ISU is no longer a basketball school

[CaliRdBrd]

Hasn’t been for 20 years.

That is all. Good night.

 

[TBS_20]

You make a point. Which means they need to focus on FBS

 

[WoodlandWarrior]

Do we even attempt anymore to recruit pure shooters? Just in my neck of the woods there has been Nathan Taphorn who played at Northwestern, his brother Justin is a walk on at Wisconsin, Connor Dillon was an oustanding shooter fro Peorua Notre Dame now at Winona State, All Stater Kaden Froebe from Lincoln is starting as a freshman for Missouri S&T......D2 I know but pure shooters and fundamentally coached in high school. Do we even show interest anymore in that type of a player?

 

[isuquinndog]

Do we even attempt anymore to recruit pure shooters? Just in my neck of the woods there has been Nathan Taphorn who played at Northwestern, his brother Justin is a walk on at Wisconsin, Connor Dillon was an oustanding shooter fro Peorua Notre Dame now at Winona State, All Stater Kaden Froebe from Lincoln is starting as a freshman for Missouri S&T......D2 I know but pure shooters and fundamentally coached in high school. Do we even show interest anymore in that type of a player?

I mean to be fair, obviously most D1 haven't show interest in those guys so why should we? If they were going to Bradley, Drake, Indy St, Loyola, etc then I'd agree with you.

 

[redbirdfan04]

I agree that a 22 year drought into the NCAA tournament is not even a debatable topic. I will say that the Osiris years, Jackie years, and Paris years were so much fun to watch. The last three seasons have been terrible but to say we have not been a BB school for 22 years is an over statement. The weekend ARCH madness experience against UNI, Marshall's clowns!, SIU, and Loyola was worth every penny. The game a few years ago where Loyola sold out for the first time in like 50 years was so much fun and they lost. I agree it is tough right now and the talent seems to be down but I heard they are 2nd youngest team in the country. We can hope as fans the team gets better and maybe a stud transfer or Freshman shows up in the next year to get them back to the top of the Valley.

 

[crazzymark]

Yep..weak conference and FB is in best FCS conference and now is king and pushing to FBS status..winning and national positive exposure is a winning combo. It doesn't help when every year that 7 people transfer out of the program on the mbb side.

 

[Seven]

ISU is knocking on the door of top-100 attendance in basketball but doesn’t crack the top-150 in football. Those numbers are consistent with basketball schools.

 

[RBFANTOO]

After watching the last 2 pitiful games at Loyola, ISU is obviously no longer a basketball school. They may not even make the MVC playoffs this season. Dan's teams are actually getting worse. ISU=FOOTBALL!!! Not even close.

 

[redbirdfan04]

ISU is knocking on the door of top-100 attendance in basketball but doesn’t crack the top-150 in football. Those numbers are consistent with basketball schools.

Before COVID did you happen to attend both sports? Basketball attendance was a joke. If they were really around 100 in the country that is just sad. As for football, other than the pouring rain homecoming game most games are full on the home side and 3/4 on the away side. Are you comparing football to other FBS schools? Those schools must buy tickets if they dont sell so the numbers are very skewed. ISU was 26th overall in FCS football in 2019 with 6 home games.

1. Jackson St. 5 168,808 33,762 2. Montana 7 157,812 22,545 3. James Madison 9 162,974 18,108 4. Alabama St. 5 88,997 17,799 5. North Dakota St. 9 156,962 17,440 6. Montana St. 8 138,246 17,281 7. Southern U. 4 67,826 16,957 8. N.C. A&T 5 84,633 16,927 9. Jacksonville St. 7 117,800 16,829 10. Florida A&M 6 99,223 16,537 11. Delaware 7 99,926 14,275 12. Alcorn 7 92,373 13,196 13. Yale 6 72,796 12,133 14. Youngstown St. 7 84,150 12,021 15. Norfolk St. 5 56,480 11,296 16. South Dakota St. 8 87,764 10,971 17. Sacramento St. 7 76,651 10,950 18. McNeese 6 65,266 10,878 19. Harvard 5 54,060 10,812 20. Grambling 3 31,188 10,396 21. South Carolina St. 6 62,035 10,339 22. New Hampshire 5 50,527 10,105 23. UC Davis 5 47,502 9,500 24. Mercer 6 56,437 9,406 25. The Citadel 6 56,066 9,344 26. Illinois St. 6 55,454 9,242

