Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)

[cyIclSoneU]

WSU/Pullman is frequently viewed as the most isolated/remote P5. Maybe Lubbock comes close.

No one said exactly that about ISU imo. Rather kind of the opposite- there are already P2s too close. If iowa were not in the BIG we’d be a candidate, except now also the loss of AAU hurts. We’re surrounded by BIG.

In terms of ACC or PAC, it isn’t you can’t take ISU, but rather they’d take schools before ISU. I’m not sure either the B12 or ACC would ever take WSU- even if there were not 8 other candidates ahead

She’s just not that in to us. We gotta let it go.

The B1G is only interested in the USCs and Notre Dames now.

If you don’t think people view Iowa State and Ames kinda like Wazzu and Pullman (or Oregon State and Corvallis), you’re just too deep in the ISU-centric worldview. That is how we are perceived, fair or not. Kansas State and Manhattan is in this group as well.

 

[drmwevr08]

She’s just not that in to us. We gotta let it go.

The B1G is only interested in the USCs and Notre Dames now.

If you don’t think people view Iowa State and Ames kinda like Wazzu and Pullman (or Oregon State and Corvallis), you’re just too deep in the ISU-centric worldview. That is how we are perceived, fair or not. Kansas State and Manhattan is in this group as well.

I'm not sure they disagree, more that nobody cared when we were there so we don't care now that they are.
Athletic republicanism.

Maybe some trying to justify us being a few slots higher, but not enough to matter really if it all fell down.

 

[20eyes]

She’s just not that in to us. We gotta let it go.

The B1G is only interested in the USCs and Notre Dames now.

If you don’t think people view Iowa State and Ames kinda like Wazzu and Pullman (or Oregon State and Corvallis), you’re just too deep in the ISU-centric worldview. That is how we are perceived, fair or not. Kansas State and Manhattan is in this group as well.

Absolutely true. The saddest part is that we used to have something that put us a cut above...AAU status.

Thanks, Wendy!

 

[Gunnerclone]

Absolutely true. The saddest part is that we used to have something that put us a cut above...AAU status.

Thanks, Wendy!

Think there is a bigger timeline here than the Wendy Wintersteen admin and it’s probably best fleshed out in the cave.

 

[BCClone]

Absolutely true. The saddest part is that we used to have something that put us a cut above...AAU status.

Thanks, Wendy!

You need to Thank the two presidents before Her also they helped lead into that situation.

 

[BryceC]

Washington State is a smaller school than ISU, with fewer living alumni, located in a town half the size of Ames. It’s a 4.5 hour drive to get there from the city with the biggest chunk of WSU fans and alumni (Seattle). They get some slack on attendance. Their TV numbers are actually pretty good. Arguably better than ours depending on how you analyze them.

Oregon State yeah I don’t know about them. I would be happy to have Wazzu in our conference though.

Okay then? They averaged 28k fans in 2019. I think Duke, Vandy, and Wake Forest are the only P5 schools with lower attendance. They average less than 3k basketball fans at games.

I have no doubt the fans that get there are passionate. Everything you laid out in this post is exactly why adding them would actually be a bad idea though.

 

[20eyes]

Think there is a bigger timeline here than the Wendy Wintersteen admin and it’s probably best fleshed out in the cave.

Fair enough, but the point stands. AAU status matters to the B1G. Sh!t, there were more AAU schools in the SEC before UT announced leaving and we lost the status.

 

[BryceC]

If you don’t think people view Iowa State and Ames kinda like Wazzu and Pullman (or Oregon State and Corvallis), you’re just too deep in the ISU-centric worldview. That is how we are perceived, fair or not. Kansas State and Manhattan is in this group as well.

I don't really care what people think to be honest. We average about as many fans at football games as Wazzu and Oregon State COMBINED. We average like 6k more fans than both combined for basketball. You can give me every reason possible why that is, but those are the facts.

 

[20eyes]

You need to Thank the two presidents before Her also they helped lead into that situation.

Sure, thank everybody...for losing something that matters. A lot.

 

[cyIclSoneU]

I don't really care what people think to be honest. We average about as many fans at football games as Wazzu and Oregon State COMBINED. We average like 6k more fans than both combined for basketball. You can give me every reason possible why that is, but those are the facts.

Why do you keep talking about attendance like it matters in realignment? It doesn’t. Wins and losses barely matter. It’s money, which comes from TV viewers. That’s it. A school can have 100,000 people at the stadium and if no one is turning the game on TV, they’ll be in the MAC.

 

[20eyes]

I don't really care what people think to be honest. We average about as many fans at football games as Wazzu and Oregon State COMBINED. We average like 6k more fans than both combined for basketball. You can give me every reason possible why that is, but those are the facts.

Unless our attendance numbers translate to a media deal on par with the B1G and SEC they don't mean d!ck. Perception is reality. Cal is far more valuable than we are and I'll bet they have worse numbers than Wazzu or OSU.

