Program trending......

[clonedude]

Program trending? I'd say it's plateaued and going nowhere until I see us dominate UNI, and then win more than 3 games this season.

Hype is nothing. Results are what matters.

 

[Brandon]

Program trending? I'd say it's plateaued and going nowhere until I see us dominate UNI, and then win more than 3 games this season.

Hype is nothing. Results are what matters.

I agree with you, I really wanna see us dominate uni. Im sick of losing to them! Our lines should be able to own that game

 

[CyCloned]

I'm going to vote it's easier now than it was back in the day. Back in the 70's/80's we struggeled to get games televised. Only the "haves" played Saturday afternoon games on ABC. We might get one of those regional slots every other year. There was no early 11:00 window or late night west coast action. ESPN and all sports networks changed all that. Now every game (except UNI) is on some kind of national network. Parents of players can see every game now. Hell, ISU struggled to get the Register to cover the program back in the day. Thanks to new media, that kind of bias doesn't matter any more. ISU has its best chance ever to move up the football pecking order right now.

I think it is easier now too. One thing that is really different is the limit of 85 scholarships. Back in the day if ISU has a decent chance to get a player out of Omaha or Kansas City NU or OK would just offer the guy and let him flounder on the bench rather than have to face him. Anyone who lived through those years remembers to 70-7 beatings the Sooners and Huskers used to put on the Clones without even trying. they would pull the starters at half and it didn't make any difference.

 

[bringmagicback]

There is no reason that we cant reach kstates success. we have better everything except for in the past, coaching. they play in a damn sheep pasture for christ sake.

 

[usedcarguy]

I think it is easier now too. One thing that is really different is the limit of 85 scholarships. Back in the day if ISU has a decent chance to get a player out of Omaha or Kansas City NU or OK would just offer the guy and let him flounder on the bench rather than have to face him. Anyone who lived through those years remembers to 70-7 beatings the Sooners and Huskers used to put on the Clones without even trying. they would pull the starters at half and it didn't make any difference.

I agree. In those days places like OU and kNU had 120 scholarship players plus walk-ons and there weren't nearly the number of elite players.

 

[tolfbfan]

Here's my worry:

Campbell gets us to a bowl with five wins and immediately leaves for a higher profile job taking the entire staff with him. You want continuity? Figure out a way $$$$$$$ to keep this staff in town until they REALLY prove something.

I would bet big money that a five win season and bowl game will not satisfy CMC enough to leave unless it was an elite program. Five wins don't get you that job. Seven or eight, yep.

 

[andyokstate]

Man, I feel your pain. I went to OSU when Thurman Thomas and then Barry Sanders started. We had Gundy at QB, Sanders at RB, Dykes at WR...and still could not beat OU or Nebraska. I had never gone to Nebraska for a game. We decided to go in 2007 (the "I'm 40!" season) and got to see us win there for the first time since NINETEEN FREAKING SIXTY ONE. It is crazy hard to dig out from decades of bad football and other teams scheduling you for their homecoming games.

We bought what success we had in the 80s, which left us all but dead in the 90s. Simmons upgraded the talent and finally got us back to a bowl game. Seeing so many orange wearing fans at the Alamo bowl was glorious - we were starved for a bowl. Les Miles finally brought a "why not us?" attitude. We loved to see him talk down to OU, even though we had absolutely no reason to. That fired up the fan base. Not to mention taking down #4 OU in Norman to finish our 2001 season at 4-7. Yeah, he recruited some questionable characters, but started an upward trajectory of success. Gundy came in and cleaned house of those questionable characters which lead to a rough few years. That said, there was a feeling that we were not going to stay down long. When I was in school, I never would have guessed that we would ever be in anyone's conversation of top teams.

At the time, I kind of thought Rhoads was that "why not us?" coach for you. Hell, you had a huge upset at our expense and took UT to the woodshed a couple of times. It looked like the players would run through a brick wall for him. In any case, as some have mentioned on this thread, you have some good things going your way right now. Hopefully Campbell is the guy to get you there, and will stay there for more than a handful of years.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

Did somebody say win at Lincoln?....

