Damn. And that's with sending a team to a BCS bowl every year. Better hope that doesn't dry up.
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CSU's pre-spring depth chart
- Thread starter Duff Man
- Start date
Damn. And that's with sending a team to a BCS bowl every year. Better hope that doesn't dry up.
CsquaredCC
Well-Known Member
MtnBuff you never did directly address my point about sellout attendance in 2002 and 2003 that directly refutes this "one game a year" myth, yet you are back to this talking point. What say you?
CsquaredCC
Well-Known Member
And please don't say its only "2 seasons out of 100". You claimed your support for the fact CSU fans only cared about 1 game a year was the was evidenced by poor attendance during Sonny's heyday.
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CsquaredCC
Well-Known Member
No. I think that is the payout on television alone. The BCS payouts equate to an additional $500k I believe.
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Congrats, you and skater boy had two good attendance years in 02 and 03. Hell you have fans who were buff fans until slick got fired :lol:
I know I'm not Mtn but it's true. The CU v CSU game is the only game that CSU "fans" go to. I have a lot of friends that go to CSU and ALL of them say that they could give two ****s less about CSU other than when they play CU. How many sellouts has CSU had since 2000?
The attendance during those two years was above the CSU norm and close to sellout. Considering that the stadium was small and ticket prices were (and still are) very much on the low end of the D-1 college scale almost selling out for a couple of years of success that was much better than the school has ever had before or since is not that great an accomplishment. I don't see having 30k attendance as being something to write home about when they couldn't sell out completely coming of a season spent in the national rankings even with significant numbers of opposition fans in the stadium.
Since that time attendance has gone down consistently from year to year until it is now in the low 20k's. How much further will it fall.
My question again, because I really would like to see a good answer, is what is going to happen to turn the program around and make it relavent again. The funding isn't there, the community interest isn't there, the climate is now more difficult than it was when CSU had it's glory years since the league is better and CSU is further behind. The school isn't going to put up a chunk of money to turn things around, the Stryker donation is spent and I don't think that another one like that is on the way. If CSU were a stock the analyst would all be calling in sell orders. It's sad because I think that Colorado has room for a quality program in Ft. Collins in addition to CU in Boulder and the AFA in the Springs but it just isn't happening.
Will never happen. CSU will always be a bottom feeder in football.
Idot Buff
Guest
I have not looked at this thread until now...but holy ****, this much interest in the ****ing rams? Who gives a rat's ass?
CsquaredCC
Well-Known Member
Mtn if your asking me what I think CSU needs to do, here is my list
1. Win consistently to avoid these bottom out type seasons.
2. Average between 28,0000 and 30,000 a game so you are keeping on pace with Boise State, Fresno State, and SDSU. I think you can do that at CSU as evidenced by this years basketball season. Given the improvement of the conference I think as long as you can be competetive (i.e top half of the league) you can take advantage of the big games the conference now offers. For example, CSU had an average season in b-ball this year. However, they remained in the conversation all year and when SDSU showed up, Moby sold out for the first time in as long as I can remember. CSU was even bringing in around 5k for games against teams like TCU which was unheard of 4 or 5 years ago. That to me is the baseline level of sucess you also need in football to keep CSU fans engaged. Remain in the oversation
2. Maintain current academic standards. Right now CSU is right on pace academically with regional institutions like Utah. It must remain that way.
3. Continue to increase the student body. CSU has been increasing enrollment nearly every year. I think they need to keep doing that until they are as large if not larger than CU.
4. Engage the Northern Colorado region. Fort Collins supports CSU, but the University needs to better engage areas outside the city which is one of the fastest growing in the country. For example, CSU football needs to be rebranded so that it connects and sparks a pride in the area. It can be done. Look no further than the semi-pro hockey team in the Colorado Eagles. I don't know how they have done it, but while the Avs are having trouble getting fans in the door, the Eagles are selling out games. The organization has found a way to connect with the area and generate a sense of pride. My suggestion would be to bring the Eagles sports marketing group.
5. Television. With Comcasts' purchase of NBC, there are rumors that Versus will be rebranded as an NBC sports affiliate and show more Mountain West and potentially Big East games, if it makes a successful pitch. There are also rumors that NBC may be broadcasting more nationally televised games in addition to Notre Dame.
6. Schedule. The schedule needs to improve. I would like to see at least one more BCS school on CSU's schedule every season. If the Big East ends up on NBC as well. CSU sits right in the middle of the Big 12 and Pac 12. Start getting an additional game on the schedule, even if it takes a two for one on occassion.
