Here comes ISU. Kansas/ISU in talks with BIG?

Kansas and Iowa State have 2 of the worst athletic programs in the country - they hardly even sponsor any varsity sports anyways - will be a major drag on conference revenue to include EITHER of them (exception is KU bball)

I find it odd that I just don't care any longer.   Nothing moves the meter for me with expansion talks.  We're stuck in a collective college football malaise with money driving every move.   Let's just congeal into multiple 16 team super conferences and be done with it.  I'm ready to get rid of bowls once and for all and just have a regular playoff like most other sports in the D1 landscape.

How to strengthen the league: add two teams with no panache and no meaningful markets.  Maybe now we will play Minnesota every 6 years going forward.

Here's the indisputable evidence that Iowa State is in talks with the BIG:

"There is a sense that Iowa State is involved with the Big Ten as well. KU has the head start here and would be trying to bring ISU along, if anything."

Some guy on twitter named Mike Vernon says "there is a sense" but I'm going to wait for a bit more information to emerge before I start worrying about adding an athletic nonentity to the conference.

terrrrrrrrrrrrrrible

I'm primarily thinking about this in terms of football (and to a lesser extent, basketball). But there's also the question of what these teams bring in terms of other sports as well. 

Iowa St. only sponsors 7 men's sports: Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field (I didn't know these counted as separate) and Wrestling.

Kansas also only sponsors 7 sports: replace baseball with wrestling.

Among B1G teams, the lowest number of sponsored sports is 8 (NW and Maryland). Most B1G teams sponsor a minimum of 11 sports. 

I think the main thing to keep in mind for this round of realignment is it's very different from a decade ago insofar as who looks like a possible poach target. 10 years ago cable was still roaring and it was all about adding TV markets that would have cable subscribers who'd suddenly be sending you their quarters per month for your TV network whether they watched it or not. 

This time around, nobody cares about TV markets because everyone knows the name of the game is going to be getting subscribers, active viewers, not just TV markets. And adding the Iowa/Iowa State rivalry along with Kansas basketball makes some sense in 2021, when that would have sounded absurd in 2010. 

I'm not sure either really moves the needle to be included, particularly with all the insane shit happening at Kansas right now, but they have a much better shot in 2021 than they would have had if the big 12 fully imploded in the last realignment.

I live in Iowa, and Iowa State is kind of small-time. They've never been good at football (except a few recent seasons) and they're traditionally OK at men's hoops.  Their fans would love it but I don't think this adds much to the conference. Ames seems like a cool town though from what I've seen of it. 

Also - Iowa State fields six - count 'em - SIX men's teams - and two of them are golf and cross country. They literally don't bring much.

How could the Big 10, with a straight face, tell their fans "we are doing everything we can to be the premier conference in college athletics" and then go add ISU and KU?

I always believed ISU would have been a good add.  

Lets just become the first Mega Conference and have 20 teams . This is the way its going  so why wait ?

2 ten team divisions . Play the usual 3 game out of conference cupcakes . Each team can play everyone in their division for a 9 game regular conference season .  2 top teams from each division play for the Conference championship and an automatic berth in the National championship tournament . Be it 4 games or 8 or however many there end up being . Depending on however many other mega conferences there are . Plus throwing a bone to the smaller conferences and let them have one spot, knowing they really have little chance .

Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane...

IMO this is going in the wrong direction. Make these conferences regionally strong 10 school leagues. Construct 7 conferences across the nation.  Every school  plays every other conference school in football and home and away in basketball.  Here, conference championships are decided with regular season, head-to-head play. This eliminates these wanky unbalanced and unequal schedules. 

Not a bad idea. Iowa gets its natural rival and the conference adds some huge time firepower on the hardwood in Kansas. 

I would prefer poaching UNC and UVA, but I wouldn’t be upset with this idea, either.

If it’s market share the conference wants shouldn’t they pursue some of the Texas teams?!