Okay, so the first 10 or so responses have yielded the following:
1. Iowa? - Lack of knowledge and interest regarding the state and university of Iowa leads to little to no national coverage causing reduced exposure to potential future recruits.
2. Lack of available talent - The population of Iowa and its surrounding states inherently limits the amount of talent that can be produced and is thus available to recruit. We simply do not have easy access to a population rich with talent.
3. $$$$ - Iowa doesn't have the financial backing of alumni compared to the likes of Ohio State, Michigan etc...
4. Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin - We compete in a conference with very talented teams and in order to be successful we must defeat those teams. Historically speaking, we are unable to consistently do so.
5. Injuries - With an already limited amount of talent on the roster, the effects of a single injury are multiplied compared to other teams with deep benches.
So here is my concern: These are the things we have been saying for years make it so much more difficult for Iowa to compete and be successful. It is the reason we love this team because when we do find a way to win it means that much more. It's the old addage, we have to work twice as hard to get half as far. We all know these struggles exist in the current structure of the conference.
Looking at our five main obstacles I don't see how a single one will be improved with the expansion of the conference. In fact, not only will they not improve, I think some of them will be multiplied dramatically. The most notable being 2 (lack of available talent) and 4 (conference competition).
If we are already struggling to gain recruits in the states surrounding us then adding Nebraska will only increase the amount of quality teams going after the already limited amount of talent that exists. Expanding out east, we might get a couple of players from out there but you don't think the likes of Penn State and Ohio State are going swipe up a lot of that talent?
Conference competition. I'm not dogging on our Hawks, but if we are struggling to break through on to the national scene because of teams like Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin...how much easier do you think it's going to be by adding teams like Nebraska, Notre Dame or god forbid Texas. If we can't win conference championships in the current make-up of the conference, what in the world makes us think we can prevail in an even more competitive one?
I love our Hawks and I'll bleed black and gold my whole life through, but I honestly don't see how conference expansion bodes well for our future success. Sure, we'll have more money in the bank...but look at teams like Northwestern and Illinois. Do we want to be rich or do we want to be successful?
