our recruits and head coaching staff.

Big 10 won’t take us, they have no need to. PAC-12 is taking Texas schools to start a recruiting foothold in Texas. This is very bad for ISU.
Why wouldn't the Big 10 take us? We have that rivalry with Iowa and a program that's on the rise with a massive fanbase that travels as well as anyone else in the country. Iowa State just won a NY6 bowl and is looking at a possible playoff birth this season. Iowa State is peaking at the right time. Nebraska has become worthless and their name doesn't mean squat anymore. Iowa State may be a more attractive name now than Nebraska.
 
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