Agree, I think it's at least middle of the Big 10 pack as far as being a 'good' job. Always going to be 2nd fiddle men's basketball program in the state though, so long as we have TJ/competent coaching, so that hurts it. It has been too long since they have been consistently good on a national level, so ultimately I have a hard time seeing them surpass ISU in relevancy or popularity. It will be even harder to keep up so long as the Big 12 can maintain this national perception that it is essentially the SEC of men's college basketball. On the other hand, the Big 10 is SO down these days, that eventually someone will have an opportunity to seize power. Izzos better days are long gone. Painter has a lot of years left if he wants to keep coaching. But realistically a top 3 or even 2 spot is up for grabs in that conference starting like 5 years ago. But like Iowa, there are better jobs in the conference that are currently in a state of dormancy. Just off the top of my head Ohio State, Minnesota, Maryland, Michigan, and Indiana. Then you have Michigan State which will come open in the next few years, Wisconsin will eventually move on from stagnant Greg Gard, and programs like Nebraska and Rutgers who are kind of trending up. Whoever is next in line at Iowa will certainly have their work cut out for them, but it's still anyone's game. If I'm Beth Goetz, give Fran maybe one more year to see if he's got any more surprise Murray twins or Garzas coming in, and if not, cut him loose and eat the payout, but don't lose a competitive advantage with your conference mates.
