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ISU 2nd Toughest Power 5 job

As others have mentioned, what was KState ranked on this pre-Wizard? About 10 spots below the bottom.

A great coach can overcome those challenges anywhere, though it is harder.

I have a hard time believing we are 2nd worst. I get no history, and Ames is not exactly San Diego. But pretty good crowds and fanbase, better than a lot of other middling programs.
 
CascadeClone said:
As others have mentioned, what was KState ranked on this pre-Wizard? About 10 spots below the bottom.

A great coach can overcome those challenges anywhere, though it is harder.

I have a hard time believing we are 2nd worst. I get no history, and Ames is not exactly San Diego. But pretty good crowds and fanbase, better than a lot of other middling programs.
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Some of it just becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's easy for writers and analysts to put ISU near the bottom in these kinds of rankings because, for a long time, the administration and major portions of the fanbase have bought into (and even advanced) the narrative. Don't get me wrong, for a long time the "woe is us" mentality was justified (see photos of Clyde Williams Field and Trice circa mid- 90's)

I think the great fan support of recent years has been, in part, a response to what Paul did early on. But, I think the other larger part of it is that people sense the gap can be closed with the right ingredients in place. The facilities and resources are much better than they used to be. ISU is on television and has unprecedented exposure. There is even a trickle over effect from the basketball success. I think this sense of being on the cusp of something good just fuels some of the frustration some of us feel with Rhoads right now. So close, but so far away.
 
norcalcy said:
Some of it just becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's easy for writers and analysts to put ISU near the bottom in these kinds of rankings because, for a long time, the administration and major portions of the fanbase have bought into (and even advanced) the narrative. Don't get me wrong, for a long time the "woe is us" mentality was justified (see photos of Clyde Williams Field and Trice circa mid- 90's)

I think the great fan support of recent years has been, in part, a response to what Paul did early on. But, I think the other larger part of it is that people sense the gap can be closed with the right ingredients in place. The facilities and resources are much better than they used to be. ISU is on television and has unprecedented exposure. There is even a trickle over effect from the basketball success. I think this sense of being on the cusp of something good just fuels some of the frustration some of us feel with Rhoads right now. So close, but so far away.
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I guess we will see how great our fans are this coming year. It is easy to jump on the bandwagon of a winning team. The true rest of fan loyalty is the continued support during the tough times. Ask Cubs fans. And the Red Sox struggled for decades.

IMO, the success the Cyclones had with Sage and Seneca built excitement....and Pollard is a master at marketing. The big money has been spent to enhance our facilities. But we are just trying to catch up. Our fellow P5 schools are improving their facilities as well.

Lots of fans talking of not supporting football anymore. That is not a loyal fan.
 
I'd imagine that was a Toledo coach who hadn't been here before and commented on how "stark" and "isolating" the landscape is.

Manhattan, Stillwater, and Lubbock are all more stark or isolated settings. Stillwater isn't that isolated with OKC nearby, but the landscape is definitely stark.
 
Al_4_State said:
I'd imagine that was a Toledo coach who hadn't been here before and commented on how "stark" and "isolating" the landscape is.

Manhattan, Stillwater, and Lubbock are all more stark or isolated settings. Stillwater isn't that isolated with OKC nearby, but the landscape is definitely stark.
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It kills me with the "isolated" comments as well. Des Moines isn't that far away. When I lived in Ames, I frequently traveled to Des Moines.
 
Al_4_State said:
I'd imagine that was a Toledo coach who hadn't been here before and commented on how "stark" and "isolating" the landscape is.

Manhattan, Stillwater, and Lubbock are all more stark or isolated settings. Stillwater isn't that isolated with OKC nearby, but the landscape is definitely stark.
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But those schools have at least partially offsetting advantages, namely proximity to good talent.
 
Tedcyclone said:
1. Im sorry but in no way would BSU or NDSU survive the Big12, Big10, Pac12, or ACC. They'd have the same problem all the bad teams have. Depth at every single position. I really like those two programs as well, and have bet them many times in a one game situation vs "better teams". Week in and out, not a chance on gods green earth that either of those schools have the talent to survive more then one dream season. Coaching could make Boise like a Kstate, but they don't have that any longer. So.
2. Agreed that some coach should be able to get talent here. I mean in 2005 we somehow had about 5-7 NFL talents on the Defensive Side of the ball. However that was 1 season in the history of what I can remember.
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I think Boise State has done enough in the past decade to make that first comment completely inaccurate.
 
awd4cy said:
Washington State, Northwestern, Wake Forest, and Duke are all probably harder. Would think Syracuse is up there too.
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I think Wake, Duke, and Syracuse are all probably easier. At least WF and Duke would be. Easier conference and more proximity to talent in the South.

