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How do our facilities compare to others?

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CyFanInChiLand

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Jul 14, 2009
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I know we've made some very positive strides in the past decade, however it appears others around us have also moved forward. I know we are never going to be able to compete with OU and Texas of the world, however I would think we should be able to compete with the Iowa/Kansas/K-St's of the world. A hok friend of mine (we all have some lapeses in jundegement, I know) showed me a video on twitter with a tour of their new facility and I can't help but think we are falling behind again.

Also, when on earth will this arms race end? Seems things are getting so far out of whack that schools without a 100mil+ budget are going to fall way behind. Anyway, those who are more familiar with the different facilities around the midwest, any idea how ours stacks up against Iowa/Kansas/K-St/Minnesota/Illinois/Indiana/Northwestern/Missouri? I use those are they are all geographically located in the same area in my mind and also none are any sort of 'powerhouse'. Thanks!
 
We need sports dorms. With a huge expansion of ISU students, it might happen in next ten years.
 
ISU has a really nice practice and training facility, with top-notch training machines, etc., but not with a lot of "extra" bells and whistles like other schools. The stadium is better than KU, on par with WVU, and below Tech/KSU/TCU. The biggest problem now is that a lot of schools are adding borderline luxurious amenities to lure recruits... and its working for them.
 
CyFanInChiLand said:
I know we've made some very positive strides in the past decade, however it appears others around us have also moved forward. I know we are never going to be able to compete with OU and Texas of the world, however I would think we should be able to compete with the Iowa/Kansas/K-St's of the world. A hok friend of mine (we all have some lapeses in jundegement, I know) showed me a video on twitter with a tour of their new facility and I can't help but think we are falling behind again.

Also, when on earth will this arms race end? Seems things are getting so far out of whack that schools without a 100mil+ budget are going to fall way behind. Anyway, those who are more familiar with the different facilities around the midwest, any idea how ours stacks up against Iowa/Kansas/K-St/Minnesota/Illinois/Indiana/Northwestern/Missouri? I use those are they are all geographically located in the same area in my mind and also none are any sort of 'powerhouse'. Thanks!
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We catch up a little bit and our competitors upgrade and pull away again. Facilities have come a long way though from the old days.

We also have about the lowest pay for our football staff and football coach in the Big 12.

Wally Burnham ranks #118 in assistant coach pay. And Mark Mangino ranks #153.

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/football/assistant
 
I really wish we didn't have to be self-sufficient from state funds. An extra 4-8 million dollars would go a long way with this football program.
 
Wesley said:
We need sports dorms. With a huge expansion of ISU students, it might happen in next ten years.
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Great use for Helser :smile:

Either that or just build a suite style one on the soccer field next to MWL. Make sure its on stilts though... for what its worth Freddy C was practically a sports dorm system toward the end of my time there.
 
Iowa State's goal should always be to have facilities on the same level as K-State, Missouri and Texas Tech. Given the resources and tradition of their programs, they are a step above in stature, but a goal should always be a step above as well.
 
While I have only toured a couple of other schools full facilities (ours are 100% better than Syracuse) I have been to 22 other college stadiums. Of those ISU is right up there with the majority, and that was before the SEZ upgrades. Sure we don't have some big fancy press box but the overall atmosphere and views from different seats is much better. And for those curious current stadium list is SDSU, USC, UCLA, Air Force, CU, CSU, UGA, GA State, GA Tech, Boise St, IL, Purde, Iowa, KU, Tulane, MS State, Nebraska, Buffalo, Syracuse, Clemson, TCU, and Wyoming.
 
Haverhill said:
ISU has a really nice practice and training facility, with top-notch training machines, etc., but not with a lot of "extra" bells and whistles like other schools. The stadium is better than KU, on par with WVU, and below Tech/KSU/TCU. The biggest problem now is that a lot of schools are adding borderline luxurious amenities to lure recruits... and its working for them.
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This is exactly what I was thinking. ISU has much improved facilities and can use them as a selling point to recruits.