 

[ExCyment]

Hey- disagree and thumbs down all you want; the cold hard truth is that there is a real stigma attached to Cyclone Football. Ames is where coaches go to die. Can Jack Trice Stadium become a destination job? Sure, but it would take a looong run to bring any sense of security. Look at what the vampire has done for purple Kansas. Three years of Ron Prince and everyone believes Kansas State will head straight back to the gutter when the wizard finally calls it quits.

History has also shown that you don't even need to be far above average in Ames for a promotion. Earl Bruce topped out with a couple of 8 win seasons. Gene? Five triumphs in two years and he was SEC ready.

All things must pass, however. If the Cubs can do it, so can Cyclone football. The magical season will happen. Sustaining that success will be very tough though.

8 wins with just three losses to the#1, #2 and#3 ranked teams that year. Bruce did alright.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

IMO it's easier now. There is more parity in college football compared to the 90's and early 2000's.

I think people are quick to forget how bad the Big 8 was and how unbalanced the Big 12 North and South were. Yeah, NU had some really good teams but they walked through their seasons back when they were relevant. NU was able to recruit because they were unique with the TV exposure they received. That has obviously all changed now. It's actually pretty laughable how NU and their fan base thought that they would just walk into the B1G and be the team to beat annually.

There is no reason Iowa State can't have a program similar to K-State or even Iowa and be in the mix annually for a bowl game and sprinkle in some really solid years. It all starts with establishing a winning mentality and I think CMC has what it takes to get the team in a winning mindset. Our fan base needs to get out of the loser mentality as well. I've experienced a lot of miserable Cyclone football seasons but the Iowa State woe is me mentality is absolutely exhausting. I know that winning fixes this but our fan base HAS to get out of the waiting for the other shoe to drop mentality.

 

[CYCLNST8]

Part of the problem is competing against a conference full of teams that take football very damn seriously. Even KU is dedicated to picking up the slack now.

Compare that to the other conferences where you can always count on a few cupcakes because football at those schools is still a bit of an afterthought:

SEC: Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri
B1G: Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Rutgers, Purdue, Maryland
ACC: Boston College, Syracuse, Virginia, Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest
PAC: Oregon State, Cal, Washington State, Arizona

 

[jdoggivjc]

Things Gene Chizik hasn't said for $500 Alex.

Apples and oranges. Chizik had all kinds of connections with Auburn and they hired him because they thought he'd be easily controllable. He ended up winning a title in his first year with Tuberville's players - and then immediately crashed that Ferrari into a telephone pole with the next several years, and was promptly fired.

Name one P5 school that Campbell has a legitimate connection to. I'll wait. You can't - because he doesn't have one. Iowa State is the first P5 school Campbell has been at, whether as a player, position coach, coordinator, assistant, or head coach. Sure, everyone plays up Ohio State, but that's just a native Ohioan's dream that he has no real connections to and they're not going to come calling simply because they don't have to. With no connections to any other P5 school, nobody is going to take a flyer on him unless he succeeds at Iowa State.

 

[jbindm]

Here's my worry:

Campbell gets us to a bowl with five wins and immediately leaves for a higher profile job taking the entire staff with him. You want continuity? Figure out a way $$$$$$$ to keep this staff in town until they REALLY prove something.

I don't think five or six wins and a bowl trip once would lead to anything more than an opportunity for a lateral move. If he starts winning seven or more games annually and occasionally beating the conference elite, then maybe it's time to start worrying about him jumping ship.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Apples and oranges. Chizik had all kinds of connections with Auburn and they hired him because they thought he'd be easily controllable. He ended up winning a title in his first year with Tuberville's players - and then immediately crashed that Ferrari into a telephone pole with the next several years, and was promptly fired.

Name one P5 school that Campbell has a legitimate connection to. I'll wait. You can't - because he doesn't have one. Iowa State is the first P5 school Campbell has been at, whether as a player, position coach, coordinator, assistant, or head coach. Sure, everyone plays up Ohio State, but that's just a native Ohioan's dream that he has no real connections to and they're not going to come calling simply because they don't have to. With no connections to any other P5 school, nobody is going to take a flyer on him unless he succeeds at Iowa State.