7. Continue to improve the facilities. The IPF was a nice addition and the exterior of Hughes is schedulednfor nearly $2 million in improvements. CSU needs to keep improving facilities when it can do it practically.
8. Stryker. CSU needs to do a better job of keeping Pat Stryker involved. Following the large donation to expand the stadium in 2005, it seems like she has disappeared. She is one of the wealthiest people in Colorado and loves the University. I feel like the University needs to more consistently engage with her.
9. Improve the Ram Club. CSU has nearly 40,000 alumni in Denver alone, yet few donate. That has to change.
10. Leverage the conference. The MWC is improved but with BYU, TCU, and Utah out The bloated athletic budgets by MWC terms are gone. CSU can compete financially in the new conference and it needs to move into that 3rd or 4th slot of the league consistently.
2. Maintain
1. Win consistently to avoid these bottom out type seasons.
2. Average between 28,0000 and 30,000 a game so you are keeping on pace with Boise State, Fresno State, and SDSU. I think you can do that at CSU as evidenced by this years basketball season. Given the improvement of the conference I think as long as you can be competetive (i.e top half of the league) you can take advantage of the big games the conference now offers. For example, CSU had an average season in b-ball this year. However, they remained in the conversation all year and when SDSU showed up, Moby sold out for the first time in as long as I can remember. CSU was even bringing in around 5k for games against teams like TCU which was unheard of 4 or 5 years ago. That to me is the baseline level of sucess you also need in football to keep CSU fans engaged. Remain in the oversation
2. Maintain current academic standards. Right now CSU is right on pace academically with regional institutions like Utah. It must remain that way.
3. Continue to increase the student body. CSU has been increasing enrollment nearly every year. I think they need to keep doing that until they are as large if not larger than CU.
4. Engage the Northern Colorado region. Fort Collins supports CSU, but the University needs to better engage areas outside the city which is one of the fastest growing in the country. For example, CSU football needs to be rebranded so that it connects and sparks a pride in the area. It can be done. Look no further than the semi-pro hockey team in the Colorado Eagles. I don't know how they have done it, but while the Avs are having trouble getting fans in the door, the Eagles are selling out games. The organization has found a way to connect with the area and generate a sense of pride. My suggestion would be to bring the Eagles sports marketing group.
5. Television. With Comcasts' purchase of NBC, there are rumors that Versus will be rebranded as an NBC sports affiliate and show more Mountain West and potentially Big East games, if it makes a successful pitch. There are also rumors that NBC may be broadcasting more nationally televised games in addition to Notre Dame.
6. Schedule. The schedule needs to improve. I would like to see at least one more BCS school on CSU's schedule every season. If the Big East ends up on NBC as well. CSU sits right in the middle of the Big 12 and Pac 12. Start getting an additional game on the schedule, even if it takes a two for one on occassion.
7. Continue to improve the facilities. The IPF was a nice addition and the exterior of Hughes is schedulednfor nearly $2 million in improvements. CSU needs to keep improving facilities when it can do it practically.
8. Stryker. CSU needs to do a better job of keeping Pat Stryker involved. Following the large donation to expand the stadium in 2005, it seems like she has disappeared. She is one of the wealthiest people in Colorado and loves the University. I feel like the University needs to more consistently engage with her.
9. Improve the Ram Club. CSU has nearly 40,000 alumni in Denver alone, yet few donate. That has to change.
10. Leverage the conference. The MWC is improved but with BYU, TCU, and Utah out The bloated athletic budgets by MWC terms are gone. CSU can compete financially in the new conference and it needs to move into that 3rd or 4th slot of the league consistently.
2. Maintain
I don't argue with anything on your list as being needed/helpful. I just don't believe that the resources and interest are there to get the program to that level.
The last time CSU averaged 28k+ the team was coming off national rankings and being considered one of, if not the best team outside a BCS conference. The team right now is coming off consecutive 3 win seasons and doesn't look to be getting better soon.
Academic standards won't argue, CSU is not an elite school but it is a quality school, upper end of the MWC. No reason to compromise that for athletics or any other reason.
Increasing enrollment will help the university but not the athletic program, unless the football team is winning the students don't come out in big numbers. To help the university from a funding standpoint the gain in student enrollment needs to be primarily out of state. These students aren't and don't connect with the athletic program.
CSU has tried a wide range of marketing approaches to engage the northern Colorado region. Even when they were winning results were limited. This year the basketball team made a major step forward and attendance jumped significantly. Still had a lot of empty seats in a fairly small arena.
TV may help but MWC ratings have not been very good, even in MWC states. I doubt that this will be a big money bonanza for the program or a major publicity boost. It won't hurt but TV doesn't do much if nobody is watching.
