To sum up a few months of discussion and the most important - and last meaningful - game in this long rivalry:
1. LOYALTY - Most ISU "fans" are not really fans at all. They want to be entertained, are provincial, and delusional. That tens of thousands turned their collective backs on their team - especially on their seniors - and bolted right there on national TV, was a disgrace to the entire team, the institution, and to themselves. I've never seen anything like it. Mahomes scored two TDs against my beloved Browns to win by four points, and did it all in minutes, and I didn't see KC fans give up on their great team when they were down by two scores in the fourth quarter.
2. COACHING - It's been a good debt-driven run with Campbell and his staff. I now see that by pulling Purdy, he did give up on the game. He showed the same lack of loyalty that the fans showed. Purdy didn't have a bad game. He just ran up against quite possibly the best defense in the country, a defense which this ESPN article called "impossibly good", and later called the Hawkeyes "one of the most feared teams in the country". Campbell gave up on his senior QB, and gave up on his team. He gave up on his fans. And within a few months, we will see that he - just like Texas and OU - had been making his moves behind the scenes regarding his next job. He is so gone. He has an inexperienced group returning next year, and it will be a huge step down in talent if he stays. Whatever promises he has been making to recruits will be broken soon enough, probably just after they sign. But the wise ones with wise parents and coaches will look elsewhere.
3. BUDGETS - Iowa's revenues were already more than twice that of ISU's. Ticket giveaways and other methods to falsely bump attendance numbers - not dissimilar to Nebraska, though Nebraska is a big boy in a big conference and any meaningful association with the state of Iowa State stops there - were mirages. There is simply no way ISU can sustain the kind of "growth" they have mustered based mainly on the parasitic relationship they have with Texas and OU. Not just TV contract and conference allocations, but the amount of fans in the stands, support for the program, and media attention. Paul Finebaum said it perfectly and mercilessly: "Spare me any further conversation. I'm done talking about Iowa State." It's a low-budget program in a low-budget conference going forward. Not going to be relevant to any serious conversation in any sport going forward.
3. RECRUITING - All we need to read is what the recruits at the game on Saturday said about their experience, including at least one five-star recruit who was gushing with praise about Iowa, and the consensus from others who tried to be diplomatic and put a brave face on the humiliations ISU faced on the field and in the stands. Why would any serious recruit bet their education and career on a downward-trending program in a disaster of a conference?
4. CONFERENCES - We've seen the B12 become the little 12, a "poor" conference (words of the Kansas Athletic Director), "We’re less secure now than we were eight weeks ago, and maybe significantly financially less secure,” Goff said. “The facts are there’s most likely a scenario where when we do a new deal with a makeup where we likely can’t stay at the level we’re at. And I think that’s pretty well documented. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody, the value that Texas and OU brought.” Zero way to spin the fact that the B12 in the last decade or so lost six members whose collective annual revenues topped $650 million, and replaced it with six members (including the four new ones) whose collective annual revenues are only $200 million. That's devastating.
5. DEBT - That ISU had to borrow $60M to "pay for" an $80M "upgrade" to the stadium says everything about their fans (they don't have enough who support the program), and their program. Again, Iowa recently completed over $160M in athletic facility upgrades, and only had to borrow $30M, with the rest coming from regular revenues and donations. The programs are in different universes altogether. But I expect reporters to start to dig into the financial situation of the new members. ISU fans here bragged about the quality of their new conference members, particularly highly-ranked Cincinnati. Anyone with two seconds on a Google search can find many articles about the 13-year financial scandal there, as they've run up nearly $300M in debt, and last year, had to borrow $40M from the university to cover for it, and then pretended that they earned $8 million in revenue. And that's what they "bring" to the new b12? That's a disaster in the making.
In conclusion: I'm not even going to bother to read what ISU fans say about their program anymore. Their FB program and their entire athletic program are so much less relevant to the state of Iowa, regionally, or nationally than it was three days ago or three months ago before we knew about the collapse of the once great Big Twelve. I've lost almost all respect for their fans and program, having seen their reactions at the game, and what's been posted here and elsewhere.
Iowa didn’t just win a game.
iowa has won dominance: definitively and permanently.
The rivalry isn't really a rivalry anymore.
Iowa is the Flagship University.
Iowa is carrying the banner of the Big Ten.
This is the Hawkeye State.
