"there's no room for error in the form of injuries"
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"Injuries are a part of the game"
= A troubling conclusion
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"Injuries are a part of the game"
= A troubling conclusion
PSA: Iowa State’s Ceiling In Any Sport
- Thread starter Jer
- Start date
You know, you keep saying this, but the reality is once the top breaks off nobody’s actually going to care about the rest.
We’re probably like a small market MLB franchise (hoping like Twins versus Pirates). We’ll have to do more with less, and some years we may not get it right. I don’t think we can expect kids to take the “culture” discount forever. Hope I’m wrong. For some reason, there was a harsh reality about tonight.
This isn't football, injuries are less common. We just happened to have our 2 best teams of the last decade have them. Didn't have anyone out the last 3 years.
ESPN and Fox will just take the SEC and Big10 and the rest will end up on FloSports or something and be forgotten about.
It's weird, because people say they want upsets & cinderellas, but how does a 2025 National Champion New Mexico or Colorado State really sound?
I love a good upset in the first weekend, but when you get down to 8 or definitely once down to 4 teams, you want the best teams possible/available in that sport. I do think we will get that this year.
A lot of people say this tourney sucks because no upsets, but what if the Final Four is all 1 seeds? The best 4 teams??? Isn't that kinda the point? I want to see the best of the best win it. I need a Hollywood Cinderella story like once every 20 years. George Mason, Butler, UNI, Bucknell, etc were never the best teams. I would hate if 12 seeds were making the Final Four consistently.
I would also give the CFB playoff more than 1 year. CFB honestly needs at least a few seasons of sample size. And to be fair, if you like upsets you should've loved the 2024-25 CFBP. It was the 8 seed beating the 7 seed in a 12 team playoff. Not much chalk there.
People care about the FCS on a much lower level than this, people aren't going to abandon their school and start cheering for Bama. There will be less money for ISU? We're already there.
I'm very concerned about the future of college football. I'm less sure about how things will play out for basketball. You are correct that it has been very hard on mid majors. But often less upsets in the first weekend leads to better games later.
With new athletic dept pay and NIL stuff coming, I am really curious if the SEC is going to be strong in basketball or they have to make choices between football and basketball. And we all know they'll pick football.
You think we’re still going to get the same media deals when the top half breaks off? I highly doubt it. That’s where the money disappears.
FCS national championship is played at a soccer stadium and doesn’t even fill up half the seats most times.
Their playoffs are on ESPN+.
The problem is if 4 one seeds getting to the final four is the norm, that means there is so much more separating the top from the rest. That’s not better.
But it disappears for everyone we compete with. We aren't competing with the SEC and B1G anymore, and it's not like we were that much before. I've come to accept it and am actually looking forward to when it happens to get it over with. I have a neighbor that just won a national title for NDSU. That will be ISU when this group breaks off and I just want it to hurry up. I don't care if we are on the same level as the top when the playing field isn't fair, which it hasn't been for a long time for ISU but is with the new B12.
There's a level between FCS and B12 like there is between B12 and SEC. But I don't expect an Iowa fan to have common sense.
I’m replying to you saying people care about the FCS and stating some facts that on a national level that isn’t true.
I’ll be honest in basketball if we are competing at a lower level I’ll probably just stop caring.
People cheer for their school, this isn't the pros. The enrollment of FCS to B12 is not close. Do you watch the G-League? If ISU is not on the same level as the superleague, why would any ISU fan watch? I hardly watch the SEC or B1G now, when ISU isn't the same level I won't at all. Maybe you will but the reason cfb became is as big as it is was due to being nationwide involving teams at least in proximity to every state. That will be over.
People will definitely still watch their schools, but let’s be honest: this message board wouldn’t be as lively if Iowa State wasn’t in the Big 12. Check out fansites of lower level teams like UNLV (who were battling with the big boys in the 90s) or OVC teams and it’s basically a ghost town. Alums may still watch occasionally but it’s not going to be as pronounced.
ISU fb has sucked for the most part since the beginning of time and still gets 50k at home games in bad times. And you're comparing to a half filled soccer stadium for a national title appearance.
