They make it so easy...

Agreed. If the Big 12 expands odds are good most if not all would be crappy. Unless the ACC collapses, there are no programs out there as targets that are much better than crappy. The SEC did well making Mizzou and A&M their 13th and 14th. B1G missed the boat with Rutgers and Maryland. Now there's nobody left. Would you rather stay at 10 and hold onto the SOS thing or expand, dilute, and give ISU a better chance at more wins?

Maybe I am old school but I like the idea of teams in a conference actually playing the teams in the conference. Playing all 9 other teams in FB and playing a full round robin (Home and Away) in BB means that the teams are deciding things on the court or field rather than the league office having a say when they put together the schedule. Even if it is an uphill climb, I would rather see the ISU teams play in a managably sized conference in all of the sports rather than a mega conference with teams that some athletes may never face in their college careers.

If a once in a lifetime expansion opportunity comes around (Notre Dame sized - but that will never happen - along with Arkansas) then I might change my tune.
 
Yes the West is weak. But MSU beat Big 12 co-champ Baylor. Wisconsin beat Auburn. OSU won the national title. When the dust settled the B1G was arguably the better football conference than the Big 12 last season.
Only if you are really horrible at making arguments.

The Big 12 East was comparable to the entire Big 12. The Big Ten West was horrible compared to the Big 12 or any other division:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2014/conference/

Not sure how you could spin it any other way. A division with the national champ averages out as just worse than Big 12. The other division is barely above the MWC and the dead last division/conference considered "major".
 
Definitely see what you are saying. The only thing Im taking comfort in is A. We have a QB who isnt afraid try for the big play and push the ball. Granted, he will make mistakes and throw pics, but so many of our losses last year would have been different if our QB would have just tried longer throws more consistently. And Im not talking 50 yard bombs, im talking the 10, 15 yarders that keep the chains moving, and keeps the D honest. And B. Ferentz is getting into the gray area of coaching for his job. In the past, 7 wins were acceptable bc he would do it "the right way" (which is a bit bs IMO). Now though, people (we) are tired of it. New staff, beautiful new facilites, constantly asking us for money... time to put up or shut up. So I think Ferentz coaches with his back against the wall, and has a new fire in him. Now, its KIrk Ferentz, so will it happen? Who in the hell knows, but I do know this, one more 7 win season with this joke of a schedule, and it might be lights out for him. It would be really sad to see it go down like that, but we are out of excuses.

At this point Bethart(sp) is totally unproven as far as I can tell. He has thrown a few nice deep balls, but also failed to manage simple plays that keep drives alive. He could be the second coming of Steel Jantz behind what appears to be a less than stellar OL. He is definitely a guy that tries to make things happen, which is exactly what Jantz was. Unfortunately one or two great plays in a game with 3 turnovers. Hopefully he will try to take what is there and not try to be superman.
 
At this point Bethart(sp) is totally unproven as far as I can tell. He has thrown a few nice deep balls, but also failed to manage simple plays that keep drives alive. He could be the second coming of Steel Jantz behind what appears to be a less than stellar OL. He is definitely a guy that tries to make things happen, which is exactly what Jantz was. Unfortunately one or two great plays in a game with 3 turnovers. Hopefully he will try to take what is there and not try to be superman.

Rudock was definitely better last year that Beathard but Beathard has higher upside, will all depend on how much he improved and how much they block for him.
 
Only if you are really horrible at making arguments.

The Big 12 East was comparable to the entire Big 12. The Big Ten West was horrible compared to the Big 12 or any other division:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2014/conference/

Not sure how you could spin it any other way. A division with the national champ averages out as just worse than Big 12. The other division is barely above the MWC and the dead last division/conference considered "major".

I'm a simpleton. I just look at final rankings.

B1G - #1, #6, #15, #30, #34, #41, #49, #51, #59, #61, #70, #72, #81, #93

Big 12 - #4, #8, #21, #32, #43, #44, #53, #78, #95, #100

This looks pretty comparable to me. Sure ISU beat Iowa. But B1G bottom feeder Indiana won at SEC East champion Mizzou last year, that's hardly an argument that the B1G is better than the SEC. TCU was clearly the best team in the Big 12, no surprise they handled the B1G's #5 team. The closest matchup of conference powers was Baylor v. MSU and we know how that turned out. Bowl games also matter, they've always been used to knock the B1G when they've done poorly. Last year the B1G had more bowl wins against ranked opponents than any other conference and the Big 12 went 2-5.

I think the question of which conference is/was better is different than the question of which conference is/was harder to compete in. Obviously the Big 12 is the toughest conference to compete in. But if you look at the final rankings, both had about the same % of good/great teams (slight edge Big 12), the same % of decent/meh teams (slight edge B1G), and the same % of really sh*tty teams, though the Big 12's bottom was REALLY sh*tty.
 
Great to see you're still fighting the good fight.

It's not a fight, Rudock was better and statistics prove it.

Beathard has more upside but I could see him struggling with a lack of playmakers and a potential weakness at LT and RT
 
I'd rather we go 2-10 than 6-6. If we limp out with another .500 season it won't be enough for Barta or KF to be forced out. We need a complete meltdown with lots of losses and lots of shots of crying kids in Iowa jerseys under cloudy skies.

Yep, I can uderstand the thinking. But, KF gets to hang on as he will have 'only' five losses again this year-- ISU, Wisconsin, Maryland, Nebraska and Minny.
 
It's not a fight, Rudock was better and statistics prove it.

Beathard has more upside but I could see him struggling with a lack of playmakers and a potential weakness at LT and RT

Comparing the statistics of a guy who started 1 game during the regular season to a guy who started 11 makes zero sense. We've been through this.
 
Comparing the statistics of a guy who started 1 game during the regular season to a guy who started 11 makes zero sense. We've been through this.

So then why do you think Beathard was better last year? Was it his 56% completion percentage or the fact that the entire coaching staff thought Rudock was better?
 
So then why do you think Beathard was better last year? Was it his 56% completion percentage or the fact that the entire coaching staff thought Rudock was better?

Beathard doesn't check down after one read, he doesn't throw it into the dirt after two reads, his arm is stronger, he's more mobile, he doesn't throw off his back foot, he's more willing to throw downfield.

And I wouldn't put a lot of stock into the stubbornness of our coaching staff. And remember, they did name Beathard the starter for the bowl game and the 2015 season. They're just a little slow, but we all know that.
 
Beathard doesn't check down after one read, he doesn't throw it into the dirt after two reads, his arm is stronger, he's more mobile, he doesn't throw off his back foot, he's more willing to throw downfield.

And I wouldn't put a lot of stock into the stubbornness of our coaching staff. And remember, they did name Beathard the starter for the bowl game and the 2015 season. They're just a little slow, but we all know that.

Maybe I was watching a different Beathard in the bowl game
 
He sucked in the bowl game, the entire team sucked. You were watching the right one. He still should start over Rudock.


You just keep backtracking all the time. You might be the dumbest Iowa fan on this site.
 
He sucked in the bowl game, the entire team sucked. You were watching the right one. He still should start over Rudock.

It was not Rudock's fault Iowa underachieved last year and that will become pretty evident this year IMO. When Iowa lost last year it was put on Rudock, I'm not sure who the scapegoat will be this year.
 

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