Up Next: Iowa State

[BCPanther]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

My favorite ISU moment was in maybe '04 when we piss-pounded them in the dome and I believe Crawford took a tug on a ISU player's short when he was waiting at the FT line. (as Chris Farley would say "do you remember that?')

Same game where Wayne Morgan tried to get into it with Mac and Mac put the hammer down and tried to run up the score. Hilarious!

[Panther-Sheik]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

It might be hard to believe, but with all the question marks around this team at the start of the year, I throughly enjoyed a triple overtime thriller of a victory over Iowa, a double overtime thriller over the #2 team in the country, and I will enjoy going to a bowl game to watch this young team develop. So yes, it has been fun winning 6 games while playing one of the most difficult schedules in the country.

Oh, and I can't see any reason why anybody would care about the SPI "trophy". I was down there, saw the "trophy", which was a framed picture I could recreate for 20 bucks at Hobby Lobby.

(Please understand that this is NOT a slam on Iowa State. It is actually a slam on UNI. It is also not a slam on the folks on here, as you all have the true passion)
<begin rant>...look at the difference in our fan bases in general. ISU fans are completely rev'd up right now and high-fiving all over the place after winning 6 games and qualifying for a totally irrelevant bowl game, no matter what it is or where it is. They sold 37,000 season tickets to see a .500 season!! I'm sure next year will be many more tickets sold than that.
UNI, on the other hand, went 9-2 in the regular season (including a stupid loss by one to ISU), has just won another conference championship, qualified for the playoffs for the 5th time in the last 7 years, and is competing in a true playoff system for a National Title, etc. etc. etc....and we can't sell 10,000 tickets to the game on Saturday...let alone 17,000 tickets to sell the dam place out? Not to mention that our v'ball team is a 6 seed in the NCAA tourney with a 30-1 record and swept the 4 seed this year (ISU), is hosting the 1st and 2nd round of the NCAA tourney in the McLeod and yet no hype or fanbase love? Are we just too good at winning around here that people take it for granted? Do we need to be a doormat for awhile so that our fanbase will look at a .500 record as a huge accomplishment? What is up with UNI? I appreciate Bryce's excitement and enthusiasm for his Cyclones. He and people like him are keeping the Clones above water. I wish our fanbase had 1/10th of what he has. I won't even start in on our student body.
Can't wait to hear how people b!tch when Jake leaves or football goes to a 4 game home schedule or doesn't bid on home playoff games anymore all due to lackluster support for winning programs. Somehow negativity actually rallies the troops to speak up and shout out. But pure success just lulls our fanbase into a coma. Somehow we've gotta shake this state and say, "Bottom line is that it's time to nut up Panther fans and proudly support our school and our teams or these coaches and these programs won't be around for long".
<end rant>

[Panther'73]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

well said Panther-Sheik!

[9YRPLAN]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

i think you are describing the difference between FBS football and FCS football + non-revenue sports in our society.

for better or worse, FBS football rules all, and thats because the fans made it that way.

[jnutt]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

sheik, you da man

[BryceC]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

(Please understand that this is NOT a slam on Iowa State. It is actually a slam on UNI. It is also not a slam on the folks on here, as you all have the true passion)
<begin rant>...look at the difference in our fan bases in general. ISU fans are completely rev'd up right now and high-fiving all over the place after winning 6 games and qualifying for a totally irrelevant bowl game, no matter what it is or where it is. They sold 37,000 season tickets to see a .500 season!! I'm sure next year will be many more tickets sold than that.
UNI, on the other hand, went 9-2 in the regular season (including a stupid loss by one to ISU), has just won another conference championship, qualified for the playoffs for the 5th time in the last 7 years, and is competing in a true playoff system for a National Title, etc. etc. etc....and we can't sell 10,000 tickets to the game on Saturday...let alone 17,000 tickets to sell the dam place out? Not to mention that our v'ball team is a 6 seed in the NCAA tourney with a 30-1 record and swept the 4 seed this year (ISU), is hosting the 1st and 2nd round of the NCAA tourney in the McLeod and yet no hype or fanbase love? Are we just too good at winning around here that people take it for granted? Do we need to be a doormat for awhile so that our fanbase will look at a .500 record as a huge accomplishment? What is up with UNI? I appreciate Bryce's excitement and enthusiasm for his Cyclones. He and people like him are keeping the Clones above water. I wish our fanbase had 1/10th of what he has. I won't even start in on our student body.
Can't wait to hear how people b!tch when Jake leaves or football goes to a 4 game home schedule or doesn't bid on home playoff games anymore all due to lackluster support for winning programs. Somehow negativity actually rallies the troops to speak up and shout out. But pure success just lulls our fanbase into a coma. Somehow we've gotta shake this state and say, "Bottom line is that it's time to nut up Panther fans and proudly support our school and our teams or these coaches and these programs won't be around for long".
<end rant>

