Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)

[12191987]

It doesn’t really matter why people in CA care less about CFB than people in IA but it’s just a fact that they do.

100% agree that it means less in California. That is hugely important, and why the likes of Cal and Stanford could quite possibly be on the outside looking in when all is said-and-done.

But as a buddy of mine says: “Oh your mama says you’re 1-in-a-million, huh? Then I guess we’ve got about 40 of you in California.”

Somebody else, I think on this thread, claimed there were more self-identitied Christians in CA than all of the Big 12 minus Texas combined. It seems plausible.

I personally have no idea how it all shakes out, but wouldn’t be shocked if numbers indicated Cal had a greater valuation than ISU even though they only average just north of 40k in the stands.

 

[JUKEBOX]

Here's my opinion on the Iowa State program and attendance. I would guess we don't have a lot of bandwagon fans at the moment.

Floor:
- 40k fans
- During the Chizik years, we had 2/3 win seasons and still got ~50k in attendance during many of the home games. I think ISU has a strong core fanbase.

Perennial 6-9 win program:
- 61.5k fans
- Sort of what we have now. I think we get the core fanbase plus casual Iowa State fans (i.e. some students that wouldn't normally go to games, football fans/alumni who live in the DSM metro, etc.)

Elite program:
-70-90k fans
- This has never really happened in ISU history, but what I think would happen if we had success like Nebraska did from the 60s-90s (sustaining a 10-12 win program). Think we would draw a lot of additional bandwagon fans.

 

[JM4CY]

I don’t know or care enough about Cal to wade in further, but fair to say this board (and this thread) has the rosiest view possible of ISU’s perception and maybe the worst possible view of other schools affected by realignment. It really shapes the discussion in unhealthy ways.

Oh, piss off. Iowa State is pretty much the only school Saban would leave for. There’s no debate.

 

[WhoISthis]

I don’t know or care enough about Cal to wade in further, but fair to say this board (and this thread) has the rosiest view possible of ISU’s perception and maybe the worst possible view of other schools affected by realignment. It really shapes the discussion in unhealthy ways.

What’s unhealthy about it? It’s a fan forum.

It’s not an ISU viewpoint that Cal isn’t wanted by the Big 12 and that without a network they wouldn’t add value to ACC.

 

[cyIclSoneU]

What’s unhealthy about it? It’s a fan forum.

And it's a forum that some people take way too seriously. It's like its own version of QAnon. Just wait for the comforting positive narrative and adopt it like you would a religious belief. It must be true, it has to be true!

It’s not an ISU viewpoint that Cal isn’t wanted by the Big 12

Nobody knows this. It is an ISU viewpoint that Iowa State is more valuable to the Big 12/Pac-12 than Cal is. I'd guess that is arguable among objective observers. Here, it's Gospel truth.

 

[WhoISthis]

And it's a forum that some people take way too seriously. It's like its own version of QAnon. Just wait for the comforting positive narrative and adopt it like you would a religious belief. It must be true, it has to be true!



Nobody knows this. It is an ISU viewpoint that Iowa State is more valuable to the Big 12/Pac-12 than Cal is. I'd guess that is arguable among objective observers. Here, it's Gospel truth.

We know it reasonably well. It’s why Wilner is beating the 8 or 0 approach. Do you have anything that indicates the B12 wants Cal?

You need to get out more. This is how all fan boards operate. All fans are way too high on their team. If you go to a Cal board, they are a lock. It’s healthy fan behavior and we need more of it

It’s a universal viewpoint that ISU is already in the Big 12. They will be in the combination of the two, if one occurs. Cal is the one that needs to be accessed, and it is a very ISU-centric view to not be able to access Cal without questioning whether ISU measures up

 

[cyIclSoneU]

We know it reasonably well. It’s why Wilner is beating the 8 or 0 approach. Do you have anything that indicates the B12 wants Cal?

You need to get out more. This is how all fan boards operate. All fans are way too high on their team. If you go to a Cal board, they are a lock.

It’s a universal viewpoint that ISU is already in the Big 12. They will be in the combination of the two, if one occurs.

