Indiana has been a cellar dweller for too long to remember, but short of them getting kicked out of the Big10 it's going to be hard for them to not find football prosperity here. Their new Big10 contract is going to propel them into being on of the top 30 football schools in the country from a budget and exposure standpoint. It's going to be hard to screw that up. They have been battling schools like Pitt, Kansas State, Virginia, Cincinnati, and Wake Forest for recruits for year. Basically bottom of the power 5 in prestige programs. Suddenly Indiana has leap frogged them in the last week. Schools like Washington and Oregon just dropped below Indiana in both revenue and exposure prestige which is absurd. Those are major traditional powers that are suddenly homeless and being blocked by the UCLA and USC at the Big10. They will probably find a way in but right now they have a real problem. The biggest winner in this re-alignment to date has been Northwestern, Indiana and Rutgers.
Rising Tide Lifting All Cellar Dwellers
- Thread starter MMcCormick
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I hope the changes in the league changes the mindset at IU, getting them to focus on football IE recruiting budget for FB $895k while BB gets $3.5m, this has to change. IUFB needs a national recruiting budget for finding the best players to come to IU.
Probably Northwestern is the biggest winner. They have already had double digit win seasons and beaten teams with a lot more resources than they have. Basically, they just landed a sh&@) ton of money into a department that was already very efficient and savvy in its coaching selections. Doing more with less already.
There should be a ridiculous revenue boost coming. If you get into the top 25 with that revenue you are really screwing things up.
I had no idea there was that sort of discrepancy between the two programs' recruiting budgets.
That is bad business.
I think the only way the geezers running IU will change that is if the courts enact a "Title 99 or 999" or somethin' like that, that does not allow for discrimination between recruiting budgets. I mean we already have all kinds of stupid discrimination laws, might as well add another.
IMO the more important comparison than "IU revenue now vs potential IU revenue in the future" is whether IU or some other non-member school(s) would, down the road when the next big rights negotiations come up, contribute more revenue to the conference. Call it the "Washington-Oregon conundrum."
I think Dolson has to find ways to generate more football revenue above and beyond what the new rights contract brings to the conference collectively. Obviously, more winning would be a huge boost but also more marketing, promotions, etc may need to be investigated. And it may be time to play hardball with any "basketball only" donors if they exist.
The board of directors is the bigger problem as there really aren't big football people on it and they still want BB to be king at IU. There may be one or two on the board but I haven't noticed any football supporters elected to it. Our current president of IU has a background of supporting football at her schools so there is hope she will push Dolson to do what is necessary for football.
it doesn't help that so few Indiana ADs historically have had football backgrounds (including, ideally, a track record of hiring successful/winning football coaches)
that's not a shot at Dolson--IMO he handled the Miller-to-Stevens-to-Woodson hiring process about as well as it could've been handled. But I thought to myself at the time he gave Allen that most recent extension "most football-savvy ADs would not have been that quick or generous" and would have offered a slightly shorter version with a somewhat smaller buyout.
Quinn Buckner (two year starter at safety) and Harry Gonso (three year starter at quarterback “aren’t big football people” on the Board of Trustees?
Kinda surprised Harry's still on--he's gotta be 73 or 74 by now IIRC. I don't know if he's retired or still practicing law either.
Indiana has been top 30ish in revenue for college sports for several years. All B1G schools are. The problem with IU football today is not the money.
Yes. But there are going to be other advantages. Right now the odds are that all four playoff teams will be from the super conferences or Notre Dame. Huge recruiting advantage selling that you are "in the tourney" versus no chance you will ever big on the big stage or even play against top competition. The PAC 12 is going to be a hard recruiting sell as is the Big 12.
I saw him fairly recently . . . football injuries don’t get better over time.
haven't personally seen him in over 30 years but IIRC he wasn't the biggest guy (by B1G 10 FB standards) to begin with either
More like criminal neglect.
Harry may be one of the couple I said could be on the board. Buckner gave up football for basketball so it isn't obvious he supports football at the level needed to elevate IUFB in the future.
I agree there are more advantages for sure. And more money will help tremendously. But money won't overcome lack of support from the administration and tradition. Hopefully the current leadership will prove we can change that. As noted in other treads, we need to be in the top 60 programs or we may not be in the super conferences. With top 30+ revenue there is no reason we shouldn't be a top 60 program but past history might say otherwise.
I think we're like part of the Original Six in the NHL. We can't get kicked out. We have too much charm.
If you knew anything about QB you’d know he’s a big supporter of the football program and all of IU athletics, as is Harry, who’s been on the Board for some time.
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Their academic requirements aren't going away, and that is by far the biggest thing holding them back.
they lowered their academic requirements when they hired Gary Barnett to turn the football program around. Otherwise they never would've gotten to the 1996 Rose Bowl.
Having said that, even after lowering their standards it's still one of the hardest, if not THE hardest, schools in the B1G to get accepted into--even for student-athletes.
BB $3.5 million to follow 50 kids while FB gets $895k to follow 500?
That's absurd.
The $3.5M figure being indignantly thrown around for IU basketball isn’t accurate. We spend as much or more for basketball than we do / have for football, but we aren't spending that much. Crean was the big abuser, since he loved flying privately to different events in the same day.
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Just as a point of info, the current BOT Chairman is Quinn Buckner who played two years of actually outstanding football as an IU safety. He may care something about football.
BTW Quinn's father was on the 1945 Big Ten championship football team as well.
Here is data from 2019 which directly contradicts the figures you’ve been using.
An Analysis Of College Basketball Recruiting Costs
For the first time in college basketball history, a program eclipsed the $1-million mark in reported recruiting expenses in a single fiscal year. During the 2019 fiscal year, Kentucky spent $1,073,985 on men’s basketball recruiting according to the university’s NCAA Financial Report.
athleticdirectoru.com
I didn't know about his father being part of that team, it was IU's best football team ever.
My info came from the ESPN website, it just shows how different things are between different websites.
Most people here had no idea QB played football at IU. He was very interested in going to UCLA but his Dad tipped the scales for IU. He started at safety right out of the box as a true freshman in the first year freshmen were eligible for varsity competition, something few here knew, as well.
He does. He is also the guy that helped Glass move on Crean after he was initially shut down.
For those who have not heard...our newly minted Trustee is Vivian Winston. She was not my choice but won in a landslide. Long time prof and insider, she is focused on student life and inclusion.
I knew about Quinn playing football and was disappointed when he left the team to focus on basketball, but he really helped the basketball team. I had no idea his dad was part of the best football team ever to play at IU.
Yeah, QB and HG have given us a strong football presense on the BOT for several years and, in the case of QB, some heavy lifting on the hoops side, as well. Those guys both take a long view, though there remains a parochial perspective within the University that has existed for decades. It’s been an expensive and often unlearned lesson for more than a few.
I actually thought it was pretty common knowledge. It was remarked on frequently during BB broadcasts.
So did I, though I attended the football games and basketball games, so maybe that helped.
I don't watch BB games so maybe that is why I never knew about his father.
That was a new fact about QB for me as well. I do vaguely remember Coach Knight insisting Buckner make a choice between basketball and football.
Yes, Knight made him choose. We had a few other guys dabble in both (Ken Mask, Trent Smock, ARE, Cam, James Hardy), but none were Day One starters and big contributors in both like QB. Charlie Ward did both at a very high level at FSU, as did Julius Peppers at UNC. John Lucas was a high level hoops and tennis guy at Maryland. Big time commitment and Quinn got beat up pretty good playing football. He was at IU for hoops anyway, so Knight put his foot down. Mal and Knight offered Rick Fox the chance to do both, had he chosen us.