 

[ISUBU]

A million people live within an hour's drive of campus. There is a lot of work to do/potential for increased attendance in both sports.

 

[isuquinndog]

A million people live within an hour's drive of campus. There is a lot of work to do/potential for increased attendance in both sports.

So does a Big Ten school. That doesn't help.

 

[TBS_20]

So does a Big Ten school. That doesn't help.

michigan and michigan state are right next to each other and each are just fine. thats a poor excuse. no reason why ISU cant be just fine and move up or do whatever they wish to do even in a smaller market. Duke and North Carolina and NC State are all right next to each other with Wake Forest nearby. Granted thats the research triangle but still...thats 4 schools. Bottom line. Win and everything else fixes itself.

 

[JHBird]

Something has really happened to the football crowds over the past few years. I think it had something to do with NDSU coming in here and destroying us. 6 or 7 years ago I remember how happy we were to be hosting a home playoff game. Now, last year our first game should've been a home game but we declined and let Southeast Missouri State have it (if that's incorrect then post and let me know), but that tells you everything you need to know. It's hard to argue that our football program is in a good state when you decline a home playoff game. Of course I wish it weren't so.

 

[TBS_20]

Something has really happened to the football crowds over the past few years. I think it had something to do with NDSU coming in here and destroying us. 6 or 7 years ago I remember how happy we were to be hosting a home playoff game. Now, last year our first game should've been a home game but we declined and let Southeast Missouri State have it (if that's incorrect then post and let me know), but that tells you everything you need to know. It's hard to argue that our football program is in a good state when you decline a home playoff game. Of course I wish it weren't so.

Didn't they decline due to a scheduling conflict at Hancock? Something like high school marching band finals or something weird like that?

 

[TBS_20]

SEMO was the higher seed so thats why they got the home game. However, i do seem to remember at some point a scheduling conflict due to marching band finals.

 

[TBS_20]

Shit, I'm old. The conflict was in 1999 with an IHSA football playoff game. It was the reason IHSA moved high school football finals to U of I. FBS only plays bowl games. No games at home stadiums so never a conflict.

 

[cpacmel]

SEMO was the higher seed so thats why they got the home game. However, i do seem to remember at some point a scheduling conflict due to marching band finals.

SEMO wasn't a seeded team, neither were we. Those home games are awarded based on bids.

 

[JHBird]

Thanks Cpac. I got it wrong. We definitely were the better team though. It seemed like we deserved the home game, etc., just didn't bid on it or didn't bid high enough.

 

[MadBird]

Thanks Cpac. I got it wrong. We definitely were the better team though. It seemed like we deserved the home game, etc., just didn't bid on it or didn't bid high enough.

FWIW - did make a bid, not clear why we didn't host. At least to Mr. Lyons.

ISU director of athletics Larry Lyons indicated the Redbirds did put in a bid to host for all available playoff rounds.
“I don’t think the (amount of the) bid had anything to do with it. They look at everybody’s resume and try to slot teams where they think they should fit,” Lyons said. “I will follow up with the committee members and get a little more information on how the seeding took place at this entry level.”

Illinois State travels to Southeast Missouri State for first round FCS playoff game | Illinois State | pantagraph.com

 

[CaliRdBrd]

FWIW - did make a bid, not clear why we didn't host. At least to Mr. Lyons.

The fact that a site for basketball has morphed into a football discussion is arguably the most glaring example that ISU is not a basketball school.