Schedule is a question. If the program doesn't start playing better it will become a body bag game and an embarassment playing BCS conference teams. Play well enough to win against reputable competition and you better have enough fans in the seats to pay the other schools enough to come in and risk a loss. At CSU ticket prices even 28k doesn't do that, raise the prices and your attendance goes down. Tough problem.
Facilities improvement. College football is in an arms race and CSU is coming to a gun fight with a pocket knife. The IPF was a big step forward as were the locker room improvements and the sprucing up of Hughes but Hughes is still a mid-major stadium at best and CSU is well behind much of the MWC. Improvements need to be made just to not fall further behind. Again, good idea but I don't see the dollars flooding in to do this.
Stryker is a wild card. Did CSU make a step forward in performance based on the last donation, doesn't look like it. Hard to get more money when the results aren't there from the first big donation. Who else is going to step up, again I don't see a rush to the bar on this one.
Ram Club. The alums don't even buy tickets to a game and drive up to Fort Collins, paying to support the booster club is not in their plans. This is an area where CSU could do better and make a significant jump from where they are. Trouble is that even a 50% increase still leaves the Ram Club smaller than most of the other conference schools and incapable of making a real impact.
Moving up in the conference is a great idea but I don't see the resources and I don't see results that indicate that is going to happen. CSU is behind Wyoming but close enough to compete with them. UNLV is in some financial hard times due to the economy in Las Vegas but the are still a ways ahead, San Jose the same. Nevada steps in with a big lead in resources and results, AFA is going to stay ahead, Boise shows no signs of fading, UNM should do much better as the flagship of their state and without athletic competiton in their market. SDSU is always a mystery how they can not have more support in their marketplace but their potential is higher. CSU will need something major to happen to get out of the basement, I don't see that major thing on the horizon.
The last time CSU averaged 28k+ the team was coming off national rankings and being considered one of, if not the best team outside a BCS conference. The team right now is coming off consecutive 3 win seasons and doesn't look to be getting better soon.
Academic standards won't argue, CSU is not an elite school but it is a quality school, upper end of the MWC. No reason to compromise that for athletics or any other reason.
Increasing enrollment will help the university but not the athletic program, unless the football team is winning the students don't come out in big numbers. To help the university from a funding standpoint the gain in student enrollment needs to be primarily out of state. These students aren't and don't connect with the athletic program.
CSU has tried a wide range of marketing approaches to engage the northern Colorado region. Even when they were winning results were limited. This year the basketball team made a major step forward and attendance jumped significantly. Still had a lot of empty seats in a fairly small arena.
TV may help but MWC ratings have not been very good, even in MWC states. I doubt that this will be a big money bonanza for the program or a major publicity boost. It won't hurt but TV doesn't do much if nobody is watching.
Schedule is a question. If the program doesn't start playing better it will become a body bag game and an embarassment playing BCS conference teams. Play well enough to win against reputable competition and you better have enough fans in the seats to pay the other schools enough to come in and risk a loss. At CSU ticket prices even 28k doesn't do that, raise the prices and your attendance goes down. Tough problem.
Facilities improvement. College football is in an arms race and CSU is coming to a gun fight with a pocket knife. The IPF was a big step forward as were the locker room improvements and the sprucing up of Hughes but Hughes is still a mid-major stadium at best and CSU is well behind much of the MWC. Improvements need to be made just to not fall further behind. Again, good idea but I don't see the dollars flooding in to do this.
Stryker is a wild card. Did CSU make a step forward in performance based on the last donation, doesn't look like it. Hard to get more money when the results aren't there from the first big donation. Who else is going to step up, again I don't see a rush to the bar on this one.
Ram Club. The alums don't even buy tickets to a game and drive up to Fort Collins, paying to support the booster club is not in their plans. This is an area where CSU could do better and make a significant jump from where they are. Trouble is that even a 50% increase still leaves the Ram Club smaller than most of the other conference schools and incapable of making a real impact.
Moving up in the conference is a great idea but I don't see the resources and I don't see results that indicate that is going to happen. CSU is behind Wyoming but close enough to compete with them. UNLV is in some financial hard times due to the economy in Las Vegas but the are still a ways ahead, San Jose the same. Nevada steps in with a big lead in resources and results, AFA is going to stay ahead, Boise shows no signs of fading, UNM should do much better as the flagship of their state and without athletic competiton in their market. SDSU is always a mystery how they can not have more support in their marketplace but their potential is higher. CSU will need something major to happen to get out of the basement, I don't see that major thing on the horizon.