However if you want to be reminded how far behind ISU (and almost all schools, really) is, check out Oregon's new $68 million facility:

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/7/31/4574556/oregon-football-building-new
 
Haverhill said:
I really wish we didn't have to be self-sufficient from state funds. An extra 4-8 million dollars would go a long way with this football program.
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While the money would be nice, I'm fine with not directly spending tax money on football. In fact I am always annoyed when I see how insanely subsidized a bunch of programs are. I don't think every program needs to be self sufficient but all that extra money is diluting the ranks of FBS. A lot of those schools really need to just move down to FCS where they could break even or at least greatly reduce the amount of subsidy they need.
 
crs8975 said:
While I have only toured a couple of other schools full facilities (ours are 100% better than Syracuse) I have been to 22 other college stadiums. Of those ISU is right up there with the majority, and that was before the SEZ upgrades. Sure we don't have some big fancy press box but the overall atmosphere and views from different seats is much better. And for those curious current stadium list is SDSU, USC, UCLA, Air Force, CU, CSU, UGA, GA State, GA Tech, Boise St, IL, Purde, Iowa, KU, Tulane, MS State, Nebraska, Buffalo, Syracuse, Clemson, TCU, and Wyoming.
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Big fancy pressboxes with suites are a sign that a program is receiving a large number of corporate donations, which lead to better facilities in the long run. College football programs can't run solely on $250 season ticket packages and $1000 donations. Hence why I'll donate a couple mil once I make it big.
 
I've toured LSU, Auburn, and Tennessee.

Other than stadium capacity, none blew me away as having something above and beyond what we currently offer.
 
Haverhill said:
Big fancy pressboxes with suites are a sign that a program is receiving a large number of corporate donations, which lead to better facilities in the long run. College football programs can't run solely on $250 season ticket packages and $1000 donations. Hence why I'll donate a couple mil once I make it big.
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count me in too on that, once I win the lottery my name will be on something nice.
 
Nebraska's football stadium is a dump outside of how big it is. At least it was in the 90s when I attended a game or two most years there.

If our new training facilities aren't considered nice then it's time to bust up college athletics. In terms of a place to train I doubt it could be any better than it is right now since all the tech is basically new and the place looks gorgeous.

It sounds like the next level up is just adding a sony playstation to every locker. Might help with recruits but that very likely hurts the actual training process.

I'm sure KU's luxury hotel for basketball helps get players but I wonder if it makes them a little soft compared to some others too. They are already gods on campus, then they get their own god dorm to live god lives even more separate...then they hit the NCAA tournament against some disrespected lower seeded team who hasn't lived full god life on campus.
 
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DSMCy said:
This is exactly what I was thinking. ISU has much improved facilities and can use them as a selling point to recruits.

However if you want to be reminded how far behind ISU (and almost all schools, really) is, check out Oregon's new $68 million facility:

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/7/31/4574556/oregon-football-building-new
Click to expand...

Wowsers, that Oregon one is ridiculous. Yeah, makes ours look like chump change. Oh well I guess. All said and done, we are never going to compete in the facilities arms race with the likes of them. All we can do is try to narrow the gap as much as we can. With that said, it also helps us that we will likely widen the gap between us and the non-bcs programs over the next few years.
 
Outside the Big 8/12 and our bowl games I've been to Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, Wyoming, CSU, Tenn, ND and Iowa. Other than Oregon and maybe ND I really think our complex looks as good as any of them and will exceed most once the SEZ is done. The indoor/outdoor practice facility with training facility all look new, as does our stadium, even though it's over 40 years old, and it all looks good together in the same area. Sure beats the older patched together look of a lot of stadiums in the country.
 
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Haverhill said:
I really wish we didn't have to be self-sufficient from state funds. An extra 4-8 million dollars would go a long way with this football program.
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Most times I find myself in agreement with you, Haverhill, but this surprises me. If schools can't compete with $60-70 million annual budgets, something is askew. The AD's goal should be zero state/school subsidies, not the reverse. ISU's budget is on par or larger that a lot of its peers.

http://www.obnug.com/2014/10/15/6980145/power-5-pursuit-part-2-athletic-department-budgets

As to facilities, I can't comment because I've only been in stadiums not training facilities, which many claim as theirs being equal to the best. Not sure how people can make that kind of claim/determination.
 
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