Goodbye and good luck, Cyclones.
1. LOYALTY - Most ISU "fans" are not really fans at all. They want to be entertained, are provincial, and delusional. That tens of thousands turned their collective backs on their team - especially on their seniors - and bolted right there on national TV, was a disgrace to the entire team, the institution, and to themselves. I've never seen anything like it. Mahomes scored two TDs against my beloved Browns to win by four points, and did it all in minutes, and I didn't see KC fans give up on their great team when they were down by two scores in the fourth quarter.
2. COACHING - It's been a good debt-driven run with Campbell and his staff. I now see that by pulling Purdy, he did give up on the game. He showed the same lack of loyalty that the fans showed. Purdy didn't have a bad game. He just ran up against quite possibly the best defense in the country, a defense which this ESPN article called "impossibly good", and later called the Hawkeyes "one of the most feared teams in the country". Campbell gave up on his senior QB, and gave up on his team. He gave up on his fans. And within a few months, we will see that he - just like Texas and OU - had been making his moves behind the scenes regarding his next job. He is so gone. He has an inexperienced group returning next year, and it will be a huge step down in talent if he stays. Whatever promises he has been making to recruits will be broken soon enough, probably just after they sign. But the wise ones with wise parents and coaches will look elsewhere.
3. BUDGETS - Iowa's revenues were already more than twice that of ISU's. Ticket giveaways and other methods to falsely bump attendance numbers - not dissimilar to Nebraska, though Nebraska is a big boy in a big conference and any meaningful association with the state of Iowa State stops there - were mirages. There is simply no way ISU can sustain the kind of "growth" they have mustered based mainly on the parasitic relationship they have with Texas and OU. Not just TV contract and conference allocations, but the amount of fans in the stands, support for the program, and media attention. Paul Finebaum said it perfectly and mercilessly: "Spare me any further conversation. I'm done talking about Iowa State." It's a low-budget program in a low-budget conference going forward. Not going to be relevant to any serious conversation in any sport going forward.
3. RECRUITING - All we need to read is what the recruits at the game on Saturday said about their experience, including at least one five-star recruit who was gushing with praise about Iowa, and the consensus from others who tried to be diplomatic and put a brave face on the humiliations ISU faced on the field and in the stands. Why would any serious recruit bet their education and career on a downward-trending program in a disaster of a conference?
4. CONFERENCES - We've seen the B12 become the little 12, a "poor" conference (words of the Kansas Athletic Director), "We’re less secure now than we were eight weeks ago, and maybe significantly financially less secure,” Goff said. “The facts are there’s most likely a scenario where when we do a new deal with a makeup where we likely can’t stay at the level we’re at. And I think that’s pretty well documented. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody, the value that Texas and OU brought.” Zero way to spin the fact that the B12 in the last decade or so lost six members whose collective annual revenues topped $650 million, and replaced it with six members (including the four new ones) whose collective annual revenues are only $200 million. That's devastating.
5. DEBT - That ISU had to borrow $60M to "pay for" an $80M "upgrade" to the stadium says everything about their fans (they don't have enough who support the program), and their program. Again, Iowa recently completed over $160M in athletic facility upgrades, and only had to borrow $30M, with the rest coming from regular revenues and donations. The programs are in different universes altogether. But I expect reporters to start to dig into the financial situation of the new members. ISU fans here bragged about the quality of their new conference members, particularly highly-ranked Cincinnati. Anyone with two seconds on a Google search can find many articles about the 13-year financial scandal there, as they've run up nearly $300M in debt, and last year, had to borrow $40M from the university to cover for it, and then pretended that they earned $8 million in revenue. And that's what they "bring" to the new b12? That's a disaster in the making.
In conclusion: I'm not even going to bother to read what ISU fans say about their program anymore. Their FB program and their entire athletic program are so much less relevant to the state of Iowa, regionally, or nationally than it was three days ago or three months ago before we knew about the collapse of the once great Big Twelve. I've lost almost all respect for their fans and program, having seen their reactions at the game, and what's been posted here and elsewhere.
Iowa didn’t just win a game.
iowa has won dominance: definitively and permanently.
The rivalry isn't really a rivalry anymore.
Iowa is the Flagship University.
Iowa is carrying the banner of the Big Ten.
This is the Hawkeye State.
Goodbye and good luck, Cyclones.
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