Same way here, this is not meant as a slam on UNI. But it's a different level of play, thus a different level of fan support. This is not to say that UNI doesn't have good football or basketball teams. Actually that is not relevant. As we've seen recently it's certainly not uncommon for UNI to have better basketball teams than ISU, and your football team has at least competed with us at a high level even when losing.

But it's the same reason why the San Antonio Spurs will greatly outsell the Austin Toros, even if San Antonio went 0-82 and the Toros won the NBADL league title. It's the same reason why 50k fans show out to watch a 6-6 ISU team play and 15k fans show up to watch a 9-2 UNI team.

As 9YR said, it doesn't say anything other than fans value watching BCS football over FCS football. It has been elevated because it is the highest level of competition at the college level. It is what it is.

As for non-revenues, most people just don't care. I love ISU, I am thankful that we compete in many non-revenues, but I really don't care either way. There is much gnashing of teeth over the fact that our wrestling team sucks, but I honestly don't care. There is a lot of fun to be had for our volleyball team, but I really don't care. It's not like I'm going to go watch the games. It is a simple fact of life that people will choose to budget their time and money to things that bring them the most enjoyment, and wrestling and volleyball don't do that for me. Although I do like the shorts in volleyball.

[Panther-Sheik]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

i think you are describing the difference between FBS football and FCS football + non-revenue sports in our society.

for better or worse, FBS football rules all, and thats because the fans made it that way.

Tell that to Appy State. I get what you are saying and agree that this is generally the case and probably "just the way it has always been". I'm saying that I'm not satisfied with that, and that we are better than this as a fanbase. The Sweet 16 and Chattanooga showed that we have the potential to break out from the "normal" FCS / mid-major mold and be something special. 2008 and 2009 showed that we can support our program(s) with vigor. The Iowa State football game (almost yearly) shows that we have some "hidden" numbers. We just need to not be so timid about being a Panther!!

[BCPanther]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

Excellent points all!

Its really nice to be able to have this discussion reasonably.

Personally, I am not a huge FCS football fan. I am one that thinks the grass would be greener with a move to the FBS as a league. However, this doesn't preclude me from going to nearly every UNI game for most of my life. If you are a UNI fan, it is your duty to be in the stands whenever you possibly can.

[Kyle]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

Our football and basketball followings are completely different.

9yr and Bryce are right, as long as UNI football is FCS, we be stuck with 15K in the dome. This has nothing to do with how successful we are but everything to do with playing outside the highest level in college football.

The ceiling for basketball is much higher because we do play at the highest level, but IMO significant increases in attendance can only be accomplished with the help of current ISU/Iowa fans.

The 10,000 people who showed up in St. Louis for the sweet sixteen were not all die hard panther fans. Two of our four group members in St. Louis had not been to a single UNI game that year. They jumped on the bandwagon because their own team sucked and they wanted to be a part of a winning team.

Look at Creighton. They averaged nearly the same attendance UNI averages all through the 90's. All of a sudden NE started to suck, Kyle Korver signs with CU, and CU makes 4 NCAA tourney appearances. Bam attendance skyrockets to 15K. Don't let CU fans fool you, 50% of the people wearing blue in the Quest Center were wearing red a couple months prior.