I don't have anything and you don't have anything; neither of us have anything.

I believe when you say that every other fan board is just as delusional as this one.

 

[Cloneon]

That's always a lame argument IMO. I lived in the Bay Area, and I attended Cal and Stanford games because I was a college football fan. The reason they don't draw well is because the majority of the people in the Bay Area just don't give a hoot about CFB, not because they love CFB but have other things to do. FWIW, I managed to do plenty of other stuff on non Cal-Stanford CFB Saturdays (which is only about 8 Saturdays a year).

I, too, lived in S.F. for 15 years My advantage is I knew someone in the P12 office who made it easy to attend the games. Despite this advantage, the Cal game day atmosphere couldn't come close to Ames. Also, I still had to get to the game which by itself wasn't worth it. Stanford was much easier and had a slightly better game day, but all in all, I always had something better to do on weekends. In fact, it was easier to be an ISU fan. Correction: tough in that era of bad football, but I was always able to get the owner of the local bar to put us on because who in CA wakes up to watch 9:00am games? That left the rest of the day for having fun.

 

[Cloneon]

And good luck getting that LA and Bay area to care about off-brand college football.

It was increasingly apathetic before. Now it may crater

Having also lived in L.A., I'd go as far as to say there are more eyeballs on alma maters outside of CA on game day than on CA teams. Putting it another way, most times I went to a bar to watch a game, the neither the 'local' teams nor P12 teams were on. That sums up the apathy.

 

[2speedy1]

Having also lived in L.A., I'd go as far as to say there are more eyeballs on alma maters outside of CA on game day than on CA teams. Putting it another way, most times I went to a bar to watch a game, the neither the 'local' teams nor P12 teams were on. That sums up the apathy.

That's because in California the people that actually do care about CFB are the ones that are not actually "From" California.

 

[LLCoolCY]

Not sure why ESPN would up their offer significantly at this point with FOX reportedly out…



Looks like the PAC12 will become a FA and unless they can talk NBC or CBS to be the conference savior we should see some movement soon.

 

[12191987]

And it's a forum that some people take way too seriously. It's like its own version of QAnon. Just wait for the comforting positive narrative and adopt it like you would a religious belief. It must be true, it has to be true!



Nobody knows this. It is an ISU viewpoint that Iowa State is more valuable to the Big 12/Pac-12 than Cal is. I'd guess that is arguable among objective observers. Here, it's Gospel truth.

Ouch. Yeah, I’m a ******* jackass for engaging.

Not totally convinced it is accurate, but it looks interesting:

College Football Fanbase Estimates

 

[Rods79]

Media hype. The fact that the media have raging boners for certain schools plays a massive role that often can have absolutely nothing to do with the actual product a school produces on the field. It’s an enormous illusion.

Exactly...and it is certainly telling that ESPN had reportedly low-balled the PAC; in year's past they've done their best to prop up the PAC brands...that started to wan recently, which tells me that the maximum viewership capacity just isn't there despite their best efforts to leverage the brands.

While the PAC is a historic conference and sad as it is to see it transform into the new MWC, I think we're at the point where we have balance a mix of competition and brands to sustain viewership...and the market is saying something needs to change with the PAC that's not likely be resoved from simply adding SDSU. Join or die. It is the same thing they told the Big12, but luckily we were afforded a choice between "Join or die" or "Add or die" due to different circumstances. It is the same thing they're going to say to the ACC after that FOX/ESPN battle occurs as well.

 

[HawaiiClone]

Surely someone with the name Hawaii Clone understands that there is more to do in some places of the country than in others.

These things are related. There are fewer entertainment options in certain places, so those places turn to CFB more than the others.

It doesn’t really matter why people in CA care less about CFB than people in IA but it’s just a fact that they do.

