What TandemBear is writing is facts. It is not a "hope" that things will get better OR that we seem to think we are better than we are. We aren't. The brass ring? I'm assuming you mean Rose Bowl. What else could there be? The only thing I can write about that is - we better win it in the next two years because if we don't, it is gone forever. Since 2010, we have gone worse than "6-6" 6 times in conference play - which is what really matters here. Especially when talking about any prospective move to the B1G. Since 2015, we have gone 4-5 in conference play 4 times. The two 8-5 seasons that we have had (the only two since 2009) were followed by losing seasons. So...I'm trying to find out where you see any kind of upward trajectory or continuity.Big C said:TandemBear said:It was said we needed to switch to the Big10 to increase revenue to stay competitive. Actually, the quote said to challenge for a championship (whatever "championship" the poster meant is unclear).Arcadiabear said:
Yup. Looks like everyone here is on the exact same page except for tandembear who invented a point that nobody was making.
Switching conference at this point is like giving the program air and water. Does having those mean that you live a great life? no, but it means you get to live for another day.
And I've argued the opposite is true. Several have agreed that we won't actually be more competitive. It's so we can simply tread water. I get it. Moving to the Big10 will NOT bring us closer to winning a Big10 championship. Nor a national championship. That's simply not gonna happen. So again, we're just trying to stay afloat.
But is "treading water" worth the effort? Sending our "student" athletes across the country will now be even more taxing. For what point? To be competitive? Nope. To "keep up with the Jonses."
And "the Jonses" are the money-making machine that is college football. We've lost the entire point. We'll be sending our soccer and baseball players and Olympic sports athletes further afield to compete so our coaches and support staff can make more money.
Which is what many here are completely missing.
Sorry, I'm not yet at the point where I'm willing to give up grabbing for the brass ring. Somebody mentioned up-thread that we are a looooong ways from being a winning program (paraphrase). I disagree: We've been basically a "6-6 program" under Wilcox... I don't think we're too far away from being an "8-4 program". Now, obviously, if we were going 8-4, we'd want to up that to 10-2, but I think being a program that averages 8 wins a season, over a decade or so, is in a pretty decent place.
We need to go that extra yard: Instead of doing what's necessary to "be competitive", we need to do what's necessary to win. I think folks like Sebastabear have done a great job identifying what those things are and getting them going. Let's take our best shot!
Sebastabear seems to think that there are blocks for building a championship program. He doesn't define what "championship program" means. Winning record? Division champ? Conference champ? Bowl game winner? Rose Bowl winner? CFP Champion?
So now Big C, you're moving the goal posts. We got the stadium and SAHPC to be competitive. Something that was absolutely necessary to be competitive (winning?) and attracting recruits. Now you're saying we need to stop doing things to be competitive and start doing things necessary to win. Well what's the difference??