A handful of Iowa fans already profess to be Iowa football fans but UNI basketball fans. This way of thinking was unheard of 10 years ago.

Best case for scenario for UNI basketball is for ISU and Iowa to continue rolling out terrible teams. Hopefully their fan bases will grow restless and look for a permanent alternative.

[Panther-at-Arms]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

I'm just not convinced that a move to FBS automatically improves our attendance. It's not like UI or ISU fans will jump ship. That leaves the same fans that supported the team at the FCS level.

[9YRPLAN]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

its certainly not just BEING FBS...its having 100+ plus years of tradition in FBS that matters. you are correct in that moving to FBS would not affect our attendance or peoples attitudes towards UNI.

it is likely too late in the game for UNI to ever compete at the same level as ISU or Iowa (as whole, not on the court/field) because people have already chosen a side based on tradition. UNI (or the state of iowa for that matter) does not have the population or alumni base to support it. if UNI develops some massive revenue streams that would allow a move to, say, the Big East then in 50 years you would see the loyalties across the state even out a bit and UNI moving towards what ISU is right now, at the expense of the other schools. but currently there just is not the dedicated fan base that appreciates the products that UNI has developed. thats not a slight of UNI...just the demographic facts.

had everything been on a level playing field from day one then you would see an even iowa/isu/uni split across the state, but remember UNI started as a small teachers college, not a major university.

hopefully this also explains why i find it easy to be a dual fan. i do not see iowa and UNI as competitors except for a few hours on a handful of days each year.

[jnutt]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

moving to FBS means a lot more spending in travel and scholarships for a school that does not have the money. To be in a lower-level FBS conference is about as exciting as the WNBA to me. Do. Not. Care. Would we really generate enough revenue to offset the increased cost? I doubt it. Being an premiere FCS school is a better option

[CF84]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

The biggest part in my mind is WHO WE PLAY as part of FCS and MVC. When we play Iowa, ISU, Wisconsin, etc., then casuals fans get excited. When it's Southeast Montana or Northern Rhode Island (made these up don't know if they exist), it means nothing to most people.

[Casey'sitsallgood]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

moving to FBS means a lot more spending in travel and scholarships for a school that does not have the money. To be in a lower-level FBS conference is about as exciting as the WNBA to me. Do. Not. Care. Would we really generate enough revenue to offset the increased cost? I doubt it. Being an premiere FCS school is a better option

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's not bring women's sports into this...

[Panther-Sheik]

Re: Up Next: Iowa State

The biggest part in my mind is WHO WE PLAY as part of FCS and MVC. When we play Iowa, ISU, Wisconsin, etc., then casuals fans get excited. When it's Southeast Montana or Northern Rhode Island (made these up don't know if they exist), it means nothing to most people.

When Iowa plays those schools at the beginning of the season (football) they still sell out and I know many people who make the point of attending the game with just as much enthusiasm as any other weekend in Iowa City. So, is it just the opponent that determines it? I don't think it can be simplified that much or Iowa would only be at about 35,000 for a game vs. NE LA Tech State or whoever. Also, I would LOVE to "be stuck at" 15,000 minimum in the DOME. The fact is that we are looking at about 10,000 this weekend. We had more than that for S. Utah. We are drawing less now than we did in the 90's for a playoff game. We aren't trying to sell out a 50,000 seat football stadium or 15,000 seat basketball facility. We are trying to get as close to 17,000 and 7,000 as possible. We sized our facilities appropriately for the "reduced interest" or "lack of tradition" or "FCS v. FBS" etc. We still can't even muster up 90% capacity in either facility.
As I also said though, Appy St. has figured out how to rally a fan base that has multiple FBS schools in the state. Laziness and just pure apathy will keep all of us sitting here trying to come up with the same ol' excuses as to why we have an absent fanbase. When do we quit making and allowing excuses and start figuring out solutions to make it better? There is no status quo in the world. So, if we are saying that this is as good as it gets, then we are actually dying on the vine and our days are numbered. I won't sit by and watch that happen without at least putting up a fight. Hopefully there are enough others out there that would rather join the fight than sit by and watch the death of UNI.