Yeah, places like Hawaii and California have a wider variety of outdoor things to do than other parts of the country and bigger cities across the country have more entertainment options than smaller cities. This puts college football lower down the totem poll for many. However, my experience has been that people find things to do no matter where they live so they make a choice to do one thing (I.e. play soccer with friends, swim in a lake or ocean, play tennis or go to a show) or they do something else like go to a rodeo, run a 10k or go to a football game. It helps that University of Hawaii football games usually start at 6pm, but in my years living here, as a football fan, I usually prefer going to UH games versus going to a show (if there is one) or whatever else. I grew up enjoying football and have continued enjoying it because FBS football is a great product. We'll see how fan interest changes, but for the time being, Hawaii football is a good entertainment option for me.

 

[besserheimerphat]

Surely you understand that the largest industry in Iowa is pretty busy during most if not the entire football season, but no one lets us use that as an excuse for attendance or viewership.

As of 2019, ag was only 1.4% of Iowa's workforce. There just aren't that many farmers. It generates a ton of revenue, but doesn't take that many people.

Labor Market

IWD's Labor Market Information Division is the state's premier resource for labor force data, statistics, and research on Iowa's labor market.

www.iowalmi.gov

 

[2speedy1]

Ouch. Yeah, I’m a ******* jackass for engaging.

Not totally convinced it is accurate, but it looks interesting:

College Football Fanbase Estimates

Problem with Tony Altmore and his data, is he uses really outdated data. If you look at a lot of what he posts and the data he uses, the newest data from most of it is about 5 years old.
Kind of like his picture. If you see any of the shows hes been on that picture of him looks like its about 20 years ago.

He takes data from about 2015, then puts that against what is happening today with conference numbers. It paints an inaccurate picture of what is actually happening. Especially say over the Campbell era.

This is similar to looking at attendance and viewership numbers from 2018, but then putting them with team records from 2021. You cant mix and match data like that and come up with an accurate picture.

 

[Rods79]

Ouch. Yeah, I’m a ******* jackass for engaging.

Not totally convinced it is accurate, but it looks interesting:

College Football Fanbase Estimates

Drop shadows and bubble graphics aside, I wouldn't put too much value on that. It may help indicate the best brands in each conference, but it isn't much more than a population/alumni study. TV numbers are diving this more than outdated fan size estimates.

 

[RustShack]

Not sure why ESPN would up their offer significantly at this point with FOX reportedly out…



Looks like the PAC12 will become a FA and unless they can talk NBC or CBS to be the conference savior we should see some movement soon.

They could up their offer to prevent them from going to the open market and say Apple out bidding them.

 

[2speedy1]

Yeah, places like Hawaii and California have a wider variety of outdoor things to do than other parts of the country and bigger cities across the country have more entertainment options than smaller cities. This puts college football lower down the totem poll for many. However, my experience has been that people find things to do no matter where they live so they make a choice to do one thing (I.e. play soccer with friends, swim in a lake or ocean, play tennis or go to a show) or they do something else like go to a rodeo, run a 10k or go to a football game. It helps that University of Hawaii football games usually start at 6pm, but in my years living here, as a football fan, I usually prefer going to UH games versus going to a show (if there is one) or whatever else. I grew up enjoying football and have continued enjoying it because FBS football is a great product. We'll see how fan interest changes, but for the time being, Hawaii football is a good entertainment option for me.

I'm pretty sure, if you talk to some people that live in the country, they will tell you there is always things to do. And would say they have more to do than city people.

It is a matter of opinion, and a matter of what you are used to. To say that one place has more to do, is wrong, they just have different things to do.

I realize a place like LA might have more entertainment options to do than say Ames, but relative to the number of people probably not, and relative to what any person does on a regular basis probably not either. It is just about what you are able to and prioritize.

 

[CRcyclone6]

Walden had a lot of problems that was just one of them and it's just one of the signs of a poor coach. He was terrible at Wash St, and for some stupid reason (Cheap) we hired him, then kept him for almost a decade.

Then he had the nerve to act like it wasn't his fault. Our Policies sucked for AD and Facility support, but Walden was just a terrible coach. The reason we had Walden was because we were cheap and wouldn't pay for a good coach. It's not what made Walden a terrible coach.

Branch, Norris, and Garris were the RBs to run the wishbone. Yeah, that didn't work. Get ******* Ulrich in there!