drop / buy out U-Conn.

I thought we just split the gate with Utah and didn't have to buy out Utah since they were in the same boat getting rid of a non-conference game?

And Utah wasn't a powerhouse when we scheduled them. UConn didn't start playing D1 until earlier this decade.

Arrowhead series = $1.8 million reasons to play. We should've won both of those games. We didn't. There's no way to say we would have won them in Ames either.

And Baylor had the same issue with bye weeks. Coincidence? Doubt it.

Nope, ISU bought out Utah. Utah already had Oregon in non-conference, so they had to find another team to fill in for ISU.

And it shouldn't matter when Utah and UConn started to be good teams. ISU should have seen what was happening 2 years ago and bought them out.

And Baylor has a lot more depth than ISU. ISU needs that week more than any other team in the country.
 
Arrowhead series brought in more $ than home-and-home with KSU. We (as a fanbase in general, not singling out anyone) complain about poor facilities (where is the bowled-in south end zone), don't donate the $ to upgrade facilities, and then complain when JP does things to try to bring in $ to upgrade facilities.
Since we gave up a home game in our home year, and thus it wasnt included in our season tickets, the 20k fans that went from ISU basically ended up covering that $1million extra we got from having it at arrowhead. 20k fans x $50\ticket = $1mil. Might as well have kept it at home and raised the ticket rates by something less than that (spread through a larger number of ticket purchases)
 
Let's imagine that we have a guaranteed win at home, and I think that's purely imaginary right now.

Does that give us an automatic loss at KSU? Historically, we're not a great road team.

Two games came down to two plays we didn't execute. That's not a JP problem.

Would you rather be 1-1 or 0-2? That's my look at it. If ISU could have actually won a game in KC, I would think differently, but they didn't, so I wont.
 
No they weren't. JP is on record several times as not wanting Thanksgiving games for poor student attendance. No Thanksgiving game = No bye week. From 1991 to 2005, ISU had a bye week every season. Since 2005, ISU has had 1 bye week in 2008. Three guesses who was hired as AD in 2005?

And I agree the Arrowhead series was good for the bottom line, but there is no doubt in my mind that it cost ISU a win in 2009. No way does ISU lose that game at home.

Can't use all those years in your argument.

Some of those years were Big 8 years (not Big 12 years).

Also, some of those years after the Big 12 started were also years where only 11 games were allowed for regular season (per NCAA rules), so there would be a bye week available.
 
The fallacy in your argument is assuming that location changes the outcome of either of those 2 games. There is no such guarantee.

Yes, there are no guarantees in life, but if ISU loses by 1 on a neutral field, then odds say they win by 2 at home. Its just my opinion, but ISU does not lose that game at home.

Can't use all those years in your argument.

Some of those years were Big 8 years (not Big 12 years).

Also, some of those years after the Big 12 started were also years where only 11 games were allowed for regular season (per NCAA rules), so there would be a bye week available.

Fine, ignore the years. It still doesn't change JP's stance on Thanksgiving games.
 
So really, it cost us nothing? I don't know about anyone else, but I can't tell you who played in the New Mexico Bowl last year, or really any of the other crappy bowls.

I've never heard of a team buying out of a home game.
 
We need to look into getting out of this game next year (and I am not opposed to dropping Iowa in the future). Schedule MAC, WAC or SunBelt teams, somebody that increases the liklihood of a fast start. New big 12 will be a beast. Scheduling games that favor us at home and a fast start and a better record will lead to bigger crowds. The beatdowns wear out the fanbase (or at least me). Winning cures a lot of pain. The teams in the bottom half of the new big 12 have NO business scheduling big time non-conference games, they will play at least 4 or 5 top 25 teams in conference. Wins = bowls, bowls = $$$, $$$$ + bowls = better recruits. Let's help CPR get us off to a fast start.

We're not playing Pitt or WV here.

Northern Illinois is better than UCONN. We already dropped our truly unnecessary buzz saw game in @Utah.
 
No they weren't. JP is on record several times as not wanting Thanksgiving games for poor student attendance. No Thanksgiving game = No bye week. From 1991 to 2005, ISU had a bye week every season. Since 2005, ISU has had 1 bye week in 2008. Three guesses who was hired as AD in 2005?

And I agree the Arrowhead series was good for the bottom line, but there is no doubt in my mind that it cost ISU a win in 2009. No way does ISU lose that game at home.

If no bye week truly helps the Athletic department keep CPR, CFH, their top assistants and bowl in the endzone, then I'm all for it. Although I truly think it sucks watching everybody else next weekend, especially with no bowl.
 
Well, he isn't wrong, because Saturday had pathetic attendance, and next weekend wouldn't have gotten any better.

I agree, but its hard to say since ISU hasn't had a home game after Thanksgiving since 2004.

