USA article posed a question of which top 32 teams would be in an NFL lite college football league. Iowa among the list of teams left out.
Iowa not a top 32 team?
- Thread starter dafarmer
- Start date
It depends entirely on the metrics used. How much do historical success, fanbase size, academics, TV market, recruiting region, conference affiliation or other factors matter in the rankings?
It's pretty easy to sort the P5 programs into three groups - yes, maybe and no.
I think there are about 20 schools that it would be shocking if they were left out. After that, there's another 20 or so that could make a good argument for inclusion, but it wouldn't be shocking if they were left out. Iowa is very likely in that second group.
It's pretty easy to sort the P5 programs into three groups - yes, maybe and no.
I think there are about 20 schools that it would be shocking if they were left out. After that, there's another 20 or so that could make a good argument for inclusion, but it wouldn't be shocking if they were left out. Iowa is very likely in that second group.
Iowa is certainly thought more highly of nationally than 99% on here want to admit, but less so than 99% of Hawkeye fans want to admit. Like just about everything, the truth lies somewhere in between.
I don’t think Iowa would be a Top 20 program, but I think they’d likely fall in the next 10 by most estimates – at least without formulating a definitive list myself.
Off the cuff, I’d put Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and USC certainly way above them just in the Big 10, with Wisconsin and Michigan State fairly similar to them (could go in any order).
Then you have Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M, Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma, LSU, Oregon, Washington, Clemson, and possibly a few I’m forgetting above them by big margins. With some like Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Stanford, etc in the same category.
Beyond just streaming/media numbers, the reason you see so much angst about the Big 12 and Pac 12 is there aren't a lot of programs you'd have any rationale to put in that Top 35 list.
I don’t think Iowa would be a Top 20 program, but I think they’d likely fall in the next 10 by most estimates – at least without formulating a definitive list myself.
Off the cuff, I’d put Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and USC certainly way above them just in the Big 10, with Wisconsin and Michigan State fairly similar to them (could go in any order).
Then you have Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M, Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma, LSU, Oregon, Washington, Clemson, and possibly a few I’m forgetting above them by big margins. With some like Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Stanford, etc in the same category.
Beyond just streaming/media numbers, the reason you see so much angst about the Big 12 and Pac 12 is there aren't a lot of programs you'd have any rationale to put in that Top 35 list.
Don’t forget Nebraska. If they were going to create a super league, I think Nebraska would more likely be included than Iowa
Number 2 for racist coaches and fans, right behind BYU.
That's actually an interesting thought. Nebraska clearly has the history by far. Iowa has the last 15 years by far. That might be a toss up. I'm one of the people on an island though that think Nebraska could be kinds of the Big 10 West if they just had a decent coach. If they convinced Peterson or Urban to get back into coaching and threw the money at them, they could be dangerous.
Great post. If your intent is to get the best football programs in place, it’s hard to exclude the current version of the Iowa football team. If you’re trying to build the biggest "brand", there’s a bunch of teams that would jump them
And what drives realignment, brands. Why I see Iowa as the 12-14th position of the 16 in the big ten. Possibly could jump to 11th, but with the TV media rights the big ten leans towards, Iowa is bottom 4 when the LA schools arrive.
The last 10-15 years I'd put Iowa pretty easily above Nebraska (not difficult) but they've finished unranked often, and in the years they were ranked, it was top ten a couple of times and then somewhere between 15-25.
It seems like they've been a Top 30 program in that time frame but it's closer than it seems.
By what metric? Their Rose Bowl performances? B1G championships? Elite scheduling? Trend-setting coordinators?
Lots of programs are good at getting players into the league- that doesn’t make them blue-bloods necessarily.
I'd probably have TCU also edging out Iowa. I'd put Patterson a step ahead of Ferentz.
It's easy to focus on one game when you know you play in the Big Ten West.
Maybe, mountain west Gary was a legend. Big 12 Gary was ok. Tcu is a tough comparison