My favorite quotes...
“They’re (Texas) thinking they’re going to recruit better and they’re going to get more money,” Bowlsby said. “Anybody that thinks Texas’ football problems have been a result of league affiliation are completely delusional.”
and,
Texas fans have long complained about the home schedule. For example, few fans are excited about Kansas coming to Royal-Memorial Stadium on Nov. 13. “Well, here comes Vanderbilt,” Bowlsby said. “Every league is structured similarly to what ours is. There’s three or four bell cows and there’s the rest.”
Texas problems are not financial and they have always had some of the higher ranked recruiting classes. Their record in FB and BB is very telling since they kicked Mack Brown and Rick Barnes to the curb:
FB since 2014 including so far this season: 52-42
BB since 2015: 109-86
In FB they had 3 losing seasons and just 1 season with 10 wins in that stretch. In BB no more than 21 wins in a season and has not advanced out of the 1st round of the NCAA tournament the 3 seasons they made it including losing in the first round as a 3 seed last season.
Compare ISU to that same time period:
FB: 44-49 we had some pretty lean years 14-16 wining a combined 7 games but on the upward trend with winning seasons since 2017
BB: 97-95 The last 2 seasons obviously hurt that record but we still made 3 NCAA tournaments including a sweet 16 and round of 32 which is more than Texas could do.
My point: The gap with Texas is not a big as some make it out to be. They really have been nothing more than a middle of the pack team competitively in the 2 major sports lately and moving to the SEC isn't going to change that. They haven't won a conference title in FB since 2009 and BB since 2008. The Texas of 2000-2010 decade was a powerhouse in both sports but the Texas of the past decade has not come close to living up to the name recognition they have had over the years. ISU has had bigger "downs" than Texas has had but you can argue that the "ups" have been on the same level if not better than Texas in recent years. They are going from a conference that catered to them with their own TV network and a stupid rule about horns down to a conference where they will get no special treatment. Good luck...