MaxPower and I were talking about this on Saturday. Students have spent around 12 straight weeks on campus and as 20 year olds, they want to see their family and get away from Ames as soon as possible. Most leave as early as possible, usually on Wednesday or Thursday before break. Usually after spending about 2 days at home, a lot of kids want to come back to Ames to get away from their parents. So a game after Thanksgiving might not be that different for attendance. And if attendance is the same for both before and after Thanksgiving, then you take after Thanksgiving and the bye week.

Either way, ISU has always struggled with November attendance and winning is the only thing that will fix it.

There is also the concerning comment by JP about only selling ISU's home game to Arrowhead and not KSU's home game.
 
Could you be any less transparent with your hatred of JP?

No they weren't. JP is on record several times as not wanting Thanksgiving games for poor student attendance.

Link?

From 1991 to 2005, ISU had a bye week every season. Since 2005, ISU has had 1 bye week in 2008. Three guesses who was hired as AD in 2005?

I assume you figured this out by looking at the old schedules. Surely you also noticed--if you didn't already remember--that we had 11-game schedules before 2005, which allowed us to have a bye week without a Thanksgiving weekend game, as was the case in most of those seasons from '91 to '05.

And I agree the Arrowhead series was good for the bottom line, but there is no doubt in my mind that it cost ISU a win in 2009. No way does ISU lose that game at home.

Opinion, not fact.
 
Could you be any less transparent with your hatred of JP?



Link?



I assume you figured this out by looking at the old schedules. Surely you also noticed--if you didn't already remember--that we had 11-game schedules before 2005, which allowed us to have a bye week without a Thanksgiving weekend game, as was the case in most of those seasons from '91 to '05.



Opinion, not fact.

I don't hate JP. I love what JP has done at ISU, but there have been some big mistakes and the recent football schedules are highly questionable.

And I can't link radio shows from the past.
 
We need to look into getting out of this game next year (and I am not opposed to dropping Iowa in the future). Schedule MAC, WAC or SunBelt teams, somebody that increases the liklihood of a fast start. New big 12 will be a beast. Scheduling games that favor us at home and a fast start and a better record will lead to bigger crowds. The beatdowns wear out the fanbase (or at least me). Winning cures a lot of pain. The teams in the bottom half of the new big 12 have NO business scheduling big time non-conference games, they will play at least 4 or 5 top 25 teams in conference. Wins = bowls, bowls = $$$, $$$$ + bowls = better recruits. Let's help CPR get us off to a fast start.

You're not one of those guys who complains that we only schedule cupcakes for the non conference in Basketball are you? That's not really building attendance figures. No one wants to see week after week of NW Fiji State in BB and I'd rather face a couple of real football teams in the preseason, too. That's JMHO.... That's how Bobby Bowden put FSU on the map. And I've actually seen sort of a parallel in they way they approach the game (B Bowden & CPR). Both balls to the wall cagey coaches and not afraid to try the trick play to catch the other team napping once in a while.
 
Since we gave up a home game in our home year, and thus it wasnt included in our season tickets, the 20k fans that went from ISU basically ended up covering that $1million extra we got from having it at arrowhead. 20k fans x $50\ticket = $1mil. Might as well have kept it at home and raised the ticket rates by something less than that (spread through a larger number of ticket purchases)

Your forgetting the costs associated with a home game. I do not know what it costs to have a home game so I therefore will not try and speculate.

However, ISU is in a tight place. Buying out of the UCONN game could costs 250k (assuming Utah's buyout) to 500k or more. On top of that, you would have to find a team to come and play us, it would have to be a FBS team and the going rate for one of those team without a return game is anywhere between 500k-1mil. On top of that, you would have to find a team that can play us on that date, and a lot of teams schedule years in advance, therefore limiting the teams available. While it may get us one more win, from the insight bowl, we netted 145k from that. This is all financial and will not put a price on the extra bowl practice time we got, so I will not go there. So basically we would be looking roughly 250k+500k for buyout out of UCONN and paying for another team(at best lowest cost). We probably have revenue of just over 1 mil, so lets say 1.3 since its a early game. 1.3mil-750k and were looking at 550k revenue at best.

Now, could we get creative with scheduling by having a 2 for 1, sure, but a lot of people seem to get sick of playing the same school 3 times in a short time period.

In short, we are in a tight place when it comes to scheduling and money. My numbers are from memory as its what teams pay according to news articles on espn and yahoo sports.
 
Is there a link on ISU buying out the Utah game? I thought it was a mutual cancel.

Utah Athletics Announces Schedule Updates - The Official Athletic Site of the University of Utah

To make room for BYU on its non-conference schedule, Utah canceled a three-game series with Boise State in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The buyout for the Boise State games will cost a total of $350,000 and Utah will recoup $250,000 from Iowa State, which canceled its return game. The Utes filled the ISU vacancy with a home game against Montana State on Sept. 1. Still in place is Utah's game at Pittsburgh on Oct. 8, 2011.
 

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