Kirk is no good...he can't even beat ISU

[nfrine]

Man this is a bunch of pooh! According to the attached, Ferentz should not be considered at Michigan because he can't even beat Iowa State....

Michigan Sports Center: Your Home for University of Michigan Athletics

Getting back to Ferentz, you have to wonder how the Iowa program went from 3 straight 10+ win seasons to 3 straight mediocre seasons. I've read the excuses that he lost some great players and all that, but that is no excuse. A coach has to reload his talent, not rebuild. To go along with that, one of the bigger excuses I've read is that Ferentz is trying to recruit players to go to Iowa, which is a tough task by itself. Although I can't disagree that recruiting at Iowa compared to Michigan is much tougher, I do have to point out that Ferentz has a dismal 3-6 record against Iowa State. ISU has had recruiting classes that rank far lower than Iowa's since 2002, but the Hawkeyes still struggle with the in-state rival on a regular basis.

Even though neither program has out of this world recruiting, let's compare the two programs since 2002 in terms of recruiting rankings (Rivals.com listed first, Scout.com listed second, average of the two listed third):

2002:
Iowa - 51, 40, 45.5
Iowa State - 30, 69, 49.5

2003:
Iowa - 43, 30, 36.5
Iowa State - 46, 60, 53

2004:
Iowa - 38, 41, 39.5
Iowa State - 42, 57, 49.5

2005:
Iowa - 11, 8, 9.5
Iowa State - 58, 50, 54

2006:
Iowa - 40, 40, 40
Iowa State - 63, 59, 61

2007:
Iowa - 28, 37, 32.5
Iowa State - 60, 69, 64.5

OVERALL AVERAGE:
Iowa - 35, 33, 34
Iowa State - 50, 61, 55.5

Although rankings are just rankings, you can easily see from the data above that Iowa has more talent than Iowa State. Despite that, the Hawkeyes have lost 2 out of its last 3 to Iowa State, and are 3-3 against the Cyclones since 2002. Think of it this way. You know how Michigan has had better recruiting classes compared to Michigan State since 2002, well that translates to a 6-0 record in that time frame. Have many of those games been very close finishes? Yes, but in the end Michigan won. For Iowa, a 3-3 record against a less talented in-state rival shouldn't happen. If that same thing happened here at Michigan, you can bet it would **** off a lot of people.

 

[ISUFan22]

Well...can ya blame 'em? I mean, we haven't exactly been a powerhouse.

Michigan fans are sitting there thinking...

If this guy can't beat his current mediocre in-state rival, how will he beat Ohio State?

 

[BryceC]

Uhh... you don't think it's a good point? Kirk obviously isn't great in rivalry games. I can think of a couple big ones for Michigan in MSU and OSU.

 

[superfan]

Why hire a guy who has the exact same problem as the guy you just fired?

 

[AirWalke]

I've heard theories that ever since Iowa started recruiting nationally, ISU has been getting more of the in-state kids that have grown up all their lives living through this rivalry. The out-of-state recruits at Iowa couldn't care less about the Iowa/ISU rivalry, but to the in-state recruits, it means a whole lot more.

 

[jdoggivjc]

I've heard theories that ever since Iowa started recruiting nationally, ISU has been getting more of the in-state kids that have grown up all their lives living through this rivalry. The out-of-state recruits at Iowa couldn't care less about the Iowa/ISU rivalry, but to the in-state recruits, it means a whole lot more.

But how is that any different than anyone out of state caring about the Texas-aTm, Oklahoma-OSU, Florida-Florida St-Miami, Georgia-GaTech, or Alabama-Auburn rivalries? Other than they all are relatively decent to watch on TV, they don't mean much outside of their respective states. I'd say the only difference is there are more NCAA-worthy athletes in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama that are more likely to go to a home-state school than Iowa.

 

[SplitIdentity]

But how is that any different than anyone out of state caring about the Texas-aTm, Oklahoma-OSU, Florida-Florida St-Miami, Georgia-GaTech, or Alabama-Auburn rivalries? Other than they all are relatively decent to watch on TV, they don't mean much outside of their respective states. I'd say the only difference is there are more NCAA-worthy athletes in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama that are more likely to go to a home-state school than Iowa.

I don't agree with the theory, but I wouldn't compare the Iowa-ISU rivalry with any of those you just mentioned. The main reason? Southern rivalries >>> Northern rivalries (other than OSU-UM) in pretty much faze of the game. Intensity, tradition, etc...

The only other one I can think of that may rival it is Wyoming-CSU, simply because of all the vandalism and other stuff that's been involved the past few years.

 

[Wx4Cy]

Why hire a guy who has the exact same problem as the guy you just fired?

Is it possible that OU is just better than Michigan? Oh wait, that would mean that we're better than Iowa.

 

[Cyclonesrule91]

I don't agree with the theory, but I wouldn't compare the Iowa-ISU rivalry with any of those you just mentioned. The main reason? Southern rivalries >>> Northern rivalries (other than OSU-UM) in pretty much faze of the game. Intensity, tradition, etc...

The only other one I can think of that may rival it is Wyoming-CSU, simply because of all the vandalism and other stuff that's been involved the past few years.

I don't know that it would be considered north country, but I would say the Kansas-Missouri rivalry is also pretty intense even before they made a big deal about it this last Saturday night...

 

[SplitIdentity]

I don't know that it would be considered north country, but I would say the Kansas-Missouri rivalry is also pretty intense even before they made a big deal about it this last Saturday night...

This is true. I'd consider that "middle country", but you're right, it's pretty intense. I guess I'm just saying that the ISU-Iowa rivalry, no matter how much our fans pretend to hate eachother, they really hate eachother down south.

But again, I don't buy this theory. The coaching staff knows what this rivalry means, and they should be able to get the team fired up. ISU has just been the better team when they play, plain and simple, no "theories".

 

[Warder60]

I was actually at the Wyoming-CSU game this past weekend. Something like been playing for 110 years, and it was the 99th game.
I've heard stories about whats happened there. The game was @ CSU, and I was wearing Wyo gear (and lil bit of ISU :wink, and was largely ignored by their fans.
It wasn't nearly as bad as I've been treated by Iowa fans both in Ames and in Iowa City the past 4 years.

But it was freezing out, snow on the ground, day after Thanksgiving, not many people were actually there (maybe 2/3rds full stadium).

 

[jdoggivjc]

I don't agree with the theory, but I wouldn't compare the Iowa-ISU rivalry with any of those you just mentioned. The main reason? Southern rivalries >>> Northern rivalries (other than OSU-UM) in pretty much faze of the game. Intensity, tradition, etc...

The only other one I can think of that may rival it is Wyoming-CSU, simply because of all the vandalism and other stuff that's been involved the past few years.

What I'm getting at is outside of Georgia, does anyone care about the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry? Outside of Texas, does anyone really care about the Texas-aTm rivalry? Probably about as much as anyone outside Iowa cares about the Iowa-Iowa State rivalry.

 

[wonkadog]

Good point jdogg. I get sick of all these "great" rivalries getting crammed down our throats every year. We get it the first time that Auburn-Alabama is a rivalry, no need to tell us 15 more times. I really don't think people care about these rivalries outside the state as much as ESPN/ABC/CBS would like us to believe.