To be clear, I have nothing against Iowa State, per se.What I don’t understand is why on earth anyone would want them in the Big Ten. The idea behind a conference addition would be to improve the stature of the Big Ten and to make the conference better. Adding a mediocre Big 12 team just doesn’t do that. Worse, it does the opposite. It brings in a team from the conference that many compare directly to the Big 10, and often find the Big 10 lacking in such comparisons, that is not a power school from that conference. Adding Nebraska or Oklahoma or Texas would be a different story entirely but that is not going to happen. Too bad in the case of Texas but you already know that.
Moreover as another school from the political, social, and cultural giant that is the state of Iowa(!) the Big 10 would actually be lowering its national profile rather than raising it. Who the hell would be interested in the Iowa-Iowa State game outside the population center that is Iowa? Or even worse, ISU-Minnesota, ISU-Wisconsin, ISU-PSU, ISU-Michigan, I think you get the point. So let’s add a team that would make for a great rival for Iowa but bring almost nothing else to the table.
I just don’t see the attraction. I understand you like the fact that occasionally ISU makes it so that Iowa is not the best school in that state (is their a worse named trophy than the CyHawk thingee those 2 schools fight over – probably that spitoon that some teams play for but none other) but that’s not enough to get you into the premier conference in college football.
1 comment:
we disagree with your premise. The point of expanding the BT is too create a super MIDWEST conference. We care nothing about academics at each particular institution and care even less about whether or not a new school will bring the conf. higher status. Why do we have to cater to the elites of the world and only add schools that appear rich and powerful. I understand that it is an ameirican tradition to discard the weak and embrace the strong but in our (my) world it would be nice to buck the trend and add a school that fits our Midwestern culture/values/geography. I like Iowa State b/c they are the forgotten team in Iowa- they have sucked for a long time (last title was in 1912!) and they are truly midwestern. Plus it compensates for hating Iowa. They also would help make two divisions of the BT easier (IA, ISU, MN, WISC, MSU and MI in one division). So Iowa State fits the underdog role, the midwestern role and the not-iowa role- they are perfect!
Post a Comment