Now I'm stupid for saying Iowa has more fans than ISU. I thought we all kn
Nobody goes to UCLA and USC games either yet they are still more attractive schools than ISU.
2019 attendance - USC 66k, UCLA 57k.
Sorry, you have a lot of Mizzou fans around you. That doesn't change the fact that their grads are concentrated in the two metros between which Mizzou is cradled and they have MAC- level attendance.
# of fans willing to claim they are fans means nothing. # of fans willing to pay some money and put out some effort to proactively take in the product means everything. If you're 2 hours each from two major metros within your own state, have a 30k enrollment and draw that poorly when you go 8-5 in the SEC, then you aren't attractive in the new era of CFB media.