I'd put Iowa State right up there with Kansas and Washington State as probably the three toughest jobs. Maybe Northwestern if the school has a higher bar to admit some of the talent they could otherwise access in Chicago. And I'd throw Vanderbilt into that list now too as they absolutely fell off a cliff in a deep conference after they lost Franklin.
 
CyFan61 said:
I think Wake, Duke, and Syracuse are all probably easier. At least WF and Duke would be. Easier conference and more proximity to talent in the South.

I'd put Iowa State right up there with Kansas and Washington State as probably the three toughest jobs. Maybe Northwestern if the school has a higher bar to admit some of the talent they could otherwise access in Chicago. And I'd throw Vanderbilt into that list now too as they absolutely fell off a cliff in a deep conference after they lost Franklin.
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Academic restrictions make it harder for them.
 
laminak said:
It kills me with the "isolated" comments as well. Des Moines isn't that far away. When I lived in Ames, I frequently traveled to Des Moines.
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A lot of people would say that Des Moines is very isolated. Lincoln, Ames, Manhattan, Lubbock, Stillwater, Iowa City feel very isolated to kids coming from Dallas/Houston, Florida, California.

Even Lincoln and Lubbock are both well over 200K people.

FUKC Nebraska!
 
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laminak said:
It kills me with the "isolated" comments as well. Des Moines isn't that far away. When I lived in Ames, I frequently traveled to Des Moines.
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Unless you're from Iowa, Des Moines isn't that big. After digging through some 2013 Metro Statistical Area numbers, I'd say that only Lubbock is more isolated than Ames. Manhattan is only 2 hours from KC, Stillwater is less than 2 hours from both Tulsa and OKC, even Morgantown WV is only an hour from Pittsburgh.

Again, to get to most of those other places its more likely to be a direct flight followed by a <2 hour drive. The drive from DSM to Ames is shorter, but you're more likely to have a layover somewhere. That makes it feel like it's harder to get to from anywhere. All of the cities that are easier to fly into are >3.5 hours away. Again, only Lubbock looks worse. But they are still in Texas with milder winters, closer athletes, and a mega-donor.
 
Honestly I think what's missed here is ISU is one of two power 5 schools in a smaller population state. Much easier to be successful when there is only one (like Wisconsin)
 
Des Moines isn't even a top 100 biggest city in the country. People overstate it's importance I think on here when it comes to recruiting.
 
EIU has the same problem. The best teams get kids who grew up fans, and live nearby. In Iowa over half your scholarship kids have to come from out of state. Between eiu and ISU you need about 44 a year, and there are typically less than 10 Iowa kids that go towards the 44. Look at TCU, they barely have to go outside their own metro area. We are light years ahead of 20 years ago. ISU will continue to improve.

UNIPantherFan said:
According to ESPN...
http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/tag/_/name/2015-toughest-jobs

Agree? They make some pretty compelling arguments in terms of conference schedule, geography, and recruiting.
I hope Rhoads turns it around this season.
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CascadeClone said:
As others have mentioned, what was KState ranked on this pre-Wizard? About 10 spots below the bottom.

A great coach can overcome those challenges anywhere, though it is harder.

I have a hard time believing we are 2nd worst. I get no history, and Ames is not exactly San Diego. But pretty good crowds and fanbase, better than a lot of other middling programs.
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I agree. Maybe we're just second worst at hiring FB coaches.
 
Des Moines is #72 in metro areas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._United_States
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That list includes Ames, Newton and Boone in the DSM/WDSM area, which I think is reaching a bit. If you look at the Metropolitan Statistical Area for Des Moines - West Des Moines (which includes Polk, Dallas, Warren, Madison and Guthrie counties) but exclude Boone, Story and Jasper county, then it's 91st with just under 600k people (estimated in 2013).

Big for Iowa, small for the nation. The associated "big cities" for all of our conference brethren (except for Lubbock) are at least 2X the size of the DSM metro area.
 
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