There are a lot of obstacles to building from this to be a top 10 team:
Challenges:
49th largest home stadium 14th in the conference
65th most expensive season tickets
IU income from football season tickets selling out all seats as season tickets would be: 16 million
OSU income from same: 66 million
In the next year or two schools can pay the players directly from their athletic department. Schools with bigger stadiums and more expensive tickets will definitely have more funds for buying players. 5 stars are going to be going for 10-15 million+ per year EACH
IU is at best the second most followed college football program in Indiana, and Purdue is either just above or below them depending on the fates of the schools football teams from year to year. Because of this not many 4 and 5 star recruits grow up with dreams of playing for IU (or Purdue)
Ohio is twice the size of Indiana and OSU shares the state with no other Power 5 school.
IU has a desire to compete nationally in both football and men's basketball, but only the budget to really be competitive in NIL for one of them at best.
Indiana state schools are prescribed by law from using tuition funds or university endowment funds on athletics, most of the big time football schools have no such restriction.
The big football schools have been paying players under the table for years, its in their culture to pay for play and they have hundreds of former pro football players they can tap into for funds. Schools trying to break into that rarified air do not have that advantage.
Positives:
Being part of the Big Ten IU gets the largest payout from conference affiliation, along with the other 17 Big Ten schools BUT the 16 SEC schools are only slightly behind. Those two conferences in the age of pay for play will slowly out bid and out play every other school from all the other conferences.
Question marks:
Can coach Cig recruit as well as he coaches or better?
Will IU football fans be willing to pay 1k per year season ticket prices to make up some of the gap between IU income and the top 25 schools?
IF CCC backs up results for 2 or 3 years, would he be loyal to IU if Alabama backs up the brinks truck and offers him 25 million a year to try and win a national title?
And please, don't throw Purdue's shitty year up as a counter to this, its juvenile and I really don't care. I have not watched a Purdue football game since Drew Brees graduated. I am just trying to shed some light on how thick the glass ceiling is between one exceptional year and replicating that into a year in year out top 10 or even top 25 program.
Challenges:
49th largest home stadium 14th in the conference
65th most expensive season tickets
IU income from football season tickets selling out all seats as season tickets would be: 16 million
OSU income from same: 66 million
In the next year or two schools can pay the players directly from their athletic department. Schools with bigger stadiums and more expensive tickets will definitely have more funds for buying players. 5 stars are going to be going for 10-15 million+ per year EACH
IU is at best the second most followed college football program in Indiana, and Purdue is either just above or below them depending on the fates of the schools football teams from year to year. Because of this not many 4 and 5 star recruits grow up with dreams of playing for IU (or Purdue)
Ohio is twice the size of Indiana and OSU shares the state with no other Power 5 school.
IU has a desire to compete nationally in both football and men's basketball, but only the budget to really be competitive in NIL for one of them at best.
Indiana state schools are prescribed by law from using tuition funds or university endowment funds on athletics, most of the big time football schools have no such restriction.
The big football schools have been paying players under the table for years, its in their culture to pay for play and they have hundreds of former pro football players they can tap into for funds. Schools trying to break into that rarified air do not have that advantage.
Positives:
Being part of the Big Ten IU gets the largest payout from conference affiliation, along with the other 17 Big Ten schools BUT the 16 SEC schools are only slightly behind. Those two conferences in the age of pay for play will slowly out bid and out play every other school from all the other conferences.
Question marks:
Can coach Cig recruit as well as he coaches or better?
Will IU football fans be willing to pay 1k per year season ticket prices to make up some of the gap between IU income and the top 25 schools?
IF CCC backs up results for 2 or 3 years, would he be loyal to IU if Alabama backs up the brinks truck and offers him 25 million a year to try and win a national title?
And please, don't throw Purdue's shitty year up as a counter to this, its juvenile and I really don't care. I have not watched a Purdue football game since Drew Brees graduated. I am just trying to shed some light on how thick the glass ceiling is between one exceptional year and replicating that into a year in year out top 10 or even top 25 program.