 

[20eyes]

Why do you keep talking about attendance like it matters in realignment? It doesn’t. Wins and losses barely matter. It’s money, which comes from TV viewers. That’s it. A school can have 100,000 people at the stadium and if no one is turning the game on TV, they’ll be in the MAC.

Beat me by seconds!

 

[StPaulCyclone]

I can't help but question the idea that thinning the heard and consolidating brands will draw in this huge number of somehow uncaptured fans. Hasn't it been every year over the past half decade there are doom articles written about how viewer and attendance numbers are falling for both college football and the NFL? How is culling FBS, or the P5 more specifically down, to 32/36/40/48 teams going to capture more attention? It doesn't create anything new really. Sure there are more novel "high profile" matchups, but that novelty will wear off sooner than most writers seem to think.

Paul Finebaum even asked about this at the SEC media days. He’s A shill, but apparently not completely stupid.

 

[drmwevr08]

Absolutely true. The saddest part is that we used to have something that put us a cut above...AAU status.

Thanks, Wendy!

I don't know much about this. Is it her 'fault'? I've heard only one brief description saying it doesn't even matter.

 

[20eyes]

Don't blame Wendy for ISU's loss of AAU status. Blame the fact that Iowa State's annual state appropriation is less now than it was 20 years ago. Let that sink in. I won't go into depth on which political party has been in control of the Iowa legislature and the governor's mansion during this time.

When does UI announce their departure?

 

[2speedy1]

Don't blame Wendy for ISU's loss of AAU status. Blame the fact that Iowa State's annual state appropriation is less now than it was 20 years ago. Let that sink in. I won't go into depth on which political party has been in control of the Iowa legislature and the governor's mansion during this time.

Now tell me why we have $5-600M in research funding WITH an Engineering College, and Can't maintain AAU.

BUT

Oregon only has $115M in research funding and has neither an Engineering nor Medical College but can maintain its AAU status.

 

[DSM4Cy]

The problem with Mandel's idea that the networks should just be interested in an NFL light model to maximize revenue is it fails to see what makes college football a popular alternative to the NFL. The history, tradition, and upsets like App State over Michigan are what make college football special. Trying to compete with the NFL at their own game at the same time of year is a losing strategy long term. NFL light may very well be where this is headed, but it's going to kill the golden goose IMO.

Yep. He talks about Purdue fans not going to their games so they can sit home and watch an “important” Penn State-Michigan game. That is idiotic. If Purdue, or ISU, is relegated out of the top level of CFB, those fans aren’t going to pick another college to become a fan of. They’re just going to stop following the sport at all.

I can say clearly - I have zero interest in following CFB outside of Iowa State. If we are demoted from the top level of the sport, I’ll still follow the Cyclones but it will be with diminished enthusiasm. But I would never pick up another college team to follow. I didn’t go to school there, I don’t have family connections, and they’re not from my part of the country. Maybe I’m the anomaly, but I doubt it.

 

[BryceC]

Why do you keep talking about attendance like it matters in realignment? It doesn’t. Wins and losses barely matter. It’s money, which comes from TV viewers. That’s it. A school can have 100,000 people at the stadium and if no one is turning the game on TV, they’ll be in the MAC.

You and are talking about different things. I'm saying our fans care more than theirs do, and it shows up in attendance, and ergo I don't feel quite as bad for them since they don't bother even showing up.

You're saying attendance doesn't matter in realignment.

IMO both things are true.

 

[20eyes]

Yep. He talks about Purdue fans not going to their games so they can sit home and watch an “important” Penn State-Michigan game. That is idiotic. If Purdue, or ISU, is relegated out of the top level of CFB, those fans aren’t going to pick another college to become a fan of. They’re just going to stop following the sport at all.

I can say clearly - I have zero interest in following CFB outside of Iowa State. If we are demoted from the top level of the sport, I’ll still follow the Cyclones but it will be with diminished enthusiasm. But I would never pick up another college team to follow. I didn’t go to school there, I don’t have family connections, and they’re not from my part of the country. Maybe I’m the anomaly, but I doubt it.

Not me. I signed up for a P5 team, not a G8 team. I'll be out completely.

 

[2speedy1]

Why do you keep talking about attendance like it matters in realignment? It doesn’t. Wins and losses barely matter. It’s money, which comes from TV viewers. That’s it. A school can have 100,000 people at the stadium and if no one is turning the game on TV, they’ll be in the MAC.

Meh, I don't know. I think both are relative to each other.

You are not going to have a fanbase that fills a 100K seat stadium regularly that doesnt also regularly watch on TV.

A school that regularly fills a stadium, regularly travels well. Is a sign of a passionate fan base. This is a sign for how much value that school is worth. It directly correlates to how much that fanbase will watch on TV as well.

If you have a game between a team that regularly has a full stadium, and a team that regularly has an empty one, and there are 1M viewers, you can argue that a higher percentage of those viewers were from the school that regularly fills the stadium.

I will say, a team having a full stadium, is probably not a major factor, but it is a relative factor to other major factors, and gives a overall picture of a schools fanbase.