I don't know why everyone keeps bringing up Ohio St. They can't pretty much hire whoever they want and for CMC to make that list he would have to something crazy special.

 

[InCyder99]

Part of the problem is competing against a conference full of teams that take football very damn seriously. Even KU is dedicated to picking up the slack now.

Compare that to the other conferences where you can always count on a few cupcakes because football at those schools is still a bit of an afterthought:

SEC: Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri
B1G: Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Rutgers, Purdue, Maryland
ACC: Boston College, Syracuse, Virginia, Duke, North Carolina, NC State, Georgia Tech
PAC: Oregon State, Cal, Washington State, Arizona

This is exactly right! I'm not saying the Big 12 is better than the SEC or anything, but way more balanced. In any of these conferences there are probably three easy wins every year. And that doesn't count OOC! So when you've been on the outside looking in for a few years it's harder to climb in a conference like the Big 12.

 

[andyokstate]

IMO it's easier now. There is more parity in college football compared to the 90's and early 2000's.

I think people are quick to forget how bad the Big 8 was and how unbalanced the Big 12 North and South were. Yeah, NU had some really good teams but they walked through their seasons back when they were relevant. NU was able to recruit because they were unique with the TV exposure they received. That has obviously all changed now. It's actually pretty laughable how NU and their fan base thought that they would just walk into the B1G and be the team to beat annually.

When KU had their Orange Bowl season in 2007, they did not have to play OU (11-3), Texas (10-3), or Tech (9-4). From the south division, they beat OSU (7-6), A&M (7-6), and Baylor (3-9). They *were* a good team that year, but there is a reasonable chance they would have absorbed additional hickeys had they played OU, UT, or Tech. That's one thing I dislike about mega-conferences. Teams get "lucky" with schedules when they can hide from the big, bad teams certain years. As you mentioned, NU had seasons where they had no big time competition (no offense) in the north and then had years where they didn't face the south's top teams. I actually liked seeing Mizzou, KU, and KSU have good seasons just to counter those that husk the corn.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

This is exactly right! I'm not saying the Big 12 is better than the SEC or anything, but way more balanced. In any of these conferences there are probably three easy wins every year. And that doesn't count OOC! So when you've been on the outside looking in for a few years it's harder to climb in a conference like the Big 12.

Whatever you do, don't try to explain this to an Iowa fan...

 

[norcalcy]

When KU had their Orange Bowl season in 2007, they did not have to play OU (11-3), Texas (10-3), or Tech (9-4). From the south division, they beat OSU (7-6), A&M (7-6), and Baylor (3-9). They *were* a good team that year, but there is a reasonable chance they would have absorbed additional hickeys had they played OU, UT, or Tech. That's one thing I dislike about mega-conferences. Teams get "lucky" with schedules when they can hide from the big, bad teams certain years. As you mentioned, NU had seasons where they had no big time competition (no offense) in the north and then had years where they didn't face the south's top teams. I actually liked seeing Mizzou, KU, and KSU have good seasons just to counter those that husk the corn.

Man I miss having Nebraska in the conference. There was just no better feeling than beating them. Wish we could have a shot at them in their current form.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

When KU had their Orange Bowl season in 2007, they did not have to play OU (11-3), Texas (10-3), or Tech (9-4). From the south division, they beat OSU (7-6), A&M (7-6), and Baylor (3-9). They *were* a good team that year, but there is a reasonable chance they would have absorbed additional hickeys had they played OU, UT, or Tech. That's one thing I dislike about mega-conferences. Teams get "lucky" with schedules when they can hide from the big, bad teams certain years. As you mentioned, NU had seasons where they had no big time competition (no offense) in the north and then had years where they didn't face the south's top teams. I actually liked seeing Mizzou, KU, and KSU have good seasons just to counter those that husk the corn.

Look no further than the B1G West. There will be a team or two every single year in the West that will have an inflated record just due to avoiding OSU, PSU, and MU. For that reason alone all of the "national experts" were picking Minnesota to win the West last year. Conference realignment is the best! What irritates me is that the Big 12 was viewed differently due to the lack of a championship game even though this is the only conference that leaves you with no where to hide.

 

[InCyder99]

Whatever you do, don't try to explain this to an Iowa fan...