So Iowa’s basketball fanbase is absolutely horrible when it comes to passion then. Didn’t show up whether you won or not.
Cracks in the B1G?
- Thread starter twojman
- Start date
Can we merge this with the mega thread? I don't understand why new threads keep getting started. So much easier to have one place to read through to get caught up.
Yes, men’s basketball lol. Funny you thought I was maybe talking about women’s though
Iowa Athletic department is ranked No. 64 and has been at the bottom for the past 20 years. That screams passionate fanbase.
It was non football until it reformed with football in 1991, adding the football schools. Then after all the moves went back to the non football form again.
So you are admitting that the Big 10 doesn’t put a passionate fan base as one of their top priorities when it comes to realignment,
They don’t, it’s just to balance the budget. Many schools did this as the AD at Michaign doesn’t keep any surplus. In 2024 they sent almost 8 mil back to the university and have sent money back almost every year but covid. It’s just accounting
This is true. And I admitted as much a couple pages back because Gonzo’s only comeback was “the B12 added them too!” But teams we’ve added generally care about sports or at least are regional (RE Houston) because the B12 has valued that in expansion. This is what the author of the article was saying (albeit hyperbolically) and it’s what’s contributing to better gameday atmospheres (not speaking absolutely, only relatively, as OSU, Michigan, Nebraska, PSU have great atmospheres).
Washington and Oregon have passionate fan bases and yet were passed over for UCLA. The B10 only added them because they came cheap. Does that scream valuing fan passion to you?
Arizona, a basketball school, has 83% of football attendance capacity over the last 5 years. Much better than Maryland and UCLA at 69 and 51%, respectively. Shoot, Houston and Maryland both sit at 69%.
Learfield.
This is what comes up when you google it:
“More recent information suggests Iowa's overall ranking may have been lower, with one report placing them 64th in the 2023-24 academic year.“
The year before was 48th.
Iowa State finished 35th in 2023-24.
In the Big 10 director’s cup, google Gary Barta. For a 10 year period, Barta was either last or next to last in the Big 10.
I don't think the Big 12 has been that purposeful in expansion, outside of helping to destabilize the Pac 12.
We just took who TV told us would help our TV product the most. There are more passionate G6 fanbases than Houston.
I never made that argument. They have several fan bases that suck unless things are going well. Just like every other league.
And the University of Iowa was actually giving tickets away during some of Fran’s final games.
Lol, was it Learfield's report? Sounds like they just wrote about "one report" placing Iowa 64th.
This is what every conference does when expanding. The B1G and SEC were just better positioned to take bigger brands/programs. If the Big 12 could've added UCLA, it would have in a heart beat and Big 12 fans would've been thrilled.
I’ll say I agree maybe 50% with this. Houston is good at basketball and regional. That is why we valued them. I don’t think TV really wanted us to add any PAC. As displayed by us taking an paycut to get the four.
And if TV did, I assume they’d would want us to pursue Stanford and Cal aggressively, due to the DMAs they’re in. I don’t think either party had any interest in each other during expansion. Why would TV want us to get Utah? We already had the major player in the market with BYU.
