Mike Bianchi will not rest until either Central Florida is in a power conference or Iowa State isn’t.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Why should Mississippi State, Wake Forest, Purdue and Iowa State get to be part of the Power 5 when they bring nothing to the table? UCF, the second biggest school in the nation in the 18th-biggest TV market, has much more to offer in the form of growth potential, cable TV subscribers and recruiting base. But because Mississippi State was around 100 years ago when the SEC was formed and UCF wasn’t, it’s Mississippi State that is now part of college football’s most powerful league.
Wake Forest is #23 in U.S. News and World Report’s college rankings. Purdue is #68. Iowa State consistently hovers around 100th. Meanwhile, Central Florida is down at #170. The only power-conference schools even close to that low are West Virginia, Texas Tech, and (next year) Louisville.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because Bianchi went after Iowa State (and Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Washington State) for the same thing during Conferencepocalypse I.
Despite Jim Delany’s recent machinations, there is, or should be, more to being in a power conference than an occasionally good football team and media markets. (Longevity — or lack of it — matters for something, too. UCF has only been in Division I-A since 1996.) If Bianchi wants to pump up his hometown university, fine. Just stop taking potshots at others who did nothing wrong.